#separator:tab #html:false #tags column:4 Cold War Decades-long rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union that stopped short of direct war us-cold-war Superpowers The US and the Soviet Union, the two strongest nations after WWII us-cold-war Capitalism Economic system with private businesses and free markets us-cold-war Communism System where the government controls the economy and there is one party us-cold-war Iron Curtain Churchill's phrase for the line dividing communist Eastern Europe from the West us-cold-war Containment US policy of stopping communism from spreading us-cold-war Truman Doctrine (1947) Promised US aid to nations resisting communist takeover us-cold-war Marshall Plan US money that helped rebuild Western Europe after WWII us-cold-war Berlin Airlift (1948-49) Allies flew food and supplies into West Berlin after the Soviets blocked roads us-cold-war NATO (1949) Western alliance in which members agree to defend one another us-cold-war Warsaw Pact (1955) Soviet-led military alliance in Eastern Europe us-cold-war Soviet atomic bomb (1949) The USSR tested its first nuclear weapon us-cold-war Arms race Competition to build more and better weapons us-cold-war Nuclear weapons Bombs of great destructive power, built by both sides us-cold-war Deterrence Preventing attack by showing that you could strike back us-cold-war Mutually assured destruction Idea that a nuclear war would destroy both sides, so neither would start one us-cold-war Korean War (1950-53) War in which the US and UN forces helped South Korea against North Korea and China us-cold-war 38th parallel Line that divided North and South Korea us-cold-war Armistice (1953) Ceasefire that ended the Korean War's fighting without a peace treaty us-cold-war McCarthyism 1950s practice of accusing people of being communists with little proof us-cold-war Joseph McCarthy Wisconsin senator who made many unproven accusations us-cold-war Red Scare Widespread fear of communists in America us-cold-war Duck and cover School drills that taught children how to protect themselves from an atomic blast us-cold-war Fallout shelter Underground room built to protect people from radioactive dust us-cold-war Sputnik (1957) First artificial satellite, launched by the Soviet Union us-cold-war Space Race Competition between the US and USSR to lead in space us-cold-war NASA US space agency, founded in 1958 us-cold-war National Defense Education Act 1958 law that increased money for science and math education us-cold-war Yuri Gagarin Soviet cosmonaut, first human in space in 1961 us-cold-war Alan Shepard First American in space, 1961 us-cold-war John Glenn First American to orbit Earth, 1962 us-cold-war Moon landing (1969) Apollo 11: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon on July 20 us-cold-war Neil Armstrong First person to step on the Moon us-cold-war Eisenhower President from 1953 to 1961 during the early Cold War us-cold-war Interstate Highway System Highway network started in 1956, partly for defense us-cold-war U-2 incident (1960) A US spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union us-cold-war Fidel Castro Led a revolution in Cuba in 1959 and ruled it as a communist leader us-cold-war Bay of Pigs (1961) Failed US-backed attempt to invade Cuba us-cold-war Berlin Wall (1961) Wall built by East Germany dividing East and West Berlin us-cold-war Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) Tense 13 days when the US found Soviet missiles in Cuba us-cold-war John F. Kennedy President during the Cuban Missile Crisis us-cold-war Nikita Khrushchev Soviet leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis us-cold-war Hotline Direct phone line set up between Washington and Moscow in 1963 us-cold-war Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963) Banned nuclear tests in the air, in space and underwater us-cold-war Vietnam War Conflict in Vietnam from the 1950s to 1975 in which the US supported South Vietnam us-cold-war Domino theory Belief that if one country fell to communism its neighbors would too us-cold-war Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964) Gave President Johnson wide power to use force in Vietnam us-cold-war Tet Offensive (1968) Big surprise attacks in Vietnam that shook American support for the war us-cold-war Antiwar movement Protests against US involvement in Vietnam us-cold-war Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC listing names of the Americans who died in the war us-cold-war Fall of Saigon (1975) South Vietnam's capital fell to North Vietnam, ending the war us-cold-war Détente Easing of tensions between the US and USSR in the 1970s us-cold-war Richard Nixon President who visited China in 1972 and Moscow the same year us-cold-war SALT I (1972) First treaty limiting some nuclear weapons us-cold-war Apollo-Soyuz (1975) US and Soviet spacecraft docked in orbit us-cold-war Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979) Soviet troops entered Afghanistan, ending détente us-cold-war 1980 Olympic boycott The US and others stayed away from the Moscow Summer Games us-cold-war Ronald Reagan President in the 1980s who built up defense and later negotiated with the USSR us-cold-war Strategic Defense Initiative Reagan's plan for missile defense, nicknamed Star Wars us-cold-war Mikhail Gorbachev Last Soviet leader; introduced glasnost and perestroika us-cold-war Glasnost Gorbachev's policy of openness us-cold-war Perestroika Gorbachev's policy of restructuring the Soviet economy us-cold-war INF Treaty (1987) US-Soviet treaty eliminating a class of nuclear missiles us-cold-war Reagan's Berlin speech (1987) Reagan urged Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall us-cold-war Solidarity Polish workers' movement that helped end communism in Poland us-cold-war Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) On November 9, crowds opened the wall between East and West Berlin us-cold-war German reunification (1990) East and West Germany joined as one nation us-cold-war Collapse of the USSR (1991) The Soviet Union ended and split into 15 independent countries us-cold-war Proxy war A war where powers back opposing sides in another country us-cold-war Espionage Spying us-cold-war Sino-Soviet split Rift between China and the Soviet Union in the 1960s us-cold-war Marshall, Truman and Kennan Key figures in early containment; George Kennan wrote the 'Long Telegram' us-cold-war