1. Cold War Vocab

2. Cold War : the ideological conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union during the second half of the 20 th century Superpower : an extremely powerful nation Red Scare : fear that communists were working to destroy the American way of life Communism : a final stage of society in Marxist theory in which the state has withered away and economic goods are distributed equitably

3. iron curtain : name given to the line that separated Western (Free) Europe and Soviet controlled Communist Eastern Europe Truman Doctrine : President Truman’s promise to help nations struggling against communist movements Marshall Plan : foreign policy that offered economic aid to Western European countries after World War II satellite state : a country that is dominated politically and economically by another nation

4. Containment : the blocking of another nation’s attempt to spread its influence, especially the efforts of the US to block the spread of Soviet influence during the late 1940s and early 1950s Berlin Airlift : a 327 day operation in which US and British planes flew food and supplies into West Berlin after the Soviets blockaded the city in 1948 United Nations : an international peacekeeping organization to which most nations in the world belong; founded in 1945 to promote world peace, security and economic development

5. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) : a defensive military alliance formed in 1949 by ten Western European countries, the US and Canada Warsaw Pact : military alliance of the Soviet Union and its satellite states SEATO : the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization was a defensive alliance aimed at preventing the spread of communism in the Southeast Asia

6. limited war : President Truman’s plan to keep the Korean War on the Korean Peninsula, rather than enlarging it by attacking China or using nuclear weapons 38 th parallel : the dividing line between North and South Korea which was in place after World War II and again after the Korean War domino theory : a theory that if one nation becomes Communist-controlled the neighboring nations will also become Communist-controlled

7. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution :1964 congressional resolution that authorized President Johnson to commit US troops to South Vietnam and fight a war against North Vietnam Tet Offensive : communist assault on a large number South Vietnamese cities in early 1968 Vietnamization : President Nixon’s plan for gradual withdrawal of US forces as South Vietnamese troops assumed more combat duties War Powers Act : 1973 law passed by Congress restricting the President’s war-making powers; the law requires the President to consult with Congress before committing American forces to a foreign conflict

8. collective security : a system of maintaining world peace and security by concentrated action on the part of the nations of the world brinksmanship : the practice of threatening an enemy with massive military retaliation for any aggression détente : the flexible policy, involving a willingness to negotiate and an easing of tensions that was adopted by President Richard Nixon and his advisor Henry Kissinger in their dealings with communist nations