Origins of the ColdWar
The Cold War developedasdifferences about the shape of thepostwar world created suspicionanddistrust between the United States andthe Soviet Union. The first – andmostdifficult – test case was Poland,theeastern half of which had beeninvadedand occupied by the USSR in1939.Moscow demanded a governmentsubjectto Soviet influence; Washington wantedamore independent,representativegovernment following the Westernmodel.The Yalta Conference of February1945had produced an agreement onEasternEurope open to differentinterpretations.It included a promise of "freeandunfettered"elections.
1.WhatEuropeancountryprovided the first test case intheColdWar?
a.Austria
b.Germany
c.Latvia
d.Poland
2.The _____ accords promised“freeand unfettered elections”incountries liberated by theAllies.
a.CampDavid
b.Casablanca
c.Dayton Peace
d.Yalta
Meeting with Soviet MinisterofForeign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotovlessthan two weeks after becomingpresident,Truman stood firm on Polishself-determination, lecturing the Sovietdiplomat about the need to implementtheYalta accords. When Molotov protested,"Ihave never been talked to like that inmylife," Truman retorted, "Carry outyouragreements and you won't get talked tolike that." Relations deterioratedfromthat pointonward.
3.Who served as theSovietMinister of Foreign Affairs atthistime?
4.Harry S. Truman showedhimselfto be quite flexible on the issueof Polishself-determination.
a.True
b.False
During the closing months ofWorldWar II, Soviet military forces occupiedallof Central and Eastern Europe.Moscowused its military power to supporttheefforts of the Communist partiesinEastern Europe and crush thedemocraticparties. Communists took over onenationafter another. The process concludedwith
a shocking coup d’état inCzechoslovakiain1948.
5.How did the SovietUnionsupport the efforts oftheCommunist parties inEasternEurope and crush thedemocraticparties?
6.In 1948, the Soviets backedashocking coup d’état inwhatcountry?
a.China
b.Czechoslovakia
c.Italy
d.Vietnam
Public statements definedthebeginning of the Cold War. In 1946Stalindeclared that international peacewasimpossible "under the presentcapitalistdevelopment of the worldeconomy."Former British Prime MinisterWinstonChurchill delivered a dramatic speechinFulton, Missouri, with Truman sittingonthe platform. "From Stettin in the BaltictoTrieste in the Adriatic," Churchill said,"aniron curtain has descended acrosstheContinent." Britain and the UnitedStates,he declared, had to work togethertocounter the Sovietthreat.
7.Who coined the phrase“ironcurtain”?
ThemaptotheleftdepictsPoland following World WarII.
8.Whatbodyofwaterborders Poland to thenorth?
a.AtlanticOcean
b.BalticSea
c.IndianOcean
d.MediterraneanSea
9.Whatthreecountriesbordered Poland at thistime?
______
______
______
______