The Cold War
This term, coined by Winston Churchill, referred to the ideological division that separated the democratic nations of Western Europe from the communist nations of Eastern Europe after World War II.
What is the "Iron Curtain"?
This event in 1949 led to the formation of the People’s Republic of China, marking the victory of communists over nationalists in China.
What is the Chinese Civil War (and the establishment of the People's Republic of China)?
Formed in 1949, this military alliance between the United States, Canada, and several Western European countries was created in response to perceived Soviet aggression.
What is NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)?
This East Asian conflict, starting in the early 1950s, saw the division of the peninsula into communist North Korea and democratic South Korea, leading to a bitter and bloody war that ended in an armistice, but no peace treaty.
What is the Korean War?
This Soviet leader implemented the policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (economic restructuring), which were instrumental in bringing about the end of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s.
Who is Mikhail Gorbachev?
This U.S. policy aimed at preventing the spread of communism by offering economic and military support to countries vulnerable to Soviet influence. One prominent example was U.S. assistance to Greece and Turkey in the late 1940s.
What is the Truman Doctrine?
This program, launched by Mao Zedong in the late 1950s, sought to rapidly industrialize China but caused widespread famine and the deaths of millions.
What is the Great Leap Forward?
In 1955, this pact was established between the Soviet Union and seven Eastern European countries as a countermeasure to NATO's influence in Europe.
What is the Warsaw Pact?
After the U.S. withdrew its forces, this Southeast Asian country became fully unified under communist rule, marking a major Cold War defeat for the U.S.
What is Vietnam?
This Chinese leader, known for his role in the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, sought to transform China into a communist superpower but faced widespread famine and social upheaval.
Who is Mao Zedong?
This program, initiated by the U.S. government, provided $13 billion in aid to help rebuild Western European nations after WWII in an effort to prevent the spread of communism.
What is the Marshall Plan?
Mao Zedong used this group of young communist soldiers, known for their violent actions, to eliminate perceived enemies and promote communist ideology during the Cultural Revolution.
What are the Red Guards?
During the Cold War, this concept referred to the ongoing race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to develop superior nuclear weapons, a competition that led to massive stockpiling of nuclear arsenals.
What is the Arms Race?
During the 1980s, this Central Asian country saw a Soviet invasion to prop up a communist government, while U.S.-supported Afghan rebels, the mujahideen, fought against Soviet forces in a prolonged guerrilla war.
What is Afghanistan?
This Soviet leader’s aggressive policies in Afghanistan during the 1980s led to widespread opposition and the eventual withdrawal of Soviet forces from the country.
Who is Leonid Brezhnev?
The division of Germany after World War II led to the establishment of these two opposing nations, each aligned with one of the Cold War superpowers.
What are West Germany and East Germany?
Following Mao’s death, this leader shifted China’s economy towards a more market-oriented system, allowing for capitalist reforms that transformed the country’s economic landscape.
Who is Deng Xiaoping?
This event in 1948 involved the U.S. and its allies flying in supplies to West Berlin after the Soviet Union imposed a blockade, cutting off the city's access to essential goods.
What is the Berlin Airlift?
This Cuban leader turned his country into a communist state after overthrowing the Batista regime, eventually becoming a major ally of the Soviet Union, which led to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Who is Fidel Castro?
This U.S. president's administration saw the rise of the Reagan Doctrine, supporting anti-communist insurgents and regimes worldwide, while escalating the arms race with the Soviet Union.
Who is President Ronald Reagan?
This policy of preventing the spread of communism was central to U.S. strategy during the Cold War, exemplified by events like the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan.
What is Containment?
This series of student-led protests in 1989 in Beijing demanded greater political freedoms, but ended when the Chinese military intervened violently.
What is the Tiananmen Square Massacre?
The space race was a key Cold War competition. The U.S. considered this event in 1969 the symbolic "victory" in demonstrating its technological and scientific superiority, signaling the end of the Cold War competition in space exploration.
What is the Moon Landing (Apollo 11)?
In 1989, the collapse of this symbolic structure in Berlin became a key moment in the end of the Cold War, symbolizing the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the reunification of Germany.
What is the Berlin Wall?
This U.S. president, during his time in office from 1961 to 1963, was involved in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and played a key role in resolving the Cuban Missile Crisis, preventing a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
Who is President John F. Kennedy?