Cold War

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/cold-war

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the primary ideological conflict?Capitalist Democracy versus Communist Totalitarianism
2. What is the key deterrence strategy?Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)
3. Why did the United States and the Soviet Union fight each other?The United States wanted to stop communism from spreading, while the Soviet Union wanted to share its communist ideas and grow its influence. Both sides thought the other could threaten their own way of life.
4. What is Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)?Mutually Assured Destruction means that if one country used nuclear weapons, the other would use its own, and both would be destroyed. It kept both sides from starting a nuclear war.

Bipolar World Order: A global system characterized by two dominant superpowers with opposing ideologies and spheres of influence.
Brinkmanship: The practice of pursuing a dangerous policy to the limits of safety before stopping, especially in politics.
Containment Policy: A United States foreign policy strategy to prevent the spread of communism during the Cold War.