Download The Cold War 1945-1975

4 minutes – in groups of 3-4 spidergram / jot down everything
you know (or think you know) about the Cold War…
Cold War
1945-1975 (1991)
Prompts: Who? Why? Where? Leaders? Wars? Outcome?
Completely stuck??? Look at the timeline on p. 336-337.
Cold War
1945-1975 (1991)
Wartime alliances
During World War II (1939–45) each of the major powers
was part of an alliance.
1939
Great Britain and France were allied against Nazi
Germany. The USSR had signed a non-aggression
pact with Nazi Germany.
1941
The USA joins the war when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
The USSR joins the alliance with Great Britain and the
USA.
1. What made the USA and USSR become allies in 1941?
2. Why might the situation change after 1945?
What is a ‘superpower’?
A superpower is the term used to describe the most
powerful countries. Before World War II there were a
number of ‘superpowers’.
Britain, France and Germany were all European
superpowers before 1945.
At the end of World War II, all these countries were in ruins
or crippled by the long years of war….
The post-World War II
world was dominated by
two superpowers – the
USA and the USSR.
Cold War game
 You are an advisor to successive
US Presidents.
 Can you make it from 1945 to
1975 without triggering nuclear
war?
Rules…
 Each player takes one counter.
 Throw the dice in turns to
move.
 Read each square as you land
on it and follow the
instructions…
1. The USA and USSR were WWII
allies. Despite their differences their
leaders, Roosevelt and Stalin, got on
quite well.
2. At Yalta in Feb 1945 they seemingly reached
agreement on a number of things.
4. By 1946 an Iron Curtain divided
“free” and “Communist” Europe.
5. As a result Truman promised money,
equipment and advice to any new country
threatened by Communism.
8. When the USSR
cut off land routes
to West Berlin the
USA flew in
produce to keep
West Berlin going.
12. The next big
crisis was in Cuba.
7. The aim was to CONTAIN
Communism.
3. But at Potsdamn 5 months later
the USA had a new leader: Truman. He
was worried about the USSR’s post-war
presence in Eastern Europe.
6. Under the Marshall Plan he also
offered $17bn in aid to help rebuild
post-war Europe
9. From 1950-1953 the USA fought Vietnamese and
Chinese Communists for control of Korea.
11. Next, Kennedy continued to support W. Berlin
after the USSR physically walled it off in 1961.
13. Kennedy sent out the
US fleet and forced
Khrushchev to blink,
turning around the Soviet
warships carrying missiles.
14. In 1963/64
Lyndon Johnson
increased the USA’s
involvement in
Vietnam.
10. Eventually
the country was
divided in half
(North =
Communist;
South =
Capitalist).
15. It was an horrendous war which
the US was involved in for 10 years.
Two years later all of Vietnam was
under Communist control.