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 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) Soviet controlled U.S. controlled

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? 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 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.