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Chapter Twenty-Nine
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Nuremberg Trials | Trials at an Allied court that brought several dozen Nazi military leaders to justice for crimes committed during WWII |
Cold War | A post-WWII era of open hostility and high tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union |
Iron Curtain | Winston Churchill's term for the division of Europe created by Soviet actions |
Truman Doctrine | U.S. pledge to provide economic and military aid to oppose the spread of communism |
Marshall Plan | A massive program of U.S. economic air to help Western Europe make a rapid recover from the war and remain politically stable |
Containment | A policy resisting Soviet aggression to contain the spread of communism |
Berlin Airlift | A massive effort to supply West Berlin by air after the Soviets blockade it |
NATO | North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance between the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe designed to counter Soviet power in Europe |
Warsaw Pact | An alliance formed between the S.U. and the Communist nations of Eastern Europe |
Hydrogen Bomb | An immensely destructive weapon powered by nuclear fusion |
Deterrence | The development of or maintenance of military power to deter an attack |
Arms Race | A struggle between nations to gain an advantage in weapons |
Sputnik | The world's first satellite, a human-made object launched in 1957 by the S.U. that flies in orbit around the Earth |
Bay of Pigs Invasion | Unsuccessful invasion of Cuba by a secretly trained force, which U.S. leaders believed would result in a massive uprising to overthrow Fidel Castro |
Cuban Missile Crisis | A tense standoff between the U.S. and the S.U. that occurred after the Soviets installed nuclear missiles in Cuba |
Nonaligned Nations | Countries that refused to support either side during the Cold War and tried to promote the interest of poorer countries |
Detnte | Reduced tension between the superpowers |
Martin Luther King Jr. | Leader of a civil rights campaign that exposed racial injustice and won reforms |
Counterculture | A youth movement that rebelled against mainstream American society |
Solidarity | A movement of Polish workers who united against the Communist government and Soviet control |
Mikhail Gorbachev | Soviet leader who came to power in 1985 and made changes in the nation's economy and government |
Glasnost | "Openness," a willingness to discuss the problems of the S.U. |
Perestroika | "Restructuring," a concept for the reform of the Soviet economic and political system |
Velvet Revolution | A peaceful revolution that removed Communists from power in Czechoslovakia |
Boris Yeltsin | Leader of the republic of Russia who favored more radical change than Gorbachev did |
Ethnic Cleansing | Elimination of an ethnic group through killing or forced emigration |
Internet | A system of networks that connects computers around the world |
Saddam Hussein | Dictator of Iraq who invaded neighboring Kuwait in August 1990 |
Persia Gulf War | War in which a UN- authorized multinational force led by the U.S. forced the Iraq military to leave Kuwait |
Al Qaeda | Islamist terrorist organization that launched a series of attacks against U.S. targets |
Osama Bin Laden | Al Qaeda leader who aims to unite Muslims and destroy the U.S. |
Taliban | Islamist government of Afghanistan that supported and protected members of al Qaeda |