Cold War & EU: Key Terms, Events, and Impact
Key Terms of the Cold War and the European Union
Cold War Terms
- Veto Power: The right to unilaterally prevent a resolution from being enacted.
- Gerontocracy: A political regime where power is held by significantly elderly individuals.
- Communes: Agricultural production cooperatives where private property was abolished.
- CIA (Central Intelligence Agency): Intelligence agency created in 1947 by U.S. President Truman.
- Kremlin: Seat of the Soviet government in Moscow.
- Ulster: Region of Northern Ireland that remained part of the United Kingdom. The question of unification with the Republic of Ireland was marked by terrorist actions from the IRA.
- Neoliberalism: An economic ideology advocating for free markets, often at the expense of social welfare programs.
European Union Terms
- Eurozone: EU states that have adopted the euro as their sole legal tender.
- Trade Barriers: Taxes imposed on the import or export of goods, typically absent in special trade agreements.
- Common Agricultural Policy: The EEC’s gradual elimination of trade barriers between member countries.
- Single Act: Treaty signed by EEC member states that allowed the free movement of capital, goods, and people among member states.
- An Aging Continent: Refers to the demographic trend where the number of people over 65 is nearly equal to the number of young people in Europe.
Timeline of Key Cold War Events
- 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
- 1947: Marshall Plan aid begins
- 1948: Start of the Berlin Blockade
- 1949: NATO established
- 1950: Korean War begins
- 1952: US explodes the first hydrogen bomb
- 1953: Korean War ends
- 1955: Warsaw Pact formed
- 1956: Hungarian Revolution
- 1957: Sputnik launched
- 1959: Cuba becomes communist
- 1961: Construction of the Berlin Wall
- 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis
- 1963: Assassination of John F. Kennedy
- 1965: US openly intervenes in Vietnam
- 1967: Six-Day War
- 1968: USSR invades Czechoslovakia
- 1973: Yom Kippur War
- 1979: USSR invades Afghanistan
- 1986: Reykjavik Summit
- 1987: INF Treaty signed
Major Cold War Conflicts and Concepts
The Cold War
The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, lasting from 1945 until the late 1980s. While direct military conflict between the two superpowers was avoided, they engaged in proxy wars through client states.
The Korean War
The Korean War was a conflict between North Korea and South Korea, with major hostilities occurring from 1950 until the armistice in 1953. It was one of the major proxy wars of the Cold War.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a tense confrontation in 1962 between the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba, bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war.
The Arms Race
The Arms Race was a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union for military supremacy, characterized by a rapid increase in the quantity and quality of weapons and military technology.
The Space Race
The Space Race was an informal competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to achieve milestones in space exploration, including launching artificial satellites, sending humans into space, and landing on the moon. It began with the Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957.
Satellite States and the Eastern Bloc
A satellite state is a country that is formally independent but heavily influenced or controlled by another. The term Eastern Bloc or Soviet Bloc referred to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, including members of the Warsaw Pact, Yugoslavia, and Albania.
The European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational organization with sovereignty over certain powers granted by its member states. It can legislate on specific subjects and, alongside Japan and the United States, is a major global economic power.
EU Citizenship
EU Citizenship grants four fundamental rights to citizens of EU member states:
- The right to move and reside freely within the EU.
- The right to vote and stand as a candidate in municipal elections.
- The right to diplomatic protection in non-EU countries.
- The right to petition the European Parliament and submit complaints to the European Ombudsman.