Working with frames allows you to understand how and why people lived the way they did throughout history. They help you recognize how communities (such as societies and nations); networks (such as those for trade and exchange); and the production and distribution of goods, impacted, and still impact, people in different parts of the world. Viewing history through frames gives us a usable knowledge of history that allows us to make sense of the world today and think critically about the future. The process of depicting frames by drawing them—mixing language with imagery—will make the information more memorable.

In this activity, you will draw the course frames, much like you did earlier in the course. However, instead of coming up with your own ideas about each of the frames, you will draw them according to the frame narratives at this point in the course. This will not only help you gain a sense of your understanding of the frames, but will also give you a chance to review what you’ve already learned, which will help you remember all that stuff!

Don’t worry about your drawing skills—you don’t have to be an artist to complete this activity. However, try to use more pictures than words. And feel free to be creative! Here are the criteria:

• Draw a representation of community based on the content of this unit. Be sure to label that area of the picture with “community.”
• Draw a representation of production and distribution based on the content of this unit. Be sure to label that area of the drawing with “P&D.”
• Finally, draw the networks between communities (people, states, empires, and so on) based on the content of this unit.
• Where possible, use arrows and other lines to show movement. This will largely apply to P&D and networks.

Once you’re done, be ready to share your drawings and thinking behind them with your class. Was your approach the same as your classmates? Or did you think about the frames differently? Frames are no different from anything else we study in history—there can be many perspectives on the same topic.

World War II killed millions of people and destroyed whole cities. Many nations who fought in the war saw their economies and infrastructure destroyed. The United States and Soviet Union emerged from the war as superpowers, and each had their own vision for rebuilding the world. This article examines how these different ideas collided and how people in decolonizing nations pushed back against economic control by the two superpowers. As the world rebuilt, old inequalities persisted between and within nations.

This article provides you with evidence at the global level to understand how the Cold War and decolonization both played a part in the global recovery following World War II. By focusing on changes in production and distribution after the war, the article will help you evaluate the frame narrative you have been given. As you read, be on the lookout for the ways in which studying the Cold War and decolonization as linked processes changes the way we understand each.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. Why did the United States launch the Marshall Plan?
2. The article cites two arguments about the “economic miracles” in Germany and Japan. What are the two arguments?
3. Why were wealthy nations able to continue to exploit their former colonies even after they had gained independence?
4. How did some African and Asian leaders fight back against this sort of dependency?
5. Who did not share in the new economic prosperity in the United States?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. This article gives the examples of Mosaddeq, Nasser, Allende, and Nkrumah as leaders who resisted economic dependence. What were some ways that decolonization collided with the Cold War to shape global production and distribution after 1945?

While the United States and the Soviet Union had worked together to defeat the Axis Powers, their alliance soon fell apart without a common enemy. The global conflict of the Cold War came down to competing visions of world order as the two superpowers promoted communist and capitalist ideologies in a struggle for supremacy. Europe was divided between a capitalist west and communist east. Across Latin America, Asia, and Africa, the two superpowers fought each other through proxy wars. The conflict ended without a global nuclear war, and the Soviet Union collapsed with relatively little bloodshed.

This article provides evidence at the global level to respond to the Unit Problem and connect the Cold War conflict with the conflicts surrounding decolonization. It will help you understand the complex and interconnected motivations behind the Cold War and the numerous proxy conflicts all over the globe. The Cold War was a huge confrontation between two different systems of production and distribution, but it also reshaped national communities and international networks.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. According to the author, what was the basic difference at the heart of the Cold War conflict?
2. What does this author identify as the three main features of the Cold War?
3. Why did Stalin want to expand Soviet influence in Eastern Europe?
4. What was the policy of containment and what does the author use as an example of this policy?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. The Cold War was a conflict that was all about methods of production and distribution that divided communities across the world along communist and capitalist lines. Which of the course frames do you think best describes why the Cold War happened?

By now, you should be well versed in how to identify and categorize causes and consequences. In this activity, you’ll use your causation, contextualization, and claim testing skills to solve a historical problem. By combining these skills, you’ll begin to understand how historians, or in this case government officials, must think about causes and consequences in order to understand historical events or to solve real-world problems, some of which can be life threatening.

Imagine it is 1962. You are United States government officials working with classified information. Your task is to determine what crisis is threatening the safety of the American people. Once you break open the seal on your Top Secret envelope, examine each document carefully for clues. Work with your group to piece together this Cold War emergency situation. You may be asked to explain the crisis to the Commander in Chief, so get your facts straight!

Once everyone has finished determining the imminent threat to America’s safety, your group will act (and think) like a member of President Kennedy’s national security team, known as ExComm (Executive Committee of the National Security Council).

Your job as members of ExComm is to outline a series of consequences (both good and bad) for a number of proposed options on how to respond to this threat. This top-secret mission is of the gravest concern. The security of the entire nation (all 186.5 million Americans) is resting in your hands.

Using the Cold War Crisis Worksheet, read the proposed options on how to respond. Next, brainstorm with your ExComm team members about all of the consequences, both positive and negative, that could result from each option. You’ll list these consequences on the worksheet. Finally, as a group, come to a consensus (agreement) on which option to choose, and then write a brief for the president’s consideration.

Your brief must include the following information:

• Which option did you choose and what are the consequences of taking this action (both positive and negative consequences)?
• Two strong supporting reasons for the option you are proposing (why do the benefits, or positive consequences, outweigh the costs, or negative consequences?).
• Acknowledgment that other groups might choose another option or course of action, and for each of the options not chosen, you must provide refutation of that course of action. That is, you must provide counterclaims with evidence to back up your position and explain why the other option is not advisable.

Be prepared to share your brief along with your supporting evidence with the class. Your teacher may arrange a debate between groups or ask you to explain the consequences of this crisis.

In this final sourcing activity of the course, you’ll put all your sourcing skills to use by writing an essay that attempts to answer the question, Who started the Cold War? You’ll complete the Sourcing Tool and provide an analysis focusing on point of view, historical context, and importance. This will help you more fully see that without properly understanding an author’s perspective and the historical context surrounding the creation of the source, it’s difficult to properly interpret and understand the importance of a document.

Comparison, contextualization, claim testing
In this activity, you’ll compare two documents from the same time and on the same topic but from two different perspectives. Therefore, you’ll have to use your contextualization skills to analyze these primary sources in order to understand the context in which these documents were written. In addition, you’ll employ your claim-testing abilities to decide how an author’s point of view influences their writing.

As this is the final activity in the sourcing progression, your teacher will have you complete this activity either in pairs or on your own. For this activity, you’ll read two primary sources that provide differing perspectives on who started the Cold War, you’ll complete the Sourcing Tool for both sources, and then you’ll write an essay focusing on point of view, historical context, and importance. (Note that the sourcing document excerpts and the Sourcing Tool are included with the Sourcing – Who Started the Cold War? worksheet.)

Your teacher will either hand out or have you download the Sourcing – Who Started the Cold War? worksheet. Read the excerpts, starting with the introductory paragraphs, and as you read, think about this question: To what extent were the causes of the Cold War similar in the US and USSR? After you’ve finished reading each source, complete the Point of View, Historical Context, and Importance rows of the Sourcing Tool.

After you’ve completed the tool for each of the primary source documents, answer these follow-up questions.

1. How do the authors differ in their analysis of who was responsible for starting the Cold War?
2. What are the similarities between the documents?
3. How does each source try to convince the audience of his argument regarding this topic?
4. How do these sources help you answer the Unit 8 Problem: What can we learn when we study the Cold War and decolonization together?

Be prepared to share your answers and the evidence you used to support these answers with the class.

Finally, write a four- to five-paragraph essay in response to this prompt: Develop an argument that explains the extent to which the causes of the Cold War were similar in the US and USSR.

Be sure to make specific reference to the Point of View, Historical Context, and Importance rows of the tool but you can include other categories as well. Remember to look over the WHP Writing Rubric, as this is what your teacher will use to assess your essays. Your essays should include the following elements:

1. Introduction: A paragraph that includes a thesis statement and provides the historical context necessary to understand this event and how the thesis relates to this context.
2. Body paragraph 1: An analysis of the first primary source document that includes information on how your reading of this text supports your thesis statement. This paragraph should focus on the point of view of the author.
3. Body paragraph 2: An analysis of the second primary source document that includes information on how your reading of this text supports your thesis statement. This paragraph should focus on the point of view of the author.
4. Body paragraph 3: An analysis of how understanding the differing perspectives of these sources helps you understand the importance of these sources and helps you respond to the prompt.
5. Conclusion: A paragraph that synthesizes the information in your essay and explains how your conclusions support your thesis statement.

Your teacher will collect your worksheets and essays to evaluate how your sourcing skills are progressing.

The Cold War started just as European colonialism was collapsing all around the world. The new leaders and governments that rose to lead their newly independent nations no longer had to fight colonial rule, but they now had to contend with pressure from the two superpowers. The United States and the Soviet Union were both eager to win allies to their side, and both were willing to use violence and coercion to stop the other from expanding. This article examines how the Cold War and decolonization collided in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

This article provides evidence at the global level to respond to the Unit Problem and evaluate how studying the Cold War and decolonization together helps us understand both better. Together with the previous overview of the Cold War, this article will help you evaluate how the Cold War conflict shaped the emerging national communities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. Why was there so much bloodshed in South Asia in the late 1940s, and how did the British government try to contain the violence?
2. How did the partition of South Asia influence the Cold War in that region?
3. How did the United States try to contain communism in Latin America? Where did they fail?
4. Why was the United States so interested in preventing communism in the former Belgian Congo?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. This article points out that the United States had to frequently intervene during the Cold War to stop socialist reformers in many places. Why do you think that communist and socialist ideas were so appealing to so many people in the newly independent nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America?

3x5 note cards or cut up paper

This sourcing collection, along with the Quick-Sourcing Tool, gives you an opportunity to practice a quicker kind of sourcing than you do in the sourcing practice progression. The tool and the process for using it—specifically designed for unpacking document collections—will help you be successful when responding to DBQs.

Note: If you are unfamiliar with the Quick-Sourcing Tool or the process for using it, we recommend reviewing the Quick-Sourcing Introduction activity in Lesson 2.1.

The Quick-Sourcing Tool can be used any time you encounter a set of sources and are trying to respond to a prompt or question, as opposed to the deeper analysis you do when using the HAPPY tool that is part of the sourcing progression.

First, take out or download the sourcing collection and review the guiding question that appears on the first page. Then, take out or download the Quick-Sourcing Tool and review the directions. For Part 1, you’ll write a quick summary of each source in terms of how it relates to the guiding question (we recommend using one note card or scrap of paper for each source).

For Part 2, which uses the first four letters of the acronym from the HAPPY tool, you only have to respond to one of these four questions. You should always include the historical significance or “why” (the “Y” in “HAPPY”) for any of the four questions you choose to respond to.

In Part 3, you’ll gather the evidence you found in each document and add it to your note cards so you can include it in a response later. Once each document is analyzed, look at your note cards and try to categorize the cards. There might be a group of documents that support the claim you want to make in your response, and another group that will help you consider counterclaims, for example.

To wrap up, try to respond to the guiding question.

This collection explores the emergence and intensification of the Cold War. It provides sources that help us see how the conflict was framed in its early days by political officials. The collection also brings in “popular” sources to give a sense of how propaganda played a role in creating Cold War sensibilities on both sides. Finally, there are sources which examine important events, policies, and political programs that occurred during the Cold War, helping students see the “hot” aspects of a multi-decade tension.

The primary source excerpts in this collection will help students assess the causes and consequences of the Cold War between the US and USSR. This will also help them understand the tension between these two superpowers along with how this ideological war affected different regions of the world. In addition, you’ll work on your sourcing skills using the Quick-Sourcing Tool.

We recommend using the accompanying Quick Sourcing activity (above) to help you analyze these sources.

In this video, Sharika Crawford explains how the Cold War and decolonization affected the Caribbean. The region has a long history with formal European colonialism, some of it continuing into the late twentieth century. But informal colonialism was more common by the time the Cold War started. The United States tried hard to control the economy, politics, and culture of Caribbean nations. By the 1960s, people all over the Caribbean sought to break free of this system of informal colonialism. But as they tried, they were caught in the middle of the global conflict between the two superpowers.

This video provides evidence at the regional level to help you respond to the Unit Problem and understand how anti-colonial movements around the world tried to break free of colonial control. This video deals mainly with the system of informal colonialism, which is distinct from the formal colonial system in Asia and Africa in the twentieth century. As such, this video will provide an important counter example to compare the connections of decolonization and the Cold War in different types of colonial systems.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

As a reminder, open and skim the transcript, and read the questions before you watch the video.

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

Think about the following questions as you watch this video:

1. What was colonialism like in the Caribbean during the second half of the twentieth century?
2. Why did the Cuban Revolution start, and why did Castro align himself with the Soviet Union?
3. How did Puerto Ricans resist their status as a territory under U.S. control?
4. How has Puerto Rico’s status as a territory (rather than a state) affected people living on the island?
5. How did other nations in the Caribbean learn from the example of the successful Cuban Revolution?

Evaluating and Corroborating

1. People in the Caribbean were resisting a different sort of colonialism than most of the other examples you have encountered so far. Do you think the story of the Caribbean’s encounter with the Cold War and decolonization is different than it was for people in Africa and Asia? Why or why not?
2. This video outlines many of the variety of ways that the United States has interfered in Latin American politics and economics in the past century. Do you think the United States has benefited from this interference? Why or why not?

In this video, Steve Lee explains how the Cold War and decolonization played out in Asia. The video pays particular attention to anti-colonial and Cold War conflicts in Korea and Vietnam. The roots of both conflicts lay in the colonial era, and in both conflicts, the United States and Soviet Union supported different sides. The video examines several important anti-colonial leaders in both places and lays out the complex Cold War politics of both conflicts.

Alongside the video on the Caribbean, this video provides evidence at the regional level to help you respond to the Unit Problem and understand how anti-colonial movements around the world tried to break free of colonial control. This video pays particular attention to the entangled conflicts of decolonization and the Cold War.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

As a reminder, open and skim the transcript, and read the questions before you watch the video.

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

Think about the following questions as you watch this video:

1. This video argues that the Korean and Vietnam wars had their roots in the era of colonialism. What events in particular does this article trace these conflicts back to?
2. In both Korea and Vietnam, there were well-known leaders of the communist and anti-communist sides. What were their names of these four leaders? Despite their differences, what did they have in common?
3. In what ways was the civil war in Vietnam a decolonization struggle and also a Cold War conflict?
4. How was Korea’s decolonization and its encounter with the Cold War conflict different from Vietnam’s? How was it similar?
5. How does Steve Lee explain the outbreak of war in Korea?
6. How did the Vietnam War end?

Evaluating and Corroborating

1. This video describes two conflicts. Both were linked to the Cold War. Both had roots in anti-colonial struggles. And both were wars of national unification. But only Vietnam was able to unite its nation. Korea remains divided between North and South. Since the war ended, the United States has had normal relations with Vietnam, even working closely as a trade partner. But the United States remains officially at war with North Korea. Why do you think the United States has normal relations with one but not the other?

The Cold War and decolonization happened at the same time, and they were interconnected. The United States and Soviet Union battled each other directly and indirectly all over the world. At the same time, leaders in former colonies were leading their people to independence. This article examines these two histories and their entanglements. Were these two separate stories or one linked narrative?

This article directly addresses the Unit Problem: What can we learn when we study the Cold War and decolonization together? The article will provide you with evidence at the global level to understand the Cold War and decolonization separately and the ways in which they were entangled. It is intended as an introduction to the connections between the two.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What was the Cold War?
2. How does the author define decolonization?
3. How does author say that the Cold War and decolonization overlapped?
4. How does the article suggest that a person living in a colonized or decolonizing country would have viewed these two conflicts?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. This article argues that the Cold War and decolonization were really both part of the same history. Can you think of any other processes or events that we’ve covered in the last seven units that are entangled in a similar way?
2. What additional evidence would help support the author’s argument? Can you think of any kinds of evidence that would allow you to argue that the Cold War and decolonization were actually two separate histories?

By researching and investigating different events during the Cold War, you will be able to more fully understand why this conflict was so far-reaching. In addition, you will evaluate how the events of the Cold War led to other conflicts, divisions, and interference in the affairs of other nations. Many of these effects can still be seen in the world today, as certain regions continue to recover from outside influences in their governments.

In this activity, you will look at a timeline that includes major events from the Cold War. In pairs or small groups, you’ll research events from the timeline to decide who was “winning” the Cold War at that time—the US or the USSR. Then you will post your group’s choice to the large class timeline and explain your reasoning.

Get into pairs or small groups and take out the Who Is “Winning” the Cold War? Timeline. Your group is going to be responsible for researching a variety of events on the timeline. Based on what you learn, your group will decide who was “winning” the Cold War at that time. In addition to deciding who was “winning” or pulling ahead at that time, you have to come up with a short rationale explaining your choice (short enough to fit on a sticky note).

Your teacher will assign each sticky note color to a country (for example, blue for the US and pink for the USSR). Once you’ve chosen the “winning” country for each event, write your rationale for that event on that country’s sticky note, and then place it on the larger class timeline. After everyone has posted their sticky notes on the timeline, it should become clear who the winner of the Cold War was—unless there is a tie!

Before getting started, discuss what it might mean to “win” the Cold War. Ultimately, it’s up to you and how you defend your choices, but you should keep in mind the three key features of the war as defined by “The Cold War: An Overview”: “1) the threat of nuclear war, 2) competition over the allegiance (loyalty) of newly independent nations, and 3) the military and economic support of each other’s enemies around the world.”

Once your events are assigned, get started. When everyone is done posting, see if there is a clear winner. Be prepared to give some examples of who you chose and why, and whether it was easy or difficult to decide on a “winner.” Also, consider and discuss with your class whether there is actually ever a “winner” when it comes to war.

In 1989, Berliners began dismantling the Berlin Wall, which had divided the city between east and west for decades. The wall’s fall marked the beginning of the end for one of history’s most powerful nations and empires. This article examines the many internal and external explanations for why the Soviet Union collapsed.

This article concludes this lesson on the Cold War by examining how the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, by examining some of the imperial characteristics of the Soviet Union, the article also provides evidence to respond to the Unit Problem and understand the end of the Cold War alongside the broader story of decolonization. The Soviet Union was an empire. In the 1980s, its subject nations began to break free. So, in many ways, the end of the Cold War is also a story about decolonization.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How does this author argue that the Soviet empire was different from other European empires?
2. How does the author say that the Soviet model of empire led to its collapse?
3. What was Soviet control like in Eastern Europe?
4. Who opened up Soviet society? How did they do this?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. This article mentions that people debate whether the Soviet Union had an informal empire. How was Soviet control of Eastern Europe different from the informal colonialism of the United States in the Caribbean?