Vocabulary List for The Cold War and World Independence

A(tomic)-bomb – The type of nuclear device dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the smaller of the nuclear weapons, based on the fission or splitting of atoms

brinkmanship – the act of moving to the edge of nuclear war without quite going over

containment - the foreign policy strategy of the United States in the early years of the Cold War to defeat the Soviet Union by responding to any attempts by it to expand the territory under Communist control or otherwise extend its influence

guerrilla - Irregular force(s) engaged in harassing the enemy in small bands or groups . Operations carried out by small independent forces, to cause delay, disruption, and harass enemy troops and to wear down enemy resistance in general, usually carried on by a number of small groups behind enemy lines, or in occupied countries .

H(hydrogen)-bomb – A nuclear device capable of unleashing destruction far more powerful than the Hiroshima; based on the fusion of hydrogen atoms

ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) – long-range missiles capable of carrying payloads, usually nuclear, to any spot on the Earth

Iron Curtain – A speech given by Winston Churchill defining the division of the world after World War II into two camps, one led by the US and the other by the USSR. Churchill was particularly addressing the geographic division of Europe into communist and non-communist spheres.

M(utually) A(ssured) D(estruction) - a Cold War doctrine described by former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara (Kennedy and Johnson administrations) in which full-blown use of nuclear weapons by one side would result in the total extermination of both sides.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) – A defensive military alliance of the Western nations, led by the USA and aimed at opposing Soviet aggression.

Non-aligned Movement – a loose group of countries, generally headed by India, the attempted to join neither the Soviet nor the US side in the Cold War

proxy war – A military conflict where one major country opposes another major country by using a war in third country to stand in place of direct conflict between the two major powers. Thus the two major powers can “fight” without having to kill each other directly, and thus risk an escalation to nuclear holocaust.

Warsaw Pact – The Soviet-led Eastern European military alliance dedicated to defending the communist nations from Western aggression.