The Cold War – Chapters 33 and 35
United Nations - an international peacekeeping organization founded in 1945 to provide
security to the nations of the world.
“Iron Curtain” - During the Cold War, a boundary separating the Communist nations of
Eastern Europe from the mostly democratic nations Western Europe.
containment - U.S. foreign policy adopted by Harry Truman in which the United States tried
to stop the spread of communism.
Truman Doctrine - U.S. policy of giving economic and military aid to free nations
threatened by internal or external opponents, often to prevent
communist takeover.
Marshall Plan - A U.S. program of economic aid to European countries to help them rebuild
after WWII
Cold War - The state of diplomatic hostility between the United States and Soviet Union in
the decades following WWII
NATO - A defensive military alliance formed in 1949 by ten Western European nations, the
U.S. and Canada. (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
Warsaw Pact - A military alliance formed in 1955 by the Soviet Union and several Eastern
European countries.
brinkmanship - The policy of threatening to go to war in response to enemy aggression
Nonaligned nations - Independent countries that remained neutral in the Cold War
competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
Détente - The policy of reducing Cold War tensions that was adopted by the United States
during the presidency of Richard Nixon.
Mihail Gorbachev - Soviet leader who promoted democratic reforms in an effort to save the
Soviet Union.
glasnost - A Soviet policy of openness to the free flow of ideas and information, introduced
by Mikhail Gorbachev
perestroika - A restructuring of the Soviet economy to permit more local decision-making,
begun by Mikhail Gorbachev