Chapter 22

Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuba, Soviet Union and the U.S./1962/ An international crisis where the U.S. discovered Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba, President John F. Kennedy demanded their removal and announced a naval blockade of the island; the Soviet leader Khrushchev acceded to the U.S. demands a week later./ It was the closest approach to nuclear war at any time between the U.S. and the USSR.

Fidel Castro

Cuba/ 1959/Cuban revolutionary leader who overthrew the corrupt regime of the dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and soon after established a Communist state. He was prime minister of Cuba and has been president of the government and First Secretary of the Communist Party./ Introduced Communism to Cuba

Stalin

1879-1953/ Russia/ Russian leader who succeeded Lenin as head of the Communist Party and created a totalitarian state by purging all opposition/ Created a powerful Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe after the war

Afghanistan's Civil War

Afghanistan/1978-1989/Civil War in Afghanistan began when Marxist government attempted to hold on to power against Islamic radicals./The Soviet Union intervened by eventually retreated without success and Marxist government fell.

McCarthyism

America/ 1950s/ The term associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy who led the search for communists in America during the early 1950s through his leadership in the House Un-American Activities Committee./ Became a synonym for public charges of disloyalty without sufficient regard for evidence.

Mao Zedong

China/1893-1976/ Communist leader in revolutionary China; advocated rural reform and role of peasantry in Nationalist revolution; influenced by Li Dazhao./ Led Communist reaction against Guomindang purges culminating in Long March of 1934; seized control of all of mainland China and initiated Great Leap Forward in 1958.

Yugoslavia

Balkan Peninsula/ 1918/ This country was created by the peace treaties after World War I. It was mainly where Serbia used to be. They also got German land to make them stronger so that they would be a good barrier between Germany and Communist Russia./ United ethnicities that spoke similar Slavic languages.

Guomindang

China/ 1912/Nationalist political party founded on democratic principles by Sun Yat-sen in 1912. After 1925, the party was headed by Chiang Kai-shek./ Turned into an increasingly authoritarian movement

People's Liberation Army

China/ 1927/Chinese Communist army; administered much of country under People's Republic of China./ Has never held formal political power in the People's Republic of China but it has been an important influence on politics and policy; early political leaders were also military leaders

Great Leap Forward

China/ 1958-1961/Started by Mao Zedong, economic and social plan which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern industrial society./ Combined collective farms into People's Communes.

Deng Xiapong

China/ 1960/ Mao's successor. He co-led China from and after the Cultural Revolution and remained in charge for many years./ He opened China to foreign market and ended a demonstration in Tiananmen Square.

Cultural Revolution

China/ 1965/ Campaign in China ordered by Mao Zedong to purge the Communist Party of his opponents and instill revolutionary values in the younger generation./ Led to military rule, terrorism, purges, and restructuring of the educational system.

Red Guards

China/ 1966/ The youths who led Mao's Cultural Revolution./ Terrorized Chinese citizens and determined who went to camps.

Tiananmen Square

China/ 1989/Site in Beijing where Chinese students and workers gathered to demand greater political openness in 1989./ The demonstration was crushed by Chinese military with great loss of life.

Chiang Kai-shek

China/1887-1975/ Chinese statesman and general; president of China and of Taiwan./ He tried to unite China by military means in the 1930s but was defeated by the Communists. Forced to abandon mainland China in 1949, he set up a separate Nationalist Chinese State in Taiwan.

Iron Curtain

Europe/ 1946/ Winston Churchill's term for the Cold War division between the Soviet-dominated East and the U.S.-dominated West./ Divided Europe and made it more difficult to travel outside the region.

Korean War

Korea/ 1950-1953/The conflict between Communist North Korea and Non-Communist South Korea. The United Nations (led by the United States) helped South Korea./ Ended in stalemate and continued division of Korea

Lenin

Russia/ 1870-1924/Russian founder of the Bolsheviks and leader of the Russian Revolution and first head of the USSR/ Founded the Communist Party in Russia and set up the world's first Communist Party dictatorship.

Bolsheviks

Russia/1903/ Radical Marxist political party founded by Vladimir Lenin in 1903./ Under Lenin's leadership, the Bolsheviks seized power in November 1917 during the Russian Revolution.

Russian Revolution

Russia/1917-1921/ Prompted by labor unrest, personal liberties, and elected representatives, this political revolution occurred in 1917 when Czar Nicholas II was murdered and Vladimir Lenin sought control to implement his ideas of socialism./ Led to Russia withdrawing from WWI due to a communist takeover of their government

land reform/redistribution

Soviet Union and China/1917 in S.U. and 1940s in China/This was the process of breaking up large handholdings to attain a more balanced land distribution among farmers./ This was an effort to create a more equal society

'Communist Feminism'

Soviet Union and China/1919/Increase in rights for women in Russia and China especially related to work, education and marriage/Communists countries pioneered the equal treatment of women which was not adopted by Western countries for a long time.

Warsaw Pact

Soviet Union and Eastern Europe/ 1945/ The treaty binding the Soviet Union and countries of eastern Europe in an alliance against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization./ Alliance against democracy, supporting communism.

Nikita Khrushchev

Soviet Union/ 1894-1971/Soviet statesman and premier who denounced Stalin./ Lessened government control of Soviet citizens; sought peaceful coexistence with the West instead of confrontation.

kulak

Soviet Union/ 1930s/ A more prosperous class of peasant farmers which emerged in Russia; came about as a result of peasants being allowed to own land/ This group was dissolved by exile and execution by Stalin when they opposed collectivization

Great Purges

Soviet Union/ 1930s/Stalin was paranoid that rival party leaders were plotting against him and launched this reign of terror./ He and the Cheka eliminated old Bolsheviks and other party members. An estimated 700,000 people were killed.

Michail Gorbachev

Soviet Union/ 1980s and 90s/ The last leader of the Soviet Communist Party. He won a noble peace prize in 1990 and was the President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics/ Helped to end the cold war.

glasnost

Soviet Union/ 1980s/ Policy of openness initiated by Gorbachev in the 1980s that provided increased opportunities for freedom of speech, association and the press in the Soviet Union./ Led to freer spread of news and information.

perestroika

Soviet Union/ 1987/A policy initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev that involved restructuring of the social and economic status quo in communist Russia towards a market based economy and society./ Restructured the economic system in the Soviet Union.

collective farm

Soviet Union/1929-1933/ regards a system of agricultural organization whereas farmers are not compensated with wages but with a share of the farm's net productivity./ Farmers were forced to give up land and work according to production quotas

Arms Race

U.S. and Soviet Union/ 1950s/Cold war competition between the U.S. and Soviet Union to build up their respective armed forces and weapons./ Caused the development of more destructive weapons.

US intervention

US and Vietnam/1960s/The US intervention into the war between North and South Vietnam to prevent communist expansion in Asia./The war became unpopular in the U.S. and troops were eventually withdrawn.

NATO

US, England, France, Canada, Western European countries/ 1949/An international organization created by the North Atlantic Treaty for purposes of collective security./ Countries promised to defend one another if they were to be attacked.

Cold War

United States and Soviet Union/ 1945-1991/ A conflict that was between the US and the Soviet Union. The nations never directly confronted each other on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years./ The United States and the Soviet Union emerged as superpowers and faced off in an arms race that lasted nearly 50 years.

Ho Chi Minh

Vietnam/ 1890-1969/ Vietnamese communist statesman who fought the Japanese in World War II, the French, and South Vietnam/ Brilliant strategy, drew out war and made it unwinnable

Vietnam War

Vietnam/ 1954-1975/War between the communist armies of North Vietnam who were supported by the Chinese and the non-communist armies of South Vietnam who were supported by the United States./ South was defeated by communist north.

"First World"

mainly US and Western Europe/1950s/ The largely democratic and free-market states of the United States and Western Europe during the Cold War/ Joined against the Soviet Union.

"Third World"

parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America/ 1950s/ Term applied to a group of developing countries who professed nonalignment during the Cold War./ Refused to side with the U.S. or Soviet Union

non-alignment

parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America/ 1950s/ The policy of not taking sides during the Cold War/ Allowed neutral countries to take aid from both sides.

totalitarian

recognized by Western anti-communist countries/ 1920s/characterized by a government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control/ The government has control over all aspects of people's lives.