Cold War War of Ideals, Words, Threats, Instead of Weapons

Cold War—war of ideals, words, threats, instead of weapons

Superpowers—the strongest nations in military, political, and economic strength. After WWII it was the USA and the USSR

Occupation zones—areas in Germany controlled by Allied powers (troops)

Berlin Airlift—cargo planes that dropped supplies to people of West Berlin during Berlin Blockade

Domino Theory—a theory that if one country in a region comes under the influence of communism, the surrounding countries will follow in a domino effect

Iron Curtain—an imaginary line in Europe separating communist east and democratic west countries

Containment—government policies designed to prevent or “contain” the spread of communism

Truman Doctrine—plan to give money and weapons to help rebels in Greece and Turkey fight communism

Marshall Plan—plan to give money ($13 billion) to Western European nations to rebuild after war

NATO—North Atlantic Treaty Organization—a military alliance to support the ideas of democracy

Communism--a system of government where a single, totalitarian party holds power and the state controls all aspects of the economy. All property is owned by the state and there are no class differences

Warsaw Pact—military alliance made up of communist countries Satellite Nations—nations controlled by a more powerful nation. Ex: Eastern European nations controlled by USSR Berlin Wall—a wall built around West Berlin in 1961 to keep East Berlin citizens from travelling to the West

Arms Race—a competition between countries (USSR and USA) to see who can have the most deadly weapons

Nuclear Proliferation—the build-up (proliferation) of nuclear weapons

Nuclear Annihilation—total destruction (annihilation) by a nuclear weapon

Armaments—weapons and military equipment

17 th Parallel—the line of latitude that divided North Vietnam from South Vietnam

38 th Parallel— the line of latitude that divided North Korea from South Korea

Guerilla Warfare—surprise attacks, quick “lightning” warfare

Civil War—a war fought within a country

“ Hot Spots”— events during the Cold War that escalated to a hot war with guns.

Space Race—the competition between the USA and the USSR to be the first country to send a human in to space, to the moon, etc.

Sputnik—a Russian satellite that was the first vehicle in space NASA—the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; a government organization responsible for space research and sending rockets into space