Ch. 18

• Domino theory

  The view that a communist victory in South Vietnam would cause noncommunist governments across Southeast Asia to fall to communism like a row of dominoes
• Fidel Castro

  Leader of an armed rebellion in Cuba, who took power there in 1959 and allied with the Soviet Union
• Ngo Dinh Diem

  Ruled a noncommunist government in South Vietnam, supported by the U.S.
• Anti-ballistic missiles (ABMs)

  Missiles that can shoot down other missiles from hostile countries
• Ho Chi Minh

  A communist leader in Vietnam who fought the Japanese, and battled U.S. supported South Vietnamese for control of the control
• Détente

  The relaxation of Cold War Tensions
• Cuban missile crisis

  Soviet missiles in Cuba
• Nikita Khrushchev

  The leader of the Soviet Union after Stalin's death in 1953, who called for "peaceful coexistence" with the West
• Ronald Reagan

  The president of the U.S from 1980 to 1988
• Superpowers

  Nations stronger than other powerful nations
• Leonid Brezhnev

  The leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1960s until 1982; reinstated the policy of imprisoning critics
• Containment

  The policy of trying to keep communism within its existing boundaries and preventing further expansion
• Welfare state

  A country with a market economy but with increased government responsibility for the social and economic needs of its people
• John F. Kennedy

  The president of the U.S from 1961 to 1963
• Ideology

  A system of values and beliefs
• Cold War arms race

  U.S & Soviets would try to desperately one-up each other for nuclear power
• Cuban Revolution

  Armed revolt against Fidel Castro and his communist government
• "Red scare"

  Spread and fear of Communism in the U.S
• Recession

  A period when the economy shrinks
• European Community

  An organization of European nations dedicated to establishing free trade among all member nations for all products
• Gross domestic product (GDP)

  The total value of all goods and services produced in a nation in a particular year
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

  A gifted preacher who emerged as a leader of the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s
• The United States offered assistance to war-torn European nations
• The Great Leap Forward

  A Chinese Communist program from 1958 to 1960 to boost farm and industrial output that failed miserably
• The Cultural Revolution

  A Chinese Communist program in the late 1960s to purge China of nonrevolutionary tendencies, causing economic and social damage
• Chinese Nationalists

  Supported Ho Chi Minh and his communist regime as it represented China and its greatness
• 18th parallel

  Near the 38th parallel
• 38th parallel

  The dividing line between North Korea and South Korea after World War II
• Kim IL Sung

  North Korean dictator and ally of the Soviet Union
• Syngman Rhee

  Noncommunist dictatorial leader of South Korea who was backed by the U.S
• Pusan Perimeter

  The line where the U. N. troops stopped the advance of North Korea in 1950
• Demilitarized zone

  An area w/o military forces
• Perestroika

  Restructuring of government and the economy of the Soviet Union
• The East German government responded to Gorbachev's call for change by demanding freedom
• Korean War


  Divided between North (Communist) and South (Capitalist) by the 38th parallel demilitarized zone
• Security alliance


  Treaties in which the US and other countries involved have agreed to take collective action to meet aggression in a particular part of the world
• SALT talks


  Strategic Arms Limitation Talks; U.S & Russia would limit their offensive weapons
• The START treaty


  Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty; U.S & Russia would reduce their strategic nuclear weapons
• Suburban

  City to communities in suburbs
• Suburbanization


  The movement of people from the city to communities in the suburbs