Cold War - key terms

• Atomic Bomb is the nuclear weapons, only used in WWII by USA against Japan but a constant threat in the Cold War
• Alliance is the arrangement between two countries to help or defend each other, usually in trade or war
• Allied Control Council (ACC) consisted of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and France
• Appeasement is the policy of Britain and France adopted in 1930s allowing Hitler to break terms of Treaty of Versailles
• Berlin Airlift is the operation in 1948-1949 using aircraft to transport supplies to West Berlin which had been cut off by USSR
• Cold War is the period of tension between the US and USSR following World War II until the collapse of the USSR in 1991
• Berlin Blockade is the action by USSR to cut road, rail and canal links between West Berlin and the rest of Germany. Aid was to force USA and allies to withdraw from West Berlin.
• Capitalism is the political, social, aconomic system centred on democracy and individual freedoms such as free speech, political beliefs and freedom to do business
• Communism is the political economic and social system involving state control of economy and less emphasis on individual rights than Capitalism
• Democracy is the political system in which population votes for its government in elections held on a regular basis
• Cominform is the organisation to spread communist ideas and also make sure Communist states following ideas of Communism practiced in USSR
• Dictatorship is the system in which on person runs a country
• Iron curtain is term used by Churchill in 1946 to describe separation of Eastern and Western Europe into Communist and non-communist blocs
• Isolationism is the policy in USA in the 1920s which argued SUA should not get involved in international disputes
• Marshall Aid is the programme of US economic aid to Western Europe from 1947-1951. Aim was to aid economic recovery but also to prevent more states becoming Communist
• Marshall Plan is the plan behind Marshall Aid. Although it was an economic programmes it was also political. Some commentators argued it was an economic form of imperialism designed to allow the USA to dominate Western Europe
• Potsdam Conference was the conference held in August 1945 between President Truman (USA), Stalin (USSR) and Churchil, then Atlee (Britain). Discussed major issues including the Atomic Bomb and Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe
• Soviet Sphere of Influence is the term agreed at Yalta Conference the governing body of the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany and Allied-occupied Austria after the end of WWII
• Superpower is a country in a dominant international position that is able to influence events
• The Soviet Union is the former Russian empire after it became a Communist state in the 1920s
• The West/The Western Powers is the term generally used to refer to USA and its allies in the Cold War
• Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) formed in 1949 is the alliance formed by USA and other western states which promised to defend members against any attack, particularly from the USSR
• Truman's Doctrine is the policy of US President Truman from 1947 to promise to help any state threatened by Communism
• The Yalta Conference was the conference between USA, USSR and Britain in 1945 to decide to shape of the world after WWII ended