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United Nations
The UN replaced the League of Nations and were made to preserve peace throughout the nations. They helped out with the Korean War, along with social and economic development. However, they first began as a peacekeeping organization. -
Truman Doctrine
The US plan to give economic and military aid to countries fighting communism. In other words, the USA will intervene when necessary. -
George Kennan
As a former "Foreign Service Officer", Kennan sent a telegram to the Allies about Stalin's power. He then became known as the "Father of Containment", because he developed the US policy of containment. It was a policy to keep communism from spreading more and prevent Soviet aggression. Communism was referenced as a "malignant parasite." -
Marshall Plan
It was a plan for the US to aid Europe with their economics. The US would help rebuild war-torn Europe, and then they will be able to stand for themselves without being vulnerable to communist attacks. -
Berlin Blockade
The Soviets blocked all the supply lines to West Berlin, in attempt to cut off all Allied supplies. However, the Allies developed the Berlin Airlift, in which they flew supplies for many months over to West Berlin. This succeed and the Soviets reopened Allied supply lines. -
COMECON
COMECON stands for Council for Mutual Assistance and was formed by the Soviets. The plan was to help rebuild Soviet bloc nations. This was a response to the Committee of European Economic Cooperation. KGB were also involved secret police. -
NATO
This acronym stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which was made as a security alliance from the military. In other words, anti-communist countries would provide mutual help if another was attacked. The countries themselves were held accountable to obtain peace, and communists were less likely to start a war. -
Mutual Deterrence/ Massive Retaliation
This was a concept during the Arms Race. Both the USA and the USSR had the power to demolish each other, but since they both had the power, they were constantly in a brinkmanship relationship. It was a method they both viewed as a way to avoid war. Any Soviet advance in Europe would result in an immediate nuclear war with the US. -
Korean War
United Nations' military forces were sent into Korea in order to stop communism from taking over. The USSR was supporting North Korea, so the US supported the South Korean side of this civil war. China was also on the North Korean side. Neither side won though, as Korea is still divided to this very day. -
Khrushchev
He was the USSR leader once Stalin died in March of 1953. He de-stalinized by removing Stalin's harsh policies, and claimed to want a peaceful coexistence. However, he was still authoritarian, which can be noticed when he invaded Budapest with tanks when Hungary wanted to break off of the USSR. -
Warsaw Pact
Satellite nations were nations under the Soviet Union that were greatly influenced by communism. They had a security alliance, similar to NATO, to provide military aid if one of the countries was attacked. Through the Cold War, Poland stayed loyal to this act. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was between North side communists and South side anti-communists. Both the USSR and the US were aiding their sides. President Johnson was in control of the American troops that were in Vietnam. The Domino Theory was formed that if Vietnam became communist, all of Asia would fall to communism, too. -
Imre Nagy
He led the Hungarian Revolution and had many political roles in the USSR, as he was a Russian WWI veteran. As the prime minister of Hungary, he risked his life for Hungarian independence. However, Khrushchev crushed this revolt by invading Budapest, and Imre Nagy was executed two years later. -
Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower's first main event was leading D-Day in Europe during World War II. From there, he was a NATO leader, and elected president in the United States. Regarding the Cold War, he ended the Korean War, authorized anti-communist CIA's world wide, and developed a doctrine stating that the US will help friendly countries with economics and military, along with protecting countries, especially in the Middle East. -
EEC
European Economic Community was also known as the Common Market. It was a movement to improve the economics of Europe. Salespeople who were not members of the EEC were less likely to succeed. More regulations were posted as to the production and type of goods. The ECSC, Euratom, and EEC were joined to form the European Community (EC). -
Sputnik
This was the first satellite to orbit earth. It also sent radio signals back to earth and made the United States modernize their space knowledge, technically beginning the Space Race. It was sent out by the Soviets. -
ICBM's
Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles are nuclear missiles that can travel over 9,000 miles. Made to destroy any nation, it is a powerful nuclear defense weapon. It was first deployed by the USSR, then the US, and China. These idealistic weapons created a policy of Mutual Assured Destruction. They are still present today. -
Charles de Gaulle
As a WWII veteran, Charles de Gaulle was the leader of the French 5th Republic. In the constitution he wrote, the presidential controls were increased. He improved the French economy a lot, and invested into the arms race with nuclear weapons. When the country rejected his constitution, he resigned. -
Fidel Castro
He was the leader of communist Cuba and supported the USSR. He was the leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bay of Pigs Incident. His debut began with powerful speeches and overthrowing the military dictatorship. The US attempted to assassinate him many times, but to no prevail. -
U-2
The U-2 was a US spy place sent to take top secret pictures of the Soviet Union. However, the Soviets shot it down and the pilot, Gary Powers, did not have enough time to delete the evidence before being captured. Actually, the movie "Bridge of Spies" was made, and he was being traded back to the US in exchange for one of the Soviet spies. When he came back to the states, the government had to announce that he had done everything as he was supposed to because the public was upset. -
John F. Kennedy
He was the 35th president of the USA and dealt with the Cold War a lot. He gave orders for the Bay of Pigs invasion, which failed, as he was not backed up by the rest of the country. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, he ordered a USSR blockade and was able to cooperate with Khrushchev. -
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri was a Russian cosmonaut, which is equivalent to an astronaut. he was the first man ever to travel into space. His orbit of the earth took nearly two hours on his spaceship- Vostok 1. However, he never went into space again because he was too valuable, as a celebrity, to risk loosing. -
Bay of Pigs
Fidel Castro was leading the communist Cuban leader, so President Kennedy ordered inexperienced Cuban exiles to invade. However, the US lost quickly, as they were unorganized and outnumbered. Everyone was either killed or captured. -
Berlin Wall Built
The Soviet Union built a wall separating West Berlin, Allied controlled, and East Berlin, USSR controlled. It was built to keep Soviet Germans from fleeing to West Berlin. People would be killed if they tried to pass over the wall on either side. It was the most defiant symbol of the Cold War. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet Union put nuclear missiles in Cuba, which was too close to the US. As ships continued to bring more missiles in, President Kennedy ordered a blockade and an agreement was made. Khrushchev turned ships around and the US did not invade Cuba. This was the closest action to a nuclear war. -
Vietnamization
Under President Richard Nixon, the US agreed to withdraw its troops from North Vietnam to establish a "Peace with Honor". The United States planned to train and arm the native peoples of South Vietnam, so that they could stand for themselves. However, this plan failed, and the US realized that arming people in other countries may not have been the best of ideas. -
Detente
Detente is French for relaxation and was a period of time when US and Soviet relations improved. Leonid Brezhnev was leader during this period, along with President Nixon in the US. From this, Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty was agreed upon, in which nuclear weapons were limited per nation. However, new nuclear weapons could be made, and past weapons could be maintained, just not created. -
Glasnost
Glasnost translates in Russian as "openness" and was a policy established by Mikhail Gorbachev. This can be marked as the beginning of a democratic USSR, in which the communist party was limited more, and some elections took place. The people, including media, were also given more freedom to criticize governmental politics. -
Perestroika
It means "restructuring" in Russian and was associated with Mikhail Gorbachev. Over a five year span, he was able to alter USSR's economics, international affairs, and the country itself. By limiting the communist powers, anti-communism was able to sweep through Europe, which ended the Cold War, and eventually led to the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991. -
Berlin Wall Torn Down
The East Berlin Communist Party spokesman declared a change in relations with West Berlin. Germans were free to be on either side of Berlin beginning at midnight. The people rejoiced and celebrated while tearing down the wall, but Germany was not officially united again until 1990.
