Vocab


Cold War: the
ideological conflict
between the United
States and the Union
of Soviet Socialist
Republics during the
second half of the
20th century
Iron Curtain: Name
given the line that
separated Western
(Free) Europe and
Soviet controlled
communist East
Europe


Superpower: an
extremely powerful
nation
Sphere of Influence:
an area not within its
own borders where
the interest of one
large nation are
considered to be
supreme.


Communism: a final
stage of society in
Marxist theory in
which the state has
withered away and
economic goods are
distributed equitably
Domino Theory: a
theory that if one
nation becomes
Communist-controlled
the neighboring
nations will also
become Communistcontrolled


Satellite Nation: a
country that is
dominated politically
and economically by
another nation.
Berlin Airlift: a 327day operation in which
U.S and British planes
flew food and supplies
into West Berlin after
the Soviets blockaded
the city in 1948.

Containment: the
blocking of another
nation’s attempt to
spread its influence,
especially the efforts
of the United States
to block the spread of
Soviet influence
during the late 1940s
and early 1950s.

North Atlantic Treaty
Organization
(NATO): a defensive
military alliance
formed in 1949 by ten
Western European
countries, the United
States, and Canada


Ballistic Missile: a
rocket-powered
object, often carrying
a nuclear warhead,
which is shot into the
air and hits its
ground target after a
free fall.
Collective Security: a
system of
maintaining world
peace and security by
concerted action on
the part of the
nations of the world


Blacklist: a list of
about 500 actors,
writers, producers,
and directors who
were not allowed to
work on Hollywood
films because of their
alleged Communist
connections.
Subversives: people
who work secretly
inside a country to
overthrow the
government.


United Nations: an
international
peacekeeping
organization to which
most nations in the
world belong,
founded in 1945 to
promote world peace,
security, and
economic
development.
Stalemate: a drawn
contest: deadlock.


Limited War:
President Truman’s
plan to keep the
Korean War on the
Korean Peninsula,
rather than enlarging
it by attacking China
or using nuclear
weapons.
Brinkmanship: the
practice of
threatening an enemy
with massive military
retaliation for any
aggression.


Berlin Wall: a concrete
wall that separated East
Berlin and West Berlin
from 1961 to 1989, built
by the Communist East
German government to
prevent its citizens
from fleeing to the
West.
Hotline: a
communication link
established in 1963 to
allow the leaders of the
United States and the
Soviet Union to contact
each other in times of
crisis.

Peaceful Coexistence:
competition without
war, or a policy of
peace between
nations of widely
differing political
systems and
ideologies, especially
between Communist
and non-Communist
nations

Détente: the flexible
policy, involving a
willingness to negotiate
and an easing of tensions
that was adopted by
President Richard Nixon
and his adviser Henry
Kissinger in their dealings
with communist nations.



SALT 1 Treaty: a five-year
agreement between the
United States and the
Soviet Union, signed in
1972 that limited the
nations’ numbers of
intercontinental ballistic
missiles and submarinelaunched missiles.
Glastnost: the open
discussion of social
problems that was
permitted in the
Soviet Union in the
1980s.
Perestroika: the
restructuring of the
economy and the
government
instituted in the
Soviet Union in the
1980s.