Cluster V: Cold War (Practice Exam Answer Key)

(The notes in parentheses are given only for further clarification and are not a required part of the answers.)

1. They decided to divide into in four occupation zones.

2. The believed they would weaken Germany by dividing it and make it less likely to begin another war.
3. The iron curtain divided the democratic countries in Western Europe from the communist countries in
Eastern Europe after WWII.
(Note: For full credit you must mention both the geographical (Western vs. Eastern Europe) and political (democracy vs.
communism) parts of the answer. Please also note that the iron curtain separated not just West and East Germany but rather
Western and Eastern Europe.)
4. The USSR's soldiers occupied that territory after WWII.
(Note: The U.S. was not about to start a another war with the Soviet Union after WWII to free Eastern Europe from Soviet
control.)
5. The United States Note: (Note: in 1952)
6. One Year (Note The USSR tested its first H bomb in 1953 after stealing nuclear secrets from the U.S.)
7. Japan and West Germany (Note: "Japan and Germany" would not be a correct answer since East Germany
did not recover rapidly after WWII. (See next question.)
8. The Soviet Union (USSR) was sucking money out of East Germany by making East Germany pay the costs of
WWII (war reparations) while the U.S. was pumping money into West Germany.
9. 1945-1991
10. It was “cold” in the sense that the two sides (U.S. and U.S.S.R) never fought each other directly on the
battlefield.
11. Possible answers include: 1. Alliances 2. Foreign Aid ($) 3. Proxy Wars 4. Espionage (spying) 5.
Brinksmanship 6. Propaganda 7. Arms Race 8. Space Race (Note: You will be asked to list three of these six on the
actual exam.)
12. The United States and the Soviet Union (USSR)
13. They both wanted to be the dominant (top) world power and see their system of government prevail.
(Note: If you answer: "They both wanted to control the world" would not be quite right. As powerful as they were, neither
the U.S. nor the USSR actually believed they could control the entire world with all of its countries and people. But each did
want to be dominant, meaning more powerful than the other superpower.)
14. The United States sought capitalism and democracy and the Soviet Union sought communism.
15. Possible answers include: 1. Congo 2. Egypt 3. Vietnam 4. Chile 5. Korea 6. Iran 7. Turkey 8. Greece 9.
Nicaragua 10. Cuba (Note: You will be asked to name three of these on the actual exam.)
16. The policy of pushing a conflict to the brink of war in order to resolve it.
17. The Cuban Missile Crisis
18. To stop the spread of communism in those countries (by bribing them to support us and our goals.)
19. Isolationism. This means not getting involved with other countries.
20. Containment. This meant containing the spread of communism (keeping it contained in the fewest countries
possible.)
21. Any countries threatened by the spread of communism.
22. We feared that the countries devastated by WWII would be more likely to turn to communism if their
economies and democracies remained weak. (Communism looks pretty good if you have nothing!)
23. The U.S. sent money and weapons to the Chinese to fight the communists there but sent troops (soldiers)
to fight communists in North Korea and Vietnam.
24. Possible answers: 1. Cuba (Batista) 2. Zaire (Seko) 3. Chile (Pinochet) 4. Iran (Shah Reza) 5. Indonesia
(Suharto)
25. 1946-1949
26. The Communists vs. the Nationalists
27. The Communists
28. Mao Tse-Tung ("Mao" is sufficient for the actual exam.)
29. The Communist government created communes, which were large collective farms in which thousands of
people lived and worked the land together.
30. It resulted in widespread famine and starvation.
(Note: This was due to bad planning and management, lack of motivation from the peasants working on these communes (why
work hard if you don't get to keep the harvest?) as well as some severe droughts during this time.)
31. The main target was intellectuals. (Capitalists and counterrevolutionaries were also targeted.)
32. The Red Guards. They were mostly teenagers.
33. After six weeks, they crushed it with tanks and troops. This showed the Communist government in China
was not going to allow democracy in China.
34. The Soviet Union crushed them by sending in tanks and troops.
35. Solidarity. Lech Walesa. (Note: only last names required on actual exam.)
36. Mikhail Gorbachev. (Note: only last names required on actual exam.)
37. The free flow of information and ideas.
38. Possible answers: 1. Greater Freedom of Speech 2. Previously banned books could be published. 3.
Newspapers criticizing government were allowed for the first time. 4. Individuals could criticize
government without being sent to a gulag. (You need only one example for the actual exam.)
39. Economic restructuring (You could also say: "Reorganizing, fixing the economy")
40. Possible answers: 1. Small private businesses were allowed to open. 2. Small farmers could sell some of
their crops privately. 3. Business managers could make some of their own decisions. (You need only one
example for the actual exam.)
41. It was a peaceful (nonviolent) uprising. (Velvet is soft!)
42. Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland. (Also East Germany)
43. To create a homeland (country of their own) for Jews.
44. The Holocaust
45. 1948
46. The United Nations (U.N.)
47. It is surrounded by Arab enemies who do not recognize its right to exist (believe it has no right to even be
there!)
48. The U.S. and Western Europe.
49. 1. The command economy (=government made all decisions) in the USSR was inefficient and simply didn't
work!. 2. The USSR spent themselves into the ground trying to build up its military to match the U.S. (The
other way you could say this is "They lost the arms race to the U.S.) and 3. The USSR couldn't afford the
cost of supporting their client states (communist countries around the world) (It's empire around the
world just got too expensive.) (Note: You'll need to know two of the three on the actual exam.)
50. The 1980’s
51. 1991. This is an important date because it marked the end of the Cold War.
52. The creation of the Soviet Union was violent (6 million! died in Russian Civil War) whereas the breakup
was mostly peaceful.
53. 1945
54. 1. Promote world peace 2. Promote human rights
55. The Secretariat
56. 1. China 2. France 3. Great Britain 4. Soviet Union 5. United States (winners of WWII)
57. The General Assembly
58. The Organization of American States (OAS)
59. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
60. The Warsaw Pact
61. Southeast Asia (SEATO=Southeast Asia Treaty Organization)
62. What was the name of the treaties signed by the U.S. and Soviet Union in the 1970's seeking to limit the
number of nuclear weapons on both sides?