Cold War – a Few Notes

Democracy vs. Communism

U.S. vs. Soviet Union

West vs. East

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) vs. Warsaw Pact

1945 – Russians (Soviet Union) refuse to leave Eastern Europe.

Marshall Plan – U.S. gives lots of money to western European countries to rebuild, so they don’t go Communist. If we don’t help them, we know the Russians will get involved. We also help Turkey and Greece.

Containment – policy of trying to stop Communism from spreading.

Korean War – Communist North invaded South Korea. More than two million died over three years, but war ended with Korea divided almost exactly where it had been before. Nobody won. They just agreed to stop fighting. It’s a tie, a “stalemate.”

Vietnam War – Communist North invaded South Vietnam. The U.S. helped South Vietnam. Some Americans didn’t think we should be there, that the war was not our business. There were many protests and marches against the war. When we finally pulled out, the communists took over the rest of Vietnam.

Domino Theory – If one country falls to communism, the rest will fall too.

Arms Race – Competing to build bigger and better weapons than the other side. By the 1970s we had enough nuclear weapons to kill every person on earth 10 times.

Cold War – a Few Notes

Democracy vs. Communism

U.S. vs. Soviet Union

West vs. East

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) vs. Warsaw Pact

1945 – Russians (Soviet Union) refuse to leave Eastern Europe.

Marshall Plan – U.S. gives lots of money to western European countries to rebuild, so they don’t go Communist. If we don’t help them, we know the Russians will get involved. We also help Turkey and Greece.

Containment – policy of trying to stop Communism from spreading.

Korean War – Communist North invaded South Korea. More than two million died over three years, but war ended with Korea divided almost exactly where it had been before. Nobody won. They just agreed to stop fighting. It’s a tie, a “stalemate.”

Vietnam War – Communist North invaded South Vietnam. The U.S. helped South Vietnam. Some Americans didn’t think we should be there, that the war was not our business. There were many protests and marches against the war. When we finally pulled out, the communists took over the rest of Vietnam.

Domino Theory – If one country falls to communism, the rest will fall too.

Arms Race – Competing to build bigger and better weapons than the other side. By the 1970s we had enough nuclear weapons to kill every person on earth 10 times.

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