Cold War Study Guide
Name_________________________
Post World War II/Origins of the Cold War
1. What were the Potsdam and Yalta conferences? What decisions were made there?
Yalta- Feb. 1945(FDR/Churchill/Stalin)1).) Form the United Nations
2) Promised to hold free elections in Germany
3) Would control what you freed
Potsdam- July 1945 (Truman/Churchill/Stalin) 1) Berlin would be divided into 4 zones
2) Divide Germany into 4 Zones(U.S./Fr./Br./U.S.S.R)
3) Hold war crimes trials for Nazi’s
2. What is the policy of containment? Identify 2 events where containment was used.
Policy to resist Soviet aggression to contain the spread of Communism.
Korea/Vietnam/Berlin/Cuba/Afghanistan/Nicaragua/Lebanon
3. Who are the 5 permanent members on the United Nations Security Council?
United States, Russia, China, Great Britain, and France
4. Why did the Soviets want a “Buffer Zone” in Eastern Europe?
The fear of another attack led them to create a military alliance of friendly governments
to protect them from the west.
5. What was the purpose of NATO and Warsaw Pact? How could this lead to nuclear war?
NATO-Defense alliance with the U.S. and Western Europe for protection from U.S.S.R..
Warsaw Pact- Defense alliance between U.S.S.R. and Eastern Europe for protection from
NATO.
An attack on any one country would lead to WW3
6. What was the Truman Doctrine?
Truman Doctrine-Pledge to provide economic and military help to any country threatened
by Communism.
7. What was the Marshall Plan?
Marshall Plan-It provided $13 billion to help rebuild Europe. It made Western Europe
strong enough to resist the spread of Communism.
8. Why did the Soviets blockade West Berlin? How did the Western Allies react?
To try to force the U.S., Britain, and France to leave Berlin. They organized the Berlin
Airlift and flew in food and supplies.
9. Who was the leader of the Chinese Communist? Nationalist? Who won the Chinese
Revolution of 1949? What island nation did the Nationalist go to?
Mao Zedong led Communist. Jiang Jieshi (Chaing Kai-Shek) led the Nationalist. The
Communists won the revolution. The Nationalist fled to Taiwan.
10. What was the “Iron Curtain”? Who first used that term?
The image used to describe the separation of Europe between free and communist.
Winston Churchill used it in a speech in 1946.
1950’s
11. What was the cause and effects of the Korean War?
Cause- North Korea invaded South Korea to unite it as a Communist country.
Effect- U.N. stopped the spread of Communism.
12. What was launched by the Soviets that started the Space Race?
Sputnik-the first satellite.
1960’s
13. What was the purpose of the Berlin Wall? When did it get torn down?
To stop people from East Berlin from fleeing to West Berlin. 1989
14. Who came to power in Cuba in 1959? What was the Bay of Pigs?
Fidel Castro came to power. U.S. trained Cubans to try to overthrow Castro but the
invasion failed and the U.S. was embarrassed.
15. How could the Cuban Missile Crisis lead to WWIII between the U.S. and Soviet Union?
Who were the two leaders of these countries?
Soviet Nuclear missiles would have been only 90 miles off the coast of the U.S. and the
U.S. demanded they be removed or we would have invaded Cuba.
John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev were the leaders.
16. What was the cause and effect of the Vietnam War? Who was the leader of
N. Vietnam? Who were the Viet Cong?
Cause- North Vietnamese communists were trying to take over free South Vietnam. The
U.S. was worried about “The Domino Theory”.
Effect- U.S. is forced to leave the war. South Vietnam falls to the communists.
Ho Chi Minh was the leader of the communist in North Vietnam.
Viet Cong-were communist guerilla fighters.
1970’s
17. What country invaded Afghanistan? Who did the U.S. support? Who became a hero
in the fighting that leads a major terrorist group today?
U.S.S.R. in 1979. The U.S. supported the Mujahdeen Rebels. Osama Bin Laden was a hero
to the fighting against the Soviets.
1980’s
18. What U.S. President helped heat up the Cold War? What missile defense system did
he want created?
Ronald Reagan was President during the second Cold War. He called his program “Star
Wars” to shoot down incoming nuclear missiles.
19. What Soviet leader created glasnost and perestroika? What is glasnost and
perestroika?
Mikhail Gorbachev
Glasnost-means “openness” and allowed discussion about the Soviet government.
Perestroika- means “restructuring” and allowed reform of the Soviet economy.
20. What led to the Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe and the U.S.S.R.?
The spread of the ideas of “Glasnost” and Perestroika”.
The massive military spending and economic problems of the U.S.S.R..
The spread of revolutions across Eastern Europe.