The Cold War Video Guide
The Cold War Begins
1. Who emerged as the world's super powers following WWII?
The United States and the Soviet Union
Soviet Expansion
2. Where did the Soviet Union begin to dominate immediately
after WWII?
Eastern Europe
The Division of Europe
3. What did Winston Churchill call the imaginary line that
separated countries of Western Europe from the Soviet
dominated countries of Eastern Europe?
The Iron Curtain
Cartoons of the Iron Curtain
U.S. and Communism
4. What fear did U.S. President Harry S. Truman have about
Communism?
He was worried about the spread of communism
around the world.
The Spread of Communism
5. What was Truman's policy that tried to stop communism
from spreading around he world called?
The Containment Policy or the Truman
Doctrine
The Marshall Plan
6. What did the Marshall Plan Do?
Put forth a financial plan to help Europe Rebuild after
World War II
Marshall
Plan aid
sent to
European
countries
Germany: Post WWII
7.
What had happened to Germany following WWII?
It was divided into 4 occupied zones that were
controlled by the U.S., France, Great Britain, and the
Soviet Union. The part controlled by the U.S., France,
and Great Britain were merged into a free West
Germany.
A Divided Nation
Soviets in Berlin
8. What happened to the city of Berlin after the war?
Berlin was blockaded by the Soviets.
BERLIN AIRLIFT – 1948
 When the Soviets
attempted to block the
three Western powers
from access to Berlin in
1948, the 2.1 million
residents of West Berlin
had only enough food
for five weeks,
resulting in a dire
situation
Like the whole of Germany, the
city of Berlin was divided into
four zones
The Berlin Airlift
9. How did the Allies respond to the divided Berlin after the
Soviets cut it off from the rest of the world?
A massive airlift of food, fuel, and other
supplies was sent to West Berlin for almost a year.
AMERICA & BRITAIN AIRLIFT SUPPLIES
TO WEST BERLIN
 Not wanting to invade and
start a war with the Soviets,
America and Britain started
the Berlin airlift to fly supplies
into West Berlin
 For 327 days, planes took off
and landed every few minutes,
around the clock
 In 277,000 flights, they brought
in 2.3 million tons of food, fuel
and medicine to the West
Berliners
Pictures of the Berlin Airlift
NATO
10. What organization did the U.S. and several other countries
that were friendly with the U.S form? What was its purpose?
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was
formed to create an alliance where if one Allied
country was attacked by the Soviets it would be
considered an attack on all the member nations.
The Warsaw Pact
11. How did the Soviet Union respond to this?
They formed the Warsaw Pact with its allies that
had the same purpose as NATO as a mutual defense
treaty.
Soviet Nuclear Power
12.How did the U.S. discover that the Soviet Union had nuclear
technology?
They detected radioactivity high in the
atmosphere by a B-29 aircraft patrolling in the Pacific.
Red China
13. What happened in China?
Chinese communists overthrew the
government of China.
AMERICA STUNNED
 The American public was
shocked that China had
fallen to the Communists
 Many believed
containment had failed and
communism was
expanding
 American fear of
communism and
communist expansion was
increasing
The Korean War
14. Why did President Truman send American troops to fight in
Korea?
To keep communism from spreading from
North Korea into South Korea.
KOREAN WAR
Soviet
controlled
U.S.
controlled
 Japan had taken over Korea in
1910 and ruled it until August
1945
 As WWII ended, Japanese
troops north of the 38th
parallel surrendered to the
Soviets
 Japanese soldiers south of the
38th surrendered to the
Americans
 As in Germany, two nations
developed, one communist
(North Korea) and one
democratic (South Korea)
The Space Race
15. Why was the Soviet launching of Sputnik in 1957 alarming
to many Americans?
Americans feared the Soviets were capable of
launching a rocket carrying nuclear weapons all the
way to the U.S.
America: Trailing behind the Soviets?
16. How did the U.S. respond to the new Soviet technology?
NASA was created to build an American space
program.
The Gary Powers Incident
17.
Why did the U.S. have to admit they had been spying on
the Soviet Union in 1960? On May 1 the Russians announced
they had shot down an American
U2 plane over Soviet territory.
The Berlin Wall Goes up
18. Why did the Soviet Union build a wall between East and
West Berlin?
3 million East Germans fled to West Berlin from
1949 to 1961.
Communist Cuba
19. What happened in Cuba in 1959? Who began to aid Cuba?
Fidel Castro led a revolution in Cuba that led to
the first communist revolution in the Americas and
began accepting aid from the Soviets.
The Bay of Pigs Incident
20. What happened during Bay of Pigs invasion that occurred
on April 17, 1961?
The U.S. trained a group of Cuban exiles who would
lead an invasion of Cuba to overthrow Castro. The
invasion was a terrible failure.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
21. How did Cuba become a problem in 1962? What was the
result?
The Soviets placed nuclear missiles in Cuba.
President Kennedy demanded that the missiles be
removed and blockaded Cuba. The missiles were
removed with the understanding that the U.S. would
not invade Cuba and would remove its missiles in
Turkey.
SALT Treaties
22. What was the first agreement between the U.S. and
U.S.S.R. in regards to nuclear testing called?
SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty)
The Vietnam War
23. Where did American troops fight from 1961 to 1973? Why
did the U.S. fight there?
Vietnam
They tried to keep communist North Vietnam from
taking over U.S. backed South Vietnam.
Nixon’s Plan for Peace
24. What American President decided to loosen Cold War
tensions? What country did he visit first?
Richard Nixon visited communist China in 1972.
Another Nuclear Treaty?
25. What treaty did the U.S. and U.S.S.R. sign?
SALT II
Ronald Regan and the Soviets
26. What name did President Regan give to the Soviet Union?
The Evil Empire
Iran-Contra in the 1980s
27. What was the Iran-Contra Affair about?
President Regan backed a conservative rebel group in
Nicaragua called the Contras after the overthrow of
the U.S. backed dictator by illegally funding them
with weapons and money.
1980s Star Wars
28. What was Star Wars (not the film!)?
It was a defense initiative that would shoot down
nuclear missiles from space.
INF Treaty of 1987
29. What did the INF Treaty of 1987 do?
The Intermediate Nuclear Force Treaty dismantled
short and medium range nuclear missiles.
Soviet Change
30. What began to happen in the Soviet Union in the late
1980's?
The Soviet Union began a policy of political openness
where people could speak openly about problems in
the Soviet Union and also allowed some free
enterprise.
The Berlin Wall Goes Down
31. What happened on November 9, 1989?
The Berlin Wall was opened up and torn down.