Option B: The Cold War 1945

Option B: The Cold War 1945–1991

Students learn about:

1. Key features of the Cold War 1945–1991

• economic, territorial and ideological factors that led to the division of the world into two opposed camps from 1945

• creation of a Cold War culture and its main characteristics

• concepts inherent in the terms: ‘superpowers’, ‘Iron Curtain’, ‘two camps’, ‘containment’, ‘peaceful co-existence’ and ‘domino theory’

• the nature and significance of US policies of containment and the domino theory as applied to the USSR

• military, political, economic and social policies adopted by the governments of the USA and USSR in response to the Cold War

• the development and consequences of the arms race in the USA and USSR and attempts to limit and control nuclear weaponry

• the significance of Summit meetings, particularly those involving Eisenhower and Khrushchev in 1960, and Reagan and Gorbachev in 1985

• the nature and significance of superpower rivalry in Africa and the Middle East

• the nature and significance of détente and the reasons for its demise

• survey of crises and conflict involving the USA and USSR to 1991 including one in depth from:

– Berlin 1948–1949, 1961–1989

– Korea 1950–1953

– Cuba 1959–1962

– Angola 1975–1988

– Nicaragua 1980

– Afghanistan 1979–1989

• reasons for the end of the Cold War conflict and an overview of the legacy of the conflict to 1991

2. Concepts to be studied in relation to the key features of the Cold War 1945–1991

• capitalism

• communism

• democracy

• imperialism

3. Groups to be studied in relation to the key features of the Cold War 1945–1991

• ‘doves’ and ‘ hawks’

• military/industrial manufacturers

• nuclear protesters

• secret service organisations

4. Significant historiographical issues in relation to the study of the Cold War 1945–1991

• the variety of primary and secondary sources available for the study of the Cold War 1945–1991

• the usefulness and reliability of the sources for investigating the study

• recognition of the different perspectives and interpretations offered by the sources

5. Events that provide a framework within which to examine key features, concepts and groups in the study of the Cold War 1945–1991

1945 US use of the A-Bomb

1947 Truman outlines the policy of containment (the
Truman Doctrine)
the Marshall Plan

1948–1949 Berlin blockade and airlift

1949 USSR acquires the A-Bomb
establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
(NATO)

1950–1953 war in Korea

1953 establishment of the Warsaw Pact

1954 formation of the South East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO)

1959 Fidel Castro becomes leader of Cuba

1961 creation of the Berlin wall

1962 Cuban missile crisis

1965–1975 war in Vietnam

1979 the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

1980 Ronald Reagan becomes President of the USA

1985 Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union

1989 the year of revolutions in Eastern Europe
dismantling of the Berlin Wall

1991 Bush and Gorbachev sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START)
fall of the Communist government in the USSR.