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Ho Chi Minh
He led a successful campaign to make Vietnam independent. He was also president of North Vietnam during the Vietnam war and was a communist leader. -
Iron Curtain
This was an imaginary barrier that drew a line between the Soviet Union along with their European allies and the West, non-communist areas. This was created because of the political division between the West and the Soviets. This caused a rise in tension because the U.S. believed that the Soviets could influence the nations behind it too easily. -
Novikov Telegram
This was the Soviet's response to the Long Telegram. They said that the U.S. only entered WWII when they knew they could win and came out as a global superpower. They warned that America had come out economically strong and ready for world domination. -
Truman Doctrine
This was the document created by Harry Truman. This said that the U.S. would provide political, military, and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces. -
Domino Theory
This was the idea that if one nation falls to communism the rest will follow. The U.S. did not want this to happen because they wanted to prevent the spread of communism. -
Marshall Plan
This proposed that the United States provide economic assistance and restore the infrastructure of postwar Europe. This was signed by President Truman. -
Berlin Airlift
This was caused by the Soviets blocking access to West Berlin from American shipments of goods and cutting off all supplies to West Berlin in hopes they would give in to the communist side in the East. The Americans used planes and airlift goods into West Berlin. This instilled hope and the Soviets later ended the blockade. -
NATO
This was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This was formed to safeguard Allie's freedom and security by political and military means. -
North Korea Invasion
This was when North Korea wanted to militarily conquer South Korea. They wanted to unify Korea under the communist regime. -
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Korean War
There were tensions between North and South Korea which led to the North Korean People's Army invaded South Korea. This was an attack at several points along the 38th parallel. The North wanted to take over the South and spread communism and the South did not want communism. -
Peace Treaty for Korean War
The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed. This ceased hostilities and brought an end to the Korean War. -
Warsaw Pact
This was the alliance between the Soviets and 7 other European countries. This was a defense treaty. -
Space Race
This was a competition between the Soviets and the U.S. to see who could develop aerospace capabilities, including artificial satellites, unmanned space probes, and human spaceflight. This was one of the largest events of the technology race. -
Ngo Dihn Diem
He was a Vietnamese political leader during the Vietnam War. He served as the Southern Vietnamese ruler until his assassination. -
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Vietnam War
This was a war between communist North Vietnam and the Viet Cong and South Vietnam and the U.S. The Viet Cong was a member of the communist guerilla movement. This ended with Vietnam unifying under communist control. -
Fidel Castro
He was the longest-serving non-royal head of state in the 20th and 21st centuries. He was known for being the leader of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. -
M.A.D
This was the threat of Mutual Assured Destruction. This theory said that each superpower had enough nuclear weaponry to destroy the other. -
JFK
Kennedy pledged to strengthen the American military forces. He also promised to take a tougher stance against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. -
Vietcong
The Vietcong were Vietnamese Communists that were a military branch of the National Liberation Front. They were located in South Vietnam and undermined the South's government. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was created to divide Eastern and Western Berlin. This was built to keep the communist side of East Berlin away from the Western fascists trying to undermine the socialist state. However, this was also to keep the Eastern Berliners in the East and not flee over to the West. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
This was caused by the Americans trying to stop communism in Cuba and so the Soviets began secretly installing missiles into Cuban to launch an attack on the U.S. if it ever came to that. This caused the two superpowers to being on the brink of war. The Soviets wanted to keep communism in Cuba while the Americans did not want a communist power that close to their shores. -
Vietnamization
This was a strategy that was aimed to reduce American involvement in the Vietnam War. This was when the Americans slowly removed their soldiers with South Vietnam soldiers. -
1st Man on the Moon
The first man on the moon was Neil Armstrong. This was a huge feat of science and technology and a victory in the Cold War's Space Race. -
Paris Peace Accords
This ended the direct combat role of the U.S. in the Vietnam War. This was signed after 4 years of negotiations with the intent to establish peace in Vietnam. -
Mujahideen
These were guerrilla fighters in Islamic countries. They fought against non-muslim forces. -
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Soviet-Afghan War
The Soviets military intervened in Afghanistan and launched an invasion there in support of the pro-soviet government. The Afghans did not want their help and wanted to work it out on their own. This launched tensions between the Soviets and Afganistan. -
Star Wars
This was the Strategic Defense Initiative. This was proposed to defend the U.S. from Nuclear attacks. -
Mikhail Gorbachev
He was a leader of the Soviet Union during the end of the USSR and the Cold War. He believed in creating reforms that were geared towards private property ownership. -
Soviet Withdrawl from Afghanistan
The Soviets were in trouble economically and internationally. This was worsened by their involvement in the Afghan war. Therefore, Gorbachev decided to withdraw from Afghanistan. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall fell when the head of the East German Communist party said that the citizens could cross the border when they pleased. Through political reforms inside the Soviet area and the pressure of people in the East wanting to leave, they opened the border. This led to people breaking and tearing down the wall and uniting Berlin again. -
Commonwealth of Independent States
This was a regional intergovernmental organization. This focused on the cooperation on political, economic, environmental, humanitarian, cultural, and other issues between a number of former Soviet Republics. -
Sputnik Launch
This was a USSR baseball-sized satellite that became the first manmade object to orbit the Earth. This caused the USSR to lead the Cold War's Space Race at the time.