Cold War

  • Creation of the UN

    United Nations; Organization which mimicked the League of Nations but was actually successful- still exists today
  • Truman Doctrine

    "It must be the policy of the United States to support peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures."
  • Marshall Plan

    Provided $13 billion dollars to rebuild war-torn Europe
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    Berlin Blockade

    Soviet Union attempted to starve out the West Berlin-ers *see Berlin Airlift
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    Berlin Airlift

    Western Berlin's response to being blocked out of the rest of Germany- supplies and food were brought in via airplanes
  • COMECON

    Council for Mutual Economic Assistance- for the economic cooperation of Eastern European countries. Ultimately failed, because Soviet Union was unable to provide much financial aid.
  • NATO

    North Atlantic Treaty Organization- Alliance formed between: the United States, Cananda, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands, Britain, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, and Iceland- Greece and Turkey joined later
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    Deterrence

    A strategy began early in the Cold War which stated that as long as U.S. and USSR had an equal amount of bombs, they'd keep from launching at each other
  • Korean War

    South Korea vs. North Korea in a fight of UN forces against Communist forces- ended in a stalemate in 1953
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    Dwight D. Eisenhower

    President during the Cold War; work to ease tensions; was part of creating NATO
  • Death of Stalin

    Died of stroke- leading to Krushchev's rise in power
  • Warsaw Pact

    Alliance between Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania
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    Nikita Krushchev

    Leader of Soviet Union; part of the Cuban Missile Crisis; oversaw the building of the Berlin Wall
  • de-Stalinization

    Krushchev's process for eradicating some of Stalin's harsher policies
  • Sputnik

    The first satellite successfully launched; USSR responsible for the feat
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    Fidel Castro

    Prime Minister during the Cold War
  • U2

    U.S. top secret CIA agent taking pictures of the Soviet Union's territory- plane shot down
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    John F. Kennedy

    President for a short period of time during the Cold War; approved the Bay of Pigs plan
  • Yuri Gagarim

    Russian pilot and cosmonaut- first human in outer space- completed a complete orbit of the earth
  • Bay of Pigs

    A U.S. lead mission to revolt against Fidel Castro (Cuban communist political leader) made up of Cuban exiles; ultimately failed
  • Berlin Wall built

    Wall was constructed by East Germany, in fear of citizens leaving (escaping) to West Germany
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    Cuban Missile Crisis

    When USSR and Cuba joined forces, and nuclear missiles were introduced into Cuba
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    Leonid Brezhnev

    Leader of USSR during the end of the War Cold; his time as leader is known as a time of great economic stagnation (he was more focused on the military)
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    Vietnamization

    President Nixon's idea to build up Vietnam's army while slowly withdrawing forces
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    SALT

    Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty; conferences held bet. U.S. and USSR to settle safety limitations for nuclear weapons
  • Detente

    Period of improved relations and eased tensions between U.S. and USSR during the end of the Cold War
  • Perestroika

    The idea Gorbachev came up with to boost the economy; to reform the politics and economy in a more favorable fashion
  • Glasnost

    "Openness"; part of Gorbachev's idea's to reform politics- to be more open about strengths and weaknesses of the USSR
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    Mikhail Gorbachev

    Final leader of Soviet Union; implemented ideas such as Glasnost and Perestroika, which lead to the dissolving of the USSR and end of the Cold War
  • Berlin Wall torn down

    One of the biggest markers of the end of the Cold War