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Armistice
A formal agreement between warring parties to stop fighting, often to create a temporary truce while a peace treaty is negotiated.
Brinkmanship
A foreign policy strategy in which the United States and the Soviet Union would escalate dangerous disputes to the edge of all-out war in order to force the other side to back down
Containment
US policy aiming to stop the spread of communism.
Cult of Personality
The use of mass media, propaganda, and state-controlled information to create an idealized and heroic public image of a leader, demanding unquestioning devotion. Stalin's cult portrayed him as an infallible genius and the father of the Soviet nation.
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) was a campaign launched by Mao Zedong to enforce communist ideology by removing perceived counter-revolutionaries and challenging traditional authority in China.
It caused widespread social upheaval, with students and youth groups (Red Guards) attacking intellectuals, destroying cultural heritage, and disrupting education and industry.
Domino Theory
US belief that the fall of one country to communism would trigger others to follow.
Gang of Four
Radical political faction that dominated cultural and propaganda work during the Cultural Revolution.
Great Leap Forward
Campaign aimed at rapid modernization that instead caused severe famine and economic failure.
Little Red Book
Collection of Mao’s quotations used during the Cultural Revolution to promote ideological unity.
Peaceful Coexistence
The Peaceful Coexistence policy, promoted by Nikita Khrushchev in the 1950s, aimed for the USSR and USA to compete economically and ideologically without resorting to direct military conflict.
It encouraged diplomatic engagement, trade, and cultural exchanges while accepting the existence of capitalist and communist systems side by side.
Proxy war
A conflict in which major powers support opposing sides through military aid, funding, or advisors rather than fighting each other directly.
Rapprochement
The re-establishment of friendly relations between two countries or groups that were formerly in conflict
Red Guards
Youth groups mobilized by Mao to enforce revolutionary ideology and attack perceived enemies.