front 1 Cold War | back 1 A period of political tension and military rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, roughly from 1947 to 1991, characterized by ideological conflict and proxy wars. |
front 2 Truman Doctrine | back 2 A U.S. foreign policy established in 1947 to counter Soviet geopolitical expansion by providing military and economic assistance to countries resisting communism. |
front 3 Marshall Plan | back 3 An American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide economic aid to Western European nations to help rebuild their economies after World War II and prevent the spread of communism. |
front 4 Imperial Presidency | back 4 A term describing the expansion of presidential power beyond its constitutional limits, particularly during times of war or national crisis often associated with the Cold War era. |
front 5 National Security Council (NSC) | back 5 A U.S. government body responsible for advising the president on national security and foreign policy matters, particularly during the Cold War. |
front 6 Berlin Airlift | back 6 A military operation conducted from 1948 to 1949 to supply West Berlin with food and fuel after the Soviet Union blocked all ground routes into the city. |
front 7 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) | back 7 A military alliance formed in 1949 between North American and European countries for mutual defense against aggression particularly from the Soviet Union. |
front 8 NSC-68 | back 8 A key U.S. policy paper from 1950 that advocated for a significant increase in military spending to counter the perceived threat of Soviet expansionism. |
front 9 House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) | back 9 A committee of the U.S. House of Representatives established in 1938 that investigated alleged disloyalty and subversive activities, particularly during the Red Scare. |
front 10 Federal Employee Loyalty Program | back 10 Initiated in 1947 this program aimed to identify and remove disloyal individuals from federal employment often targeting those suspected of communist affiliations. |
front 11 McCarthyism | back 11 A campaign against alleged communists in the U.S. government and other institutions led by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950s characterized by aggressive investigations and accusations. |
front 12 New Look | back 12 A national security policy introduced by the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s that emphasized reliance on nuclear weapons and airpower to deter aggression. |
front 13 Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) | back 13 A military doctrine that assumes that if two opposing sides both possess nuclear weapons neither side will initiate a conflict that could lead to total destruction. |
front 14 Decolonization | back 14 The process by which colonial powers relinquished control over their colonies, particularly after World War II often influenced by Cold War dynamics and superpower competition. |
front 15 Bandung Conference | back 15 A 1955 meeting of Asian and African states held in Bandung, Indonesia aimed at promoting economic and cultural cooperation and opposing colonialism and neocolonialism during the Cold War. |
front 16 Eisenhower Doctrine | back 16 A U.S. policy established in 1957 that aimed to provide military and economic assistance to Middle Eastern countries resisting communist aggression. |
front 17 Vietcong | back 17 A communist guerrilla group in South Vietnam that fought against the U.S.-backed government during the Vietnam War supported by North Vietnam. |