Vocabulary: 

 

38th Parallel- The boundary line between North (communist) Korea and South (non-communist) Korea.

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Agent Orange- an herbicide used to eliminate forest cover in the Vietnam War; later proven to cause serious health issues—including cancer, birth defects, rashes and severe psychological and neurological problems—among the Vietnamese people as well as among returning U.S. servicemen and their families.

Arms Race- building up armies and weapons to keep up with an enemy

 

Berlin Wall- A wall built by the communist East German government around East Germany to stop the flow of refugees to West Berlin. Many people were killed trying to escape.

Brinkmanship- a policy of threatening to go to war in response to any enemy aggression

 

Civil Disobedience- refusal to obey laws that are considered to be unjust

Cold War- the state of diplomatic hostility between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the decades following World War II

Communism- an economic system in which all means of production--land, mines, factories, railroads, and businesses--are owned by the people, private property does not exist, and all goods and services are shared equally. 

Containment- U.S. foreign policy adopted by President Harry Truman in the late 1940s, in which the U.S. tried to stop the spread of communism by creating alliances and helping weak countries to resist Soviet advances

Cuban Missile Crisis- The U.S. had nuclear weapons in Turkey (very close to the Soviet Union) and the Soviet Union had nuclear weapons in Cuba.  Brutal retaliation was a definite response if either country launched a nuclear attack.

 

De-Stalinization- the process of eliminating Stalin's more ruthless policies 

Detente- a phase of relaxed tensions and improved relations between two adversaries 

Deterrence- during the Cold War, the U.S. and Soviet policies of holding huge arsenals of nuclear weapons to prevent war; each nation believed that neither would launch a nuclear attack since both knew that the other side could strike back with devastating power

Domino Theory- the idea that if one country falls to communism neighboring countries will also fall

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Ho Chi Minh- Communist leader fighting for Vietnam’s freedom from French rule.

Hotel Rwanda- Movie depicting the struggles of a man trying to protect refugees at a hotel that he manages during the Rwandan Genocide.  Rwandan Genocide - Hutu military forces initiate a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Tutsi minority.

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Iron Curtain- during the Cold War, the boundary separating the communist nations of Eastern Europe from the mostly democratic nations of Western Europe

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Korean War- Communist North Korea (supplied by Soviets with tanks, airplanes and money) attacked non-communist South Korea in an attempt to spread communism by taking over the land.

 

Marshall Plan- U.S. program of economic aid to European countries to help them rebuild after World War II

 

NATO- North Atlantic Treaty Organization- a defensive military alliance formed in 1949 by ten Western European nations, the United States and Canada

 

Proxy War- a war in which the powers in conflict use third parties as substitutes instead of fighting each other directly

 

SALT- Strategic Arms Limitation Talks- a series of meetings in the 1970s in which leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to limit their nations' stocks of nuclear weapons

Satellite States- a country that is economically and politically dependent on another country

Space Race- beginning in the late 1950s, the U.S. and the Soviet Union competed for influence not only among the nations of the world, but in the skies as well

Sputnik- Soviet Union Satellite (Oct. 4, 1957]

 

Third World- during the Cold War, the developing nations not allied with either the U.S. of the Soviet Union

Truman Doctrine- announced by President Harry Truman in 1947, a U.S. policy of giving economic and military aid to free nations threatened by internal or external opponents

 

United Nations- founded in 1945 after WWII to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries

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Vietnam War- Vietnam was fighting for independence from French rulers.  Leading the fight was a communist party. The country was split - North - Communist, South- Non-Communist.  Even though the U.S. sent troops to prevent the spread of communism, the north defeated the south.

 

Warsaw Pact- a military alliance formed in 1955 by the Soviet Union and Seven Eastern European countries