Modern European Conflicts Glossary
12 essential terms — because precise language is the foundation of clear thinking in Modern European Conflicts.
Showing 12 of 12 terms
The pre-WWI division of Europe into two rival blocs: the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy) and the Triple Entente (France, Russia, Britain), which turned a regional crisis into a world war.
The diplomatic policy of making concessions to an aggressive power to avoid war, most associated with Chamberlain's concessions to Hitler at Munich (1938).
The U.S. Cold War strategy of preventing the spread of communism beyond its existing borders, articulated through the Truman Doctrine and implemented through military alliances, economic aid, and interventions.
The process by which European colonial empires dismantled after WWII as colonized peoples achieved independence, reshaping the global political map.
A political and economic union of European nations that evolved from the ECSC (1951) and EEC (1957), formally established by the Maastricht Treaty (1992), promoting integration through shared institutions, a common market, and (for most members) a common currency.
A totalitarian ideology emphasizing extreme nationalism, authoritarian leadership, suppression of opposition, and state control of society, originating in Mussolini's Italy (1922) and Hitler's Germany (1933).
The systematic, state-organized genocide of six million Jews and millions of others by the Nazi regime during World War II.
Churchill's metaphor for the ideological and physical division between democratic Western Europe and communist Eastern Europe during the Cold War (1946-1989).
The 1948 American program providing $13 billion in economic aid to rebuild Western European economies and prevent the spread of communism.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1949), a military alliance of Western nations committed to collective defense against Soviet aggression.
The 1919 peace treaty imposing harsh terms on Germany after WWI, including war guilt, reparations, territorial losses, and military restrictions.
The Soviet-led military alliance of Eastern European communist states (1955-1991), created as a counterbalance to NATO.