Cold War Unit 32 terms

1. Cold War Unit32 terms World History

2. Cold War • an era of high tension and bitter rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union in the decades following World War II

3. Superpower • A nation stronger than other powerful nations • During the Cold War, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. would each be classified as this. versus

4. Mao Zedong • Father of Chinese Communism • Claimed Communist victory over Chiang Kai-shek in 1949

5. Chiang Kai-shek • Chinese Nationalist leader • Fled to Taiwan after the Communist victory favored by the U.S. over Mao

6. Harry Truman • 1884 – 1972 • 33rd President of the United States • Became president upon the death of FDR • Led the U.S. through the end of WW II and the beginning of the Cold War NOT!!!!!!

7. Truman Doctrine • 1947 • Truman’s pledge to provide economic and military aid to countries threatened by communism

8. Containment • The United States policy adopted in the 1940s to stop the spread of communism by providing economic AND military aid to countries opposing the Soviets.

9. Korean War • Cold War conflict on the Korean peninsula beginning in 1950 when the communist North invaded the noncommunist South • The U.S. and the UN intervened • An armistice was signed in 1953 • Also known as “The Forgotten War”

10. 38th Parallel • An imaginary line marking 38 degrees of latitude, particularly the line at 38 degrees of latitude across the Korean peninsula, dividing Soviet forces to the north and American forces to the south after WW II

11. DMZdemilitarized zone • a thin band of territory across the Korean peninsula separating North Korean forces from South Korean forces; established by the armistice of 1953.

12. U.S.S.R. • Union of Soviet Socialist Republics The Cold War enemy of the United States!

13. NATO • a defensive military alliance of twelve Western nations formed in 1949 • North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO countries are in green. ========

14. Warsaw Pact • a military alliance of the Soviet-dominated countries of Eastern Europe, established in 1955. The Warsaw Pact is in red. NATO is in green. ====

15. Berlin Airlift • (1948-1949) • a program in which the United States and Britain shipped supplies by air to West Berlin during the Soviet blockade of all routes to the city.

16. John F. Kennedy • one of several U.S. presidents to rule during the Cold War • ruled during the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis • was assassinated.

17. Fidel Castro • Communist political leader of Cuba • he helped overthrow the Cuban government in 1959 and seized control of the country, exercising total control of the government and economy.

18. Bay of Pigs Invasion • (1961) • the failed attempt of Cuban exiles backed by the U.S. to overthrow the Cuban socialist government by Fidel Castro. The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful attempt by United States-backed Cuban exiles to overthrow the government of the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro Increasing friction between the U.S. government and Castro's leftist regime led President Dwight D. Eisenhower to break off diplomatic relations with Cuba in January 1961. Even before that, however, the Central Intelligence Agency had been training anti-revolutionary Cuban exiles for a possible invasion of the island. The invasion plan was approved by Eisenhower's successor, John F. Kennedy.

19. Cuban Missile Crisis • 1962 • confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet missiles in Cuba.

20. Nikita Khruschev • Communist leader of the U.S.S.R. during the Cold War. Fidel Castro (l) NikitalKhruschev (right) ====

21. Ho Chi Minh • 1890-1969 • Vietnamese nationalist and revolutionary leader • President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from 1945 to 1969 • Wanted to bring communism to South Vietnam.

22. Vietnam War • (1964-1973) • Cold War conflict where the United States tried to stop Communism from spreading into South Vietnam. • Eventually more than 500,000 American troops were committed to the war. • Two years after American troops had withdrawn from the country, the North Vietnamese conquered South Vietnam. • Has been referred to as a quagmire for the U.S.!

23. Vietcong • communist guerilla force allied with North Vietnam which fought to overthrow the government of South Vietnam from the 1950s to 1975

24. Lyndon B. JohnsonLBJ • U.S. President who ruled after the assassination of John F. Kennedy • President during the Vietnam War • Known for his Civil Rights legislation. • Proud Texan LBJ swearing-in ======

25. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution • Passed by Congress on August 7, 1964 • Authorized the President (LBJ) to take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression in Southeast Asia • After this resolution passed, the United States began bombing targets in North Vietnam.

26. Quagmire • soft miry land that shakes or yields under the foot, swampy • a difficult or precarious position: predicament. The Vietnam War was often referred to as this!

27. Domino Theory • the belief during the Cold War that the fall of one non-communist country to communism would cause neighboring non-communist countries also to fall to communists

28. Mikhail Gorbachev Russian politician • Was the last president of the Soviet Union before the country’s collapse in 1991

29. Mujahedin • Muslim religious warriors • Greatly resisted Soviet expansion into Afghanistan in “the Soviet Vietnam” • Was supported by the U.S.

30. Glasnost • “openness” in Russian • a Soviet policy of greater freedom of expression introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s.

31. Perestroika • “restructuring” in Russian • a Soviet policy of democratic and free-market reforms introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s

32. Tiananmen Square Massacre • violent suppression by the Chinese communist government of a large prodemocracy protest in Beijing’s central square in 1989.

33. Ronald Reagan • U.S. President during the Cold War • Ruled during the 1980s • Talked tough against Communism.

34. Keep studying! THIS CONCLUDES THE COLD War vocabulary review!!!!!!