Documents
The U.S. policy of allowing Communism to exist where it is, but not letting it expand
What is Containment?
This 1962 event involved a naval blockade and brought the U.S. and USSR to the brink of nuclear war.
What is the Cuban Missile Crisis?
The drill practiced by American students to prepare for a potential nuclear attack.
What is Duck and Cover?
He took over as President after FDR died and made the decision to use atomic bombs on Japan.
Who is Harry S. Truman?
This physical structure was torn down in 1989, symbolizing the coming end of the Cold War.
What is the Berlin Wall?
This organization was formed by Western European nations and the U.S. for mutual defense.
What is NATO?
The U.S. dropped supplies to a German city for 10 months after the Soviets blocked all entrances.
What is the Berlin Airlift?
The name for the "witch hunt" led by a U.S. Senator who claimed government officials were communists.
What is McCarthyism?
The British leader who coined the term "Iron Curtain."
Who is Winston Churchill?
President Reagan’s proposed missile defense system, nicknamed "Star Wars."
What is the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)?
The communist response to NATO, consisting of the USSR and its satellite states.
Warsaw Pact?
This theory suggested that if one country in SE Asia fell to communism, the rest would follow.
What is the Domino Theory?
This couple was executed for passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union.
Who are Ethel and Julius Rosenberg?
U.S. President who encouraged the Detente policy.
Who is Richard Nixon.
This term refers to the policy of increased "openness" and transparency in Soviet society.
What is Glasnost?
This plan provided billions in financial aid to help Western Europe rebuild after WWII.
What is the Marshall Plan?
This 1968 military campaign in Vietnam led many Americans to believe the war was unwinnable.
What is the Tet Offensive?
This law limited 1st Amendment rights by requiring communist groups to register with the government.
What is the McCarran Act?
The Soviet leader who worked with the U.S. to end the Cold War in the late 1980s.
Who is Mikhail Gorbachev?
This Soviet policy involved "restructuring" the economy to make it more efficient.
What is Perestroika?
This doctrine extended U.S. aid specifically to the Middle East to prevent communist influence.
Eisenhower Doctrine?
The failed attempt by the JFK administration to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba.
What is the Bay of Pigs?
This U.S. organization was responsible for educating the public on surviving nuclear threats.
What is U.S. Civil Defense?
The pilot involved in the U2 Spy Plane Incident whose capture increased tensions between the powers.
Who is Francis Gary Powers?
The year the Soviet Union officially dissolved, marking the absolute end of the Cold War.