Wayground logo

Free Printable Worksheets

Font size

S
M
L
XL
Worksheets

The Cold War

Total questions: 27

Worksheet time: 20mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Why did the Cuban Missile Crisis "scare" Americans

a)

Communist Cuba was taking over American businesses

b)

The Bay of Pigs invasion almost failed

c)

Soviets were financing Cuba

d)

Cuba was within nuclear missile shooting range of American cities

2.

Why weren't nuclear weapons used during the Cold War?

a)

The Domino Theory

b)

The Marshall Plan

c)

Mutually assured destruction

d)

Strategic defensive initiative

3.

What happened to many eastern European countries after WWII?

a)

They were dependent on the Marshall Plan

b)

They developed democratic governments

c)

They became economic world powers

d)

They became Soviet satellite states

4.

What happened at the Bay of Pigs?

a)

The Soviets attempted to install nuclear weapons in Haiti

b)

The Soviets invaded Hungary

c)

The US tried to overthrow the Cuban communist government

d)

A meeting in the Soviet Union to develop the Warsaw pact

5.

Why is the Cuban Missile Crisis so important?

a)

It was the closest we have come to total nuclear war

b)

It was a signal to the world that Cuba was vulnerable

c)

It helped create NATO and the Warsaw Pact

d)

It created an alliance between the Cubans and the Americans

6.

Churchill called the imaginary line between Soviet satellite states and western Europe.....

a)

NATO

b)

The Iron Curtain

c)

The Berlin Wall

d)

The Great Wall

7.

The Cold War was between the US and

a)

Korea

b)

China

c)

Germany

d)

The Soviet Union

8.

Which two nations emerged as superpowers after WWII?

a)

Soviet Union and Germany

b)

US and Great Britain

c)

France and Great Britain

d)

US and Soviet Union

9.

Who was President of the United States at the beginning of the Cold War?

a)

Franklin D. Roosevelt

b)

Josef Stalin

c)

Winston Churchill

d)

Harry Truman

10.

What war did the Cold War follow?

a)

World War 1

b)

World War 2

c)

Spanish-American War

d)

Civil War

11.
The Soviet Union countered NATO by creating
a)
Soviet Union
b)
SATO
c)
Warsaw Pact
d)
Eastern Bloc
12.
How did the US respond to finding out that the Soviets had missiles in Cuba?
a)
They sent the Air Force to bomb Cuba
b)
They began placing missiles in the Soviet Union.
c)
They placed a naval blockade around Cuba.
d)
They invaded Cuba and the Soviet Union.
13.
Why did the Soviet Union build the Berlin Wall?
a)
They built it to keep Soviet people from going to Western Europe.
b)
They built it to try to keep East Germans from going to West Germany.
c)
The Soviet Union and the United States divided Berlin in two parts after the war.
d)
The Soviet Union was trying to put people back to work by building the Berlin Wall.
14.
What was the mutual defense alliance of non communist nations?
a)
NATO
b)
Warsaw Pact
c)
Truman Doctrine
d)
Open Skies
15.
I was a senator in the 1950s.
I wanted to find Communists in the US.
My work was part of the Red Scare.
My ideas became unpopular.
Who am I?
a)
Henry Ford
b)
Charles Lindbergh
c)
Joseph McCarthy
d)
General Eisenhower
16.
Which country was the aggressor that started the Korean War?
a)
North Korea
b)
South Korea
c)
Neither - they were forced into war by Germany
d)
Japan
17.
Why is the Cold War called a "cold" war?
a)
The areas affected were in the polar regions of the world
b)
The war was fought during winter months only
c)
Leaders of the superpowers were sick with coughs and fevers
d)
There was never direct fighting between the two superpowers
18.
Who was put in charge of the American forces in Korea and even wanted to use the atomic bomb against China?
a)
John Bassilone
b)
Douglas MacArthur
c)
Harry Truman
d)
Richard Nixon
19.

Which event signaled the end of the Cold War?

a)

Cuban Missile Crisis

b)

end of the Vietnam War

c)

collapse of the Soviet Union

d)

fall of the Berlin Wall

20.

Who was the last Soviet premier (leader)?

a)

Boris Yeltsin

b)

Mikhail Gorbachev

c)

Leonid Brezhnev

d)

Nikita Khrushchev

e)

Borat Sagdiyev

21.
“During the 1980s, Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union, initiated a series of reforms known as glasnost and perestroika which were meant to bolster the power of the Soviet Union. These reforms allowed for more freedom of speech, small businesses to control things, churches were opened, and journalists could investigate the government etc…” The outcome was much different than Gorbachev and others expected as they led to the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.”
.
From the above reading, how could glasnost and perestroika be described?
a)
they helped the US recover
b)
they led to unexpected consequences
c)
they provided little change
d)
they gave new power to the Soviet Union
22.

What is the domino theory?

a)

One country falling to Communism will quickly end the red scare.

b)

One country falling to the Dark Side will quickly lead to other nearby countries falling as well.

c)

One country falling to Democracy will quickly lead to other nearby countries falling as well.

d)

One country falling to Communism will quickly lead to other nearby countries falling as well.

23.

Who became Cuba's Communist dictator in 1959?

a)

Infidel Castro

b)

Fidel Castro

c)

Nikita Khrushchev

d)

Mikhail Gorbachev

24.

What did U.S. spy planes discover in Cuba?

a)

Soviet air force bases

b)

Soviet nuclear missile bases

c)

Soviet ice cream plants producing only one flavor, "Regular"

d)

German nuclear missile bases

25.

Which political leader introduced programs that moved the USSR away from totalitarianism, and increased economic freedom and political rights?

a)

Mikhail Gorbechev

b)

Joseph Stalin

c)

Boris Yeltsin

d)

Vladimir Putin

26.

Which new Soviet policy granted the people of the USSR more decision making power and greater access to private ownership of businesses?

a)

perestroika

b)

glasnost

c)

democratization

d)

shock therapy

27.

Which of Gorbachev's programs created more openness, more public participation in government, and greater individual rights were given to Soviet citizens?

a)

glasnost

b)

perestroika

c)

democratizatsiya

d)

shock therapy