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satellite nation

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A country that is dominated politically and economically by another nation.

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iron curtain

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A phrase used by Winston Churchill in 1946 to describe an imaginary line that separated Communist countries in the Soviet bloc of Eastern Europe from countries in Western Europe.

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Cold War

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The state of hostility, without direct military conflict, that developed between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II.

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Containment

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The blocking of another nation's attempts to spread its influence—especially the efforts of the United States to block the spread of Soviet influence during the late 1940s and early 1950s.

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Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

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A U.S. agency created to gather secret information about foreign governments.

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Truman Doctrine

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A U.S. policy, announced by President Harry S. Truman in 1947, of providing economic and military aid to free nations threatened by internal or external opponents.

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Marshall Plan

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The program, proposed by Secretary of State George Marshall in 1947, under which the United States supplied economic aid to European nations to help them rebuild after World War II.

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Berlin airlift

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A 327-day operation in which U.S. and British planes flew food and supplies into West Berlin after the Soviets blockaded the city in 1948.

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North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

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A defensive military alliance formed in 1949 by ten Western European countries, the United States, and Canada.

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Taiwan

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The island about 100 miles from the Chinese mainland where the United States helped set up a Nationalist government in 1949.