Cold War Vocabulary
Test Date: March 2, 2018
1. Capitalism – When ordinary people and businesses control the production of goods and services. It is an economic system in which private individuals and corporations control the means of production to make a profit.
2. Soviet Union – Communist country during Cold War, desired to spread communism around the world.
3. Communism – An economic and political system based on a one-party government and the government maintains ownership of property.
4. Arms Race – is a race between nations to build more powerful weapons.
5. Nuclear War – is a war in which powerful nuclear weapons are used.
6. Anti-Communism – was a movement to stop the spread of communism and communist ideas.
7. Iron Curtain – Was the imaginary line that separated Eastern and Western Europe. It was a symbol of the differences between communist and noncommunist countries.
8. Berlin Airlift – When the U.S. and its allies dropped food and supplies to the people in West Berlin.
9. Cold War – A tension between the United States and the Soviet Union that many feared would lead to a nuclear war. No actual war took place.
10. NATO – is an organization that combined military forces from many nations to fight against any attack from Eastern Europe.
11. Nikita Khrushchev - Soviet leader that helped Castro set up communist government in Cuba and hid nuclear missiles in Cuba
12. Containment - was the name of the US plan to control the spread of communism worldwide.
13. The Marshall Plan – Was a containment plan that would help to rebuild Western Europe after World War II by providing 13 billion dollars to countries who needed assistance. This would help the US keep countries in Western Europe from turning to Communism.
14. The Truman Doctrine – Was a containment plan that said the United States would provide political, military, and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces.
15. Joseph McCarthy – was a United States senator. He said that secret communist worked in the United States government. He claimed that they were spying for the Soviet Union. He made most of these claims up, but some were true.
16. Voluntary Exchange – is trade between individuals and countries. It benefits both the buyer and the seller.
17.Cold War – War of Ideas between communists and non-communist countries.
18. Space Race – A competition between the United States and Soviet Union to send people to space.
19. 26th Amendment – The voting age was lowered from 21 to 18, because everyone old enough to be drafted in the military should get to vote.
20. John F. Kennedy – Was president of the United States during the Cold War. He feared a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union and ordered a blockade around Cuba.
21. Democracy – A type of government where people vote for representatives to make laws.
22. Truce – is a cease-fire (means a stop to fighting).
23. Totalitarian – A political system where the government has complete control over people’s lives.
24. Proxy Wars – Are conflicts instigated by a major power, but the country with the major power does not actually fight. Other countries fight on behalf of the larger power.
25. Berlin Wall – Wall that divided East Berlin (communist) and West Berlin (democratic)
26. Superpowers – US and Soviet Union during Cold War, both sides had nuclear weapons.
27. Cuban Missile Crisis – Soviet Union supplies nuclear weapons to Cuba & aimed them at US.