Vocabulary and Terms
These two terms refer to the openness and the restructuring of the Soviet Union pushed by Mikhail Gorbachev...and led to its eventual death.
What are perestroika and glasnost?
The first major conflict between communism and democracy, this war was fought in the 1950s and it never officially ended, with the country being split in two today
What is the Korean War?
The dictator of the Soviet Union in the early Cold War who was known for the Great Purge: he believed Europe should be mostly communist after WWII
Who was Joseph Stalin?
This satellite was launched on October 4th, 1947, and it led to a Space Race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that ended when we landed a man on the moon.
What is Sputnik?
Vladimir Lenin made the Soviet Union believe in this ideology
What is communism?
This term is the act of holding something in place, or in this case, preventing communism from spreading
What is containment?
90 miles off the coast of Florida, this island nation led by Fidel Castro believed in communism and hosted Soviet nuclear missiles to the chagrin of the United States and the American people, leading to this event.
What is Cuba/the Cuban Missile Crisis?
The prime minister of the U.K./Great Britain during WWII and the beginning of the Cold War, he said that an "iron curtain had descended across Europe"
Who was Winston Churchill?
The United States fought a war of containment in this southeast asian country, but it went on for years and they eventually pulled out.
"It ain't me, it ain't me...I ain't no senator's son no!!"
What is the Vietnam War?
The United States uses this economic system and it is the opposite of communism
What is capitalism?
This term refers to the time period between 1969 and 1979 when tension between the Soviet Union and the United States relaxed. Despite what Edwin said, the word is French.
What is detente?
In 1947, this policy was created to fight against communism and spread democracy throughout the world.
What is the Truman Doctrine?
The President of the United States who made a plan to contain communism in the world and dropped the atomic bombs on Japan
Who was Harry S. Truman?
The United States and Russia got into this and built thousands of nuclear bombs, missiles, and weapons as a result
What is the Arms Race?
These were the two alliances made by the West and the East
What were NATO (the West) and the Warsaw Pact (the East)?
In the event of a nuclear war, this term refers to the madness and destruction that would be guaranteed if both sides decided to nuke each other. Which is why they did not.
What is Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)?
In an effort to contain communism, in 1947 we spent billions of dollars in today's money on this plan to rebuild Europe to contain communism
What is the Marshall Plan?
The leader of the Soviet Union who was responsible for glasnost and perestroika
Bonus: Name his rival who hated communism (+100)
Who was Mikhail Gorbachev?
(Bonus: Ronald Reagan)
The destruction of this wall, along with glasnost and perestroika, were the kiss of death for communism in Europe and the Soviet Union
What is the Fall of the Berlin Wall?
The United States believes in this political ideology
What is democracy?
This theory was the belief that if one country fell to communism, others would.
What is Domino Theory?
The Soviet Union invaded this nation in Asia and fought against the mujahideen, who were supported by the United States and Pakistan; it is a successful example of containment.
What is Afghanistan/the Soviet-Afghan War?
This American President and Soviet Premier negotiated peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis
Who are JFK and Nikita Kruschev?
This operation in the Early Cold War relieved West Berlin from a Soviet Blockade. It took over 200,000 flights, delivering more than 2 million tons of supplies to help West Berlin.
What was the Berlin Airlift?
The Soviet Union has this type of economy
What is a command economy?