English word senses marked with topical category "Cold War"

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Parent categories: Historical events, History of Europe, History of the United States, Nuclear warfare, Soviet Union, History, Europe, United States, War, Weapons, Asia, Earth, Eurasia, North America, Conflict, Military, Violence, Hunting, Tools, Nature, America, Human behaviour, Society, Human activity, Technology, Human

Total 75 word senses

• Bamboo Curtain (Proper name) The political and ideological barrier between the communist and capitalist states of Asia during the Cold War.
• Bay of Pigs (Proper name) A small inlet on the southern side of Cuba, site of a famous failed invasion in 1961.
• Berlin Wall (Noun) Any barrier designed to keep people from crossing a border, e.g. the one proposed to keep people from crossing from Mexico into the United States.
• Brezhnev (Proper name) A transliteration of the Russian surname Бре́жнев (Bréžnev); usually refers to the Russian revolutionary and Soviet Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) Leonid Brezhnev.
• Brezhnev Doctrine (Proper name) A policy which stated that the Soviet Union had the right to intervene in places where capitalism threatened communism.
• Cold War (Proper name) The period of hostility short of open war between the Soviet Bloc and the Western powers, especially the United States, between 1945 and 1991.
• Cold Warrior (Noun) A participant in the Cold War.
• Comecon (Proper name) Abbreviation of Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, a multinational economic organization that existed in the Eastern Bloc from 1949 to 1991.
• Cuban Missile Crisis (Proper name) A diplomatic crisis in 1962, between the United States and the Soviet Union, over Soviet nuclear missiles placed in Cuba. It almost led to nuclear war.
• Derg (Proper name) The Provisional Military Administrative Council, the communist military junta that ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to 1987.
• Dirty War (Proper name) The period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 as a part of Operation Condor.
• Dr. Strangelove (Noun) Someone who is likely to launch a nuclear attack or otherwise destroy the world.
• East Berlin (Proper name) The Soviet sector of Berlin between 1949 and 1990.
• East Germany (Proper name) A former Communist country of Central Europe, existing between 1949 and 1990. Official name: German Democratic Republic. Capital: East Berlin.
• Eastern Bloc (Proper name) The largely Communist countries of the eastern world, usually Eastern Europe and especially in the Cold War era.
• Eisenhower (Proper name) A surname.; Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States of America
• Euromissile (Noun) An American or Soviet missile stationed in a European country during the Cold War
• First World (Proper name) Those countries aligned with the West during the Cold War, particularly in contrast to those aligned with the East (Second World).
• First World (Proper name) Wealthy, developed nations, contrasted with the Third World.
• Gorbachev (Proper name) A transliteration of the Russian surname Горбачёв (Gorbačóv).
• HUAC (Proper name) Acronym of House Un-American Activities Committee.
• ICBM (Noun) Initialism of intercontinental ballistic missile.
• IRBM (Noun) Initialism of intermediate-range ballistic missile.
• Iron Curtain (Proper name) Chiefly preceded by the: the dividing line between Western Europe and the Soviet controlled regions, especially during the Cold War (1947–1991).
• Khmer Rouge (Proper name) A Cambodian communist guerrilla force active from the 1970s to the 1990s under the leadership of Pol Pot.
• Khrushchev (Proper name) English transliteration of the Russian surname Хрущёв (Xruščóv); usually refers to the Russian revolutionary and Soviet Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) Nikita Khrushchev.
• Korean War (Proper name) A war fought in the Korean Peninsula from 1950–1953 between the Soviet Union-backed Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the United Nations-backed Republic of Korea.
• Mao (Proper name) A Sino-Tibetan language.
• McCarthyism (Proper name) The intense opposition to, and fear and suspicion of, Communism, particularly in the United States during the 1950s.
• NATO (Proper name) Acronym of North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
• Nixon (Proper name) An English surname transferred from the given name.; Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States of America
• Nixon (Proper name) A township in DeWitt County, Illinois, United States, named after early settlers George, William and Morris Nixon.
• Nixon (Proper name) A census-designated place in Washoe County, Nevada, United States, named in honor of George S. Nixon, Nevada senator.
• North Vietnam (Proper name) A state (officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam) that governed northern Vietnam in 1945–1975.
• North Yemen (Proper name) A country in the Middle East until 1990.
• Pathet Lao (Proper name) A communist nationalist movement and political party in Laos, which took power in 1975 after a civil war.
• Pax Americana (Proper name) The period of relative peace in the Western world since the end of World War II in 1945, coinciding with the military and economic dominance of the United States.
• Reagan (Proper name) Of the administration of Ronald Reagan, U.S. President from 1981–1989.
• Reagan (Proper name) A surname from Irish.
• Reagan (Proper name) A male given name transferred from the surname, of occasional usage.
• Reagan (Proper name) A female given name transferred from the surname, of 1970s and later American usage.
• Red Star (Proper name) A depiction of a red star, often used as a symbol of communism and the Soviet Union.
• SALT (Proper name) Acronym of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.
• SEATO (Proper name) Initialism of Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, in existence from 1955 to 1977.
• Second World (Proper name) Those countries aligned with the East during the Cold War, particularly in contrast to those aligned with the West (First World).
• South Vietnam (Proper name) A state, officially the Republic of Vietnam, that governed southern Vietnam from 1955–1975.
• South Yemen (Proper name) A former country in the Middle East from 1967 until 1990; full name People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.
• Stalin (Proper name) A surname from Russian; usually referring to the Russian [empire, republic] revolutionary and Soviet Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) Joseph Stalin.
• Third World (Proper name) developing countries, especially that of Africa, Asia and Latin America
• Tito (Proper name) Josip Broz Tito, a Yugoslav revolutionary and politician.
• Tsar Bomba (Proper name) A 50-megaton thermonuclear bomb, detonated by the Soviet Union in October 1961. It was the biggest nuke ever exploded.
• Vietnam War (Proper name) The war that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia between 1955 and 1975 between South Vietnam (backed by the United States and SEATO) and North Vietnam aiding the South Vietnamese communist guerrilla army known as the Vietcong (supported by the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union) for the struggle for total Communist control of Vietnam as one state.
• Warsaw Pact (Proper name) A pact (long-term alliance treaty) signed on May 14, 1955 in Warsaw by the Soviet Union and its Communist military allies in Europe.
• West Berlin (Proper name) The American, British and French sectors of Berlin between 1949 and 1990.
• West Germany (Proper name) The former areas of the Republic during that time, distinguished from the former East German areas.
• Western Bloc (Proper name) The noncommunist nations of Europe and America.
• World Freedom Day (Proper name) a memorial day celebrated on January 23 in Taiwan and South Korea
• World War III (Proper name) A hypothetical world war following World War II.
• balance of terror (Noun) The tenuous peace that existed during the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
• bomber gap (Noun) The perceived superiority during the Cold War of the USSR's ability to deploy jet-powered strategic bombers.
• captive nation (Noun) A country under the control of a Communist regime (especially the Soviet Union).
• containment (Noun) A policy of checking the expansion of a hostile foreign power by creating alliances with other states; especially the foreign policy strategy of the United States in the early years of the Cold War.
• decommunization (Noun) The act, process, or result of decommunizing.
• destalinization (Noun) The process, begun by Nikita Khrushchev, of discrediting and then reforming the policies of Joseph Stalin.
• dirty war (Noun) A conflict (particularly one in South America) between a dictatorship against leftist revolutionaries or activists, typically characterized by extrajudicial repression like kidnapping, torture and enforced disappearance.
• domino effect (Noun) The theory that, if South Vietnam became communist, it would be followed by Cambodia, Laos, additional Southeast Asian countries, other Asian countries, and likely even elsewhere.
• domino theory (Proper name) Synonym of domino effect
• détente (Noun) A relaxing of tension, especially between countries.
• fall of the wall (Noun) The deconstruction of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and 1990.
• glasnost (Noun) 1980s and early 1990s policy of the Soviet Union under Gorbachev to allow more government transparency; often paired with perestroika
• hammer and sickle (Noun) A depiction of a sickle crossed with a hammer, used as a symbol of communism and the Soviet Union.
• missile gap (Noun) The perceived superiority during the Cold War of the number and power of the USSR's missiles in comparison with those of the United States.
• perestroika (Noun) The period of time in the Soviet Union during which these reforms were carried out and in effect.
• proxy war (Noun) A war where two powers use third parties as a supplement to, or a substitute for, fighting each other directly.
• space bridge (Noun) A series of experimental international telecasts between Soviet and United States viewers, arranged by enthusiasts during the late Cold War era.

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