Booklet Three - The transformation of the Cold War

• Cuban Missile Crisis


  Tense confrontation between USA and USSR over Cuban missile deployment
• Fidel Castro


  Communist leader of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis
• Bay of Pigs


  Failed US-backed invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles in 1961
• Khrushchev


  Soviet leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis
• Berlin Wall


  Barrier separating East and West Berlin to prevent defection
• Vienna Summit


  1961 meeting between Kennedy and Khrushchev to discuss Cold War tensions
• Thirteen Days


  Critical period of the Cuban Missile Crisis from October 16 to 28, 1962
• U2 Spy Planes


  Aircraft used for reconnaissance, crucial in discovering Cuban missile sites
• Quarantine


  Alternative to air strike during the Crisis, naval blockade to prevent Soviet ships from reaching Cuba
• GDR


  German Democratic Republic, East Germany's official name during the Cold War
• FRG


  Federal Republic of Germany, West Germany's official name during the Cold War
• Iron Curtain


  Symbolic division between Western and Eastern Europe during the Cold War
• Sphere of Influence


  Area where a powerful state exerts significant cultural, economic, or military influence
• Kennedy's Response to Cuban Missile Crisis


  Kennedy orders blockade, negotiates with Khrushchev, avoids invasion.
• Quarantine of Cuba


  Kennedy's decision to surround Cuba, block Soviet ships.
• US Navy Blockade


  American warships prevent Soviet ships from reaching Cuba.
• Air Strike Concerns


  Advisors warn air strikes may not destroy all missiles in Cuba.
• Khrushchev's Response


  Soviet ships turn back, agree to remove missiles from Cuba.
• Kennedy's Victory


  Successful negotiation leads to removal of Cuban missiles.
• Cuban Missile Crisis Consequences

  Kennedy gains strength, establishes hotline, signs Partial Test Ban Treaty.
• Prague Spring Causes


  Dubcek's reforms in Czechoslovakia challenge Soviet control.
• Brezhnev Doctrine


  USSR's policy to invade countries threatening Communism in Eastern Europe.
• Checkpoint Charlie Crisis


  Standoff in Berlin between NATO and Soviet forces, resolved by Kennedy and Khrushchev.
• Prague Spring


  1968 event in Czechoslovakia where Soviet troops suppressed reforms, leading to global communist outrage.
• Brezhnev Doctrine


  Policy outlined by Brezhnev in 1968 to maintain communist governments by force if necessary.
• Détente


  Period of improved relations between superpowers, marked by arms control agreements and reduced tensions.
• Red Square Protest


  Small protest in Moscow center against Soviet action during the Prague Spring.
• Cuban Missile Crisis


  1962 confrontation between the US and USSR over Soviet missiles in Cuba, nearly leading to nuclear war.
• SALT I


  1972 treaty limiting nuclear weapons production and introducing restrictions on strategic arms.
• China-Soviet Split


  Late 1960s deterioration of relations between China and the USSR, contributing to détente.
• Vietnam War


  Conflict where US aimed to stop communism spread, ending in 1975 with communist control of Vietnam.
• Human Rights Concerns


  Tension over Soviet restrictions on civil rights and free speech, a source of conflict during détente.
• Nuclear Arms Race


  Competition between superpowers to develop and stockpile nuclear weapons, a key aspect of Cold War tensions.
• Partial Test Ban Treaty


  1963 agreement between US and USSR banning nuclear tests in the atmosphere, outer space, and underwater.
• Gulags


  Soviet forced labor camps where political prisoners and dissidents were sent, exemplifying human rights abuses.
• Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)


  Movement advocating for the abolition of nuclear weapons, contributing to détente in the 1970s.