Cold War Study Guide
Test Date: February 27, 2017
1. Know your vocabulary words.
2. How did the relationship between the U.S. and Soviet Union change in the decade following World War II? During World War II the countries were allies; afterwards, they were enemies.
3. The main purpose of the U.S. foreign policy in decade following World War II was to prevent Communism from spreading to new countries.
4. Iron Curtain
a. The “iron curtain” was symbol of the divide between Eastern and Western Europe. Western Europe was a democracy while Eastern Europe was under communist control.
b. Winston Churchill came up with the term “iron curtain” because he felt there was a separation of the Communist countries in Eastern Europe from the capitalist nations in Western Europe.
5. Repressive is a word that describes Communist governments that exist in real life. Repressive means (especially of a social or political system) taking away or restricting the freedom of a person or group of people.
6. The nuclear weapons that the USSR and US had were a deterrent (deterrent means to stop or prevent) to war. Therefore, the weapons helped to prevent all-out war.
7. What did the Soviet Union do with the countries they freed during World War II? They stayed in the countries and tried to make them communist
8. Why was America worried about the Soviet Union staying in European countries after World War II? America was scared that communist were taking over the world.
9. What was the name given to the communist governments that the Soviet Union set up throughout Eastern Europe? Eastern Bloc
10. What three things did the Soviet Union do ensure the success of communism?
a. Jailed their opponents
b. Killed their opponents
c. They rigged (cheated) to win elections.
11. What led to the United States and Soviet Union distrusting each other? The United States believed that the people should decide business and government practices. The Soviet Union believed that a powerful central government should control the government as well as the economy.
12. Why was it called a Cold War? Because neither side ever fired a shot
13. Why didn’t the Soviet Union or the United States fire a shot? They were both scared that it would lead to nuclear war.
14. What did Russia and the United States think each country was trying to do? Each side thought the other was trying to take over the world.
15. Why was the world nervous about the Soviet Union and the United States possibly going to war? They were worried that it would lead to another World War but this one could destroy the planet because of the threat of nuclear weapons.
16. How many sections was Germany divided into after World War II? 4 sections
17. Which countries controlled the different sections? US, Great Britain, France, and Soviet Union.
18. Which country from the allied side didn’t want to reunite Germany? Soviet Union
19. Which side of Germany belonged to the Soviet Union? East Germany
20. Which side of Germany did the US, Great Britain, and France control? West Germany
21. What were the areas of extreme tension called during the Cold War? Hot Spots
22. What was the Capital of Germany? Berlin
23. Was Berlin in East or West Germany? It was in East Germany which was controlled by the Soviets
a. Even though Berlin was in East Germany it was split into four sections because it was the capital of Germany.
24. How many occupation zones or sections was Berlin split into? Four
25. Which side of Berlin did the Soviets control? East Berlin
26. Which side of Berlin did the US, Great Britain, and France control? West Berlin
27. What did the Soviets do in order to get Britain, France, and America to leave Berlin? They blocked all land and water traffic into Western Berlin (controlled by France, Britain, and US). They thought by keeping food and supplies out of West Berlin France, Britain, and the US would leave so that the people could get supplies.
28. What did the United States do when the Soviet Union blocked West Berlin from receiving food and supplies from the free territories in Western Europe? The Berlin Airlift
29. What is the Berlin Airlift? It is when the U.S. airplanes dropped food and supplied people in West Berlin.
30. How long did the Berlin Airlift last? 11 months
31. What happened after the Berlin Airlift?
a. Germany officially becomes two countries with two governments.
b. Bonn becomes the capital of West Germany (US, France, Great Britain side).
c. East Berlin becomes the capital of East Germany (Soviet Side).
d. West Berlin (US, France, Great Britain side) remains a democratic stronghold, surrounded by communism because it’s in East Germany (Soviet Side).
32. Why was Korea divided by the United States and Russia after World War II? It was controlled by Japan before the war. The Soviet Union and the United States split it in half.
33. What parallel divides North and South Korea? 38th parallel
34. What kind of government did North Korea have? Communist
35. What kind of government did South Korea have? Democratic
36. Who was the leader of North Korea? Kim II Sung
37. What led to the Korean War? North Korea tried to invade Korea in 1950.
38. What did the United States do when North Korea attempted to invade South Korea?
a. The United States got involved because they wanted to stop the spread of communism.
b. They sent the Navy and Air Force to help the South Korean’s.
c. They asked the United Nations to help stop the invasion.
39. Who disobeyed an order to stay out of North Korea? General Douglas MacArthur
40. Which country that bordered North Korea got involved once the US went into North Korea? China because they were a communist country as well.
41. Which countries supported North Korea during the Korean War? China and Soviet Union
42. Which countries or country supported South Korea during the Korean War? The United Nations and the United States.
43. What effect did the end of the Korean War have?
a. An effect of the Korean War was that Korea remained a divided country.
b. The war didn’t decide anything (nobody won).
c. Everything stayed the same.
d. Korea was still two countries (North and South Korea)
e. It was still divided by the 38th parallel
f. It is still the same today.
44. What was the Unites States strategy for stopping the spread of Communism called? Containment
45. Who started the Russian space program? Nikita Khrushchev
46. Who was responsible for placing the missiles in Cuba? Nikita Khrushchev
47. Why did Khrushchev place the missiles in Cuba? He felt that it would bring the Soviet Union more power because he believed they were losing the Cold War.
48. What was Khrushchev’s goal during the Cold War?
a. He wanted to overtake the United States as a World Power
b. He wanted to spread Communism
49. Did the people in East Berlin like Communism? No
50. What would the people of East Berlin do to escape Communism? They would go to West Berlin where they had a democracy.
51. What did the Soviets do to stop the people of East Berlin (Soviet Union) from going to West Berlin (US, Britain, France)? They built a 103-mile wall between East and West Berlin.
52. What was the name of the wall that divided East and West Berlin? The Berlin Wall
53. When was the Berlin Wall destroyed? Nov. 9th 1989
54. The Cold War was mostly a competition between what two countries? United States and Soviet Union
55. What were Americans scared of after World War II? Communism
56. What would American fear of communism following World War II lead to? A hunt for Communists by Joseph McCarthy
57. Who came up with the term “Iron Curtain”? Winston Churchill
58. What did Iron Curtain mean? It was an imaginary line that separated the Communist countries in Eastern Europe from the capitalist nations in the West.
59. What is voluntary exchange? It is when countries or individuals trade between each other.
60. Who does voluntary exchange benefit? It benefits capitalist countries because it leads to competition, which leads to better products being produced at a better price.
61. What was America’s biggest fear during the Cold War? The start of a nuclear war.
62. The Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union was a rivalry between which two forms of government? Communism (Soviet Union) and Democracy (United States).
63. What two main issues did the United States and Soviet Union disagree on?
a. Political Beliefs - Democracy (United States) vs. Communism (Soviet Union)
b. Economic Beliefs – Capitalism (United States) vs. Communism (Soviet Union).
64. Which 1960 event almost bought the world close to a nuclear war? Cuban Missile Crisis
65. When did the Cold War End? 1991
66. What happened at the end of the Cold War?
a. The Berlin Wall was destroyed and East Germany became free.
b. They East and West Germany would reunite and become one Germany again.
c. The Soviet Union lost control of the communist countries in Eastern Europe and new government officials were elected.
d. The Soviet Union economy struggled and there was not enough money to keep the system strong enough to continue competing with the United States.
e. The people of the Soviet Union had lost faith in communism.
f. The Soviet Union became a bunch of countries with Russia being the largest country.
67. Why was NATO formed? To keep the Soviet Union from forcing communism on other countries.
68. How were the Korean War and the Vietnam War similar? Both wars were fought to stop the spread of communism from one country to another.
69. What Senator made lists of people he thought might be Communist because Americans feared communism? Joseph McCarthy
70. What event caused the beginning of the Korean War? When North Korea invaded South Korea
71. What was the Cuban Missile Crisis? When the Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in Cuba causing the world to fear a nuclear war.
72. How was the Vietnam War different from the other wars? The first war in which citizens could view it on television.
73. What did the United States use to drop supplies during the Berlin Airlift? Airplanes
74. What term was used to describe making communist charges against somebody without any real evidence? McCarthyism
75. What was the theory called that said if one country fell to communism, then other countries would fall soon after? Domino Theory
76. What was a result f the Cuban Missile Crisis? Both sides agreed that nuclear war would be a disaster and called of the arms race.
77. What plan allowed countries to receive money from the United States as long as the promised that they wouldn’t become communist? Marshall Plan
78. China is a communist country that borders communist North Korea.
79. America would increase their spending on defense because they were so worried about the Soviet Union as a military threat.
80. What did the fall of the Berlin Wall signify? It signified the end of communist domination of Eastern Europe.
81. What was the competition between the Soviet Union and the United States to see who had a stronger military called? Arms Race