Cold War Comprehension Questions
- Write full sentences
- Find the answers by reading your pre-reading booklet
Topic 1: Origins of the Cold War, 1941-58
1. Who was in the Grand Alliance?
2. Describe the economies of the USSR vs. USA.
3. What was agreed at Tehran?
4. What was agreed upon at the Yalta conference and when did the conference
take place?
5. What was agreed upon at the Potsdam conference and when did the
conference take place?
6. What did the USA drop on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
7. When did the Soviets test their atom bomb?
8. What was the Truman Doctrine?
9. What was the Marshall Plan?
10. What did the Soviets call the Marshall Plan? ‘.............. Imperialism’
11. Why was Stalin reluctant to give Eastern European countries free elections?
12. What two key events happened during the Berlin Crisis of 1948-49?
13. As a result of the Berlin Crisis of 1948-49 NATO was formed. What was it?
14. Germany was divided into two countries in 1949. What were they called?
(Label them capitalist or communist)
15. When did West Germany join NATO?
16. In 1955, the Soviets and communist countries formed the Warsaw Pact. What
was it?
17. When was the Hungarian Uprising?
18. Why were Hungarians protesting for change?
19. Who led reforms in Hungary?
20. Why did Krushchev order for Soviet tanks and troops to invade?
21. What was Radio Free Europe?
22. Why did the Hungarians feel like the West had betrayed them?
Cold War Crises 1958-70
Berlin 1958-63:
1. What problem did East Germany face in 1958?
2. What was the ‘Berlin Ultimatum’?
3. List the four conferences/summits that occurred between 1959-61 which tried to
solve ‘the Berlin problem’. GOOD COMMUNISTS PLAY VIOLENTLY
4. Why did Khrushchev order the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961?
5. Did Khrushchev consult the USA before he gave the order to construct the wall?
6. How many people died trying to escape across the Berlin Wall?
Cold War Comprehension Questions
- Write full sentences
- Find the answers by reading your pre-reading booklet
7.
8. How did the Berlin Wall damage the reputation of communism?
9. Why was JFK’s visit to Berlin in 1963 such a success for the USA & Capitalism?
10. JFK said ‘A wall is better than a war’. In the end, what did the Berlin Wall mean for
superpower relations?
Cuba 1959-62
1. Did relations improve or worsen between the USA and Cuba after the Cuban
Revolution of 1959? Explain your answer with key details.
2. Who did Castro ally with?
3. Why did the Bay of Pigs 1961 invasion fail?
4. How did the Bay of Pigs fiasco damage American international reputation?
5. What did U2 Spy planes spot on Cuban soil on 14 October 1962?
6. List the three options available to Kennedy.
7. Why was the Naval Blockade an effective strategy?
8. What did the USA and USSR agree to bring the Cuban Missile Crisis to an end?
9. Give two consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Prague Spring 1968
1. Give two features of life in communist Czechoslovakia prior to 1968.
2. Who was elected leader of the Czech Communist Party in 1968?
3. List a minimum of two reforms introduced by Dubcek as part of the Prague Spring.
4. How did Brezhnev react to the reforms?
5. What was the Brezhnev doctrine?
The End of the Cold War, 1970-1991
1. What did the Cuban Missile Crisis show?
2. What social problems did America have which meant it wanted to improve relations
in the 1970s?
3. What does Detente mean?
4. List the key agreements made as part of SALT I 1972.
5. What were the three baskets at the Helsinki Accords 1975?
6. Why was SALT 2 never ratified?
7. Why did Brezhnev order the invasion of Afghanistan?
8. How long were the USSR and Afghanistan at war for?
9. What did Carter announce in his doctrine of 1980?
10. There were two Olympic boycotts. Where and when were these held?
11. Ronald Reagan became President in 1981 as a hardline anti-communist. What did
he announce in his Reagan Doctrine?
12. Describe the SDI programme announced by Reagan in 1983.
13. Which USSR leader began to reform the USSR which led to the ending of the Cold
War?
14. Name his two key policies.
Cold War Comprehension Questions
- Write full sentences
- Find the answers by reading your pre-reading booklet
15. How did Reagan’s attitude change after Gorbachev became leader of the USSR?
16. What did the USA and USSR agree in the INF Treaty of 1987 at the Washington
Summit?
17. What was a consequence of the Berlin Wall falling?
18. What Eastern European countries gained independence and how?
19. What pact ended in 1991?
20. Why did the USSR collapse?
