Cold War (1945-91): Origin, End and Impact, ISC Class 12 History Notes

What Cold War (1945–91) – Origin, End and Impact is about

Weightage: CISCE publishes no chapter or unit weightage for ISC History. Cold War (1945–91) – Origin, End and Impact is part of Section B: World History, 9 of the 2027 syllabus and can be asked anywhere in the 80-mark Paper I (Section A 16 one-mark items, Section B 4-mark short answers, Section C 8-mark long answers).Source: CISCE ISC History (851) syllabus, examination year 2027; ISC 2025 specimen question paper

Key concepts

End of wartime unity: Yalta and Potsdam

Underlying causes

• Ideological difference: capitalism and liberal democracy versus communism and one-party rule; each feared the other wanted to spread its system.
• Mutual suspicion from the past: Western intervention against the Bolsheviks (1918-20), Stalin's exclusion from Munich and the Nazi-Soviet Pact; Stalin resented the delay in opening a second front.
• Soviet security: the USSR, invaded through Poland twice, wanted friendly governments in Eastern Europe as a buffer.
• The atomic bomb: the American monopoly (1945-49) alarmed Stalin.

Yalta (February 1945): Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin

• Germany to be divided into zones of occupation (and Berlin likewise); a Control Commission; reparations to be discussed.
• The United Nations to be set up.
• Free elections promised in the liberated countries of Eastern Europe (Declaration on Liberated Europe).
• Poland's frontier moved west; its government to include non-communists.
• Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan.

The atmosphere was friendly, but promises on free elections were vague.

Potsdam (July-August 1945): Truman (who had replaced Roosevelt), Stalin, and Churchill (replaced by Attlee midway)

• Disagreement over Germany's eastern frontier (Oder-Neisse line, accepted provisionally), reparations (each power to take them from its own zone) and Soviet-controlled governments in Eastern Europe.
• Truman was more suspicious of Stalin and told him of the atomic bomb, which was dropped on Japan days later.
• Potsdam showed that wartime unity was over.

Worked example

[4] Explain how the Yalta and Potsdam conferences showed the end of wartime unity. (Analysis)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. At Yalta the Big Three agreed on the division of Germany, the UN and free elections in Eastern Europe - 1 mark.
2. Yalta's promises on free elections were vague, and Stalin interpreted them his own way - 1 mark.
3. At Potsdam the new leader Truman was suspicious; disagreements arose over Germany's frontier and reparations - 1 mark.
4. Disputes over Soviet-controlled governments in Eastern Europe and the atomic bomb deepened distrust - 1 mark.

Answer: At Yalta (February 1945) the Allies still co-operated, agreeing to divide Germany, create the UN and hold free elections in Eastern Europe, but the electoral promises were vague. By Potsdam (July 1945) Truman had replaced Roosevelt and was suspicious of Stalin; the powers quarrelled over Germany's frontier, reparations and the communist-dominated governments in Eastern Europe, and Truman's news of the atomic bomb added to distrust, showing that wartime unity had ended.

Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan and the Soviet reply

Truman Doctrine (March 1947)

• Britain could no longer afford to support the Greek government against communist guerrillas or help Turkey.
• President Truman declared that the USA would 'support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures', and asked Congress for aid to Greece and Turkey.
• It began the policy of containment: stopping the spread of communism.

Marshall Plan (European Recovery Programme)

• Announced in June 1947 by the US Secretary of State George Marshall; the economic extension of the Truman Doctrine.
• Offered American aid to all European countries to rebuild after the war.
• Sixteen Western European nations drew up a joint plan; about 13 billion dollars of aid was given over four years (1948-52).
• Aims: European recovery, a prosperous Europe as a market for American exports, and checking communism, which thrived on poverty.
• The USSR refused aid and forced Eastern European states (such as Czechoslovakia and Poland) to refuse it, calling it 'dollar imperialism'.

Soviet reply

• Molotov Plan (1947): Soviet aid and trade agreements with Eastern European states.
• Cominform (Communist Information Bureau, 1947): to co-ordinate communist parties in Europe and keep them loyal to Moscow.
• COMECON (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, 1949): to co-ordinate the economies of the Eastern bloc under Soviet direction.

Effect: Europe was divided into two economic and political blocs.

Worked example

[4] What was the Marshall Plan? Explain four of its main features. (Understanding)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Announced by US Secretary of State George Marshall in June 1947; known as the European Recovery Programme - 1 mark.
2. The economic side of the Truman Doctrine, offering financial aid to Europe - 1 mark.
3. Sixteen Western European nations drew up a joint plan and received about 13 billion dollars - 1 mark.
4. Aimed at a prosperous Europe to buy US goods and resist communism; the USSR and its satellites rejected it - 1 mark.

Answer: The Marshall Plan, announced by George Marshall in June 1947 as the European Recovery Programme, was the economic counterpart of the Truman Doctrine. Sixteen Western European nations drew up a joint plan and received about 13 billion dollars of American aid between 1948 and 1952. It aimed to rebuild Europe as a prosperous market for American exports and to remove the poverty on which communism thrived; the USSR rejected it and kept its satellites out.

Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe (1945-48) and the Czech coup

As the Red Army liberated Eastern Europe, the USSR helped communists take power, usually in stages: first coalition governments with communists holding key ministries (especially the interior and police), then rigged elections, arrests of opponents and finally one-party rule.

• Poland: the Soviet-backed Lublin government dominated; rigged elections in 1947 gave the communists control.
• Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary: communist governments by 1947, after opponents were arrested or forced out.
• East Germany: the Soviet zone was run on Soviet lines (later the German Democratic Republic, 1949).
• Yugoslavia: Tito took power on his own and later broke with Stalin (1948).
• Czechoslovakia: the last democracy in Eastern Europe. In February 1948 the communists, with control of the police and backed by the threat of Soviet pressure, forced President Benes to accept a communist-dominated government; the non-communist Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk died in mysterious circumstances.

Churchill had already spoken of an 'iron curtain' descending across Europe (Fulton, March 1946). The Czech coup alarmed the West and hastened the Marshall Plan's approval and Western defence co-operation.

Worked example

[4] How did the Soviet Union extend its control over Eastern Europe between 1945 and 1948? (Understanding)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Coalition governments with communists holding key ministries such as the police - 1 mark.
2. Rigged elections and arrests of non-communist leaders (e.g. Poland 1947) - 1 mark.
3. One-party communist rule in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and the Soviet zone of Germany - 1 mark.
4. The communist coup in Czechoslovakia (February 1948) removed the last democracy - 1 mark.

Answer: The USSR used the presence of the Red Army to install coalition governments in which communists controlled the police; it then rigged elections and arrested or exiled opponents, as in Poland in 1947; by 1947-48 Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and the Soviet zone of Germany were under one-party communist rule; and the coup of February 1948 brought Czechoslovakia, the last Eastern European democracy, under communist control.

Berlin Blockade, NATO and the division of Germany

Background: Germany and Berlin (deep inside the Soviet zone) were divided into four zones. The Western powers merged their zones economically (Bizonia, 1947) and in June 1948 introduced a new currency, the Deutschmark, in their zones and West Berlin. Stalin feared a strong West German state.

Berlin Blockade (June 1948-May 1949): the USSR closed all road, rail and canal links between West Germany and West Berlin to force the West out of Berlin.

The Berlin Airlift: Britain and the USA flew in food, fuel and supplies for over two million West Berliners for almost a year. Stalin lifted the blockade in May 1949.

Results
1. A Western victory: West Berlin stayed free; the USSR lost prestige.
2. NATO (April 1949): the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, a military alliance of the USA, Canada and Western European states; an attack on one would be an attack on all.
3. Division of Germany: the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany, capital Bonn) was set up in May 1949 and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in October 1949.
4. The Warsaw Pact (1955) followed as the Eastern bloc's alliance after West Germany joined NATO.
5. Berlin remained a flashpoint; the Berlin Wall was built in 1961.

Worked example

[4] State four results of the Berlin Blockade. (Recall)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. The airlift kept West Berlin supplied; Stalin lifted the blockade in May 1949, a Western success - 1 mark.
2. NATO was formed in April 1949 - 1 mark.
3. Germany was divided into the Federal Republic and the German Democratic Republic (1949) - 1 mark.
4. Berlin remained a Cold War flashpoint; the Warsaw Pact later formed (1955) - 1 mark.

Answer: The airlift defeated the blockade, which Stalin lifted in May 1949, giving the West a propaganda victory; the Western powers formed NATO in April 1949; Germany was formally divided into the Federal Republic (West) and the German Democratic Republic (East) in 1949; and Berlin remained a flashpoint, while the East later formed the Warsaw Pact (1955).

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962): causes and effects

Causes
1. The Cuban Revolution (1959): Fidel Castro took power and nationalised American-owned property; the USA imposed a trade embargo and Castro turned to the USSR.
2. The failed Bay of Pigs invasion (April 1961) by CIA-trained Cuban exiles made Castro fear another American attack.
3. Khrushchev wanted to protect Cuba, a new communist ally.
4. The USA had missiles in Turkey and Italy close to the USSR; Soviet missiles in Cuba would redress the balance, as the USA was well ahead in long-range missiles.
5. Khrushchev also wanted to test the young President Kennedy and strengthen his bargaining position over Berlin.

The crisis (October 1962): American spy planes photographed Soviet missile sites in Cuba. Kennedy announced a naval 'quarantine' (blockade) to stop Soviet ships carrying missiles. For about thirteen days the world was close to nuclear war. Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in return for an American promise not to invade Cuba; secretly the USA also agreed to remove its missiles from Turkey.

Effects
1. Nuclear war was avoided; both sides realised how close they had come.
2. A 'hotline' (direct telephone link) between Washington and Moscow was set up (1963).
3. The Partial Test Ban Treaty (1963) banned nuclear tests in the atmosphere, under water and in space.
4. Kennedy's prestige rose; Khrushchev lost prestige and was removed in 1964.
5. Castro remained in power; Cuba stayed communist.
6. It began a slow move towards detente.

Worked example

[4] Give four causes of the Cuban Missile Crisis. (Understanding)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Castro's revolution (1959) and his turn to the USSR after the US embargo - 1 mark.
2. The failed Bay of Pigs invasion (1961) made Cuba fear an American attack - 1 mark.
3. Khrushchev wanted to balance US missiles in Turkey and the US lead in long-range missiles - 1 mark.
4. Khrushchev wished to test Kennedy and gain leverage, e.g. over Berlin - 1 mark.

Answer: The crisis arose because (1) Castro's revolution and the American embargo drove Cuba into the Soviet camp; (2) after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961 Castro feared an American attack and wanted Soviet protection; (3) Khrushchev wanted to offset American missiles in Turkey and the USA's lead in long-range missiles by placing missiles close to the USA; and (4) he hoped to test the inexperienced Kennedy and strengthen the Soviet hand on issues such as Berlin.

Detente: reasons and effects on Eastern Europe

Detente means a relaxation of tension, seen mainly from the late 1960s to the late 1970s.

Reasons
1. Fear of nuclear war after Cuba; both sides had enough weapons to destroy each other.
2. The huge cost of the arms race; both economies needed relief, and the USSR needed Western grain and technology.
3. The USA wanted to get out of the Vietnam War and improve its image.
4. The Sino-Soviet split: the USSR wanted calm in the West; the USA opened relations with China (Nixon's visit, 1972), which pushed the USSR towards agreements.
5. West Germany's Ostpolitik under Willy Brandt sought better relations with the East.

Examples: the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968); SALT I (1972), limiting strategic weapons; the Basic Treaty between the two Germanys (1972); the Helsinki Agreement (1975), in which the West accepted post-war frontiers in Europe and the Eastern bloc promised to respect human rights.

Effects on Eastern Europe
1. Recognition of post-war borders reassured the Soviet bloc and East Germany gained international recognition (both Germanys joined the UN in 1973).
2. More trade, loans and contacts with the West, which raised expectations and also debts.
3. The human rights clauses of Helsinki encouraged dissidents: groups like Charter 77 in Czechoslovakia and, in Poland, the workers' defence committees that prepared the way for Solidarity.
4. Eastern bloc governments became more vulnerable to criticism, sowing the seeds of 1989.
Detente ended with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979).

Worked example

[4] Explain four effects of detente on Eastern Europe. (Analysis)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Helsinki (1975) accepted post-war frontiers; East Germany won international recognition - 1 mark.
2. Trade, loans and contacts with the West increased, but so did debts - 1 mark.
3. The human rights clauses encouraged dissident groups such as Charter 77 - 1 mark.
4. In Poland, opposition movements grew, preparing the way for Solidarity and the eventual fall of communism - 1 mark.

Answer: Detente gave Eastern Europe recognition of its post-war frontiers at Helsinki and international recognition for East Germany; it increased trade, loans and contacts with the West, but also debts; and the human rights promises of Helsinki encouraged dissidents such as Charter 77 in Czechoslovakia and workers' groups in Poland, weakening communist regimes and helping prepare the ground for their collapse in 1989.

Downfall of communism in Poland and East Germany

Poland
1. Economic crisis: price rises and shortages led to strikes in 1970, 1976 and 1980.
2. In August 1980 shipyard workers at Gdansk, led by Lech Walesa, formed Solidarity, the first independent trade union in the Eastern bloc; it soon had about ten million members. The election of a Polish pope (John Paul II, 1978) strengthened national and religious feeling.
3. In December 1981 General Jaruzelski declared martial law and banned Solidarity, but the economy kept failing.
4. Gorbachev made it clear that the USSR would not intervene. After renewed strikes, Round Table talks (February-April 1989) legalised Solidarity and allowed partly free elections.
5. In the June 1989 elections Solidarity won almost every seat it could contest; Tadeusz Mazowiecki became the first non-communist Prime Minister in the Eastern bloc (August 1989). Walesa was elected President in 1990.

East Germany
1. Erich Honecker's hard-line government refused reforms despite economic stagnation and the secret police (Stasi).
2. In 1989 Hungary opened its border with Austria; thousands of East Germans fled to the West through it.
3. Mass demonstrations, especially in Leipzig, demanded freedom; Gorbachev, visiting in October, urged reform and would not use Soviet troops.
4. Honecker resigned (October 1989); on 9 November 1989 the Berlin Wall was opened.
5. Free elections in March 1990 were won by parties favouring rapid unification.
6. On 3 October 1990 Germany was reunited; Helmut Kohl became the first Chancellor of a united Germany since the Second World War.

Worked example

[4] Explain the role of Solidarity in the downfall of communism in Poland. (Understanding)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Formed at Gdansk in 1980 under Lech Walesa, the first independent union in the Eastern bloc - 1 mark.
2. It gained millions of members and challenged the party's authority; banned under martial law (1981) - 1 mark.
3. Renewed strikes forced the Round Table talks (1989), which legalised it - 1 mark.
4. It won the June 1989 elections; Mazowiecki became the first non-communist PM; Walesa later President - 1 mark.

Answer: Solidarity, formed by shipyard workers at Gdansk under Lech Walesa in 1980, was the first independent union in the Soviet bloc and quickly won millions of members. Although banned under martial law in 1981, it survived underground; fresh strikes in 1988-89 forced the government into Round Table talks that legalised it, and in the June 1989 elections it won overwhelmingly, giving Poland its first non-communist Prime Minister, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, in August 1989.

Break-up of the USSR (1985-91)

Reasons for collapse
1. Economic stagnation: an inefficient command economy, shortages, low productivity and huge spending on defence and the arms race.
2. The cost of the war in Afghanistan (1979-89).
3. Gorbachev's reforms: glasnost (openness) allowed criticism of the system; perestroika (restructuring) disrupted the planned economy without creating a working market economy.
4. The loss of Eastern Europe in 1989 showed that Soviet power could be challenged.
5. Nationalism in the republics: the Baltic states, Georgia, Ukraine and others demanded autonomy and independence.
6. Political rivalry between Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin, elected President of the Russian Republic in 1991.

Political changes

• The Communist Party lost its monopoly of power (1990); multi-candidate elections to a new Congress of People's Deputies (1989); Gorbachev became executive President (1990); a new Union Treaty was prepared to give the republics more powers.

The coup of August 1991: hard-line communists placed Gorbachev under house arrest in the Crimea to stop the Union Treaty. Yeltsin, standing on a tank outside the Russian parliament in Moscow, led popular resistance; the army refused to fire; the coup collapsed within three days.

Break-up

• After the coup the Communist Party was suspended; the Baltic states' independence was recognised (September 1991); Ukraine voted for independence (December 1991).
• On 8 December 1991 Russia, Ukraine and Belarus formed the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), joined by most other republics.
• Gorbachev resigned on 25 December 1991, and the USSR ceased to exist; fifteen independent states emerged.

Impact: the end of the Cold War; the USA became the sole superpower; a wave of democratisation and market reform in former communist states.

Worked example

[4] Explain four reasons for the collapse of the USSR. (Analysis)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Stagnant command economy and the burden of the arms race and Afghanistan - 1 mark.
2. Glasnost unleashed criticism; perestroika disrupted the economy - 1 mark.
3. Nationalist demands for independence in the republics - 1 mark.
4. The failed coup of August 1991 discredited hard-liners and strengthened Yeltsin and the republics - 1 mark.

Answer: The USSR collapsed because its command economy had stagnated under the weight of the arms race and the Afghan war; Gorbachev's glasnost let people criticise the system while perestroika disrupted the economy; nationalist movements in the republics demanded independence; and the failed hard-line coup of August 1991 discredited the Communist Party, strengthened Yeltsin, and led to the republics declaring independence and the formation of the CIS in December 1991.

Cold War (1945–91) – Origin, End and Impact in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Topics in this chapter

• The Break-up of the USSR (1985-91)
• The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962): Causes and Effects

Cold War (1945–91) – Origin, End and Impact: key facts

Conferences

Yalta February 1945; Potsdam July-August 1945

Germany divided; free elections promised; disputes at Potsdam.

Containment

Truman Doctrine March 1947; Marshall Plan June 1947 (about 13 billion dollars)

Soviet reply: Molotov Plan, Cominform 1947, COMECON 1949.

Iron curtain and Czech coup

Fulton speech March 1946; Czech coup February 1948

Last Eastern European democracy falls.

Berlin

Blockade June 1948-May 1949; NATO April 1949; FRG and GDR 1949

Warsaw Pact 1955; Wall 1961.

Cuba

Revolution 1959; Bay of Pigs 1961; Missile Crisis October 1962

Hotline and Test Ban Treaty 1963.

Detente

SALT I 1972; Helsinki 1975

Ended with Afghanistan 1979.

1989-90

Solidarity 1980; Polish elections June 1989; Berlin Wall opened 9 November 1989; German reunification 3 October 1990

Mazowiecki, Walesa; Honecker, Kohl.

End of the USSR

Coup August 1991; CIS 8 December 1991; Gorbachev resigns 25 December 1991

Fifteen independent states.

How the board asks Cold War (1945–91) – Origin, End and Impact

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Tricks to remember Cold War (1945–91) – Origin, End and Impact

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

• West and East replies

  Truman Doctrine vs Cominform; Marshall Plan vs Molotov Plan and COMECON; NATO vs Warsaw Pact.

  Use it when: Pairing questions.

• Cuba: 'R-B-M'

  Revolution (1959), Bay of Pigs (1961), Missiles (1962).

  Use it when: Causes in order.

• 1989-91: 'S-W-U-C'

  Solidarity wins (June 1989), Wall opens (November 1989), Unification (October 1990), CIS (December 1991).

  Use it when: End-of-Cold-War timeline.

Cold War (1945–91) – Origin, End and Impact: board-level solved questions

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Case-study practice (Section D style)

Read the situation, then answer every part. In the board paper this is a 8-mark question split into 2 + 2 + 4 marks.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is split into step marks. Show every step: a right final answer alone rarely earns full marks.

Where students lose marks in Cold War (1945–91) – Origin, End and Impact

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

• ✗Mistake: Confusing post-communist events

  CISCE examiners' comments, 2024 (3 October 1990 item): 'Many candidates confused post-communism events and chose incorrect options'.

  Wrong working

  3 October 1990: the CIS was created.

  Right working

  3 October 1990: Germany reunited under Kohl. CIS: December 1991.

  ✓Do this: Learn the S-W-U-C timeline.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Equating the collapse of communism with the fall of the Berlin Wall

  CISCE examiners' comments, 2025: candidates 'Confused the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe with the fall of the Berlin Wall.'

  ✓Do this: The Wall's opening (November 1989) was a symbol; the structural result for Germany was reunification (October 1990).

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Describing the cartoon instead of the Plan

  CISCE examiners' suggestion, 2024 (Marshall Plan cartoon): 'Train students in interpreting cartoons' and 'Teach features in point form'.

  ✓Do this: Use the cartoon's clues to name features: who announced it, how much aid, which countries, what aims.

  Usually costs: Up to 2 marks.

• ✗Mistake: Writing about Hungary or Czechoslovakia for 1989

  The syllabus limits the downfall of communism to Poland and East Germany.

  ✓Do this: Mention Hungary only as the route by which East Germans fled.

  Usually costs: Wasted points.

• ✗Mistake: Mixing up the Western and Eastern replies

  Students pair the Marshall Plan with the Warsaw Pact or NATO with COMECON.

  ✓Do this: Economic vs economic (Marshall-Molotov/COMECON), military vs military (NATO-Warsaw Pact).

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

Practice questions on Cold War (1945–91) – Origin, End and Impact

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

1. Q1 · 1 mark · Very short answerBoard level

   Expand COMECON.

   Hint

   Eastern bloc economics, 1949.

   Answer

   Council for Mutual Economic Assistance.

2. Q2 · 1 mark · Very short answerBoard level

   Within a year of the East German regime's fall, what happened to the German nation?

   Hint

   3 October 1990.

   Answer

   East and West Germany were reunited as one state on 3 October 1990.

3. Q3 · 1 mark · Very short answerHarder board level

   Who coined the phrase 'iron curtain' and where?

   Hint

   Missouri, 1946.

   Answer

   Winston Churchill, at Fulton (USA), March 1946.

4. Q4 · 1 mark · MCQHarder board level

   Arrange in order: (P) Berlin Blockade; (Q) Truman Doctrine; (R) Czech coup; (S) NATO.
   (a) Q, R, P, S
   (b) R, Q, P, S
   (c) Q, P, R, S
   (d) Q, R, S, P

   Hint

   March 1947, February 1948, June 1948, April 1949.

   Answer

   (a) Q, R, P, S.

5. Q5 · 4 marks · Short answerBoard level

   [4] Distinguish between the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan.

   Hint

   Political/military versus economic.

   Answer

   (1) The Truman Doctrine (March 1947) was a political and military commitment; the Marshall Plan (June 1947) was economic. (2) The Doctrine pledged support to free peoples resisting communism, starting with Greece and Turkey; the Plan offered aid to all of Europe for recovery. (3) The Doctrine announced containment; the Plan put it into practice by removing poverty. (4) The Plan gave about 13 billion dollars to sixteen Western European countries.

6. Q6 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder board level

   [4] Explain four effects of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

   Hint

   Hotline, Test Ban, leaders, Cuba.

   Answer

   (1) Nuclear war was averted and both sides recognised the danger. (2) A hotline between Washington and Moscow was set up in 1963. (3) The Partial Test Ban Treaty (1963) followed, a step towards detente. (4) Kennedy's prestige rose, Khrushchev's fell (he was removed in 1964), and Castro remained in power.

7. Q7 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   [4] Why did the coup of August 1991 hasten the break-up of the USSR?

   Hint

   Hard-liners discredited; Yeltsin; party; republics.

   Answer

   (1) Its failure discredited the hard-liners and the Communist Party, which was suspended. (2) Yeltsin emerged as the hero who defeated it, and Russia's leadership overshadowed Gorbachev and the Union. (3) Republics, fearing another hard-line takeover, declared independence (the Baltic states were recognised in September; Ukraine voted in December). (4) Without party or army unity, the Union could not hold, and the CIS replaced it in December 1991.

8. Q8 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   [4] Assess the Berlin Blockade as a turning point in the Cold War.

   Hint

   Before and after.

   Answer

   (1) Before it, the division of Germany was temporary; after it, two German states were formed (1949). (2) It led to NATO, committing the USA to Europe's defence in peacetime. (3) It showed the West would resist Soviet pressure without war, setting a pattern of crisis management. (4) It hardened the division of Europe into two armed camps, later matched by the Warsaw Pact.

9. Q9 · 8 marks · Long answerHarder board level

   [8] (a) Explain the Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe between 1945 and 1948. [4]
   (b) How did the West respond between 1947 and 1949? [4]

   Hint

   (a) method and examples; (b) doctrine, plan, airlift, NATO.

   Answer

   (a) The Red Army's presence let the USSR install coalition governments in which communists held the police; elections were rigged and opponents arrested; Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary had communist governments by 1947; the Czech coup of February 1948 removed the last democracy. (b) The West replied with the Truman Doctrine (March 1947), promising to contain communism; the Marshall Plan (June 1947), rebuilding Western Europe; the Berlin Airlift (1948-49), defeating the blockade; and NATO (April 1949), a military alliance, with the Federal Republic of Germany set up in 1949.

10. Q10 · 8 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

    [8] Explain the reasons for detente and assess its effects on Eastern Europe.

    Hint

    Four reasons; four effects.

    Answer

    Reasons: (1) fear of nuclear war after Cuba; (2) the cost of the arms race and Soviet need for grain and technology; (3) American wish to leave Vietnam and the Sino-Soviet split, with Nixon's opening to China; (4) West Germany's Ostpolitik. Effects on Eastern Europe: (1) Helsinki confirmed post-war frontiers and East Germany gained recognition; (2) more trade and Western loans, but rising debt; (3) the human rights clauses encouraged dissidents such as Charter 77; (4) in Poland independent workers' movements grew into Solidarity. Detente stabilised the bloc in the short run but sowed seeds of its collapse.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1. 1.Who attended the Yalta Conference?Show answer

   Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin (February 1945).

2. 2.What was the Cominform?Show answer

   The Communist Information Bureau (1947), co-ordinating European communist parties under Moscow.

3. 3.When was NATO formed?Show answer

   April 1949.

4. 4.What did Khrushchev get in return for removing missiles from Cuba?Show answer

   A US promise not to invade Cuba (and, secretly, removal of US missiles from Turkey).

5. 5.Who led Solidarity?Show answer

   Lech Walesa.

6. 6.When did Gorbachev resign?Show answer

   25 December 1991.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

• ☐Causes: ideology, suspicion, Soviet buffer, atomic bomb.
• ☐Yalta: zones, UN, free elections; Potsdam: quarrels, Truman, bomb.
• ☐Truman Doctrine (March 1947); Marshall Plan (June 1947, about 13 billion dollars); Molotov Plan, Cominform, COMECON.
• ☐Eastern Europe: coalitions, rigged elections, one-party rule; Czech coup February 1948.
• ☐Berlin Blockade 1948-49; airlift; NATO 1949; FRG and GDR 1949.
• ☐Cuba 1962: Castro, Bay of Pigs, missiles; quarantine; withdrawal; hotline, Test Ban 1963.
• ☐Detente: SALT I, Helsinki 1975; effects: recognition, trade, dissidents.
• ☐Poland: Solidarity, martial law, Round Table, June 1989. East Germany: flight, Leipzig, Wall 9 November 1989, reunification 3 October 1990.
• ☐USSR: stagnation, Afghanistan, glasnost, perestroika, nationalism, coup August 1991, CIS, end 25 December 1991.

Cold War (1945–91) – Origin, End and Impact: frequently asked questions