Cold War & Decolonization: Key Historical Terms and Events

Key Historical Terms Defined

• Planned Economy

  An economic system where the state regulates the production process and distribution of goods.

• Marshall Plan

  A U.S. strategy to revive European countries. Its economic objectives included improving the standard of living in Europe and boosting European demand.

• COMECON (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance)

  Created in 1949, its aim was to coordinate the economic policies of Eastern European countries and establish mutual assistance agencies.

• NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

  A treaty organization created in 1949.

• Warsaw Pact

  A treaty of friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance signed in 1955.

• Star Wars (Strategic Defense Initiative)

  A draft initiative for strategic defense that proposed the development of a space-based system to destroy Soviet nuclear missiles in case of an attack.

• Negritude

  A cultural movement that sought to promote the cultural values of Black Africa, countering attempts at European assimilation.

• Arabism

  A pan-Arab nationalist movement that aimed to unite all Arab countries into a single large Arab state.

• Decolonization

  The historical process through which the colonies of European empires achieved their independence.

• Intifada

  A revolt by Palestinian civilians against the Israeli occupation.

• PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization)

  Formed in May 1964 to unite all Palestinian political groups.

• Polisario Front

  A military and political movement created in the Western Sahara to achieve independence.

• Africanism

  A political current that promotes the unity of African peoples.

• Neocolonialism

  A situation where an independent territory maintains political, cultural, or economic dependence on a former colonial power.

Post-War Global Chronology

Cold War & European Developments

• 1948

  Establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany; Berlin Blockade by Stalin.

• 1949

  Creation of COMECON; Establishment of the German Democratic Republic; Formation of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

• 1950

  Korean War begins.

• 1955

  Warsaw Pact signed.

• 1961

  Construction of the Berlin Wall.

• 1962

  Cuban Missile Crisis.

• 1964

  U.S. involvement in Vietnam escalates.

• 1979

  Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

• 1981

  U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) proposed.

• 1989

  Democratic revolutions in Eastern Europe.

• 1990

  German Unification.

• 1991

  Dissolution of the Warsaw Pact; Dissolution of the USSR.

Decolonization & Middle East Conflicts

• 1947-1948

  Independence of most of the British Empire in Asia.

• 1955

  Bandung Conference.

• 1962

  Algerian Independence.

• 1967

  Six-Day War.

• 1973

  Yom Kippur War.

• 1993

  Creation of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA); Oslo Accords signed.

• 1994

  Rwandan Genocide.