Cold War Study Guide and Crossword Puzzle
(Items in bold will be on the test.)
The Cold War was a state of tension – almost war – between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. They supported
opposite sides in many smaller wars, but they never actually went to war directly with each other.
The U.S. and Soviet Union were the two Superpowers. Most countries were on one side or the other.
The United States was democratic and capitalist (free elections, free market, people can own things)
The Soviet Union was communist and dictatorial (the government controls the economy and has total power)
The combined forces of the U.S. and Western Europe are called NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
The forces of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe called the Warsaw Pact. The Soviet Union dominated
Eastern Europe.
The Berlin Wall stopped people in East Berlin from escaping to freedom in the West.
In countries all over the world, the Soviets tried to help Communists take power.
Containment was the U.S. policy to stop the spread of communism, or “contain” it.
The Domino Theory was the idea that if one country (like Vietnam) was allowed to fall to communism, the
countries around it would all fall like dominoes.
Three Major Conflicts during the Cold War –
Korean War – 1950 - Communist North Korea invaded west-backed South Korea in 1950, five
years after the end of World War II and less than a year after Communists took over China. The U.S. and
United Nations helped South Korea, and China helped North Korea, with support from the Soviet Union.
After three years and more than two million dead, an armistice was signed to stop fighting. The border
was in almost the exact same place as when the war started. Nobody won. It was a “stalemate.” A peace
treaty was never signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war today.
Cuban Missile Crisis – 1962 – The Soviet Union put nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from the
U.S. The U.S. spotted them with spy planes and demanded they be removed. After lots of yelling and tough talk
and a U.S. naval blockade, the Soviets finally pulled the missiles out. Many people thought nuclear war –
and maybe the end of the world as we know it – was about to break out.
Vietnam – U.S. tried to stop the spread of Communism in Vietnam, sending more and more soldiers
throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. US public opinion about the war was divided. “Hawks” favored the
war, while “Doves” opposed it. For the first time, there were large protests against the war.
The U.S. finally signed a cease-fire agreement with North Vietnam, and withdrew in 1973. North
Vietnam won the war with South Vietnam in 1975, and all of Vietnam became communist.
End of the Cold War – In the late 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began to allow more freedom in
the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Some countries elected non-Communist governments and opened their
borders with the west (the Iron Curtain). In 1989, East Germany opened up the gates of the Berlin Wall. The
wall was soon torn down, and Germany was reunited. The fall of the Berlin Wall is often considered the
symbolic end of the Cold war.
By the early 1990s, 15 countries that made up the Soviet Union declared their independence and became
separate countries. Russia is the biggest country in the region still, but the Soviet Union no longer exists.
First and Last Name _________________________________
Cold War Crossword Homework for Test Fri,, May 16
Word Bank
Berlin Wall
Blockade
Cease-fire
China
Cold War
Containment
Cuba
Domino
Eastern
NATO
Soviet Union
Stalemate
Warsaw Pact
Across
1. The US withdrew its troops after signing this kind of agreement with North Vietnam.
2. Communist Superpower during the Cold War (2 words)
6. where the Soviet Union tried to put nuclear missiles, near the U.S.
7. Destruction of this was the symbolic end of the Cold War (2 words)
8. ___________Theory - if one country falls to communism, the countries nearby will fall
soon after.
11. part of Europe dominated by the Soviet Union
Down
1. American policy to stop the spread of Communism
3. abbreviation of military alliance (group of countries) led by the United States
4. military alliance led by the Soviet Union (2 words)
5. country that sent its troops to help North Korea in the Korean War
6. State of tension without actual fighting between the United States and the Soviet
Union (2 words)
7. how the US got the Soviets to remove their missiles from Cuba
9. how the Korean war ended (who won, in SOL wording)
10. Democratic Superpower during the Cold War
Cold War Review Questions
1. First and Last Name _______________________________________
2. Why was the Cold War called a “cold” war? __________________________________________
3. Did the Cold War ever get hot? Give at one example. __________________________________
4. Which Cold War Superpower was Communist? ______________________________________
5. What country led NATO? ________________________________________________________
6. What country led the Warsaw Pact? _______________________________________________
7. Name one country you might live in if you lived “behind the Iron Curtain”? ___________________
8. Why was the Berlin Wall built? ____________________________________________________
9. What was Truman’s policy of “Containment” trying to contain? ____________________________
10. One reason for fighting in Vietnam was the Domino Theory. What does that mean? ___________
______________________________________________________________ _______________
11. Who started the Korean War by invading its neighbor? _________________________________
12. Who won the Korean War? Explain. _____________________________________ __________
13. Why would we care if the Soviet Union put nuclear missiles in Cuba? ______________________
_____________________________________________ ________________________________
14. What’s a naval blockade? ____________________________________________ ____________
15. How did the U.S. public feel about the war in Vietnam? _________________________________
16. How did U.S. involvement in Vietnam end? __________________________________________
17. How was Mikhail Gorbachev’s response to uprisings in Eastern Europe different from the
response of Soviet Leaders in the past? _____________________________________________
18. What event is considered the symbolic end of the Cold War, even though the Soviet Union
wouldn’t collapse completely for another two years?____________________________________
19. In the video of the fall of the Berlin Wall, we saw people being pulled up to the top of the wall,
which was covered with graffiti. Were we looking at the wall from West Berlin or East Berlin? How
do you know? __________________________________________________________________
20. Why can’t you find the Soviet Union on a map of the world today? ________________________