Cold War Vocabulary

U.S. foreign policy that focused on stopping the spread of communism.

A type of government in which the government owns all property and the people have limited freedoms. Communism began in the Soviet Union.

Wall built that separated East and West Berlin, Germany. Built by the Soviet Union to stop the German people from moving from East Berlin (communism) to West Berlin (democracy). The tearing down of the Berlin Wall represented the end of the Cold War.

Race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to build up weapons.

A 13 day confrontation between Cuba backed by the Soviet Union and the U.S. in which Cuba had missiles aimed at the U.S. This event was the closest the U.S. and the Soviet Union ever came to nuclear war.

The ​ (a)   was produced with the hope that it would restore the advantage of the United States over the Soviet Union. It was 1,000 times as powerful as an ​ (b)   .

Under the policy of ​ (a)   , the United States and the Soviet Union built up enough weapons to destroy each other.