Cold War
What was it?
Tense relationship between the United States (and its allies) and the Soviet Union (and its allies) between the end of WWII and the demise of the Soviet Union. The two sides never directly clashed in battle.
Iron Curtain
National barrier separating former Soviet Bloc and the West prior to the decline of communism that followed the political events in eastern Europe in 1989
Truman Doctrine
Principle that the U.S. should give support to countries or peoples threatened by Soviet forces or Communist insurrection.
Berlin Airlift
British and American aircraft operation to airlift food and supplies to Berlin in 1948-9, while Russian forces blockaded the city to isolate it from the West and terminate the joint Allied military gov. of the city
Containment
Foreign policy developed by diplomat George Kennan that claimed that the only way to stop Russia was to contain irt.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Compromised the 12 nations of the Atlantic Pact together with Greece, Turkey, and the Federal Republic of Germany, for the purpose of collective defense against aggression
Marshall Plan
American initiative to aid Europe, in which the United States gave $17 billion in economic support to help rebuild European economies after the end of WWII in order to prevent the spread of Soviet Communism
Korean War
Fought in the early 1500s between the United Nations, supported by the United States, and the communist Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Unsuccessful invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles, supported by the U.S. gov. on April 17, 196, an armed force of about 1,500 Cuban exiles landed in the Bahia de Cochinos on the south coast of Cuba.
McCarthyism
Term for making ruthless and unfair charges against opponents
Space Race
The competition between nations regarding achievements in the field of space exploration
U-2 Incident
A United States U-2 Spy plane was shot down over the airspace if the Soviet Union
Eisenhower Doctrine
Middle Eastern country could request American economic assistance or aid from U.S. military forces if it was being threatened by armed aggression from another state.
Brinkmanship
The act of pushing a situation to the verge of war in order to threaten and encourage one's opponent to back down.
Cuban Missle Crisis
Confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1962 over the presence of missile sites in Cuba