1. Iron curtain- Term was first adopted by Winston Churchill in his iron curtain speech on March 5th, 1946. This referred to the military political and ideological barrier set up by Stalin’s rule of communist Russia. No trading or communication was allowed between Eastern Russian countries in the U.S.S.R. and the rest of Eastern Europe. Started after the end of WWII when Stalin had a different idea for a post war world. After 1953 the curtain slowly faded away and was completely lifted around 1989-90. Ran from East Germany to the Mediterranean.

2. NATO- A treaty between countries that wanted world peace. Stands for North Atlantic Treaty organization. They saw communism as a threat that could turn into a WWIII. It included most American superpowers and east European countries. It was made to ensure peace and promote capitalism. U.S.S.R and their communist allies and dictatorships responded with the Warsaw Pact.

3. Warsaw Pact-Response to NATO. Basically the two sides of the cold war. The countries comprised mainly of communist countries that did not want western invasion such as the one Napoleon and Hitler mounted against eastern European nations. Officially disbanded on February 25 1991.

4. Containment-Harry S. Truman believed in what he called the domino effect. If one country fell to communist rule its surrounding neighbors would also fall. He established containment: a policy aimed at stopping the spread of communism. Examples: Korean War, Vietnam War. Ended up a complete fluke as communism itself fell to those clamoring for revolution and a lack in economic growth for communist countries.

5. United Nations-The United Nations was established in order to avoid war. What caused WWI and WWII was a lack of communication and unfair treaties. This alliance of world superpowers was to avoid war if a country had a dispute. U.N. forces would be mobilized for things like the Korean War were North Korea invaded South Korea. The U.N. protects human rights and aids countries who need support. Basically a giant beacon of how great capitalism is. Also provides a neutral means of communication.

6. Satellite Nations-A term given to countries that are politically and economically dependent on a larger country. Used to refer to countries that were dominated by the U.S.S.R. such as East Germany, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia. These countries were mostly communist.

7. Marshall Plan-A plan instated by the secretary of state George Marshall. This plan provided post-WWII devastated countries with aid. $13 billion was spent getting Europe back on its feet. Included in the expenditures were shipments of food, machinery to forward the industrial capacity of Europe and fuel. Marshall Plan ended in 1951. From 1948 to 1952 the Marshall plan acted as steroids and made an economic boom in Europe. The countries that were provided with aid are now mostly part of the European Union.

8. U.S. and U.S.S.R. goals-In the cold war the Soviet Union and the U.S. were trying to achieve the same thing. They wanted to seem stronger than one another by launching the Arms Race and the Space Race. They also wanted to spread their way of thinking and to paint each other as worse as possible. The iron curtain was Stalin’s way of showing his power. Stalin wanted to spread communism while Truman was afraid that this spread of power would end up with WWIII so he instated the policy of containment.

9. Berlin Wall- When Germany was taken by the Allies it was split into 4 military districts. One for U.S. one for France, one for Britain, and one for the Soviet Union. Berlin was also split similarly. When Stalin deviated from the Allies’ ideas for