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