Deng Xiaoping
Chinese revolutionary and statesman
Ngo Dinh Diem
South Vietnamese politician, named Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam, established the first Republic of Vietnam with himself as president
Lyndon Johnson
American politician who served as the 36th President of the United States from 1963 to 1969
Ho Chi Minh
Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Alexander Dubcek
Slovak politician and, briefly, leader of Czechoslovakia, attempted to reform the communist regime during the Prague Spring
Douglas MacArthur
American five-star general and field marshal of the Philippine Army, played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II
Wladyslaw Gomulka
Polish communist politician
Imre Nagy
Hungarian communist politician who was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Hungarian People's Republic on two occasions
Nikita Khrushchev
politician who led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War, responsible for the de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union, for backing the progress of the early Soviet space program, and for several relatively liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy
Fidel Castro
Cuban revolutionary and politician who governed the Republic of Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008
John F. Kennedy
American politician who served as the 35th President of the United States, member of the democratic party
Ronald Reagan
American politician and actor who was the 40th President of the United States, implemented sweeping new political and economic initiatives
Mikhail Gorbachev
eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union
United Nations (UN)
intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation, replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict
General Assembly
meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company
Security Council
maintains international peace and security
International Court of Justice
primary judicial organ of the United Nations
Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON)
economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc along with a number of communist states elsewhere in the world
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949
Warsaw Pact
collective defence treaty among the Soviet Union and seven other Soviet satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe during the Cold War
Communist bloc
group of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)
an international organization for collective defense to block further communist gains is Southeast Asia - 1954
Central Treaty Organization (CENTO)
US joined Turkey and Iran to create a Middle Eastern defense alliance
European Union (EU)
Europe's trading bloc free trade amount the members of the union. As well as a single European currency the euro and a central bank
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
limit the spread of nuclear weapons; member of NPT detect, secure, and dispose of weapons
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT)
series of meetings in the 70s, in which leaders of the US and the Soviet Union agreed to limit their nations' stocks of nuclear weapons
INF Treaty
signed by Reagan and Gorbachev, provided for the dismantling of all intermediate range nuclear weapons in Russia and all of Europe. Considered by some to be Reagan's single most important piece of foreign policy.
Cold War
a conflict between the US and the Soviet Union, never directly confronted each other on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years
Angola
former Portuguese colony became a battleground in the Cold War when the Soviet Union and the United States took sides in its Civil War
peacekeeping
purpose of the United Nations' Security Council
satellites
any object that revolves around another object in space
containment
American policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world
Truman Doctrine
1947, President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology, mainly helped Greece and Turkey
Marshall Plan
a United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952)
Berlin
a wall separating East and West Berlin built by East Germany in 1961 to keep citizens from escaping to the West
Berlin Airlift
airlift in 1948 that supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Russians closed off land access to Berlin
West Germany
Federal Republic of Germany
East Germany
German Democratic Republic, ruled by Russia
military-industrial complex
Eisenhower first coined this phrase when he warned American against it in his last State of the Union Address. He feared that the combined lobbying efforts of the armed services and industries that contracted with the military would lead to excessive Cong
Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)
idea that both sides would face certain destruction in a nuclear war
Non-Aligned Movement
led by India and Yugoslavia to stand apart from the U.S.-Soviet rivalry, undermined by the membership of states such as Cuba that were clearly clients of one of the superpowers
Red Guards
youths who led Mao's Cultural Revolution, wore red arm bands and carried his book, terrorized Chinese citizens and determined who went to camps
Tiananmen Square
site in Beijing where Chinese students and workers gathered to demand greater political openness in 1989, the demonstration was crushed by Chinese military with great loss of life
Korean War
conflict between Communist North Korea and Non-Communist South Korea, the United Nations (led by the United States) helped South Korea
Vietnam War
a prolonged war (1954-1975) between the communist armies of North Vietnam who were supported by the Chinese and the non-communist armies of South Vietnam who were supported by the United States
Viet Cong
a Communist-led army and guerrilla force in South Vietnam that fought its government and was supported by North Vietnam
Tet Offensive
1968; National Liberation Front and North Vietnamese forces launched a huge attack on the Vietnamese New Year (Tet), which was defeated after a month of fighting and many thousands of casualties; major defeat for communism, but Americans reacted sharply,
Prague Spring
in 1968, Czechoslovakia, under Alexander Dubcek, began a program of reform. Dubcek promised civil liberties, democratic political reforms, and a more independent political system. The Soviet Union invaded the country and put down the short-lived period of
Brezhnev Doctrine
Soviet Union and its allies had the right to intervene in any socialist country whenever they saw the need
Irish Republican Army (IRA)
a militant organization of Irish nationalists who used terrorism and guerilla warfare in an effort to drive British forces from Northern Ireland and achieve a united independent Ireland
Ulster Defense Association
a protestant organization in Ireland that bombed Catholics
terrorism
acts of violence designed to promote a specific ideology or agenda by creating panic among an enemy population
Basque Homeland and Freedom (ETA)
revolutionary group of northern Spain who used terrorist attacks to force the government to grant territorial independence
Kent State University
Ohio university where National Guardsmen opened fire on students protesting the Vietnam War on May 4, 1970, wounding nine and killing four
Berlin Wall
a fortified wall surrounding West Berlin, Germany, built in 1961 to prevent East German citizens from traveling to the West, its demolition in 1989 symbolized the end of the Cold War, both a deterrent to individuals trying to escape and a symbol of repres
Bay of Pigs
in April 1961, a group of Cuban exiles organized and supported by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency landed on the southern coast of Cuba in an effort to overthrow Fidel Castro. When the invasion ended in disaster, President Kennedy took full responsibi
Cuban Missile Crisis
1962 crisis that arose between the United States and the Soviet Union over a Soviet attempt to deploy nuclear missiles in Cuba
Hot Line
direct telephone link created by Kennedy and Kruschev to allow leaders to communicate instantly in times of crisis
d�tente
policy of reducing Cold War tensions that was adopted by the United States during the presidency of Richard Nixon.
Star Wars
President Reagan's proposed weapons system to destroy Soviet missiles from space
glasnost
a policy of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev which called for more openness with the nations of West, and a relaxing of restraints on Soviet citizenry
human rights
the basic rights to which all people are entitled as human beings
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
a 1946 United Nations covenant binding signatory nations to the observance of specified rights.
Iron Curtain
a political barrier that isolated the peoples of Eastern Europe after WWII, restricting their ability to travel outside the region
Cultural Revolution
campaign in China ordered by Mao Zedong to purge the Communist Party of his opponents and instill revolutionary values in the younger generation.
Thich Quang Duc
a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk who burned himself to death at a busy Saigon road intersection
domino theory
a theory that if one nation comes under Communist control, then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control
refugees
people who are forced to migrate from their home country and cannot return for fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion
hydrogen bomb
a thermonuclear bomb which uses the fusion of isotopes of hydrogen
intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM)
ICBM nuclear weapons
Sputnik
first artificial Earth satellite, launched by Moscow in 1957 and sparked U.S. fears of Soviet dominance in technology and outer space. It led to the creation of NASA and the space race.
antinuclear weapons movement
social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
a United Nations agency to promote trade by increasing the exchange stability of the major currencies
World Bank
a specialized agency of the United Nations that makes loans to countries for economic development, trade promotion, and debt consolidation
World Trade Organization (WTO)
administers the rules governing trade between its 144 members. Helps producers, importers, and exporters conduct their business and ensure that trade flows smoothly.
General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
a forum to discuss trade problems and negotiate a reduction of trade barriers was first provided by the
Great Leap Forward
China's second five-year plan under the leadership of the impatient Mao, it aimed to speed up economic development while simultaneously developing a completely socialist society, this plan failed and more than 20 million people starved between 1958 and 19
communes
collective farms grouped together to organize farming and plan public services
European Economic Community (EEC)/Common Market
an international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members
euro
an international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members
perestroika
a policy initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev that involved restructuring of the social and economic status quo in communist Russia towards a market based economy and society