 | Term | Definition |
| |
Nuremberg trials |
trials at an Allied military court that brought several dozen Nazi |
| |
Cold War |
a post-World War II era of open hostility and high tension between the United States and the Soviet Union |
| |
iron curtain |
Winston Churchill’s term for the division of Europe created by Soviet |
| |
Truman Doctrine |
U.S. pledge to provide economic and military aid to oppose the spread of communism |
| |
Marshall Plan |
a massive program of U.S. economic aid to help Western Europe make a rapid recovery from the war and remain politically stable |
| |
containment |
a policy of resisting Soviet aggression to contain the spread of communism |
| |
Berlin airlift |
a massive effort to supply West Berlin by air after the Soviets blockaded it |
| |
NATO |
North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance between the United States, Canada, and Western Europe designed to counter Soviet power in Europe |
| |
Warsaw Pact |
an alliance formed between the Soviet Union and the Communist nations of Eastern Europe |
| |
hydrogen bomb |
an immensely destructive weapon powered by nuclear fusion |
| |
deterrence |
the development of or maintenance of military power to deter an attack |
| |
arms race |
a struggle between nations to gain an advantage in weapons |
| |
Sputnik |
the world’s first satellite, a human-made object launched in 1957 by the Soviet Union that flies in orbit around the Earth |
| |
Bay of Pigs invasion |
unsuccessful invasion of Cuba by a secretly trained force, which |
| |
Cuban missile crisis |
a tense standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union |
| |
nonaligned nations |
countries that refused to support either side during the Cold War and tried to promote the interest of poorer countries |
| |
détente |
reduced tension between the superpowers |
| |
Martin Luther King Jr. |
leader of a civil rights campaign that exposed racial injustice and won reforms |
| |
counterculture |
a youth movement that rebelled against mainstream American society |
| |
Solidarity |
a movement of Polish workers who united to protest against the Communist |
| |
Mikhail Gorbachev |
Soviet leader who came to power in 1985 and made changes in the nation’s economy and government |
| |
Glasnost |
“openness,” a willingness to discuss the problems of the Soviet Union |
| |
Perestroika |
“restructuring,” a concept for the reform of the Soviet economic and |
| |
Velvet Revolution |
a peaceful revolution that removed Communists from power in |
| |
Boris Yeltsin |
leader of the republic of Russia who favored more radical change than |
| |
ethnic cleansing |
elimination of an ethnic group through killing or forced emigration |
| |
Internet |
a system of networks that connects computers around the world |
| |
Saddam Hussein |
dictator of Iraq who invaded neighboring Kuwait in August 1990 |
| |
Persian Gulf War |
war in which a UN-authorized multinational force led by the United |
| |
al Qaeda |
Islamist terrorist organization that launched a series of attacks against U.S. |
| |
Osama bin Laden |
al Qaeda leader who aims to unite Muslims and destroy the United States |
| |
Taliban |
Islamist government of Afghanistan that supported and protected members of al |
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