Word Definition

Cold War A state of political tension military rivalry

between nations that doesn’t take form of full-
scale war. After world war II, USA and Soviet
Union were in cold war.
Superpower This word was used to describe each of the
rivals that came to dominate global politics
after World War II such as USA and Soviet
Union.
United Nation An international organization whose aims are
to promote peace, international security,
economic development etc. It replaced
ineffective League of Nation.
Satellite Nation Countries that were under the Soviets control
during the Cold War.
Non-aligned nations A term used during the cold war to classify
those nations that were neither of the US.
Policy of containment It is a policy using military, economic, and
diplomatic strategies to temper the spread of
communism.
Domino theory It is a foreign policy theory that stated that if
one land in a region came under the influence
of communism, then the surrounding countries
would follow in a domino effect.
Destalinization It is process of eliminating the cult of
personality and Stalinist political system
created by Joseph Stalin.
Brinkmanship the practice, especially in international
relations, of taking a dispute to the verge of
conflict in the hope of forcing the opposition to
make concessions.
Détente Easing of tension between nations.
Truman Doctrine It’s president’s Harry Truman’s speech
outlining a new strategy on how the United
States would seek to deal with Soviet Union.
Marshall plan It was a massive economic aid package
designed to strengthen democratic
governments and lessen the appeal of
communism.
NATO/WARSAW PACT Western European countries formed a military
alliance that stated if any member countries is
attacked, the other member countries would
help.
The Soviet Union formed the Warsaw Pact that
included the soviet union and seven satellite in
eastern Europe. This was also a defensive
 alliance, promising mutual military
cooperation.
Iron Curtain Europe was divided by an imaginary line
known as the iron curtain. In the east were the
Soviet-dominated communist countries. In the
west were the western democracies, led by US.
Zones of occupation The Allied powers who defeated Nazi
Germany divided Germany into four zones.
Each allied country occupied each zone.
Berlin wall Berlin wall was a concrete barrier built by the
German Democratic Republic that completely
enclosed the city of west berlin.
Reunification It is the process in which the German
Democratic Republic(East) joined the Federal
Republic of Germany(west) and berlin was
united into a single city state.
Solidarity It is a polish trade union federation. It was the
first non-communist controlled trade union in a
Warsaw Pact Country.
Sputnik one of a series of ten artificial Earth-orbiting
satellites launched by the former Soviet Union
starting in 1957.
Arms Race A competition between two or more parties for
military supremacy.
H-bomb an explosive weapon of mass destruction in
which huge amounts of energy are released by
the fusion of hydrogen nuclei.
Vietcong of the Communist-led armed forces of the
National Liberation Front of South Vietnam
that fought to unite the country with North
Vietnam between 1954 and 1976.
Khmer Rogue It was the name given to the followers of
Communist in Cambodia.
The killing fields The Killing Fields were a number of sites in
Cambodia where large numbers of people were
killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge.
Vietnam War a conflict in which the Communist forces of
North Vietnam and guerrillas in South Vietnam
fought against the non-Communist forces of
South Vietnam and the United States. It began
in 1954 and ended in 1975 in a Communist
victory.
Pacification Leading to or promoting peace and an end to
conflict.
Korean War a war that lasted from 1950 to 1953 between
North Korea, and its ally China, and South
Korea, supported by United Nations troops,
especially from the United States.
38th Parallel The 38th parallel was first suggested as a
dividing line of Korea in 1986.
Sandinistas a member of a socialist movement in
Nicaragua that successfully overthrew the
government of President Anastasio Somoza in
1979 and fought a U.S.-backed insurgent force
in the 1980s.
ICBM ICBM, also known as Intercontinental Ballistic
Missile, is a long-range missile typically
designed for nuclear weapon delivery.
Germany was the first to develop missile to
attack US. This type of weapons was also
developed by Soviet Union during Cold War.
U-2 U-2 is a single-engine aircraft operated by Air
Force.
Space Race Space race was a heated competition between
the US and Soviet Union, as each side tried to
match or better the other’s accomplishments in
exploring outer space.
Glasnost A policy that commits a government or
organization to greater accountability,
openness, discussion, and freer disclosure of
information than previously, especially that of
Mikhail Gorbachev in the former Soviet Union.
Perestroika A political and economic restructuring in the
former soviet union that stated the
decentralized control of industry and
agriculture and some private ownership.
Cuban Missile Crisis It’s a confrontation between US, Soviet Union
and Cuba during Cold War. The Cuban and
Soviet governments placed nuclear missiles in
Cuba. When United States military intelligence
discovered the weapons, the U.S. government
did all it could to ensure the removal of the
missiles.
SALT Strategic Arms Limitation Talk refers to series
of bilateral talks and international treaties
involving US and Soviet Union on limiting
their nation’s stock of nuclear weapons.
Détente Easing tension between two nations.
Eastern Bloc/ Western Bloc Eastern Block referred to countries under
Soviet Control under the Warsaw Pact.
 Western Bloc refers to countries under
democratic influences under NATO.
Hungarian Revolt It was revolt overthrow soviet influenced
government.
Prague Spring It was a period of liberalization in
Czechoslovakia during the era of its
domination by the Soviet Union after World
War II.
Star Wars Star wars referred to Strategic Defense
Initiative created under Ronald Regan to use
groud and space based systems to protect the
US from the attack by strategic nuclear ballistic
missiles.
Coup Seizure of political power.
Military junta It’s a government led by a committee of
military leaders.
Leonid Brezhnev He was leader of soviet union during the colder
war. He was responsible for putting missiles in
Cuba.
Lech Walesa Polish politician and trade union and human
rights activist. He contributed to collapse of
communism in Poland.
Fidel Castro A Cuban politician, one of the primary leaders
of the Cuban Revolution. He is a communist
dictator in Cuba
Pol pot Saloth sar, also known as pol pot, was the
leader of Cambodian communist movement as
the Khmer Rouge.
Ho chi Minh He was a Vietnamese communist revolutionary
and statesman who was prime minister and
president of the Democratic Republic of
Vietnam.
Daniel Ortega He was the president of Nicaragua. He was the
leader of Liberation Front.
Richard Nixon He was the president of US during cold war.
Kim Jung II He was the supreme leader of Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea.
Mikhail Gorbachev Seventh and last General Secretary of the
communist party of Soviet Union.
Boris Yeltsin He was the first President of Russian
Federation after the dissolution of Soviet
Union.
Vladimir Putin He was the second president of Russian
Federation.