A | B |
Communism | economic theory practiced by the USSR during the Cold War. It relies on a government controlled economy |
Capitalism | Economic theory practiced by the USA during the cold war. It relies on private enterprise. |
Yalta conference | Meeting of FDR, Churchill, and Stalin to discuss post war Europe. It displayed differences in plans/ideas of the USSR and the West |
Truman Doctrine | official statement f the policy of containment |
Deterrence | showing strength to deter or prevent an enemy from atacking |
H-Bomb | new more powerful nuclear weapon developed by both the US and USSR |
Iron Curtain | term coined by Churchill for the communist countries in E. Europe indirectly controlled by the USSR |
NATO | Allies of the USA in the cold war. Mainly included W. Europe and Canada |
Warsaw Pact | allies of the USSR in the cold war. Mainly included Iron Curtain countries |
Chiang Kai Shek | Leader of the Nationalists in China |
Koumintang | Nationalist ruling party in China. |
Mao Zedong | leader of the communists in China, ist leader of the People's Republic of China |
Taiwan | Island off of the coast of China that the nationalists fled to after the Chinese Civil War |
Chinese Civil War | 1946-1949 conflict between communists and nationalists for control of China. The communists controlled the mainland while the Nationalists controlled Taiwan. |
Indochina | French colony in SE Asia containing Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia |
Ho Chi Minh | Communist leader in Vietnam, led Vietnam to independence from France. |
Nikita Khrushchev | Leader of USSR after Stalin. He "de-Stalinized" Russia and was leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis. |
John F. Kennedy | US president during Cuban Missile Crisis |
Fidel Castro | Communist dictator of Cuba |
Cuban Missile Crisis | conflict between the USA and USSR over soviet missiles placed in Cuba |
Korean War | Cold War conflict between communist N. Korea and non-commmunist S. Korea |
DMZ | border that divides N. Korea and S. Korea today |
Vietnam War | conflict between communist N. Vietnam and non communist US supported S. Vietnam. |
Viet Cong | the communists in S. Vietnam that resisted the government and US forces |
Berlin Airlift | US decision to airlift supplies to Soviet blockaded W. Berlin |
Berlin Wall | Barrier built by the communists that prevented communist E. Berliners from entering capitalist W. Berlin. |
Mikhail Gorbachev | leader of Communist USSR from 1985-1991. He tried to reform the communist system and ended up bringing it down. |
Boris Yeltsin | Firt democratically elected President of Russia, following the collapse of the USSR |