Cold War Overview

Quiz Information

• Matching sections (3?)
• 13 items to click through on test
• Total of 35 points

Possible Test Questions

• Arms Race Escalation in the 1950s
  • Introduction of nuclear weapons, hydrogen bombs, and ballistic missiles
  • USSR set off its first atomic bomb in 1949, followed by hydrogen bomb development in the early 1950s
• Great Leap Forward
  • Agriculture initiative aimed at creating a classless society
  • Slogan: “Hard work for a few years, happiness for a thousand.”
  • Forced commune living, but ultimately failed due to dependence on external factors like weather
• Failure of the Cultural Revolution
  • Difficulty maintaining permanent revolutionary fervor
  • Lack of support from military officers and Communist Party members
  • Public backlash against the actions of the Red Guards
• Soviet-Chinese Relationship
  • Deteriorated due to lack of support from the Soviet Union to help China reclaim Taiwan
• Communist Alliances
  • Britain, France, USA, Soviet Union were mentioned as an alliance, possibly an error

Vocabulary

• Proletarian: Working class
• Satellite States: Economically and politically dependent countries
• Policy of Containment: Restricting communism within existing boundaries
• Arms Race: Competition to build up military resources
• Deterrence: Prevention of war through the threat of nuclear retaliation
• Communes: Collective farms in China during the 1950s
• Permanent Revolution: Mao Zedong's concept of ongoing revolutionary fervor

Key Figures

• George C. Marshall: U.S. Secretary of State, creator of the Marshall Plan
• Nikita Khrushchev: Soviet leader who ordered the construction of the Berlin Wall
• Chiang Kai-shek: Chinese leader who fled to Taiwan
• Deng Xiaoping: Ended the Cultural Revolution in China
• Mao Zedong
  • Initiated the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution
  • Created Red Guards and wrote the Little Red Book
• Red Guards: Enforcers of Mao's policies during the Cultural Revolution
• Richard Nixon: U.S. President focused on improving relations with China

Key Events and Concepts

• Cold War Dynamics
  • USA vs USSR
  • Truman Doctrine: Financial aid to deter communism
  • Marshall Plan: Economic assistance to rebuild Europe
• Berlin Airlift
  • Air delivery of supplies to West Berlin during Soviet blockade
• Berlin Wall
  • Symbol of Cold War division
• Military Alliances
  • NATO: Formed in 1949, including USA, Canada, and several European nations
  • Warsaw Pact: Established in 1955, led by the Soviet Union
• Forms of Governance
  • NATO: Democracy
  • Warsaw Pact: Communism

Guided Notes

• Superpowers Post-WWII: USA and Soviet Union
• Ideological Differences: Capitalism vs Communism
• Stalin's Post-War Strategy: Preventing capitalism spread, avoiding free elections
• U.S. Anti-Communism Policies: Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan
• Divided Germany: USA, Britain, Soviet Union, France
• Berlin Airlift Explanation: Necessity due to Soviet blockade
• Attraction to Mao's Policies: Appealed to lower class

Kahoot Highlights

• Superpowers post-WWII did not include China
• Communism spread by Soviet Union, capitalism defended by USA
• Truman Doctrine/Marshall Plan: Provided financial aid
• Berlin Airlift: Response to Soviet blockade
• NATO vs Warsaw Pact: Anti-communist and communist alliances respectively
• Reasons for failures in Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution
• Deterrence: Nuclear strategy to prevent war
• Cultural Revolution: Mao's attempt to reshape Chinese society