World History

Cold War Cheat Sheet

What was the Cold War?

 A period of tension between the U.S. (and other western countries) and the Soviet Union (and
other eastern countries) from 1945 until 1991
o Tension is obvious at Yalta in Feb, 1945
o Tension continued at Potsdam
o Tension was solidified with dropping of atomic bombs on Japan
 It can also be described as an arms race
o Many participating countries produced stockpiles of weapons (both nuclear and non-
nuclear) in an effort to intimidate the other
 Tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union existed before 1945
o Both countries were allies during WWII out of necessity
 They had a common enemy – Germany
 Many historians argue that Japan was also a common enemy, although the
Soviet Union was not heavily involved in the war against Japan – and the U.S.
wanted to keep it that way
 No war was ever fought, only “behind the scenes” and “black ops” fighting occurred
o Some was public and some was not
 “Iron Curtain” a term coined by Winston Churchill during a speech in the U.S. referred to the
divide between west and east

What do the terms 1st, 2nd and 3rd World refer to?
 3rd World was a term used during the Cold War to describe industrially and economically
developing nations, neither Capitalist nor Communist (non-aligned with either NATO or the
Communist Bloc), but easily influenced by either. The U.S. tried to prevent communism from
spreading to these countries by instilling democracy and capitalism and the Soviet Union tried to
prevent the spread of democracy and capitalism by instilling communism and, in many cases,
totalitarianism
o Some countries aligned in the Communist Bloc were still, from an American perspective,
considered to be 3rd World (ex. Cuba)
st
 1 World referred to industrially and economically developed nations that utilized democracy
and capitalism
 2nd World referred to industrially and economically developed nations that utilized
totalitarianism and communism
 All three terms are basically slang, but 3 rd World is still used today to describe developing
countries
o It now has very little to do with the Cold War

What were some major events / concepts of the Cold War?

*This list doesn’t include everything, it’s barely a snippet

 Marshall Plan
o U.S. economic aid plan that helped European nations after WWII
 Economic effort to spread capitalism
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 Berlin Airlift
o In 1948 when western countries (U.S., Britain, France) removed themselves from
Germany (the nation of West Germany was then formed) Soviet forces began a
blockade of Berlin, which lay within Soviet control of eastern Germany
 This was done in a effort to encourage western nations to leave Berlin
 The blockade lasted 11 months and was lifted in May, 1949
 Western countries flew supplies in the entire time

 Formation of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

o 10 western European countries, including the U.S. and Canada, formed a military
alliance in 1949 to counteract Soviet aggression
o Organization still exists today

 Warsaw Pact
o In response to NATO, eastern European countries – under the guide of the Soviet Union
– signed the Warsaw Pact in 1955

 Communists take power in China

o Led by Mao Zedong, the Communists defeated the Nationalists in 1949 and established
the People’s Republic of China. At first the PRC was not recognized as a country by the
west. However, the Nationalists, who fled to Taiwan and established the Republic of
China, were recognized by the west

 Korean War
o War fought from 1950-1953 on the Korean Peninsula
 Participants included the U.S., South Korea, North Korea and China
 U.S. and South Korea were allies
 North Korea and China were allies
o From the U.S. perspective it was fought to prevent the spread of communism from
North Korea into the south
o From the Soviet perspective it was fought to continue the spread of communism.
However, the Soviet Union was never directly involved
o Nuclear weapons were never used, although their use was threatened
o War ended with an armistice and the establishment of the 38 th Parallel, dividing North
from South Korea
 Armistice is still active today and the parallel is currently demilitarized

 Bay of Pigs Invasion – April, 1961

o Failed attempt by Cuban exiles – backed and trained by the U.S. – to invade Cuba and
overthrow the Castro regime
o Somewhat tarnished President Kennedy’s time in office

 Cuban Missile Crisis – October, 1962

o Response to Bay of Pigs
o 13 day standoff between the U.S. and the Soviet Union and Cuba
 o Short range missiles were installed in Cuba, with the backing and help of the Soviet
Union, and pointed at the U.S.
o President Kennedy was the president of the U.S. and Nikita Khrushchev was the leader
of the Soviet Union
o No missiles were ever launched, but the resulting fear of nuclear war was enough to
pressure the U.S. and the Soviet Union to back down

 Vietnam War
o War fought from 1965-1973
o U.S. adopted a policy of containment to prevent the spread of communism throughout
Vietnam
o Prior to Iraq War, Vietnam was longest war U.S. had participated in
o Unpopular war at home as U.S. media covered reality of combat
o U.S. military utilized a tactic known as “seek and destroy”
 The goal was to kill as many enemy soldiers as possible, both North Vietnamese
and Vietcong, in an effort to encourage the enemy to surrender
 Tactic failed and U.S. eventually withdrew in 1972
o At this time North Vietnam was separated from South Vietnam
by the 17th Parallel
o North Vietnam invaded and captured South Vietnam in 1975
 North Vietnamese soldiers were trained by the North Vietnamese Army
(NVA) and Vietcong operated as guerilla soldiers, many of them trained
in the north
o Many historians argue that Vietnam was an almost total loss for the U.S.

 Fall of Berlin Wall

o The Berlin Wall, completed in 1961, was designed to cut off east Berlin from west Berlin
o The wall was torn down beginning in November, 1989
 This is the symbolic end to the Cold War
 The actual end to the Cold War comes with the complete collapse of the
Soviet Union in 1991