This learning menu is created for you to explore the key events and figures involved with the Cold War. You have 7 tasks to complete i total, you need to spend a minimum of an hour on each one per week. This is in line with your teaching hours for History.
Make sure to complete all tasks and send them all together to your teacher when complete.
You will find helpful video clips at the bottom of this page
Create a timeline of key events during the Cold War starting from the ‘Yalta Conference’, up until the ‘Fall of the Berlin Wall’.
Key events are those that show an increase in tension between the U.S and USSR, or a decrease in tensions.
Useful links:
Watch the Oversimplified videos that talk through the Cold War, from its very beginnings (1917) all the way through to the fall of the Soviet Union (1991). Make substantial notes as you watch the videos and read the two articles. After you have made your notes, you are going to research a momentous event that took place during the Cold War. Use PowerPoint or Word to make notes.
In this research project, I expect to see:
The role the event played in the Cold War
The Legacy of the event
Whether the event helped repair tensions or only make them worse
Specific evidence surrounding the event
Who do you think is to blame for any positive or negative outcomes of the event?
Download a copy of this table.
In this table you need to record any events that you think show a worsening situation e.g. poor relations and competition between the USA and USSR or an improving situation e.g. improved relations between the USA and USSR, and notable cooperation.
Once you had noted these events in your table, write a paragraph explaining when you think the Cold War came closest to sparking a nuclear war.
Scientists have measured the danger of the situation using the Domesday Clock
Here's a video that explains the clock
Here's a history of the clock since 1947
Task. Create a profile of World leaders at the time of the Cold War.
This should be 1 President of the United States, and 1 Leader (chairman) of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Their name
Information on their background
Their aims during the Cold War
Actions taken during the Cold War
Overall effectiveness- did they achieve their aims
A summary paragraph to explain which leader you think was most effective in dealing with the Cold War and why
Useful links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZI8uLCsjlU
Watch the Documentary on the Space race, and make notes on why you think reaching the moon was such a hotly contested fight between the Soviets and the USA.
‘The Cold War was 44 years of constant tension’ How far do you agree? Use evidence showing both sides of the argument.
Maximum 1000 words typed in Word, Docs or Pages
Introduction
2 PETAL paragraphs showing how the Cold War could be seen as ‘Constant tension’
2 PETAL paragraphs showing how parts of the Cold War had periods of negotiation and progress.
Conclusion
Suggestions for paragraph topics:
For constant tension: - Berlin Blockade, the U2 Crisis, the construction of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis
Against constant tension: Khrushchev and 'Peaceful Co-existence' and Détente in the 1970s
The Truman Doctrine
2. The Marshall Plan
3. The Cuban Missile Crisis
4. Reagan at Checkpoint Charlie
5. Fall of the Berlin Wall