The Cold War
Driving Question: What were the causes of the Cold War?
The competition between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War intensified throughout the late 1940s and continued until the early 1990s. While the United States and the Soviet Union did not fight each other directly, they did support countries engaged in conflict with their enemies. The arms race between the two sides threatened the world with the specter of nuclear war.
- Understand and analyze the causes of the Cold War and the ideologies of the United States and the Soviet Union.
- Use close-reading and critical-thinking skills to evaluate the causes and consequences of the Cold War.
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- Why did the United States launch the Marshall Plan?
- The article cites two arguments about the “economic miracles” in Germany and Japan. What are the two arguments?
- Why were wealthy nations able to continue to exploit their former colonies even after they had gained independence?
- How did some African and Asian leaders fight back against this sort of dependency?
- What groups of Americans did not share in the new economic prosperity in the United States?
Evaluate
- 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?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What was the basic difference at the heart of the Cold War conflict?
- What were the three main features of the Cold War?
- Why did Stalin want to expand Soviet influence in Eastern Europe?
- What was the policy of containment and what does the author use as an example of this policy?
Evaluate
- 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?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What was the arms race?
- What does the acronym MAD stand for?
- What was the Cuban Missile Crisis and what effect did it have on international relations?
- How was the space race connected to the arms race?
Evaluate
- This is an article about a nuclear arms race. Yet, the author concludes with a hopeful note about the space race. Do you agree with this conclusion? What is some evidence that the arms race and space race led to new opportunities for international cooperation? What evidence challenges this conclusion? What other evidence would you need to support your argument?
As you read the primary source excerpts in this collection, use the accompanying Quick-Sourcing Tool to guide your analysis.
