Question 1

What are proxy wars?

Accepted Answer

A conflict between two smaller states that represent the interests of bigger states

(Vietnam and Korea)

Question 2

What was the Berlin Blockade?

Accepted Answer

A blockade created by the Soviets that prevented the West from moving supplies into Berlin

(the Soviets wanted to control all of Berlin; the allies began the Berlin Airlift in response)

Question 3

How was Germany partitioned after WWII?

Accepted Answer

It was split into four sections among Britain, France, the US, and the Soviet Union

The three Western Allies combined their zones into a single West-Germany, governed by democratic principles

Question 4

What was the Berlin Airlift?

Accepted Answer

An operation where the Western Allies flew supplies into Western Berlin, to avoid the Berlin Blockade

Question 5

What happened after the Berlin Blockade ended?

Accepted Answer

Germany split into two states, one aligned with the West, the other with the East

Question 6

What was the Berlin Wall?

Accepted Answer

A guarded concrete barrier that separated East and West Germany, both physically and ideologically

(established in 1961; fell in 1989 as seen below)

Question 7

What is NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)?

Accepted Answer

A treaty between several Western nations, pledging mutual support and cooperation against conflicts and wars

(created due to a desire to be coordinated in case of a conflict with the Soviets)

Question 8

What was the Warsaw Pack?

Accepted Answer

A collective defense treaty between the Soviet Union and some of its satellite states

(created to rival NATO)

Question 9

What was the communist bloc (Eastern bloc)?

Accepted Answer

A group of communist states controlled by the Soviet Union

Question 10

What was SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization)?

Accepted Answer

A treaty between non-communist states to prevent the spread of communism in Southeast Asia

Question 11

What was CENTO (Central Treaty Organization)?

Accepted Answer

An anti-Soviet treaty that aimed to stop the spread of Communism in the Middle East

(Britain, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and partially the US)

Question 12

What happened during the Korean War?

Accepted Answer

UN forces initially pushed North Koreans back towards China, but Chinese force were sent in as reinforcements

Ended in a stalemate, with North and South Korea separated

Question 13

What was the Korean War?

Accepted Answer

A war between North Korea (with the help of the Soviets and Chinese) and South Korea (with the help of the UN)

Question 14

What was the Vietnam War?

Accepted Answer

A war in Vietnam between North Vietnam (backed up the communists) and South Vietname (backed by the anti-communists)

Question 15

What happened during the Vietnam War?

Accepted Answer

After being initiated by Eisenhower, JFK greatly increased US presence in Vietnam, and then Lyndon Johnson sent even more

North Vietnamese forces eventually prevailed and the US withdrew after huge losses

Question 16

What was domino theory?

Accepted Answer

A Cold War theory in the US, that believed if one country turned to communism, surrounding countries would be more likely to also turn to communism

Question 17

What was the Bay of Pigs Invasion?

Accepted Answer

A failed US operation that attempted to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro's communists

(total failure, cementing the Cuba-Soviet alliance)

Question 18

Who was Nikita Kruschev?

Accepted Answer

First secretary of the Soviet Union, who came to power after Stalin

(against Stalin; sponsored space program; approved construction of Berlin Wall; placed nuclear missiles in Cuba)

Question 19

Why did Kruschev ship nuclear missiles to Cuba?

Accepted Answer

The US positioned nuclear missiles in Turkey, which was right next to the Soviet Union

Kruschev felt justified in shipping nuclear missiles to Cuba, since it is right next to the US

Question 20

What was the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Accepted Answer

A confrontation between the US and Soviet Union, where the Soviet Union put nuclear missiles in Cuba in response to the US putting nuclear missiles in Turkey

Closest the world has ever come to a full-scale nuclear war

Question 21

What was the Hot Line (Moscow-Washington hotline)?

Accepted Answer

A direct telegraph link between JFK and Kruschev, where the leaders talked through the Cuban Missile Crisis

Eventually de-escalated the crisis peacefully

Question 22

What was Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty?

Accepted Answer

An agreement that banned the testing of nuclear weapons

Aimed to cut down the amount of radiation and environmental harm civilians were exposed to

Question 23

What happened to Angola after it won independence from Portugal?

Accepted Answer

Angola was composed of rival ethnic groups that all wanted to control the country's diamond mines

The Soviet Union and Cuba backed the Mbundu tribe

South Africa backed the Ovimbundu tribe

The US backed the Bankongo tribe

Question 24

What was the Nicaraguan Revolution (Contra War)?

Accepted Answer

A bloody rebellion in Nicaragua, where the conservative Contras (backed by the US) attempted to overthrow the socialist Sandinistas

(the Sandinistas came to power two years earlier after overthrowing a dictatorship)

Question 25

What was the antinuclear weapons movement?

Accepted Answer

A social movement to oppose the creation and buildup of nuclear weapons

(started in Japan, but spread to other countries)

8.3 - Effects of the Cold War, AP World History: Modern Flashcards