The Cold War: Knowledge Sheet
Questions
1. Explain what the Cold War was. ________________________________________
a) How did it begin?
___________________________________________________
b) Why did it begin?
___________________________________________________
c) Who were the main players? __________________________________________
d) Which international conflicts were part of the Cold War?
i) ___________________________________________________________
ii) ___________________________________________________________
iii) ___________________________________________________________
e) What is the time frame for the Cold War? ________________________________
2. How did the Treaty of Versailles alienate Russia already from the Western
powers? ____________________________________________________________
3. What was the Yalta conference?
_______________________________________
4. What was decided at the Yalta conference (February 1945)?
___________________________________________________________________
5. What changes had taken place before the Potsdam conference (August 1945)?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
6. What was agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference?
___________________________________________________________________
7. What was NOT agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference?
___________________________________________________________________
Knowledge Sheets Revision Questions
The Cold War
Page 1
8. Why did Russia have so much influence in Eastern Europe?
__________________________________________________________________
9. How did Yugoslavia and Greece remain independent from Russian influence?
__________________________________________________________________
10. What was Cominform? ____________________________________________
11. What was the Truman Doctrine? _____________________________________
12. What was the Marshall Plan? ________________________________________
a) What were the objectives of the Marshall Plan for the Americans?
___________________________________________________________________
b) What did the Russians think that the objectives of the Marshall Plan were?
___________________________________________________________________
c) How successful was the Marshall Plan. Justify your answer.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
13. What was the Molotov Plan? ________________________________________
14. What was Comecon?
_______________________________________________
Knowledge Sheets Revision Questions
The Cold War
Page 2
Diverse Crises of the Cold War.
Berlin and Germany (1945 – The division of Germany/ 1961 – 1989 Berlin Wall)
15. Why was Germany divided? Who divided it up?
__________________________________________________________________
16. What were the differences between the allies’ approach to the division of
Germany? Did they want to rebuild or did they want retribution?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
17. Despite the four sectors, Germany was essentially divided in two parts based on
different ideologies in East and West. What were these?
___________________________________________________________________
18. Why did the location of Berlin make this division even more complicated? What
were the reasons for building a wall around West Berlin?
(see Knowledge Sheet pg 7)
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Knowledge Sheets Revision Questions
The Cold War
Page 3
19. What was the Berlin Airlift? ________________________________________
a) How long did it last? _______________________________________________
b) What did it achieve? _______________________________________________
c) How did it end? _______________________________________________
20. FRG – Federal Republic of Germany was the _____________ part of Germany.
GDR – Germany Democratic Republic was the ____________ part of Germany.
Berlin was the capital city of _________________________.
Bonn was the capital city of __________________________.
21. In 1949 NATO was formed. This is the North Atlantic Treaty Organizaton. What
exactly is NATO?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
22. In 1955 the Warsaw Pact created the Warsaw Treaty Organization – officially the
Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. What exactly was the
Warsaw Treaty Organization.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
The Korean War 1950-1953
23. Summarise the key events of the Korean War:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
24. Label the map above with the: a) 38th Parallel, b) the Communist dictatorship c)
the anti-communist dictatorship which was supported by America.
Knowledge Sheets Revision Questions
The Cold War
Page 4
25. What were the key lessons learned in Korea?
a) _________________________________________________________________
b) _________________________________________________________________
c) _________________________________________________________________
The Cuban Missiles Crisis.
26. What were the long-term causes of the Cuban Missiles Crisis?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
27. Why did Fidel Castro turn to Russia for support? __________________________
28. Why did Russia want to put nuclear missiles on Cuba?
_________________________________________________________________
29. What options did President Kennedy have when faced with nuclear weapons on
Cuba?
_________________________________________________________________
30. How did the Cuban Missiles Crisis end? ________________________________
31. How did the Cuban Missiles Crisis improve relations between Russia and the
USA?
_________________________________________________________________
States that had communist governments in red, states that the Soviet
Union believed at one point to be moving toward socialism
in orange and other socialist states in yellow
Knowledge Sheets Revision Questions
The Cold War
Communist Countries of the World Today
Page 5