Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941–91

What Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941–91 covers

Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941–91 is examined in Paper 2, Period study and British depth study. It covers early tension between East and West, the development of the Cold War, the Cold War intensifies, increased tension between East and West, cold War crises, 1958–70, reaction to crisis, 1958–70, Attempts to reduce superpower tensions in the 1970s, the end of détente and the ‘Second Cold War’ and the collapse of Soviet control of Eastern Europe, 1985-91.

The 9 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Early tension between East and WestThe Grand Alliance, the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences, the arguments over Poland and reparations, communist and capitalist beliefs, Stalin's aims, Truman's attitude, the iron curtain, Hiroshima, the Long Telegram and Novikov's warning, satellite states and how Stalin brought Eastern Europe under communist rule.Open →
• The development of the Cold WarTruman's promise to Congress, containment, the Marshall Plan and Stalin's response, Cominform, Yugoslavia and Comecon, NATO and its pledge, Berlin's position, the Deutsche Mark, the blockade and airlift, and the two German states of 1949.Open →
• The Cold War intensifiesThe Soviet atomic bomb, the hydrogen bomb, the Warsaw Pact, Khrushchev's attack on Stalin, Nagy's reforms and his break with the Pact, the invasion of November 1956, the western response and the UN veto.Open →
• Increased tension between East and WestThe refugee flow from East Berlin, Khrushchev's ultimatum, the Geneva, Camp David, Paris and Vienna summits, Castro's takeover, Soviet aid to Cuba, the Bay of Pigs and its results, Dubček and the Prague Spring.Open →
• Cold War crises, 1958–70The sealing of Berlin in August 1961, Checkpoint Charlie, the missile sites in Cuba, Kennedy's options and the blockade, the most dangerous day, the settlement, the Brezhnev Doctrine and the occupation of Czechoslovakia.Open →
• Reaction to crisis, 1958–70Kennedy's acceptance of the Berlin barrier, his 1963 visit, who won over Cuba and Khrushchev's fall, the hotline, the test ban, outer space and non-proliferation treaties, and the reaction to the invasion of Czechoslovakia.Open →
• Attempts to reduce superpower tensions in the 1970sWhat détente meant and why both sides wanted it, Nixon in Moscow, Apollo–Soyuz, the 1972 arms limitation deal and its gaps, the Helsinki Accords and their human rights clause, and the failed 1979 agreement.Open →
• The end of détente and the ‘Second Cold War’Afghanistan and the American response, the Carter Doctrine, the Olympic boycotts, Reagan's evil empire and military build-up, the Strategic Defence Initiative, Gorbachev's aims, the 1987 missile treaty and the trust between the leaders.Open →
• The collapse of Soviet control of Eastern Europe, 1985-91New thinking, perestroika and glasnost, the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine, Solidarity in Poland, the opening of the Berlin crossings, German reunification, and the end of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941–91 further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Cominform vs Comecon

  Cominform: the 1947 body linking Europe's communist parties under Soviet direction. Comecon: the 1949 body organising trade and economic planning between communist states.

• Containment vs Marshall Plan

  Containment: the policy of stopping communism spreading beyond the countries already under it. Marshall Plan: the 1947 offer of American money, machinery and food to rebuild Europe.

• NATO vs Warsaw Pact

  NATO: the 1949 western military alliance pledged to defend western Europe. Warsaw Pact: the 1955 alliance of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Which three countries made up the Grand Alliance, and what held them together?

   Model answer

   Britain, the USA and the Soviet Union, held together only by the shared aim of defeating Nazi Germany.

2. 2

   What did the Big Three agree when they met at Tehran in 1943?

   Model answer

   Britain and the USA would open a second front in western Europe, and the Soviet Union would join the war against Japan once Germany was beaten.

3. 3

   What was decided about Germany at the Yalta meeting of February 1945?

   Model answer

   It would be split into four occupied zones run by Britain, the USA, France and the Soviet Union, with Berlin divided the same way.

4. 4

   Which country caused the sharpest argument at Yalta, and what did Stalin promise about it?

   Model answer

   Poland, where Stalin promised free elections while insisting its eastern border move westwards.

5. 5

   Why was there far more disagreement when the leaders met again at Potsdam in July 1945?

   Model answer

   Germany had already surrendered so the common enemy was gone, Truman and Attlee had replaced Roosevelt and Churchill, and the Americans had just tested an atomic bomb.

6. 6

   What was settled at Potsdam about taking reparations from Germany?

   Model answer

   Each occupying power would take reparations from its own zone, with the Soviet Union also receiving a share of industrial equipment from the western zones.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941–91 revision questions

What does Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941–91 cover in Edexcel GCSE History?

9 subtopics: early tension between east and west, the development of the cold war, the cold war intensifies, increased tension between east and west, cold war crises, 1958–70, reaction to crisis, 1958–70, attempts to reduce superpower tensions in the 1970s, the end of détente and the ‘second cold war’ and the collapse of soviet control of eastern europe, 1985-91. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941–91 organised?

By the Edexcel 1HI0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.