Unit 9 Pre-Assessment: Cold War Beginnings

The results of World War II and the development of atomic weapons left certain countries as the dominant political and

    military powers of the world. Who were these “Super powers”?

• US and Britain

• Soviet Union and Britain

• US and Soviet Union

• China and Soviet Union

In 1948 the U.S. adopted the Marshall Plan which offered $17 billion to European countries to aid in European recovery

    following World War II.  Why was the U.S. so concerned with European recovery after WW II?

• America was beginning to pay back war loans that were owed to European countries.

• America hoped that by helping countries become economically successful, they would be less likely to adopt communism.

• America hoped to build an “iron curtain” across the continent to protect trade with Europe

• America was trying to strengthen the Warsaw Pact and prevent the outbreak of World War III.

In 1948 the Soviet Union started one of the first major international crises of the Cold War when it began a blockade of

    West Berlin. The Soviet Union hoped to gain control of all of Berlin by forcing the Western Allies to withdraw from the

    western sector of the city. How did the U.S. respond?

• The U.S. followed a policy of appeasement to avoid starting World War III with the Soviet Union.

• The U.S. and Britain began an airlift, flying in supplies needed to keep the city functioning and free.

• The U.S. threatened to attack the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons if they did not end the blockade.

• The U.S. built the Berlin Wall to keep the communists out.      

Communist regimes established control in Eastern Europe after World War II. Fearing that communist governments would

     continue to expand their influence, the U.S. adopted a policy designed to stop the spread of communism. What was this

     policy called?

• Appeasement

• Iron Curtain

• Containment

• Domino Theory

Which of the following best describes the reason for U.S. involvement in the Korean War?

• The U.S. was trying to “contain” communism by supporting a United Nations resolution defending South Korea against

  an invasion by communist North Korea.

• The U.S. was trying to start a revolution in Korea to overthrow a communist government in the North.

• The U.S. wanted to help the Nationalist Chinese settle in Korea after they had been forced out of China by the

  Communists.

• The U.S. was attempting to remove nuclear weapons placed in Korea by the communist Chinese government.

Following WW II, the Soviet Union wanted to protect itself from a rearmed Germany. To do this, they created a

     string of pro-Soviet countries to protect their western border. Eastern European countries like Poland,

     Czechoslovakia and Romania. What were these countries called?

• Big Three

• The Berlin Wall

• Satellite Nations

• the Demilitarized Zone

What happened when the Big Three (Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin) met at the Yalta Conference in 1945?

• They agreed to divide Germany into 4 zones of occupation. (U.S., British, French and Russian)

• They agreed to form N.A.T. O. and the Warsaw Pact

• They agreed to share nuclear secrets in order to prevent an arms race.

• They agreed to the policy of Massive Retaliation in the event of a nuclear war.

In 1946, Winston Churchill gave a speech talking about the spread of communism across Eastern Europe. How

    did he refer to this spread of communism?

• Open Skies

• Iron Curtain

• Containment

• Massive Retaliation

Following the Berlin blockade in 1949, the U.S., British and French formed the Federal Republic of Germany,

    which was also known as ___ and the Soviets formed the German Democratic Republic, which was also known

    as ____.

• North Germany/South Germany

• East Germany/West Germany

• South Germany/North Germany

• West Germany/East Germany

US propaganda used the Stalin Purges and Stalin’s Five Year Plan to show:

• Communists were willing to cooperate with the Western democracies

• Communists were changing and beginning to adopt some capitalist ideas

• the dangers of totalitarian dictatorships and command economies

• the superiority of command economies over capitalism