Satellite nations
Communist nations in Eastern Europe on friendly terms with the USSR and thought of as under the USSR's control.
Iron Curtain
Winston Churchill's term for the Cold War division between the Soviet-dominated East and the U.S.-dominated West.
Cold War
A conflict that was between the US and the Soviet Union. The nations never directly confronted eachother on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years.
Containment
The American policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world.
Truman Doctrine
President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology.
Marshall Plan
An United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952).
Berlin Airlift
The airlift in 1948 that supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Russians closed off land access to Berlin.
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, this is an alliance made of many nations in order to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country. The countries included in Nato are the US, England, France, Canada, and Western European countries.
Collective security
A system in which a group of nations acts as one to preserve the peace of all.
Warsaw Pact
An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations that was in response to NATO.
House Un-American Activies Committee (HUAC)
(HUAC) A committee formed in the House of Representatives in the 1930s to investigate radical groups in the United States. It focused largly on the search for Communists.
Hollywood Ten
A group of people in the film industry who were jailed for refusing to answer congressional questions regarding Communist influence in Hollywood.
Blacklist
A list circulated among employers containing the names of persons who should not be hired based on their political beliefs.
McCarran-Walter Act
Passed by Congress in 1952, this law reaffirmed the quota system that had been established for each country in 1924. This law discriminated against Asian nations and southern or Central Europeans.
38th Parallel
The dividing line between Communist North Korea and Democratic South Korea.
Korean War
The conflict that began with North Korea's invasion of South Korea and came to involve the United Nations (primarily the United States) allying with South Korea and the People's Republic of China allying with North Korea.
Military-Industrial Complex
A name for the ties between the military, corporate, and scientific communities.
McCarthyism
The term associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy who led the search for communists in America during the 1940's and 1950s. It came to be used as a term for baseless accusations and smear campains against people he suspected of being communistic.
Arms Race
The Cold war competition between the U.S. and Soviet Union to build up their respective armed forces and weapon capabilities.
Deterrence
The policy of making the military power of the U.S.A and its allies so strong that no enemy would dare attack for fear of retaliation.
Brinkmanship
A 1956 term used by Secretary of State John Dulles to describe a policy of risking war in order to protect national interests. A willingness to go to the brink of war to force an opponent to back down.
ICBM
(Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles) Long-range nuclear missiles capable of being fired at targets on the other side of the globe.
Sputnik
The first artificial Earth satellite that was launched by the USSR 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.
U-2 Incident
A 1960 incident in which the Soviet military used a guided missile to shoot down an American U-2 spy plane over Soviet territory. Led the American government to expand more resources to catch up to, and surpass Soviet technology.
Communism
A political system in which the government owns all property and dominates all aspects of life in a country.
Kar Marx
He helped creat the political phylosophy of Communism. He thought society was driven by class conflict (bourgeoisie and proletariat) and would eventually become Communist natually.
Winston Churchill
He was the British Prime Minister during WWII, and coined the phrase "Iron Curtain" when talking about the Soviet Union.
Joseph Stalin
He was the Communist dictator of the Soviet Union. He succeeded Lenin as head of the Communist Party and created a totalitarian state by purging all opposition (1879-1953).
Harry S. Truman
33rd president of the United States. He assumed the presidency at the death of FDR in 1945 and served until 1953. Under his leadership the United States saw the end of the Second World War with the dropping of the two atomic bombs on Japan and also the es
Isolationism
A policy of avoiding political or military involvement with other countries.
General Douglas MacArthur
He was one of the United States top generals during WWII in the Pacific. He comanded the UN forces at the beginning of the Korean War, however President Harry Truman removed him from his command.
Rio Pact
Considered the first Cold War alliance, it joined Latin American nations, Canada, and the United States in an agreement to prevent Communist inroads in Latin America and to improve political, social, and economic conditions among Latin American nations. I
Dwight D. Eisenhower
He was the former General who became the 34th President of the United States from 1953-1961. He ended the Korean War through threats of nuclear war with China, and came up with the Domino Theory.
Hydrogen Bomb
A weapon that is a 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb. Truman ordered the development of it to outpace the Soviets.
George C. Marshall
The army general during World War II who orchestrated the Allied victories over Germany and Japan, and later Secretary of State who developed the Marshall Plan in 1947, a program of massive aid for the reconstruction of Europe.
Joseph McCarthy
He was an American Senator and avid anti-communist who claimed that communists worked in the U.S. government.
Mao Zedong
He was the leader of the Communist Party in China that overthrew Jiang Jieshi and the Nationalists. Established China as the People's Republic of China and ruled from 1949 until 1976.
Jiang Jieshi
He was the leader of the Guomindang, or Nationalist Party in China, who fought to keep China from becoming communist, and to resist the Japanese during World War II. He lost control of China in 1949, and fled to Taiwan where he setup a rival government. A
Pat McCarren
He was a U.S. Senater who led a hunt for Communist in the movie industry, labor unions, State Department, and the UN.
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
American communists who were executed after having been found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage. The charges were in relation to the passing of information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. Theirs was the first execution of civilians for e