KEY EVENTS
This 1962 event was the closest the world came to nuclear war, involving a tense standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union over missiles in Cuba.
What is the Cuban Missile Crisis?
He was the leader of the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Who is Nikita Khrushchev?
This ideology promotes a classless society and was the foundational philosophy of the Soviet Union.
What is communism?
This alliance, formed in 1949, was a military pact among Western nations to counter Soviet aggression.
What is NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)?
This 1960s space race milestone saw the first human set foot on the moon.
What is the Apollo 11 mission?
This plan was an American initiative to aid Western Europe, in which the U.S. gave over $12 billion to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II.
What is the Marshall Plan?
This U.S. president delivered the famous "Tear down this wall!" speech in Berlin in 1987.
Who is Ronald Reagan?
This economic and political ideology emphasizes free markets and individual liberties, and was championed by the United States during the Cold War.
What is capitalism?
This was the Eastern Bloc's response to NATO, established as a collective defense treaty among Soviet-aligned countries.
What is the Warsaw Pact?
This term describes the American effort to prevent Soviet influence in space and technological superiority.
What is the space race?
The division of this European city after World War II became a symbol of Cold War tensions and remained divided until 1989.
What is Berlin?
As the leader of the Soviet Union, he implemented policies of glasnost and perestroika in the 1980s.
Who is Mikhail Gorbachev?
This term describes the practice of preventing the spread of communism through diplomatic, military, and economic means.
What is containment?
This Southeast Asian country was divided into communist North and anti-communist South, leading to a prolonged war involving the U.S.
What is Vietnam?
This iconic speech at the Berlin Wall included the phrase "Ich bin ein Berliner."
What is John F. Kennedy's speech?
This war in an Asian country from 1950-1953 involved a conflict between communist and non-communist forces, with significant involvement from the United States and China.
What is the Korean War?
This British Prime Minister was known for her strong opposition to communism and close relationship with Ronald Reagan.
Who is Margaret Thatcher?
This term refers to the fear and persecution of suspected communists in the United States during the early years of the Cold War.
What is McCarthyism?
This crisis in 1948-1949 involved a Soviet blockade of a major German city, which was overcome by a Western airlift.
What is the Berlin Blockade?
This movement, characterized by protests and anti-establishment sentiments, grew in the U.S. during the Vietnam War.
What is the counterculture movement?
This policy, initiated by President Harry Truman, aimed to contain the spread of communism worldwide.
What is the Truman Doctrine?
The first leader of communist China, he played a major role in the Korean War against UN forces.
Who is Mao Zedong?
This is the term for the political and military tension between the Eastern Bloc and Western powers, symbolized by the rivalry between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
What is the Cold War?
This island nation, just 90 miles from the U.S., became a communist state in 1959 under Fidel Castro.
What is Cuba?
This genre of film and literature often depicted espionage and the threat of nuclear war during the Cold War.
What is spy fiction?