Supporting Home Learning in the Cold War 1945-90
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For more than 40 years – 1945-1989 – the USSR was in conflict with the West. But that conflict never came to open warfare (‘hot war’). Why? It was mainly because the existence of nuclear weapons made hot war MAD (‘mutually assured destruction’). That was why the conflict stayed a ‘cold war’; both sides tried to undermine and destroy each other, but they dared not let it go to actual fighting – that would have destroyed them.
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Introduction to the Cold WarWhy did the USA and USSR become rivals in the period 1945 to 1949? When you are thinking about the causes of the Cold War, the most important thing is to separate in your mind the long term underlying factors from the series of clashes and misunderstandings which actually triggered the breakdown in relations. The USSR and the USA were separated by a huge ideological gulf. So the only thing that held the allies together was the need to destroy Hitler’s Nazis. Given their underlying differences – when Hitler was finally defeated in 1945 – a Cold War was perhaps inevitable. The USA was a capitalist democracy; the USSR was a communist dictatorship. Both sides believed that they held the key to the future happiness of the human race. Neither was conflict new to the two sides. Stalin could not forgive Britain and America for helping the Whites against the Bolsheviks in the Civil Wars (1918-1921), and he believed that they had delayed D-Day in the hope that the Nazis would destroy Russia. In the meantime, Britain and America blamed the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 for starting the Second World War. Also, the two sides’ aims for Germany were different – Stalin wanted Germany to be ruined by reparations, and he wanted a buffer of friendly states round Russia to prevent a repeat of the Nazi invasion of 1941. Britain and America wanted a democratic and capitalist Germany as a world trading partner, strong enough to stop the spread of Communism westwards. It is impossible to identify a time when the Cold War ‘broke out’. After 1945, a series of clashes and misunderstandings meant that the ideological differences widened more and more into open hostility. |
Additional Learning Resources
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Controversy 1. Overview of the controversy over the origins of the Cold War 1945-53.Content overview
The first controversy requires a study of the origins of the Cold War from the last year of the Second World War to Stalin’s death. Students should be aware of the salient developments during this period from the war time conferences to confrontations over postwar Germany and Berlin and Korea. They should understand the differing historical emphases on either Soviet or western aggression, on the primacy of USA or USSR ideology or traditional great power rivalry, and the gradual emergence of Cold War Alliances. factors such as ideology, nuclear weapons, and USA fears of Soviet expansionism will be considered. The Berlin Blockade 1948-49 Origins of Cold War |
Additional Learning Resources
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KQ1. Overview of the period of peaceful co-existence 1953-63.Content overview
The continuation of the Cold War in the 1950’s, following the retirement of Truman and the death of Stalin, despite the bid for improved relations on the part of the USSR in the form of unilateral cuts in the size of the Red Army and withdrawal from Austria and Finland. Students should understand the concept of peaceful co-existence and what motivated Khrushchev and the Soviet leadership, and why the USA under Eisenhower and Secretary of State Dulles and later Kennedy and his staff, responded in the way they did. The role of personality particularly that of Khrushchev, in shaping relations during these years should be addressed and students should be aware of the Paris summit, the U2 incident and the initial meetings of Kennedy and Khrushchev in Vienna. The impact on the west of the crushing of the Hungarian uprising and continuing tensions over Germany in early 1960's and the erection of the Berlin Wall should also be understood in the context of a global cold war in the Middle East, South East Asia, Americas and Africa.
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Additional Learning Resources
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KQ2. Overview of the arms race 1949-63.Content overview.
This relates to the impact on international relations of developments in weapon technology and the emergence of the space race. Students should understand the importance of thermo-nuclear weapons development from the Soviet’s acquisition of fission technology in 1949, the explosion of the first hydrogen bomb in 1952 by the USA and the USSR’s gaining of H bomb technology in 1955. They should also understand the importance of delivery systems and the strides made by both powers in rocket science and the consequent balance of terror in weapon technology. The stages by which the Cuban Missile Crises developed should be addressed, as should the process of its resolution and the easing of tensions in 1963, marked by the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the establishment of the hot line. |
Additional Learning Resources
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KQ3. Overview of the impact of China on superpower relations 1949-76?Content overview
This relates to the complex relationship between the USSR and China and the impact of this on the USA’s relations with both countries. Students should have an understanding of the Chinese Communist Revolution of 1949 and the reasons for the signing of the Soviet-Chinese Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance in February 1950 and the consolidation of the relationship as a result of the outbreak of the Korean War and confrontation between China and the USA over Taiwan. They should be aware of the deterioration of the Soviet-Chinese relations from 1958 and the development of a full scale confrontation by 1969 and the reasons for, and significance of, these developments. The launching of ping pong diplomacy, culminating in Nixon’s visit to China, and the use mad of it by Nixon and Kissinger to achieve leverage with the Soviet leadership, should be appreciated. |
Additional Learning Resources
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KQ4. Overview of detente 1969-1981.Content overview
This relates to the period of improved relations between the USA and the USSR during the 1970’s, when the influence of the realist school, articulated notably by Kissinger, appeared to shape US diplomacy into a period called Detente. Students should understand why both powers wished to seek accommodation and the notable features of this accommodation, ie the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty of 1972, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of the same year and the Helsinki Accords for liberalisation in eastern Europe and the USSR. The reference to economic realities refers to the increasing economic problems of the Soviet bloc in the 1970’s and the economic resilience of the west after the oil price shock of 1973 producing a growing imbalance of potential power. Students should understand the reasons for the breakdown of détente by 1980 with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the election of Thatcher in 1979 and Reagan in 1981 in the context of the rise and fall of detente in a global cold war in the Middle East, South East Asia, Americas and Africa.. |
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And finally....cracking the Puzzle and developing my exam technique to achieve my potential in Unit 3!Once you have developed your knowledge and understanding through completing the course and practising the skills of doing history in your lessons and homework, it will be important to prepare yourself for the final puzzle...the exam. In fact lets stop using the E word now and just talk about preparing for the puzzle. There are two essential aspects to this preparation.
Firstly, there is developing your memory. This is something that you can do through specific memory training exercises and revision more generally. In history we encourage the use of the Trigger Memory Activity as an initial stimulus to your memory of a whole topic both in overview and in depth. Use theses tools and others that you have developed to prepare your memory for the demands of the puzzle. Secondly you will need to think about how this particular exam is organised, the number of questions, what skills they are asking you to demonstrate, the amount of marks they are worth and the amount of time you will have to answer these questions in the puzzle. There will be examples of these puzzles that have been used before so ask your teacher about them or find out the exam board and syllabus to access past papers online. The more that you prepare your memory and your clever writing patterns for particular questions under the conditions the puzzle will be set in, the greater chance you will have of fulfilling your potential in this subject.There are some examples of the Trigger Memory Activities and Clever Writing Patterns to develop Puzzle Technique opposite. Sit back, kick your shoes off, relax and begin your preparation. Get Revising Website Free Resources |
All past questions
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Cold War History Films
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World War 3
Goodbye Lenin
Letter to Brezhnev
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