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1. Cold War
• A struggle over political
differences between the
United States
(Democracy and
Capitalism) and the
Soviet Union
(Communism and
Socialism) without
actually going to war
with each other.
2. Korean Conflict
(War)
• This conflict was fought
from 1950 – 1953. The
Soviet Union backed
North Korea who urged
the population to adopt
communism. The United
States backed South
Korea. The struggle
ended in a stalemate.
3. Vietnam Conflict
(War)
The U.S. supported
South Vietnam with
troops, money, and
supplies to prevent it
being taken over by
communist backed
North Vietnam. It
ended in a cease-fire
agreement.
4. Cuban Missile
Crisis
• U.S. and the Soviet Union
engaged in a tense, 14-day
political and military
standoff in October 1962
over the installation of
nuclear-armed Soviet
missiles in Cuba bringing
the world to the brink of a
nuclear war.
*U.S blockaded Cuba and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev offered to
remove the missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba.
Kennedy also secretly agreed to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey.
5. Embargo
• An order, usually
proclaimed by a
president or the
government of a
country, to prohibit
trade with another
country.
*After Cuba allowed the Soviet Union to place missiles trained on the
U.S., President Kennedy placed an embargo on their country which lasted
for several years.
6. Containment Theory (of
Communism)
• The policy or process
of preventing the
expansion of
communism.
*The US wanted to stop the Soviet Union’s
expansion through limited military and nonmilitary means in areas of the world that were
of strategic importance to the US. This policy
caused the United States to become involved
in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.
7. Blockade
• To cut off an area or
country by means of
troops or warships to
stop supplies or people
from coming in or going
out; to close off a
country’s ports.
*In order to enforce the
embargo the U.S. placed on Cuba,
for allowing Soviet missiles to be
placed in their country, the U.S.
created one of these with our
navy ships.
8. North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO)
• In April 1949, the U.S., Canada,
and 10 Western European
Nations signed a pact stating
an armed attack against one of
the member nations shall be
considered an attack on all.
*To defend against a possible Soviet
invasion of Western Europe, these countries
created a large military force.
9. Warsaw Pact
• This organization was
established in 1955 (mostly in
response to the formation of
NATO). The Soviet Union
controlled a military force
under this agreement and
pledged to aid communist
nations. With the creation of
this organization, Europe was
divided into two armed
“camps.”
10. Berlin Wall
• Because East Germans
were fleeing to
Democratic West Berlin
through East Berlin, the
Soviet Union constructed
The Berlin Wall.
*The wall stretched over a hundred miles. It not only ran through
the center of Berlin, but also wrapped around West Berlin, entirely
cutting West Berlin off from the rest of East Germany.
11. Iron Curtain
• The symbolic
metaphor given to
describe the
political and military
barrier that isolated
Soviet controlled
countries of Eastern
Europe from the rest
of the world
following WWII.
11. Domino Theory
• A theory that if one state in a region came
under the influence of communism, then the
surrounding countries would follow.