Notes
The Cold War
- The U.S. (capitalism, democracy) and USSR (communism) became rival superpowers. The U.S. followed containment with the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan.
- Crises: Berlin Airlift, Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War. Rival alliances: NATO and the Warsaw Pact. An arms race and space race followed.
Decolonization
- India won independence (1947) through Gandhi's nonviolence, followed by partition.
- Ghana (1957) led African independence; Kenya and Algeria fought armed struggles. Mandela helped end apartheid.
- Israel was founded in 1948; the Iranian Revolution (1979) reshaped the Middle East.
The end of the Cold War and today
- Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika, Solidarity in Poland and the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) led to the collapse of the USSR (1991).
- China opened its economy under Deng Xiaoping but kept one-party rule.
- Globalization connects the world through trade and technology, while genocide, terrorism, climate change and pandemics demand global cooperation.
Topics in this unit
Each topic has its own short notes and practice.
Practice
1947, 1957, 1962, 1989.
NATO formed in 1949 and the Warsaw Pact in 1955.
Many new states became battlegrounds for U.S.-Soviet competition.
Gorbachev's reforms could not fix the economy and unleashed demands for independence.
Gandhi used nonviolent civil disobedience against British rule.
Technology and trade have tightly linked economies and cultures.
Free response
Write your answer first, then open the scoring guide.
Free-response question
After 1945, the Cold War and decolonization reshaped the world.
(a) Describe ONE way the United States tried to contain communism in Europe.
Show the answer and scoring guide
Through the Marshall Plan, the U.S. gave billions of dollars to rebuild Western Europe so that poverty would not make communism attractive. It also formed NATO in 1949 for mutual defense.
Check off the points you earned:
(b) Explain why many colonies in Asia and Africa won independence after World War II.
Show the answer and scoring guide
European powers were weakened by the war and could not afford to hold colonies. Nationalist leaders like Gandhi and Nkrumah built mass movements, and the UN supported self-determination.
Check off the points you earned:
(c) Explain ONE cause of the end of the Cold War.
Show the answer and scoring guide
Gorbachev's glasnost allowed open criticism, and perestroika failed to fix the economy. People in Eastern Europe used the new freedom to overthrow communist governments in 1989, and the USSR broke apart in 1991.
Check off the points you earned: