The Cold War: Politics, Alliances, and Key Events

The Warsaw Pact was a military alliance between the Soviet Union and its satellite states in Eastern Europe. The United States was not a member of the Warsaw Pact.

The U-2 was an American spy plane that was designed to fly at high altitudes and take photographs of enemy territory. In 1960, a U-2 piloted by Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union, leading to a major international crisis.

The Berlin Blockade was a Soviet attempt to starve West Berlin into submission in 1948. The blockade was lifted in 1949, but it marked the beginning of the Cold War.

John F. Kennedy was the American president who ordered the invasion of Cuba in 1961. The invasion was a failure, and it led to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

China was not a member of NATO. NATO is a military alliance between North American and European countries.

Nikita Khrushchev was the Soviet leader who proposed the policy of peaceful coexistence with the West. This policy was an attempt to reduce tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States.

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is considered to be the end of the Cold War. The wall was a symbol of the division between East and West Germany, and its fall marked the beginning of a new era of cooperation between the two countries.

Richard Nixon was the American president who signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) with the Soviet Union in 1972. SALT I was the first arms control agreement between the two countries.

Yugoslavia was not a member of COMECON. COMECON was an economic alliance between the Soviet Union and its satellite states in Eastern Europe.

Ronald Reagan was the American president who proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as "Star Wars", in 1983. SDI was a plan to develop a missile defense system that would protect the United States from nuclear attack.

The United States was not a member of the Non-Aligned Movement. The Non-Aligned Movement was a group of countries that were not aligned with either the Soviet Union or the United States.

Mikhail Gorbachev was the Soviet leader who proposed the policy of perestroika, or economic restructuring, in 1985. Perestroika was an attempt to reform the Soviet economy and make it more efficient.

Yugoslavia was not a member of the Warsaw Pact. The Warsaw Pact was a military alliance between the Soviet Union and its satellite states in Eastern Europe.

Ronald Reagan was the American president who signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with the Soviet Union in 1987. The INF Treaty was a landmark agreement that eliminated all intermediate-range nuclear missiles from Europe.

Sweden is not a member of NATO. NATO is a military alliance between North American and European countries.