World Civilizations
Cold War
1. Cold War- The continuing state of political
conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic
competition existing after World War II (1939–
1945) between the Communist World – primarily
the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies –
and the powers of the Western world, primarily the
United States and its allies. Although the primary
participants' military force never officially clashed
directly, they expressed the conflict through
military coalitions, strategic conventional force
deployments, extensive aid to states deemed
vulnerable, proxy wars, espionage, propaganda,
conventional and nuclear arms races, appeals to
neutral nations, rivalry at sports events, and
technological competitions such as the Space Race
2. Yalta Conference- Was the February 4–11, 1945
wartime meeting of the heads of government of the
United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet
Union—(Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin)
respectively—for the purpose of discussing Europe's
post-war reorganization. Mainly, it was intended to
discuss the re-establishment of the nations of wartorn Europe.--- Agreement to the priority of the
unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany- After
the war, Germany and Berlin would be split into
four occupied zones-- Germany would undergo
demilitarization and denazification
3. The Potsdam Conference- July 16 to August 2,
1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the
United Kingdom, and the United States. The three
nations were represented by Stalin, (Churchill and,
later, Clement Attlee), and Truman.—Things that
had changed since Yalta1. The Soviet Union was occupying Central and
Eastern Europe
2. Britain had a new Prime Minister
3. America had a new President, and the war was
ending
4. The US had tested an atomic bomb
Agreements were then made finalizing German
Occupation and Poland’s Future. Following heated
altercations between Western Powers and USSR,
foreshadowing of the Cold War became apparent
4. Stalin believed that the people of Eastern Europe
could have democracy, only after they had been
taught Socialist Principles
5. Five-Year Plans for the National Economy of the
Soviet Union-- A series of nation-wide centralized
exercises in rapid economic development in the
Soviet Union-- Each five-year plan dealt with all
aspects of development: capital goods (those used to
produce other goods, like coal, iron, and
machinery), consumer goods (e.g. chairs, carpets,
and irons), agriculture, transportation,
communications, health, education, and welfare.
However, the emphasis varied from plan to plan,
although generally the emphasis was on power
(electricity), capital goods, and agriculture
6. The Theory of Productive Forces- Is a widelyused concept in communism and Marxism placing
primary emphasis on technical advances and
strong productive forces in a nominally socialist
economy before real communism, or even real
socialism, can have a hope of being achieved--In
this view, actual socialism or communism, being
based on the "redistribution of wealth" to the most
oppressed sectors of society, cannot come to pass
until that society's wealth is built up enough to
satisfy whole populations.
7. United Nations- An international organization
whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in
international law, international security, economic
development, social progress, human rights, and
achievement of world peace. The UN was founded
in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of
Nations, to stop wars between countries, and to
provide a platform for dialogue.
8. The Security Council of the United Nations- is
managed by the 5 Permanent Members- United
States, Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and
China-Each has veto power- The power to stop an
action with one vote
9. Truman Doctrine- Stated that the U.S. would
support countries with economic and military aid to
prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere.
Truman stated the Doctrine would be "the policy of
the United States to support free peoples who are
resisting attempted subjugation by armed
minorities or by outside pressures." Truman
reasoned, because these "totalitarian regimes"
coerced "free peoples," they represented a threat to
international peace and the national security of the
United States
10. Containment-Was a United States policy using
military, economic, and diplomatic strategies to
stall the spread of communism, enhance America’s
security and influence abroad, and prevent a
"domino effect". A component of the Cold War, this
policy was a response to a series of moves by the
Soviet Union to expand communist influence in
Eastern Europe, China, Korea, and Vietnam.
11. National Security Act of 1947- Realigned and
reorganized the U.S. Armed Forces, foreign policy,
and Intelligence Community apparatus in the
aftermath of World War II. The Senate confirmed
James Forrestal as the first Secretary of Defense.
An amendment to the act in 1949, create what was
to be the Department of Defense. The Act merged
the Department of War and the Department of the
Navy into the National Military Establishment,
headed by the Secretary of Defense. It was also
responsible for the creation of a Department of the
Air Force separate from the existing Army Air
Forces. The act established the National Security
Council, a central place of coordination for national
security policy in the executive branch, and the
Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S.'s first
peacetime intelligence agency. The function of the
council was to advise the president on domestic,
foreign, and military policies so that they may
cooperate more tightly and efficiently.
12. Marshall Plan- The large-scale economic
program, 1947–1951 of the United States for
rebuilding and creating a stronger economic
foundation for the countries of Europe. The plan
looked to the future, and did not focus on the
destruction caused by the war. Much more
important were efforts to modernize European
industrial and business practices using highefficiency American models, reduce artificial trade
barriers, and instill a sense of hope and selfreliance
13. The Molotov Plan- The system created by the
Soviet Union in 1947 in order to provide aid to
rebuild the countries in Eastern Europe that were
politically and economically aligned to the Soviet
Union. It can be seen to be the USSR's version of
the Marshall Plan.
14. Comintern (1919–1943) - was an international
communist organization founded in Moscow in
March 1919. The International intended to fight
"by all available means, including armed force, for
the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and
for the creation of an international Soviet republic
as a transition stage to the complete abolition of
the State
15. Cominform 1947-1956- A Soviet-dominated
organization of Communist parties founded in
September 1947 at a conference of Communist
party leaders- Soviet leader Joseph Stalin called
the conference in response to divergences among
eastern European governments on whether or not
to attend the Paris Conference on Marshall Aid in
July 1947. It was the first official forum of the
international communist movement since the
dissolution of the Comintern, and confirmed the
new realities after World War II - including the
creation of an Eastern Bloc
16. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 1949- 12 Members- It was a military alliance of
democratic countries. If one nation was attacked
the other nations would unite with action against
the aggressor--The Western European powers
relied on the massive nuclear arsenal of the United
States to deter a Soviet ground invasion.
Eventually NATO technology rendered the power of
Soviet Union’s ground forces irrelevant.
17. Warsaw Pact- - Communist agreement that
ensured safety of members. It was a response to a
similar treaty made by the Western Allies in 1949
(the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO)
as well as the re-militarization of West Germany in
1954, both of which posed a potential threat to the
Eastern countries--Although it was stressed by all
that the Warsaw Treaty was based on total
equality of each nation and mutual noninterference in one another's internal affairs, the
Pact quickly became a powerful political tool for the
Soviet Union to hold sway over its allies and
harness the powers of their combined military
18. The Eastern Bloc- Refers to the former
communist states of Eastern and Central Europe,
especially the Soviet Union and its satellites in the
Warsaw Pact. The terms Communist Bloc and
Soviet Bloc are also used to denote the regimes
aligned with the former Soviet Union, although
these terms may be used to imply the inclusion of
regimes in the Soviet sphere of influence outside
Central and Eastern Europe. Authoritarian
communist governments were initially installed in
a bloc politics process that included extensive
political and media controls, along with the Soviet
approach to restricting emigration.
19. Market Economy- Economy based on capitalism
principles performed by democratic allies- It is an
economy in which the prices of goods and services
are determined in a free price system. This is often
contrasted with a fixed price system--Market
economies can range from hypothetically pure
laissez-faire variants to an assortment of real-world
mixed economies, where the price system is under
some government control or heavily regulated. The
state-led economic planning is not extensive
enough to be labeled a planned economy.
20. Command Economy- In such economies, central
economic planning by the state or government
controls all major sectors of the economy and
formulates all decisions about the use of resources
and the distribution of output. Planners decide
what should be produced and direct lower-level
enterprises to produce those goods in accordance
with national and social objectives.
21. In 1947 and 1948- The French, British, and
American occupation zones in Germany were
combined to make West Germany
22. Berlin Blockade- During the multinational
occupation of post-World War II Germany, the
Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway
and road access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied
control. Their aim was to force the western powers
to allow the Soviet zone to start supplying Berlin
with food and fuel, thereby giving the Soviets
practical control over the entire city
23. Berlin Airlifts- 1948–49, supply of vital
necessities to West Berlin by air transport
primarily under U.S. support. It was initiated in
response to a land and water blockade of the city
that had been instituted by the Soviet Union in the
hope that the Allies would be forced to abandon
West Berlin. The massive effort to supply the 2
million West Berliners with food and fuel for
heating began in June, 1948, and lasted until Sept.,
1949, although the Russians lifted the blockade in
May of that year. More than 2 million tons of
goods—of which coal accounted for about two
thirds—were delivered.
24 The Berlin Crisis of 1961--Was the last major
politico-military European incident of the Cold War
about the occupational status of the German
capital city, Berlin, and of post–World War II
Germany. The U.S.S.R. provoked the Berlin Crisis
with an ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of
Western armed forces from West Berlin —
culminating with the city's de facto partition with
the East German erection of the Berlin Wall. After
the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe at the end
of World War II, many of those living in the newly
acquired areas of the Eastern Bloc aspired to
independence and wanted the Soviets to leave.
Between 1945 and 1950, over 15 million people
emigrated from Soviet-occupied eastern European
countries to the West.
25. European Economic Community- Abolition of
tariffs and import quotas- British was not in group
26. Satellite Countries- A political term that refers
to a country that is formally independent, but
under heavy political and economic influence or
control by another country. It is used mainly to
refer to Central and Eastern European countries of
the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War--Though the
Soviet Union was not ruled by an emperor and
declared itself anti-imperialist, critics argue that it
exhibited certain tendencies common to historic
empires. Most scholars hold that the Soviet Union
was a hybrid entity containing elements common to
both multinational empires and modernizing
nation states.
27. Proxy War- A war that results when opposing
powers use third parties as substitutes for fighting
each other directly. While powers have sometimes
used governments as proxies, violent non-state
actors, mercenaries, or other third parties are more
often employed. It is hoped that these groups can
strike an opponent without leading to full-scale
war.
28. De-Stalinization-Refers to the process of
eliminating the cult of personality, Stalinist
political system and the Gulag-based economy
created by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin- Stalin was
succeeded by a collective leadership after his death
in March 1953. De-Stalinization spelled an end to
the role of large-scale forced labor in the economy.
Nikita Khrushchev emerges as the most powerful
Soviet politician.
29. Gaither Report- The report of the Security
Resources Panel of the President's Science Advisory
Committee, presented to President Eisenhower on
November 7, 1957. While the president had asked
for an evaluation of fall out and blast shelters, the
opening page of the report stated that their purpose
was to “form a broad-brush opinion of the relative
value of various active and passive measures to
protect the civilian populations in case of nuclear
attack and its aftermath.” This look at active
protective measures relegated shelters to a
secondary position in a report now concentrated on
nuclear deterrence. The rationale for this can be
found in their assumption that the Soviet Union,
with its expedient development of military
technology, had already exceeded the technical
achievements made by the U.S.
30. McCarthyism- The practice of making
accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason
without proper regard for evidence-- The term has
its origins in the period in the United States known
as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the
late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by
heightened fears of communist influence on
American institutions and espionage by Soviet
agents. Originally coined to criticize the anticommunist pursuits of U.S. Senator Joseph
McCarthy, "McCarthyism" soon took on a broader
meaning, describing the excesses of similar efforts.
31. Korean War- 1950–1953- Was a military
conflict between the Republic of Korea, supported
by the United Nations, and the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea, supported by the People's
Republic of China (PRC), with military material aid
from the Soviet Union. In 1953, the war ceased
with an armistice that restored the border between
the Koreas near the 38th Parallel and created the
Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a 2.5-mile (4.0
km) wide buffer zone between the two Koreas.
32. The Cuban Missile Crisis- As a confrontation
among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United
States in October 1962, during the Cold War. In
September 1962, after some unsuccessful
operations by the U.S. to overthrow the Cuban
regime, the Cuban and Soviet governments began
to secretly build bases in Cuba for a number of
medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic
nuclear missiles with the ability to strike most of
the continental United States-- After much
deliberation between the Soviet Union and
Kennedy's cabinet, Kennedy secretly agreed to
remove all missiles set in southern Italy and in
Turkey, the latter on the border of the Soviet
Union, in exchange for Khrushchev removing all
missiles in Cuba.
33. Vietnam War-A Cold War military conflict that
occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from
November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on April 1975
and takeover of the country by the North
Vietnamese-This war followed the First Indochina
War and was fought between North Vietnam,
supported by its communist allies, and the
government of South Vietnam, supported by the
U.S. and other anti-communist nations--The U.S.
government viewed involvement in the war as a
way to prevent a communist takeover of South
Vietnam and part of their wider strategy of
containment
34. Tet Offensive-A military campaign during the
Vietnam War--The purpose of the offensive was to
strike military and civilian command and control
centers throughout South Vietnam and to spark a
general uprising among the population that would
then topple the South Vietnamese government,
thus ending the war in a single blow--Although the
offensive was a military defeat for the communists,
it had a profound effect on the US government and
shocked the US public, which had been led to
believe by its political and military leaders that the
communists were, due to previous defeats,
incapable of launching such a massive effort.
35. Vietnamization- A policy of the Richard M.
Nixon administration, as a result of Tet Offensive,
to "expand, equip, and train South Vietnam's forces
and assign to them an ever-increasing combat role,
at the same time steadily reducing the number of
U.S. combat troops."—Eventually all American
troops are brought home, leading to the North
Vietnamese (Communist) control of the country.
36. The Brezhnev Doctrine- Was a Soviet Union
foreign policy which stated that “When forces that
are hostile to socialism try to turn the development
of some socialist country towards capitalism, it
becomes not only a problem of the country
concerned, but a common problem and concern of
all socialist countries." In practice, the policy meant
that limited independence of communist parties
was allowed. However, no country would be allowed
to leave the Warsaw Pact, disturb a nation's
communist party's monopoly on power, or in any
way compromise the cohesiveness of the Eastern
bloc. Implicit in this doctrine was that the
leadership of the Soviet Union reserved, for itself,
the right to define "socialism" and "capitalism".
37. The Reagan Doctrine- A strategy orchestrated
and implemented by the United States under the
Reagan Administration to oppose the global
influence of the Soviet Union during the final years
of the Cold War. While the doctrine lasted less than
a decade, it was the centerpiece of United States
foreign policy from the early 1980s until the end of
the Cold War in 1991. It held that the Soviet Union
was overextended globally, beginning to face major
opposition at home and abroad and that even one
high-profile victory for these anti-communist forces
was likely to expose these vulnerabilities, inspiring
democratic rebellion against Soviet-supported
governments around the world and within the
Soviet Union itself
38. Rollback- Is the strategy of forcing change in
the major policies of a state, usually by replacing
its ruling regime. It contrasts with containment,
which means preventing the expansion of that
state; and with compromise, which means a
working relationship with that state--- Along with
the Reagan doctrine; it provided overt and covert
aid to anti-communist guerrillas and resistance
movements in an effort to "rollback" Soviet-backed
communist governments in Africa, Asia and Latin
America. It was designed to serve the dual
purposes of diminishing Soviet influence in these
regions, while also potentially opening the door for
capitalism (and sometimes liberal democracy) in
nations that were largely being governed by Sovietsupported socialist governments
39. Soviet War in Afghanistan- was a nine-year
conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the
Marxist-Leninist puppet government of the
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the
indigenous Afghan Mujahedeen and foreign "Arab–
Afghan" volunteers—Eventually the Soviet Army
leaves Afghanistan realizes it is a lost cause.
40. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)- was
created by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March
23, 1983 to use ground and space-based systems to
protect the United States from attack by strategic
nuclear ballistic missiles. The initiative focused on
strategic defense rather than the prior strategic
offense doctrine of mutual assured destruction
(MAD). The ambitious initiative was "widely
criticized as being unrealistic, even unscientific" as
well as for threatening to destabilize MAD and reignite "an offensive arms race".
41. Operation RYAN-The purpose of the operation
was to collect intelligence on potential contingency
plans of the Reagan administration to launch a
nuclear first strike against the Soviet Union-RYAN
took on a new significance after the announcement
of plans to deploy Pershing II nuclear-capable
missiles to West Germany-The level of concern
reached its peak after the Soviets shot down KAL
007, and during the NATO Exercise Able Archer
83. The Soviet Union believed that a United States
first strike on the Soviet Union was imminent
42. Korean Air Lines Flight 007- Was a Korean Air
Lines civilian airliner that was shot down by Soviet
interceptors on September 1, 1983-The Soviet
Union initially denied knowledge of the incident,
but later admitted shooting the aircraft down,
claiming that it was on a spy mission. The Soviets
said it was a deliberate provocation by the United
States, to test the Soviet Union's military
preparedness, or even to provoke a war. President
Ronald Reagan ordered the U.S. military to make
the developing Global Positioning System (GPS)
available for civilian use so that navigational errors
like that of KAL 007 could be averted in the future.
43. Able Archer 83-A ten-day NATO command post
exercise starting on November 2, 1983--Able Archer
exercises simulated a period of conflict escalation.
The 1983 exercise incorporated a new, unique
format of coded communication, radio silences,
participation by heads of government, and a
simulated DEFCON 1 nuclear alert. The realistic
nature of the 1983 exercise, coupled with
deteriorating relations between the United States
and the Soviet Union led some members of the
Soviet Union to believe that Able Archer 83 was a
ruse of war, obscuring preparations for a genuine
nuclear first strike. In response, the Soviets readied
their nuclear forces and placed air units in East
Germany and Poland on alert. This relatively
obscure incident is considered by many historians
to be the closest the world has come to nuclear war
since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962
44. Perestroika- Perestroika refers to major
changes initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev to the
structure and function of both political and
economic controls in the Soviet Union. Perestroika
allowed more independent actions from the various
ministries and introduced some market-like
reforms. The intention of perestroika, however, was
not to dismantle communism but rather to make
communism work more efficiently to better meet
the needs of Soviet consumers. The process of
implementing perestroika arguably aggravated
already existing political, social and economic
tensions within the Soviet Union and no doubt
helped to further nationalism among the
constituent republics. Perestroika and resistance to
it are often cited as major catalysts leading to the
breakup of the Soviet Union.
45. Glasnost-was the policy of maximal publicity,
openness, and transparency in the activities of all
government institutions in the Soviet Union,
together with freedom of information, introduced by
Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s.
The word "glasnost" was first used in Russia at the
end of 1850.The word was frequently used by
Gorbachev to specify the policies he believed might
help reduce the corruption at the top of the
Communist Party and the Soviet government, and
moderate the abuse of administrative power in the
Central Committee. It was an ordinary,
hardworking, nondescript word that was used to
refer to a process, any process of justice of
governance, being conducted in the open.
46. The Dissolution of the Soviet Union- was a
process of systematic disintegration, which
occurred in its economy, social structure and
political structure. Independence of the USSR's
republics followed on December 26, 1991. The
Soviet Union disintegrated into fifteen separate
countries. Its collapse was hailed by the west as a
victory for freedom, a triumph of democracy over
totalitarianism, and evidence of the superiority of
capitalism over socialism. The Cold War ends
because the Soviet Union can no longer maintain
economic stability because of military spending.
List and Explain three actions taken by both the
democratic and communistic countries to ensure
their ideals were secured following World War II.