The Cold War

• The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies.
• There was no large-scale fighting directly between the two superpowers, but they each supported opposing sides in major regional conflicts known as proxy wars.
• The conflict was based on the ideological and geopolitical struggle for global influence by these two superpowers.
• The Western Bloc was led by the United States as well as a number of other First World nations that were generally liberal democratic.
• The Eastern Bloc was led by the Soviet Union and its Communist Party, which had an influence across the Second World.
• The first phase of the Cold War began shortly after the end of World War II in 1945.
• Major crises of this phase included the Berlin Blockade, the Chinese Communist Revolution, the Korean War, the Hungarian Revolution, the Suez Crisis, the Berlin Crisis, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War.
• Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, a new phase began that saw the Sino-Soviet split between China and the Soviet Union complicate relations within the communist sphere.
• In 1989, the fall of the Iron Curtain after the Pan-European Picnic and a peaceful wave of revolutions overthrew almost all of the Marxist-Leninist regimes of the Eastern Bloc.
• The Cold War and its events have left a significant legacy.
• Soviet Russia was formed in 1917 after the Bolshevik Revolution.
• A long and bloody Civil War ensued between the Reds and the Whites, starting in 1917 and ending in 1923 with the Reds' victory.
• The famine of 1921, which killed about five million people, led to the American Relief Administration providing food relief to Russia.
• Western powers diplomatically isolated the Soviet government.
• The Soviet Union made agreements with Nazi Germany both militarily and economically during extensive talks.
• The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact included a secret protocol that paved the way for the Soviet invasion of Eastern European states and occupation of their territories.
• Germany broke the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, starting the Great Patriotic War.
• The Red Army stopped the seemingly invincible German Army at the Battle of Moscow and drove through Eastern Europe to Berlin before Germany surrendered in 1945.
• The United States provided the Soviet Union with huge quantities of weapons, ships, aircraft, rolling stock, strategic materials, and food through the Lend-Lease program.
• The USSR broke the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1945 and invaded Manchukuo and other Japan-controlled territories on 9 August 1945.

1. The Allies disagreed on the post-war European map and security system.
2. Roosevelt and Churchill had different goals for the post-war world.
3. Stalin sought to dominate the internal affairs of countries in its border regions.
4. The Western Allies vied for Stalin's favors.
5. The differences between Roosevelt and Churchill led to several separate deals with the Soviets.
6. The Soviets effectively occupied Central and Eastern Europe.
7. The United Nations was established for the maintenance of world peace.
8. Serious differences emerged over the future development of Germany and the rest of Central and Eastern Europe.
9. The US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which Stalin protested.
10. The Soviet Union laid the foundation for the Eastern or Soviet Bloc by invading and then annexing several countries.

• The Soviet Union established secret police systems in Eastern Bloc countries to crush anti-communist resistance.
• Stalin's regime removed and imprisoned rivals who showed any signs of independence.
• The USSR seized Germany's industrial plants and exacted war reparations from East Germany, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria.
• The USSR controlled the Communist parties ruling satellite states, and Moscow instituted trading arrangements to favor the country.
• Winston Churchill was concerned about the Soviet threat to Western Europe.
• The "Long Telegram" from Moscow helped shape the Truman administration's Soviet policy.
• The Truman Doctrine called for the allocation of $400 million to intervene in the war and framed the conflict as a contest between free peoples and totalitarian regimes.
• The Marshall Plan aimed to rebuild the democratic and economic systems of Europe and counter perceived threats to Europe's balance of power.
• Stalin prevented Eastern Bloc nations from receiving Marshall Plan aid.
• The National Security Act of 1947 created the Department of Defense, the CIA, and the NSC.

Test your knowledge of the Cold War, a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. This quiz covers the major events and crises of the Cold War, including proxy wars, the Sino-Soviet split, and the fall of the Iron Curtain. You'll also learn about the formation of Soviet Russia, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and the impact of the Cold War on Europe and the world. See how much you know about this significant period in