U6L1 The Beginning of the Cold War

Question 1

What was the rivalry that was the Cold War?

Answer 1

The Cold War pitted the West (the United States and its allies) against the East (the Soviet Union and its allies). The Cold War did not involve an actual armed conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. However, the rivalry between the two countries led to conflict around the globe.

Question 2

What did the United Stated think it was its job after WW2?

Answer 2

The United States quickly assumed a leadership role in the post-World War II world as it attempted to stop the further spread of communism?

Question 3

During World War II, the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union had worked together. However, after the war ended, what did the U,S. And Britain think of the Soviet Union?

Answer 3

They disliked the communist rejection of religion and private property. They were angered by Soviet efforts to overthrow noncommunist governments. In fact, Soviet leaders boasted that communism would soon destroy free enterprise systems around the world.

Question 4

During World War II, the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union had worked together. However, after the war, what did the Soviet Union think of the U.S. and Britain?

Answer 4

They feared that the United States, now the world’s most powerful nation, would use its military power to attack the Soviet Union. They feared that the United States would try to rebuild Germany in order to challenge the Soviet Union.

Question 5

Why did the Soviet gain so much land after WW2?

Answer 5

Before World War II ended, Soviet armies drove German forces out of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and back into Germany. As a result, Soviet troops occupied much of Eastern Europe.

Question 6

What did Stalin promise to the Eastern Europe he occupied?

Answer 6

Stalin promised to hold free elections “as soon as possible” in these Eastern European nations. He soon broke that promise. “A freely elected government in any of the Eastern European countries would be anti-Soviet,” he said, “and that we cannot allow.”

Question 7

What were the satellite nations for the Soviet Union?

Answer 7

By 1948, Communists controlled the government of every Eastern European country. Except for Yugoslavia, these countries became satellite nations of the Soviet Union.

Question 8

What is a satellite nation?

Answer 8

A satellite nation is one that is dominated politically and economically by a more powerful nation. In each satellite nation, the Soviets backed harsh dictators. Citizens who protested were imprisoned or killed.

Question 9

What was the iron curtain?

Answer 9

The iron curtain cut off Soviet-run Eastern Europe from the democratic governments of the West.

Question 10

Where was the iron curtain?

Answer 10

From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic

Question 11

Why was the iron curtain made?

Answer 11

As early as 1946, the British statesman Winston Churchill had warned against Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe.

Question 12

What influence did communism have on Italy?

Answer 12

Italian Communists won many seats in the Italian parliament.

Question 13

What influence did communism on Greece?

Answer 13

In Greece, communist rebels waged a civil war to topple the Greek government.

Question 14

What did Communist-lead unions do to weak economies?

Answer 14

Communist-led unions conducted strikes that paralyzed the weak economies.

Question 15

What was the world’s most powerful nation after World War II?

Answer 15

The United States

Question 16

Why didn’t Stalin allow free elections in Eastern Europe?

Answer 16

He believed the government would be anti-Soviet

Question 17

What did Churchill call the border between communist-run Eastern Europe and the democratic governments of the west?

Answer 17

The iron curtain

Question 18

What the propose of President Harry S. Truman’s containment policy?

Answer 18

President Harry S. Truman was determined to keep Soviet influence contained within existing boundaries.

Question 19

What was the Truman Doctrine?

Answer 19

This program to encourage nations to resist communist expansion became known as the Truman Doctrine.

Question 20

Why did Marshall make the Marshall plan?

Answer 20

Marshall feared that these conditions might encourage communist revolutions.

Question 21

What was the objective of the Marshall Plan?

Answer 21

To help rebuild Europe

Question 22

How did the Marshall help reduce communism in Europe?

Answer 22

Communist-led unions conducted strikes that paralyzed the weak economies.
Between 1948 and 1952, the Marshall Plan provided more than $12 billion in aid to Western European countries. By helping these nations rebuild their economies, the Marshall Plan reduced the threat of communist revolutions in Western Europe.

Question 23

After the war, Germany was split into 4 zones. Who occupied these zones?

Answer 23

After the war, the Allies had divided Germany into four zones. American, British, French, and Soviet troops each occupied a zone.

Question 24

Like Germany, Berlin (a city in Germany) was also split by the Allies. What did the Allies want to do with the separate zones?

Answer 24

By 1948, the United States, Britain, and France wanted to reunite their zones in Berlin and the rest of Germany.

Question 25

The Allies wanted to reunite their zones in Berlin and the rest of Germany. How did Stalin feel about this?

Answer 25

Stalin opposed that plan. A reunited Germany, he felt, would again be a threat to the Soviet Union. To show his determination to prevent a united West Germany, Stalin closed all roads, railway lines, and river routes connecting West Berlin with West Germany. The blockade cut off West Berlin from American, British, and French aid.

Question 26

After Stalin made a blockade that cut off West Berlin from the rest of the Allies, how did American president Truman think of this?

Answer 26

President Truman would not let West Berlin fall into Soviet hands. At the same time, he did not want to order American troops to open a path to West Berlin through the Soviet-occupied zone. That move could trigger war. Instead, Truman approved a huge airlift.

Question 27

What was the Berlin Airlift?

Answer 27

During the Berlin Airlift, hundreds of American and British planes carried tons of food, fuel, and other supplies to the two million West Berliners every day.

Question 28

What did the Berlin Airlift make Stalin realize?

Answer 28

The airlift lasted for almost a year. Stalin finally saw that the West would not abandon West Berlin.

Question 29

After the blockade Stalin made was lifted, what happened?

Answer 29

After the blockade, the United States, Britain, and France merged their zones in the west into the Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany. They merged their zones in Berlin to form West Berlin, which was separate from but closely tied to West Germany.

Question 30

Compare east and west Germany?

Answer 30

With American aid, West Germany rebuilt its economy and became a prosperous nation. In time, the Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany.
East Germany was much poorer than West Germany, and it had a communist government. For years, East Germans fled communism by crossing into West Berlin.

Question 31

Why was the Berlin Wall built?

Answer 31

It was built to separate Eastern and Western Germany.
…
The flight of so many people from east to west Germany embarrassed the communists. So they built a wall

Question 32

How did the Berlin Wall look like?

Answer 32

In 1961, the East German government built a huge concrete wall topped with barbed wire. It sealed off East Germany from West Berlin. East Germans who tried to scale the wall were shot by East German border guards. The Berlin Wall cut off contact between families and friends. It became a bitter symbol of the Cold War that divided Europe and the world.

Question 33

Why was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) made?

Answer 33

• To contain Soviet influences

- A key NATO goal was to defend Western Europe against any Soviet threat.

Question 34

Which countries were in NATO?

not specific

Answer 34

Many Eastern European countries

Question 35

What was the alliance the Soviet Union made?

Answer 35

The Warsaw Pact

Question 36

How did the Soviet Union get people to join its Alliance?

Answer 36

The Soviet Union dominated its Warsaw Pact neighbors, forcing them to follow its policies.

Question 37

What is the purpose of the United Nations?

Answer 37

Under the UN charter, member nations agree to bring disputes before the body for peaceful settlement. Every member has a seat in the General Assembly, where problems can be discussed. A smaller Security Council also discusses conflicts that threaten peace.

Question 38

How many nations ratified the UN?

Answer 38

Fifty-one nations ratified the UN charter in October 1945. Over time, membership in the United Nations expanded as new nations were admitted.

Question 39

To what two countries did Truman give military and economic aid?

Answer 39

Greece and Turkey

Question 40

Into what four zones was Berlin divided in 1948?

Answer 40

American, British, French, and Soviet

Question 41

What was a key goal of NATO?

Answer 41

to defend Western Europe against any Soviet threat

Question 42

Why did the U.S. assume a leadership role in the world after WW2?

Answer 42

The wreaked infrastructure and governments of Europe and Asia needed building

Question 43

Why did the United Stated want to assume a leadership role in the world after WW2?

Answer 43

• so the government around the world would not change
• so that governments around the world would not be influencing by communism
• so the governments around the world would not be overthrown

Question 44

What was Truman’s response when communism began spreading beyond the Soviet-run Eastern Europe?

Answer 44

He began a program encouraging nations to resist communist expansion

Question 45

What event in 1949 forced Stalin to realize the west was not going to abandon West Berlin as he had hope?

Answer 45

The Berlin Airlift

Question 46

Which of the following was a reason for the Cold War?

Answer 46

There was mutual distrust between the Soviets and Americans

Question 47

Why did the Berlin Airlift take place?

Answer 47

Stalin closed all roads, trains, and river runs between East and West Berlin

Question 48

Which of the following contributions $400 million to help ward of communism in Europe?

Answer 48

The Truman Doctrine