The Cold War (1945-1962) Study Guide
Directions: On a separate sheet of paper, answer the following questions in short form.
1. What organization did the Allies found in 1945 near the end of World War II?
2. Identify the United Nations.
3. What organization did the United Nations replace?
4. What did the world’s nations hope to prevent by creating the United Nations?
5. Contrast the American belief regarding the United States’ role in the world after World War I with that after World War II.
6. What country did American forces occupy in August 1945?
7. What happened to Japan when it was under American direction?
8. What was the condition of Europe at the end of World War II?
9. What country’s military forces occupied most of Eastern and Central Europe and the eastern portion of Germany at the end of World War II?
10. What nations’ forces occupied West Germany at the end of World War II?
11. What did the Allies do to Germany after World War II?
12. What did West Germany do a few years after World War II?
13. What happened to East Germany after World War II?
14. What war began soon after World War II ended?
15. Identify the Cold War.
16. What type of war was the Cold War and how long did it last?
17. What set the framework for global politics for the first forty-five years after World War II?
18. In what three ways did the Cold War influence the United States after 1945?
19. Describe the fundamental values of the American-led western nations during the Cold War.
20. Describe the fundamental values of the Soviet Union and its allies during the Cold War.
21. Define socialism.
22. What anti-communist policy did the United States adopt after World War II?
23. Identify containment.
24. What did the United States try to accomplish through the containment policy?
25. In what two countries did the prospect of a communist takeover cause President Harry Truman to announce the Truman Doctrine in 1947?
26. Identify the Truman Doctrine.
27. What precedent did the Truman Doctrine set?
28. Identify the Marshall Plan.
29. What was the dual purpose of the Marshall Plan?
30. For what does NATO stand?
31. What was the purpose of NATO?
32. Identify NATO.
33. Identify the Warsaw Pact.
34. When and where did communism spread to Asia?
35. Who was Mao Zedong?
36. Who was Chiang Kai-shek?
37. Where did Mao force Chiang to flee?
38. What government did Chiang set up after he fled to Formosa?
39. What two events in 1949 increased American fears of communist domination of most of the world?
40. Why did many Americans fear that communist spies held important positions in the federal government?
The Cold War (1945-1962) Study Guide
Directions: On a separate sheet of paper, answer the following questions in short form.
1. What organization did the Allies found in 1945 near the end of World War II?
2. Identify the United Nations.
3. What organization did the United Nations replace?
4. What did the world’s nations hope to prevent by creating the United Nations?
5. Contrast the American belief regarding the United States’ role in the world after World War I with that after World War II.
6. What country did American forces occupy in August 1945?
7. What happened to Japan when it was under American direction?
8. What was the condition of Europe at the end of World War II?
9. What country’s military forces occupied most of Eastern and Central Europe and the eastern portion of Germany at the end of World War II?
10. What nations’ forces occupied West Germany at the end of World War II?
11. What did the Allies do to Germany after World War II?
12. What did West Germany do a few years after World War II?
13. What happened to East Germany after World War II?
14. What war began soon after World War II ended?
15. Identify the Cold War.
16. What type of war was the Cold War and how long did it last?
17. What set the framework for global politics for the first forty-five years after World War II?
18. In what three ways did the Cold War influence the United States after 1945?
19. Describe the fundamental values of the American-led western nations during the Cold War.
20. Describe the fundamental values of the Soviet Union and its allies during the Cold War.
21. Define socialism.
22. What anti-communist policy did the United States adopt after World War II?
23. Identify containment.
24. What did the United States try to accomplish through the containment policy?
25. In what two countries did the prospect of a communist takeover cause President Harry Truman to announce the Truman Doctrine in 1947?
26. Identify the Truman Doctrine.
27. What precedent did the Truman Doctrine set?
28. Identify the Marshall Plan.
29. What was the dual purpose of the Marshall Plan?
30. For what does NATO stand?
31. What was the purpose of NATO?
32. Identify NATO.
33. Identify the Warsaw Pact.
34. When and where did communism spread to Asia?
35. Who was Mao Zedong?
36. Who was Chiang Kai-shek?
37. Where did Mao force Chiang to flee?
38. What government did Chiang set up after he fled to Formosa?
39. What two events in 1949 increased American fears of communist domination of most of the world?
40. Why did many Americans fear that communist spies held important positions in the federal government?
41. Identify Alger Hiss.
42. What secrets did a spy ring give to the Soviets?
43. Identify Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
44. What happened to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1953?
45. What is espionage?
46. Whose political career was advanced by American fears of communism?
47. How did Senator Joseph McCarthy play on American fears of communism?
48. Define McCarthyism.
49. How has American culture continued to use the term McCarthyism.
50. Identify the Army-McCarthy hearings.
51. What did the Army-McCarthy hearings reveal about Senator Joseph McCarthy?
52. What action did the Senate take against Senator McCarthy?
53. Why are the Army-McCarthy hearings important?
54. What event in 1950 was a major test for America’s containment policy?
55. What country entered the Korean War after the American military forces counterattacked and drove deep into North Korea?
56. Who won the 1952 presidential election?
57. When did the Korean War end, and what were its results?
58. Why did the Korean War cause an increase in the United States’ confidence in the containment policy?
59. What did President Eisenhower adopt as a part of containment?
60. Identify “massive retaliation.”
61. What position did later presidents take on “massive retaliation”?
62. What promise did American presidents refuse to make to the Soviet Union during the Cold War?
63. What happened in Cuba in 1959?
64. To what place did many Cubans flee in order to escape communist rule?
65. What action did President Eisenhower encourage the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to take in regard to Cuba?
66. Identify the CIA.
67. What action did the CIA plan in Cuba?
68. Who became president of the United States in 1961?
69. What happened during the Bay of Pigs invasion?
70. What country placed nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962?
71. How did President Kennedy learn that the Soviet Union had placed missiles in Cuba?
72. What action did President Kennedy take to end the Cuban Missile Crisis?
73. With what type of war was the world threatened during the Cuban Missile Crisis?
74. Who was the leader of the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis?
75. What type of deal did the United States make with the Soviet Union to end the Cuban Missile Crisis?
76. What threat was always present during the Cold War?
77. Name two ways in which Americans tried to prepare for a possible nuclear attack.
41. Identify Alger Hiss.
42. What secrets did a spy ring give to the Soviets?
43. Identify Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
44. What happened to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1953?
45. What is espionage?
46. Whose political career was advanced by American fears of communism?
47. How did Senator Joseph McCarthy play on American fears of communism?
48. Define McCarthyism.
49. How has American culture continued to use the term McCarthyism.
50. Identify the Army-McCarthy hearings.
51. What did the Army-McCarthy hearings reveal about Senator Joseph McCarthy?
52. What action did the Senate take against Senator McCarthy?
53. Why are the Army-McCarthy hearings important?
54. What event in 1950 was a major test for America’s containment policy?
55. What country entered the Korean War after the American military forces counterattacked and drove deep into North Korea?
56. Who won the 1952 presidential election?
57. When did the Korean War end, and what were its results?
58. Why did the Korean War cause an increase in the United States’ confidence in the containment policy?
59. What did President Eisenhower adopt as a part of containment?
60. Identify “massive retaliation.”
61. What position did later presidents take on “massive retaliation”?
62. What promise did American presidents refuse to make to the Soviet Union during the Cold War?
63. What happened in Cuba in 1959?
64. To what place did many Cubans flee in order to escape communist rule?
65. What action did President Eisenhower encourage the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to take in regard to Cuba?
66. Identify the CIA.
67. What action did the CIA plan in Cuba?
68. Who became president of the United States in 1961?
69. What happened during the Bay of Pigs invasion?
70. What country placed nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962?
71. How did President Kennedy learn that the Soviet Union had placed missiles in Cuba?
72. What action did President Kennedy take to end the Cuban Missile Crisis?
73. With what type of war was the world threatened during the Cuban Missile Crisis?
74. Who was the leader of the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis?
75. What type of deal did the United States make with the Soviet Union to end the Cuban Missile Crisis?
76. What threat was always present during the Cold War?
77. Name two ways in which Americans tried to prepare for a possible nuclear attack.
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