Cold War Basics
A period of tension marked by ideological conflict between the U.S. and Soviet Union without direct fighting.
What is the Cold War?
The Korean War began when this country invaded South Korea.
What is North Korea?
This wall was built to stop East Germans from fleeing to the West.
What is the Berlin Wall?
The widespread fear of communism inside the United States.
What is the Red Scare?
The Soviet reform policy meaning “openness.”
What is glasnost?
The two main opposing ideologies of the Cold War were capitalism and communism.
What were the main ideologies of the Cold War?
The Korean War ended in this type of outcome, with no clear winner.
What is a stalemate?
A 13‑day standoff caused by Soviet missiles placed in Cuba.
What is the Cuban Missile Crisis?
The senator most associated with accusing Americans of being communists.
Who is Joseph McCarthy?
This policy focused on economic restructuring in the Soviet Union.
What is perestroika?
This theory suggested that if one country became communist, nearby countries would follow.
What is the domino theory?
This action by North Vietnam and the Viet Cong shocked Americans in 1968.
What is the Tet Offensive?
The dangerous practice of pushing a conflict to the edge of war.
What is brinkmanship?
This group was targeted during the Lavender Scare.
Who were LGBTQ Americans?
The Soviet leader who introduced glasnost and perestroika.
Who is Mikhail Gorbachev?
A key characteristic of the Cold War involving indirect fighting through other countries.
What is a proxy war?
A deadly chemical used by the U.S. in Vietnam that caused long-term environmental and health damage.
What is Agent Orange?
This secret government study revealed U.S. deception about Vietnam.
What are the Pentagon Papers?
These methods were used to spread fear and influence opinions during the Cold War.
What is propaganda?
The 1989 event that symbolized the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.
What is the fall of the Berlin Wall?
A strategy relying on both sides having the power to completely destroy each other with nuclear weapons.
What is Mutual Assured Destruction?
This policy aimed to gradually turn the Vietnam War over to South Vietnamese forces.
What is Vietnamization?
The massacre where U.S. soldiers killed unarmed Vietnamese civilians.
What is the My Lai Massacre?
A tragic 1970 incident where National Guard troops killed protesting students.
What is Kent State?
The event in 1991 that officially ended the Cold War.
What is the collapse of the Soviet Union?