Cold War

  • Mao Zedong: Chinese Communist leader; established People's Republic of China.

  • 38th Parallel: Dividing line between North and South Korea.

  • Korean War: Conflict (1950-1953) between North Korea (communist) and South Korea (democratic).

  • United Nations: International organization formed to maintain peace.

  • Satellite Nation: Countries under Soviet influence/control during the Cold War.

  • Containment: U.S. strategy to prevent the spread of communism.

  • Iron Curtain: Symbolic division between Eastern (communist) and Western (democratic) Europe.

  • Cold War: Tension between the U.S. and Soviet Union post-WWII.

  • Truman Doctrine: U.S. policy to support countries resisting communism.

  • Marshall Plan: U.S. aid to Western Europe to rebuild after WWII.

  • Berlin Airlift: U.S. operation to supply West Berlin during the Soviet blockade (1948-1949).

  • NATO: Military alliance of Western countries formed in 1949 to counter Soviet threat.

  • HUAC: House Un-American Activities Committee; investigated suspected communists in U.S.

  • Hollywood Ten: Group of filmmakers blacklisted for refusing to testify about communist ties.

  • Blacklist: List of people who were suspected of communist ties and denied work.

  • Alger Hiss: U.S. government official accused of espionage for the Soviet Union.

  • Ethel and Julius Rosenberg: U.S. couple executed for espionage, accused of passing nuclear secrets to USSR.

  • Joseph McCarthy: Senator who led anti-communist crusade (McCarthyism).

  • McCarthyism: Fear and persecution of suspected communists during the 1950s.

  • H-bomb: Hydrogen bomb, more powerful than atomic bomb, developed by the U.S. and USSR.

  • Brinkmanship: Policy of threatening nuclear war to stop communist aggression.

  • CIA: U.S. Central Intelligence Agency; responsible for espionage and covert operations.

  • Warsaw Pact: Soviet-led military alliance of Eastern Bloc countries.

  • Francis Gary Powers: U.S. pilot shot down in the U-2 spy plane incident (1960).

  • U-2 Incident: 1960 event where U.S. spy plane was shot down over Soviet Union, increasing Cold War tensions.