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Berlin Blockade
The USSR attempted to stop Western influence and access into East Berlin by blocking the road, railways and canals leading to East Berlin. -
Potdam Conference
World leaders divided Germany and Berlin into 4 occupation zones each. The zones in the East were controlled by the Soviet Union and the zones in the West were controlled by the United States, Britain, and France. -
MAD
Mutually assured destruction is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy -
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Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. -
Yalta Conference
Meeting of the Big Four consisting of American President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, along with the partitioning of Germany and Berlin. The Soviet Union has control of Eastern Europe. -
Yalta Conference
Meeting of the Big Four, consisting of American President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, including the partitioning of Germany and Berlin. -
Truman Doctrine
United States president Harry Truman pledged to provide aid to democratic nations fighting the spread of communism. -
Marshall Plan
Secretary of State, George Marshall, proposed the Marshall Plan. This plan would provide economic assistance to European countries after World War II. -
Potsdam Conference
World leaders divided Germany and Berlin into 4 occupation zones each. The zones in the east would be controlled by the Soviet Union and the west would be controlled by Britain, France, and the United States. -
Novikov Telegram
the Soviet ambassador to the USA, Nikolai Novikov, warned that the USA had emerged from World War Two economically strong and bent on world domination. As a result, the USSR needed to secure its buffer zone in Eastern Europe. -
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Korean War
The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following clashes along the border and rebellions in South Korea. -
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Berlin Airlift
Soviet forces blockaded rail, road, and water access to Allied-controlled areas of Berlin. The United States and United Kingdom responded by airlifting food and fuel to Berlin from Allied airbases in western Germany. -
Brinkmanship
An approach in which a country pushes a situation extremely close to a dangerous point, using nuclear weapons as a deterrent to communist expansion around the world. -
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Viet Cong
conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, known as the Viet Cong, against the government of South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. -
Space Race
For Americans, President Kennedy's declaration focused the Space Race on a clear goal: landing a man on the Moon before the Soviets. The Space Race became a race to the Moon. -
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Warsaw pact
a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republics of Central and Eastern Europe in May 1955, during the Cold War. -
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Vietnam War
a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia -
Sputnik launch
Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite. -
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Great Leap Forward
the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign led by the Chinese Communist Party from 1958 to 1962. -
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Cuban Missile Crisis
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a tense, 13-day political and military standoff -
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Non-aligned movement
a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide. -
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Cultural Revolution
A political movement initiated by Mao Zedong that lasted from 1966 to 1976. It was a campaign in China ordered by Mao Zedong to purge the Communist Party of his opponents and instill revolutionary values in the younger generation. -
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Soviet-Afghan War
armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. -
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Star Wars
a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons. -
Mujahideen
opposed the invading Soviet forces and eventually toppled the Afghan communist government. -
Commonwealth of Independent States
a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia.