Vocabulary
This U.S. foreign policy strategy, first outlined by George Kennan, aimed to prevent the spread of communism during the Cold War by countering Soviet influence around the world.
Policy of containment
This Cuban revolutionary led the 1959 overthrow of Batista’s regime, aligned with the Soviet Union, and played a central role in Cold War events like the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Fidel Castro
This 1968 military campaign, launched by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces during the lunar New Year (Tet), marked a turning point in the Vietnam War by shocking the U.S. public and significantly eroding support for the war effort.
Tet Offensive
This Cold War theory suggested that if one country in a region fell to communism, neighboring countries would likely follow, like a row of falling dominoes.
Domino Theory
This 1957 Soviet achievement, the launch of the first artificial satellite, marked the beginning of the Cold War competition between the U.S. and the USSR to dominate space exploration.
Launch of Sputnik I
Held in July 1945, this conference brought together leaders Truman, Churchill (later Attlee), and Stalin to negotiate terms for the end of World War II, including the administration of defeated Germany and demands for Japan’s surrender.
Potsdam Conference
As U.S. President at the start of the Cold War, he introduced a doctrine aimed at containing communism and led efforts like the Marshall Plan and the formation of NATO.
Harry S. Truman
In 1948-1949, the Soviet Union initiated this blockade, cutting off all land access to West Berlin in an attempt to force the Allies out, leading to the famous Berlin Airlift.
Berlin Blockade
This Cold War strategy, associated with U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, involved pushing dangerous situations to the edge of conflict, with the hope that the opposing side would back down.
Brinkmanship
This Soviet cosmonaut became the first woman to travel into space in 1963, orbiting Earth aboard Vostok 6.
Valentina Tereshkova
This failed 1961 U.S.-backed invasion of Cuba by exiles aimed to overthrow Fidel Castro but instead strengthened his position and embarrassed the Kennedy administration.
Bay of Pigs Invasion
This U.S. Air Force pilot became famous during the Berlin Airlift for dropping candy to German children, earning him the nickname “Uncle Wiggle Wings.”
Gail Halvorsen
This 1950-1953 conflict between North and South Korea saw the involvement of the United States and China, ending in an armistice that created a demilitarized zone along the 38th parallel.
Korean War
Passed in 1964, this U.S. congressional resolution gave President Lyndon B. Johnson broad authority to escalate American military involvement in Vietnam following reported attacks on U.S. ships.
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
This Soviet cosmonaut became the first human to journey into outer space, orbiting Earth on April 12, 1961, aboard Vostok 1.
Yuri Gagarin
This term, popularized by Winston Churchill in a 1946 speech, described the ideological and physical division between Western Europe and the Soviet-controlled East during the Cold War.
Iron Curtain
This Vietnamese communist leader fought for independence from France and later led North Vietnam during the Vietnam War against the United States and South Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh
In October 1962, this 13-day standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union brought the world to the brink of nuclear war after the discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
This U.S. congressional committee, active from the 1930s to the 1970s, investigated suspected communist influences in government, entertainment, and other sectors, often leading to blacklisting and public hearings.
HUAC (House Un American Activities)
Launched in 1958, this was the first successful U.S. satellite, which helped confirm the existence of the Van Allen radiation belts.
Explorer I
This 1969 NASA mission successfully landed the first humans on the Moon, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin taking the historic steps.
Apollo 11
This U.S. Senator became infamous in the early 1950s for accusing numerous government officials and public figures of being communists, a period that became known as McCarthyism.
Joseph McCarthy
This conflict, lasting from 1955 to 1975, saw the United States' involvement in an effort to prevent the spread of communism in Southeast Asia, ultimately resulting in the fall of Saigon and the reunification of Vietnam under communist rule.
Vietnam War
This policy of easing tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, particularly during the 1970s, led to several key agreements, including the SALT treaties and improved diplomatic relations.
Detente
On July 20, 1969, this astronaut became the first person to set foot on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission.
Neil Armstrong