Cold War Questions Key Terms and People Cold War The hostile yet nonviolent relations between the former Soviet Union and the United States, and their respective allies, from around 1946 to 1989. Truman Doctrine President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology. Marshall Plan A U. S. program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe, (named after George Marshall). Berlin blockade The Soviet prevention of all surface traffic into West Berlin in an attempt to force the Western nations to allow the Soviet full control over West Berlin., also first major international crises of the Cold War and the first crisis that resulted in casualties. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) The international organization established in 1949 to promote mutual defense and collective security; primary Western alliance during the Cold War. All the fifteen countries concluded that an attack on one would be regarded as an attack on all. They also promised to resist an attack with armed force. Satellite Nations A nation that is controlled by a more powerful nation, Eastern European nations that included: Albania, Czechoslovakia, East Germany and Poland. Subversion An action to undermine a government. Containment
An action taken to restrict the spread of a hostile, similar to nuclear containment in the way a nation, or force prevents the negative element from causing harm to civilians. Alger Hiss Member of State Department accused of passing classified government documents to the Communist party. Later convicted and sent to jail. Joseph McCarthy Senator of Wisconsin, won the Republican senatorial nomination and election on the strength of an exaggerated war record. Facing reelection McCarthy needed an issue to hit on, and anticommunism fit the bill perfectly. At various times he claimed to have the names of up to 250 names of Communists in the State Department. McCarthy made many other bogus claims including the Democratic Party was guilty of “twenty years of treason�. McCarthy claimed if someone read an article about communism they were a communist. This had a rather negative effect on the country as a whole. McCarthyism Simply the practice of accusing somebody, especially someone in the government, of Communist activities or sympathies. Red Scare The public reaction to the formation of communist parties; the direct or indirect association of communism.
Main Ideas 1. Why did the Soviet Union consider its domination of Eastern Europe to be of vital importance? a.
Soviet Union had to worry about invasions from the west as this was the direction from which serious invasions came in the modern era. Because of this, the Soviet Union wanted to be sure that it had a large buffer zone between it and its potential enemies in the west. So they thought it was very important to dominate Eastern Europe so that Eastern Europe could provide that buffer zone.
2. What were the Soviet actions that contributed most to the beginning of the Cold War?
a. The Soviet need and want for economic growth, driven by a communistic government. b. The Soviet occupation of satellite nations and its domination over them. c. The Soviet split of Germany and the West Berlin embargo. 3. What were the American actions that contributed most to the beginning of the Cold War? a. The American need and want for economic, driven by a capitalistic government. b. The formation of the Marshall Plan. c. The formation of NATO, and the containment of Soviet expansion. 4. How did Truman attempt to make sure that there were no subversives in the United States government? a. The 1950 McCarran Internal Security Act, made it unlawful to plan any action that might lead to the establishment of a totalitarian dictatorship. b. The Executive Order 9835, sometimes known as The Loyalty Order. Its purpose was to make sure that situation similar to the September 1945 Soviet Embassy event did not exist within the U. S. government.
Critical Thinking 5. Eisenhower said that McCarthyism took its toll on the nation. What might that toll have been? a. Thousands of people lost their jobs, as a result of “guilt by association�. No one was safe from charges recklessly made from inside the walls of congressional immunity.