Cold War Study Guide

Ideological Divide (East vs West)

West: capitalism, democracy, individual freedoms; East: communism, one-party rule, state-controlled economy

Causes of the Cold War

Ideological differences; mutual distrust after WWII; USSR expansion into Eastern Europe; U.S. containment policy

Truman Doctrine

U.S. policy (1947) to support countries resisting communism

Marshall Plan

U.S. economic aid to rebuild Europe and prevent spread of communism

Arms Race

Competition to build nuclear weapons; Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

Khrushchev’s Changes After Stalin

De-Stalinization; reduced terror; more openness; peaceful coexistence

Soviet Successes Under Khrushchev

Sputnik (first satellite, 1957); Yuri Gagarin (first human in space); early space race lead

Role of Women Post-WWII

Increased workforce participation; strong encouragement in communist countries; gradual change in West

Anti-Communist Revolutions of 1989

Poland: Solidarity, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia: velvet divorce, Berlin Wall falls

Gorbachev and the Cold War

Glasnost (openness); perestroika (restructuring); improved U.S. relations; no force to stop revolutions

Maastricht Treaty (1992)

Created European Union; increased economic and political cooperation

Reasons the Cold War Ended

Weak Soviet economy; Gorbachev’s reforms; Eastern European revolutions; reduced tensions; demand for freedom

Results of the Cold War

Soviet Union collapsed; U.S. sole superpower; end of communism in Eastern Europe; spread of democracy/capitalism; stronger NATO/EU