Containment & Early Policies
This was the primary U.S. foreign policy goal throughout the Cold War, aimed at stopping the spread of communism.
Containment
This is the geographic line that divided North and South Korea before and after the war.
38th Parallel
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched this, the world’s first man-made satellite, sparking panic in the U.S.
Sputnik
This U.S. Senator became famous for leading "witch hunts" to find suspected communists working in the government.
Joseph McCarthy
This structure was built in 1961 to prevent citizens of communist East Germany from fleeing to the democratic West.
Berlin Wall
This 1947 policy promised U.S. military and economic aid to any nation resisting a communist takeover, starting with Greece and Turkey.
Truman Doctrine
The Korean War began in 1950 when this side invaded the other in an attempt to unify the peninsula under communism.
North Korea
This is the competition between the U.S. and USSR to build more powerful and numerous nuclear weapons.
Arms Race
This congressional committee investigated suspected communist influence in the United States, famously targeting the Hollywood film industry
HUAC (House Un-American Activates Committee)
This 13-day standoff in 1962 is considered the closest the world ever came to a full-scale nuclear war.
Cuban Missile Crisis
This massive economic aid package provided billions of dollars to help rebuild Western Europe and prevent the appeal of communism.
Marshall Plan
This international organization sent a multi-national force, led by the U.S., to defend South Korea.
United Nations
The U.S. created this government agency in 1958 to lead the country's space exploration and catch up to the Soviets.
NASA
This term describes making harsh or unfair accusations of disloyalty without providing any evidence.
McCarthyism
This was the failed 1961 CIA-backed invasion of Cuba intended to overthrow the communist leader Fidel Castro.
Bay of Pigs Invasion
In response to a Soviet blockade, the U.S. flew supplies into this city for nearly a year in 1948
Berlin Airlift
He was the U.S. General who led UN forces in Korea until he was fired by President Truman for insubordination
Douglas MacArthur
This Cold War theory suggested that if both sides had enough nuclear weapons to destroy each other, neither would ever start a war
Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)
This husband and wife were convicted and executed for passing top-secret atomic bomb information to the Soviet Union.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy ordered this type of naval blockade to stop Soviet ships from reaching Cuba.
Quarantine
Formed in 1949, this is the defensive military alliance between the U.S., Canada, and Western European nations.
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
This was the primary outcome of the Korean War, as the fighting ended in a stalemate without a formal peace treaty.
Armistice
This law was passed in 1958 to increase funding for math and science education to help the U.S. compete with Soviet technology.
National Defense Education Act
These documents, released in the 1990s, confirmed that several high-level U.S. officials had actually been spying for the Soviet Union.
Venona Papers
To resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S. secretly agreed to remove its nuclear missiles from this country.
Turkey