Decolonization
What is decolonization?
The process by which colonies gained independence from European powers after World War II.
This European country was divided during the Cold War into communist East and democratic West.
Germany
What is the Cold War?
The global ideological struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union after WWII.
Who was the Vietnamese communist leader fighting French and later U.S. influence?
Ho Chi Minh
What is the Cuban Missile Crisis?
The 1962 confrontation that brought the world closest to nuclear war.
What is India?
The South Asian country that gained independence from Britain in 1947 and later split into India and Pakistan.
This island nation became communist after a revolution led by Fidel Castro.
Cuba
What is the Korean War?
This war from 1950–1953 divided Korea into communist North and capitalist South.
This Soviet leader denounced Stalin’s policies and began a period known as de-Stalinization.
Nikita Khrushchev
What is Cuba?
Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean that became a communist state after the 1959 Cuban Revolution and allied with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
What is Ghana?
This African country became independent in 1957, the first in sub-Saharan Africa.
This Asian country rebuilt rapidly after WWII with strong support from the United States.
Japen
What is the Vietnam War?
This Southeast Asian conflict reflected U.S. containment policy against communism.
This U.S. president promoted containment and increased American involvement in Vietnam during the 1960s.
Lyndon B. Johnson
Why did the Soviet Union place missiles in Cuba?
To protect Cuba from U.S. invasion and to balance U.S. nuclear missiles already positioned near Soviet territory (especially in Turkey).
What is the Bandung Conference?
This 1960 meeting of African and Asian nations promoted cooperation and neutrality in global politics.
Under Mao Zedong, this country attempted rapid industrialization through the Great Leap Forward.
China
What are proxy wars?
Cold War conflicts fought indirectly through smaller nations are known by this term.
His reforms of glasnost and perestroika helped ease Cold War tensions but also weakened the Soviet Union.
Mikhail Gorbachev
How did the United States respond?
The U.S. imposed a naval blockade (called a “quarantine”) around Cuba and demanded removal of the missiles.
Who saved the world from the Cuban Missile Crisis.
vasily arkhipov the submarine officer
What is the European Economic Community (EEC)?
Western European countries strengthened recovery by forming this economic community that reduced trade barriers.
What is nuclear deterrence (or Mutually Assured Destruction)?
Fear of nuclear destruction between superpowers created this tense balance preventing direct war.
Who is Mao Zedong?
This Chinese leader launched the Cultural Revolution to restore revolutionary spirit and reassert control.
How was the crisis resolved?
The Soviets removed missiles from Cuba, and the U.S. secretly agreed to remove its missiles from Turkey and promised not to invade Cuba.