INTRODUCTION TO THE COLD WAR
Objectives: 1) Identify the structure and demands of the course2) Explore the key characteristics of the Cold War 3) Explain these characteristics
Your Guide to A2 History:
This is your guide It is £3 for the copying Please put in your folder Your target sheet goes in your
exercise book where assessed work will be completed
It is a reference point for you and includes useful revision activities
Be disciplined Keep well-organised notes Be prepared to do much of the reading for
lessons outside the class As you move ever close to undergraduate work,
be prepared to go that extra mile and use resources in the department, school or local public libraries
Look out for relevant news items or documentaries that discuss the Cold War and its aftermath Use the new departmental website www.snshistory.wordpress.com to download class resources and sample students’ work
Visit museums (Imperial War Museum, which has an excellent Cold War section, the Science Museum – good on the Space Race)
Meet homework deadlines – students who regularly fail to do so will be put on subject report
Keep your folders organised!
It will help you to keep the following documents in the front of your folders:a glossary of keywords that you come across during the course.
and also….a ‘who’s who’ of key figuresa map of key events of the Cold Wara timeline of key events
What will I be studying?
Origins of Cold War tensions Emergence of Cold War, e.g. The Berlin Blockade The ‘Thaw’ & ‘Peaceful Co-existence’ The nuclear arms race & Cuba The space race Role of China Détente End of Cold War Historiography of Cold War
How will I be examined?
A2 = 50% of total marks Unit 3: ‘A World Divided: Superpower
Relations, 1944-90’ Unit 4: Coursework Written exam: 2 hours 2nd June 2014 Answer ONE question from Section A
(30 marks), and ONE from Section B (40 marks) - choice of 2 questions in both sections
Section A – discuss an historical issue Section B – use source material &
knowledge to discuss an historical event
Grade boundaries
Units Maximum
A B C D E
3 100 80 70 60 50 40
Your task
Warm up: Your teacher will give you some key facts associated with the Cold War. In partners match up the correct person with the interesting fact....
People/ answersFranklin D RooseveltWinston ChurchillBerlinU-2The Iron Lady The first living creature in spaceFidel CastroSputnik – the first artificial satelliteDuck and coverTerm used to describe improved relations between the USA and China in the 1970s
through the medium of sportOne of the main cross-over points in the wall separating East and West BerlinKorean War (1950-3)Threatening to use all military means to resolve a diplomatic crisisJoseph StalinNorth Atlantic Treaty OrganisationHarry S TrumanRussia, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Albania,
RomaniaPolitburoRonald Reagan
How did the Cold War develop?
Watch this 4 minute clip to gain a very brief summary of the first 20 years of the Cold War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHwIkOv6Rc4Think about: Why? Features of the Cold War – e.g key
turning points Individuals
Your task What were the characteristics of the Cold War?
Read about the famous Kitchen debate of 1959. Highlight in red any evidence of tensions or
differences.
What were the key characteristics of the Cold War?
Conflict of ideologiesCommunism v. capitalism
Capitalism: production of goods and distribution is dependent on private capital with a view to making profit; capitalist economies run by individuals rather than by state
Communism: hostile to capitalism, which exploits workers; ideally all property, businesses & industry should be state-owned, ‘each gives according to their ability to those according to their need’
Your task: Finding out about the key characteristics of the Cold War Create a spider diagram identifying the key
characteristics of Cold War. Break into groups of 2 and share the research. Use Edwards, p.3-7 and any other sources of information you might have. Look for these areas:
Ideologies Economics Military tensions Treaties Propaganda Espionage Arms race Space race Sport & culture
Conflict of economic power
Marshall Plan (1947) – provision of fuel, raw materials, goods, loans, food, machinery advisers
US exploited it financial power to export Western values – dollar imperialism
1948-52, US Congress voted nearly $13bn economic aid to Europe
Trade war with Communist countries, e.g. Cuba
Military power
Korean War (1950-3), Vietnam (early 1960s -1973)
US military build-up, e.g. 1960 2.4 US military personnel around world; 1959, 1,500 military bases in 31 countries
Domino theory
Treaties
NATO (1949) – North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
SEATO (1954)– South East Asia Treaty Organisation
Warsaw Pact (1955)– military defensive pact amongst eastern European nations
COMECON (1949)– Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
Propaganda
European Recovery Program – propaganda as much as economic exercise
Benefits of Marshall Plan advertised Italy became a focus of economic
rebuilding after WWII - ‘Operation Bambi’ used minstrels, puppet shows and film
Click here for an example of US Cold War propaganda
Espionage
CIA (1947) – founded to co-ordinate information gathering on USSR and Allies. Activities included:
Support for anti-Communist political leaders, e.g. Christian Democrats, 1948 elections
‘Regime change’, e.g. overthrow of left-wing govt in Iran & Guatemala, Operation Executive Action (1961), collaborated with Mafia to overthrow Fidel Castro
Arms Race
1945 US tested and detonated 1st atomic bomb
1952 tested 1st H-bomb (2,500x more powerful)
1953, USSR produced H-bomb 1961 enough nuclear weapons to
destroy world 1967 China produced H-bomb 1981, USA 8000 ICBMs, USSR 7,000 MAD – Mutually Assured Destruction
Space race
1957, launch of Sputnik
1957, 1st animal in space
1961, Yuri Gagarin 1st man in space
21 July 1969 Apollo 11 mission successfully land 1st man on moon
Laika, 1st dog in space
Sport
1980, ‘Miracle on Ice’ – US hockey teams defeats USSR ‘giants’
1980 Moscow Olympics, 1984 LA Olympics – boycotted by US & USSR
Ballet – defections to West, e.g. Nureyev
World Chess Championships– Bobby Fisher v. Boris Spassky (1972)
Plenary
Name one characteristic of Cold War from the following categories:
Ideologies Economics Military tensions Treaties Propaganda Espionage Arms race Space race Sport & culture
Homework: For tomorrow.
Complete your mind map. Imagine you were asked to explain
what Cold War was to a GCSE student. Write a 100 word summary of the characteristics of Cold War at the bottom or on the reverse of your mind map.
Find a Cold War cartoon which relates to an aspect of one of the characteristics