AP World History: Modern Unit 8 Notes — Understanding the Cold War in a Decolonizing World

Cold War

A long post–World War II global confrontation mainly between the United States and the Soviet Union involving competition for security, influence, and ideology without sustained direct war between the superpowers.

Proxy war

A conflict in which local or regional forces fight, but major powers (like the U.S. and USSR) support opposing sides with arms, money, training, or advisors instead of fighting each other directly.

Containment

The U.S. strategy of preventing the spread of Soviet influence/communism to new areas, usually by drawing and defending strategic lines rather than immediately overthrowing existing communist regimes.

Truman Doctrine (1947)

A containment policy in which the U.S. pledged support to countries resisting communist pressure, often discussed through aid to Greece and Turkey.

Marshall Plan (1948)

A U.S. program of economic aid to rebuild Western Europe, intended to promote recovery and stability and reduce the appeal of communism while serving U.S. strategic/economic goals.

Satellite states

Eastern European countries with communist-led governments supported or installed by the USSR (e.g., Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia), aligned with Soviet interests.

Bipolar international order

A post-WWII global power structure dominated by two superpowers (the U.S. and the USSR), shaping alliances and international tensions.

Buffer states (Soviet security strategy)

Friendly or controlled governments on the USSR’s borders intended to provide strategic depth and reduce the risk of invasion from the West.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

A U.S.-led collective defense alliance formed in 1949; an attack on one member was treated as an attack on all.

Warsaw Pact

A Soviet-led military alliance formed in 1955 that organized Eastern Bloc states into a formal security bloc opposing NATO.

Non-Aligned Movement

A strategy and grouping of newly independent states seeking to avoid formal alignment with either the U.S. or USSR, associated with leaders like Nehru, Nasser, and Tito.

Deterrence

The idea that the threat of overwhelming retaliation (especially nuclear) prevents an opponent from starting a direct attack or war.

MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction)

A condition in which both sides have enough nuclear capability to destroy each other even after suffering a first strike, making direct superpower war less likely.

Berlin Blockade and Airlift (1948–1949)

A crisis in which the USSR blocked land access to West Berlin and Western allies supplied the city by air, testing resolve and reinforcing Germany’s division.

Berlin Wall (1961)

A physical barrier built by East Germany that symbolized Europe’s Cold War division and restricted movement from East to West.

Korean War (1950–1953)

A major Cold War war in which communist North Korea invaded U.S.-backed South Korea; the U.S. led a UN response and China intervened for the North; it ended without a peace treaty.

Armistice

A ceasefire agreement ending active fighting without a formal peace treaty (as in Korea, leaving the peninsula divided).

Decolonization

The process by which colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East gained independence, creating new states that became major arenas of Cold War competition.

Covert action

Secret operations (e.g., spying, propaganda, backing coups) used by states to influence other countries’ politics without open warfare.

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

A confrontation after the USSR placed nuclear missiles in Cuba; the U.S. imposed a naval quarantine, and a negotiated settlement removed the missiles (with a U.S. non-invasion pledge and removal of U.S. missiles from Turkey).

Brinkmanship

A strategy of pushing a confrontation to the edge of war to force the opponent to back down, highlighted by the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Détente

A period (especially in the 1970s) of eased U.S.-Soviet tensions through diplomacy, arms control talks, and communication, without ending broader competition.

Sino-Soviet split

The breakdown of unity between the Soviet Union and communist China, showing that communist states pursued their own national interests rather than acting as a single bloc.

Soft power

Influence achieved through culture, values, media, education, and prestige rather than direct military force (e.g., broadcasts, scholarships, sports, arts).

Dependency

A condition in which a state becomes reliant on foreign aid, loans, weapons, or export markets, potentially limiting its policy independence even if it claims non-alignment.