End of WWII and Cold War PPT Questions:
1. Start at slide 12: Please describe the path of World War II. (Where did it start? Where did the Nazis invade after
its beginning in 1939? When does the US get involved? Where did the Japanese begin their expansion?)
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2. What kind of war, similar to Germany in WWI, did Hitler’s Germany have to fight when Russia entered the war in
1941?
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3. How did the Allies find a route into Southern (or Mediterranean) Europe?
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4. What surprise landing turned the tide of the war and really opened up the Western Front in WWII?
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5. Slide 15: Explain and give three examples on how the roles of women changed during WWII:
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6. Explain the Allies postwar plans that were settled at Yalta and Potsdam:
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7. Describe the postwar divisions between the US & USSR:
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8. Define the word ‘containment’ in your own terms. Now, apply it to the post-WWII relationship between the
USSR and the United States:
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9. What was the Marshall Plan?
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10. What was the significance of NATO and the Warsaw Pact?
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11. Explain the division of Post-WWII Europe, and then explain the division of Germany Post-WWII:
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12. Map, Slide 18: What kind of governments made up the United Nations in 1945? What kind of government was
most popular in the UN?
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13. Slide 19: NATO comprised the _______________ ____________ and ____________________
______________, whereas COMECON comprised ________________ ______________________ and
_______________ _________________.
14. Slide 20: Map: Did US allies change between 1945 and 1982? What about the Soviet Union?
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15. Slide 20: Instead of taking over some countries, what did the US, USSR, & their allies do instead?
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16. Explain the Korean War. Its years: _____ - _____:
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17. What was the ‘Domino theory?’
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18. Explain the timeline of events that led to the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962:
a. _____________________________________
b. _____________________________________
c. _____________________________________
d. _____________________________________
e. _____________________________________
f. _____________________________________
g. _____________________________________
19. Using context clues from the first 2 big bulletpoints on slide 22: What was détente, in your own words? Explain it
and how long it lasted.
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20. Parallel the US defeat in Vietnam and the USSR defeat in Afghanistan.
a. US in Vietnam:
i. Beginning of conflict:
ii. US adversary:
iii. Ending of conflict:
b. USSR in Afghanistan:
i. Beginning of conflict:
ii. USSR adversary:
iii. Ending of conflict:
21. Please explain the three negative legacies of centralized communist control from Moscow after WWII:
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22. Please explain who Gorbachev was & what happened across eastern & central Europe. Give examples!
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23. Explain the terms ‘reforms,’ ‘Boris Yeltsin,’ ‘perestroika,’ and ‘glasnost’ in a short paragraph summarizing the
collapse of the Soviet Union.
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15 Bonus points (only if you finished all questions & gave all complete answers):
Construct a master timeline of the Cold War using the following items: Yalta, Potsdam, UN, NATO, COMECON,
WARSAW PACT, KOREAN WAR, VIETNAM WAR, AFGHANISTANI WAR, TRUMAN DOCTRINE, MARSHALL PLAN,
COMMUNIST REVOLUTION IN CUBA, BAY OF PIGS, CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, SALT 1, SALT 2, DÉTENTE,