The twentieth-century world, Year 10: communism in Asia, the arms race and the pacts (East and West (Cold War) option)

Mao Zedong

HintHe was known as the Chairman of his party.

The whyHis forces defeated the Nationalists of Chiang Kai-shek, who fled to Taiwan. In the USA the communist victory was called the 'loss' of China, which made American anti-communism fiercer.

1949

HintThe same year NATO was founded.

The whyThe last phase of the civil war between the Nationalists and the communists ran from 1946 to 1949. China then signed the Sino-Soviet Friendship Treaty, creating an alliance with the USSR.

The 38th parallel

HintThe number lies between thirty and forty.

The whyNorth Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950. The war ended in stalemate around the same line, with an armistice in 1953.

China

HintA very large neighbour of North Korea.

The whyThe UN forces, led by the USA, had crossed the 38th parallel into North Korea. China's entry into the war led to a long stalemate.

The superpowers backed opposing sides without going to open war against each other

HintThink of someone acting on another's behalf.

The whyThe USA led the UN forces defending South Korea, while the USSR and China supported North Korea. Proxy wars allowed the superpowers to avoid direct conflict.

Neighbouring countries would be more likely to follow

HintPicture a row of tiles falling over.

The whyAmerican officials accepted the Domino Theory after the 'loss' of China to communism in 1949. It made small countries in Asia seem important to American security.

1949

HintThe same year the Berlin Blockade ended.

The whyNATO was a military alliance created by the USA, Canada and several Western European countries. Its members agreed to defend each other against attack.

The Warsaw Pact

HintIt was formed in response to West Germany joining NATO.

The whyThe USSR opposed West Germany joining NATO in 1955 and feared West German rearmament. The Warsaw Pact was an alliance of Eastern European countries.

An armed attack on one member is an attack on them all

HintThe idea is sometimes summed up as all for one.

The whyThis promise of collective security was central to NATO. The founders saw the USSR as a threat to Western Europe after the Second World War.

Mutually Assured Destruction

HintIt describes a situation in which neither side could win.

The whyBy the early 1960s the superpowers had huge nuclear arsenals. The idea of MAD suggested that nuclear weapons deterred war, because any attack would bring ruinous retaliation.

ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile)

HintThink of a rocket that can cross an ocean.

The whyThe first ICBM was the Soviet R-7, tested in 1957. In the 1950s the USSR initially developed a superiority in rocket technology over the USA.