the cold war

• What were the two opposing superpowers that emerged at the end of World War II?


  The United States of America and the Soviet Union
• What type of economic system did the United States have after World War II?

  Capitalist, where almost everything is privately owned and run for profit
• What type of economic system did the Soviet Union have after World War II?


  Communist, where everyone owns the means to create a Commonwealth
• What was the Cold War characterized by?


  A series of proxy wars and decades of intimidation, propaganda, and espionage
• What happened to Germany after World War II?

  Germany was occupied, with the Soviets controlling the area around Berlin
• What did British Prime Minister Winston Churchill declare about Europe?

  An Iron Curtain had descended across Europe
• Why did the Soviets blockade the western sections of Berlin in 1948?


  To force the other allies to give them control of the whole city
• What was the outcome of the blockade of Berlin?


  The Western Allies airlifted supplies to Berlin
• What military alliance was formed in 1949?

  NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
• How did Germany become divided after World War II?

  Germany was divided into East and West, as was Berlin itself
• Why did Stalin want to control the countries on Russia's borders?

  To ensure security for the Soviet Union
• What happened to Yugoslavia in 1948?


  Yugoslavia was expelled by the Soviets but remained its own communist state
• What was President Harry Truman's policy regarding communism?

  He sought to contain the spread of communism by funding regimes under threat
• What significant event occurred in China in 1949?

  The establishment of the People's Republic of China
• What was the outcome of the Korean War?

  The war ended in a stalemate, with Korea remaining divided
• Who came to power in the Soviet Union in 1953?

  Nikita Khrushchev
• What was Khrushchev's response to NATO?

  He created the Warsaw Pact
• How did the Soviets respond to rebellions in Eastern Europe during the 1950s?


  They quelled any rebellion with an iron fist
• What was the Red Scare in the USA during the 1950s?


  A period of paranoia and suspicion of communist ideas
• What were the McCarthy trials?

  Witch hunts to root out communists in the United States
• What significant development occurred at the end of World War II?


  The dawn of nuclear weapons
• How did the USA and the Soviet Union respond to the development of nuclear weapons?


  Both built up their arsenals and tested them
• What was the space race?

  A competition between the USA and the Soviet Union to develop space technology
• Who was the first man in space?

  A Soviet cosmonaut
• What was the Berlin Wall built to prevent?

  Young educated people from the East leaving to the more prosperous West
• What happened in Cuba in 1959?


  Communism spread to Cuba
• What was the Cuban Missile Crisis?

  A confrontation over Soviet missiles in Cuba that nearly led to nuclear war
• What was the outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis?


  US President Kennedy and Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles
• What was established after the Cuban Missile Crisis to improve communication?


  A direct hotline between the Kremlin and the White House
• What was the significance of the Berlin Wall's fall in 1989?


  It marked the end of division between East and West Berlin
• What did George Bush declare on December 3, 1989?


  The Cold War was over
• What happened to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1991?


  It was banned, leading to the dissolution of the USSR
• How did the end of the Cold War affect global politics?


  It left the United States as the sole superpower
• What did some historians believe about the end of the Cold War?

  It marked the end of history and the height of civil society
• What did other historians argue about the end of the Cold War?


  History couldn't properly progress with two conflicting ideas
• What was the role of the CIA during the Cold War?

  To arm groups opposing communist regimes
• What was the impact of the Vietnam War on the United States?


  It was an embarrassment as the US lost to a smaller nation
• What was the significance of the SALT agreements?

  They sought to reduce the number of nuclear weapons
• What was the purpose of anti-ballistic missile defenses?

  To deter nuclear attacks by maintaining the threat of retaliation
• What was the economic situation in the Soviet Union during the 1980s?


  Economic stagnation became apparent