Cold War US History

Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)

Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)

Theory that neither side will attack each other with nukes because the other side would destroy them with their own nukes

Space Race

October 4, 1957 USSR launched Sputnik the first manmade satellite

US saw this and scrambled to go to space

Iron Curtain

Churchill’s speech

• Soviet-made divider that split Europe

• Non-Communist Western Europe

• Communist Eastern Europe

Truman Doctrine

U.S. policy to “support peoples against threat Communist aggression”

• Containment Policy

Containment Policy

Stop communism & keep it within existing borders

Marshall Plan

U.S. economic aid to ALL European nations for war recovery

- USSR & its satellites refused to participate

Berlin Blockade

USSR prevented France, Britain, & US from accessing Berlin

• Feared unification of Germany

Berlin Airlift

US, Britain, France supply Berlin by air

(North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

(1949) U.S., Canada & Western European nations

• Attack on one would be considered an attack on all

Warsaw Pact

(1955) Soviet Union, & Eastern European nations

• Strengthen Soviet hold on Eastern Europe & defend it

Korean War

June 1950 – North Korea invaded South Korea

• U.N. organized an army to oppose North Korea

• Sept 1950 - United Nations forced counterattack

• Communist China came to aid of North Korea

• 1951 to 1953 – fighting continued along 38th

parallel

• July 1953 – truce & Korea divided at 38th parallel

Geneva Accords

Laos & Cambodia became independent & neutral

• Vietnam divided at 17th parallel

• North under Communist rule

• South under French anti-communist rule

• 1956 – South & North citizens suppose to vote for a unite Vietnam