HIGHFIELD HISTORY
CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT – THE COLD WAR
BIG QUESTION #1
TO WHAT EXTENT WAS THE COLD WAR
CAUSED BY TRUMAN’S DECLARATION TO
STALIN ABOUT THE ATOMIC BOMB?
Name:
Teacher:
Class:
If the atomic bomb is a rare and costly object as difficult to produce
as a battleship, it is likelier to put an end to large-scale wars at the
cost of prolonging indefinitely a "peace that is no peace.“
George Orwell – You and the Atomic Bomb
CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT – THE COLD WAR
BIG QUESTION 1
TO WHAT EXTENT WAS THE COLD WAR CAUSED BY TRUMAN’S
DECLARATION TO STALIN ABOUT THE ATOMIC BOMB?
Lesson Title
Knowledge
Objective
Skill Objective
Learning Outcome
From World War
to Cold War
Describe the
global situation
at the end of
WW2
Extract relevant
details from a
picture source
Understand where and
how the Cold War began.
Explain why the USA and
USSR were no longer
allies
The Potsdam
Conference
Explain why
relations
deteriorated at
Potsdam
Extract relevant
details from a
text source
Describe what happened
at Yalta
Compare Yalta to
Potsdam
The “Iron
Curtain”
Judge whether
the Soviets
“liberated”
Eastern Europe
Use details
from a source
to support a
statement
Understand what the Iron
Curtain was
Recognise why different
views were held about the
Soviet “liberation” of
Eastern Europe
Dollar
Imperialism
Compare the
roles of Truman
and Marshall
Summarise an
historical
interpretation.
Understand how tension
turned to Cold War
Know what the Truman
Doctrine and Marshall Aid
were
How effective
was the USA’s
response to the
Berlin Blockade?
Compare the
actions of the
USA and USSR
in Berlin
Compare
historical
interpretations
Explain why there was a
Berlin Blockade
Describe the division of
Germany
The Cold War - A
clash of
ideologies or the
fault of an
individual?
Judge who or
what was to
blame for the
Cold War
Evaluate Cold
War sources
Explain why NATO was
set up
Mini
Assessment
Create two
historical
arguments
Support a
statement with
appropriate
evidence
Produce a mini essay in
the style of a controlled
assessment
Homework
Picture Source Question
Read extract from book
and answer questions
Write up / Type up essay
answer based upon
planning produced in the
lesson
GLOSSARY
From World War to Cold War
Evening Standard July 1945
Describe the global situation at the end of WW2
Extract relevant details from a picture source
Ideologies – What are the differences between Capitalism and Communism?
The Potsdam Conference
We argued freely and frankly across the table. But at the end of every point unanimous
agreement was reached ... We know, of course, that it was Hitler’s hope and the German
war lords’ hope that we would not agree – that some slight crack might appear in this solid
wall of allied unity ... But Hitler has failed. Never before have the major allies been more
closely united – not only in their war aims but also in the peace aims.
Extract from President Roosevelt’s report to the USA on the Yalta Conference
I have always worked for friendship with Russia, but like you, I feel deep anxiety because of
this misinterpretation of the Yalta decisions.
Extract from a telegram sent by Prime Minister
Churchill to President Roosevelt in May 1945
Explain why relations deteriorated at Potsdam
Extract relevant details from a text source
YALTA
POTSDAM
The “Iron Curtain”
What was the “Iron Curtain”?
Judge whether the Soviets “liberated” Eastern Europe
Use details from a source to support a statement
‘The Soviet Union has lost in men several times more than Britain and the United States together. It may be
that some quarters are trying to push into oblivion these sacrifices of the Soviet people which insured the
liberation of Europe. But the Soviet Union cannot forget them. One can ask therefore, what can be
surprising in the fact that the Soviet Union, in a desire to ensure its security for the future, tries to achieve
that these countries should have governments whose relations to the Soviet Union are loyal? The growth of
the influence of communism cannot be considered accidental. The influence of the Communists grew
because during the hard years of the mastery of fascism in Europe, Communists slowed themselves to be
reliable, daring and self-sacrificing fighters against fascist regimes for the liberty of peoples.
Stalin’s reply to Chuchill’s speech, from an interview with Pravda, March 1946.
‘The Russians wanted to spread communism to Eastern Europe, not liberate it.’ How far does the source
above agree with the statement?
My view: Did Stalin liberate Europe?
‘From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the
Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe.
Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and
the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form
or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in some cases, increasing measure of
control from Moscow. The Communist parties, which were very small in all these Eastern States of
Europe, have been raised to pre-eminence and power far beyond their numbers and are seeking
everywhere to obtain totalitarian control. Police governments are prevailing in nearly every case,
and so far, except in Czechoslovakia, there is no true democracy… this is certainly not the Liberated
Europe we fought to build up. Nor is it one which contains the essentials of permanent peace.’
Winston Churchill, speaking in the USA, in the presence of President Truman, March 1946
What is the message of the cartoon?
This cartoon of 1 October 1947 by EH
Shepard for the British magazine Punch
shows Marshall (on the left) telling 'Uncle
Sam' - i.e. the American nation - that
American Aid is needed to shore up the
countries of western Europe: 'Come on
Sam! It's up to us again.'
This Russian cartoon from 1947
shows Uncle Sam on the left
and on the right are Greek
communists.
This cartoon of 18 June 1947 by EH Shepard for
the British magazine Punch shows Truman and
Stalin as two taxi-drivers trying to get
customers.
The 'customers' are labelled 'Turkey', Hungary',
'Bulgaria', 'Austria’
Dollar Imperialism
Truman Doctrine, 1947
What was it and what did it do?
Marshall Plan, 1947
What was it and what did it do?
Why was it brought in?
Why was it brought in?
Stalin Anger Rating: /10
Stalin Anger Rating: /10
Compare the roles of Truman and Marshall
Summarise an historical interpretation.
John Lewis Gaddis: How reliable is he as a Cold War historian?
He is an American
historian. He has lived in
America all his life and
lectures at Yale university.
He was born in 1941 and
lived through and
experienced the Cold War.
He places a strong
emphasis on using primary
sources and used Soviet
and American government
documents when
researching his book.
Gaddis is a popular writer
writing for the mass
market- his books are
written in a way to make
them bestsellers.
Gaddis’s View on the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine (From The Cold War, 2005)
“The ruling gang of American imperialists has taken
the path of open expansion, of enslaving weakened
capitalist countries. It has hatched new war plans
against the Soviet Union. Imitating Hitler, the new
aggressors are using blackmail.”
GM Malenkov, a Soviet politician, speaking in 1947
about the Marshall Plan. Andrei Zhdanov echoed
this opinion
How effective was the USA’s response to the Berlin Blockade?
Berlin Blockade
In 1945, the Allies decided to split Germany into four zones
of occupation. The capital, Berlin, was also split into four
zones. The USSR took huge reparations from its zone in
eastern Germany, but Britain, France and America tried to
improve conditions in their zones.
In June 1948, Britain, France and America united their
zones into a new country, West Germany. On 23 June 1948,
they introduced a new currency, which they said would
help trade.
Stalin was angered by the creation of West Germany. He
could do nothing about it, but could stamp his authority on
Berlin which was deep in the Soviet zone. The next day,
Stalin cut off all rail and road links to west Berlin - the
Berlin Blockade. The west saw this as an attempt to starve
Berlin into surrender, so they decided to supply west Berlin
by air.
The Berlin Blockade lasted 318 days. During this time,
275,000 planes transported 1.5 million tons of supplies and
a plane landed every three minutes at Berlin's Templehof
airport.
On 12 May 1949, Stalin abandoned the blockade.
Compare the actions of the USA and USSR in Berlin
Compare historical interpretations
The Cold War - A clash of ideologies or the fault of an individual?
Judge who or what was to blame for the Cold War
Evaluate Cold War sources
HOMEWORK # 1 DUE DATE
TASK – you are to have an in depth look at this cartoon., annotate it (label it with your ideas). These should be in the
form of: what you can see, what you think it means and whether or not you think this source is useful in helping you to
learn more about the Cold War.
Additional Task – Explain whether you think a cartoon or an extract from a
speech might be more useful to us as historians?
TEACHER FEEDBACK
HOMEWORK # 2
DUE DATE
TASK – Read extract from book and answer questions
Willy Brandt, A Peace Policy for Europe (1968)
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is first and foremost an effective defence alliance. It
prevents potential opponents from being tempted to exert political pressure on any one of the
allies through military force. But constant effort is required to maintain this defensive strength
in the face of constantly advancing technical development. We realise that the commitment in
Europe is a great burden on the United States.... I am afraid that the time for any significant
lightening of the United States' burden has not yet come.
NATO and a policy of détente are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, the existence of
NATO - that is, its political weight and its readiness to defend our territory against all attacks –
has shown that a policy of tensions and crises is of no avail. The weakening of NATO would
reduce the possibility of a détente and lessen its effectiveness. The military deterrent has
ensured the peace of Europe.... Military security and détente do not contradict, but
supplement each other. Without the firm support of the alliance we cannot carry on any policy
of détente. Similarly the political objective of the alliance will not be realised without an EastWest détente.
Task and Questions
Read through Willy Brandt’s writing and highlight all the things that you think he says are good about NATO in one
colour and all the limitations of NATO in another.
GOOD
LIMITATIONS
Find out what Détente means and define it here:
Which countries were members of NATO?
In your opinion, was NATO going to help improve relations between the USA and USSR, or make it worse?
Explain your answer.
TEACHER FEEDBACK
The Space Race – BBC Docudrama
Episode 1 - Race For Rockets (1944-1949)
We see the results of Wernher von Braun's work on the V-2 for the Nazis at Mittelwerk and
Peenemünde, and his final activities within Germany during the last years of the Second
World War, as both American and Soviet forces race to capture German rocket technology.
When the Americans gain the upper hand by recovering von Braun and most of his senior
staff, along with all their technical documents and much other materiel, we see Sergei
Korolev's release from the Gulag to act as the Soviets' rocketry expert alongside former
colleague Valentin Glushko, and how he is set to work bringing Soviet rocket technology up
to date with that of von Braun, working with what material and personnel are left after von
Braun's escape to the US.
The American
development
of rockets
Explain how significant the early stages of the Space Race were
The Soviet
(Russian)
development
of rockets
By the end of the 1940s, who was winning this “Space Race?”
The Cold War – Spies 1944 -1994
Cold War 21/24 full length documentary - Spies 1944-1994
As you watch this documentary make notes about how serious the
issues with spying were from both sides
CIA – The Central Intelligence Agency
KGB – Soviet Russian secret police
Stasi – The East German Secret Police
How serious was
spying taken
between 1944
and 1960s?
Describe the role of spies on both sides during the Cold War
How serious was
spying taken
between 1960s
and 1990s?
Was there a time when spying was at its most dangerous? Which side
was more paranoid about spying and why?