Crossroads: Middle School Unit XI Crossroads Middle School Curriculum

Unit XI: Leader of the Free World: 1945-1975

Question/Problem 1: In what ways did the United States and the Soviet Union conduct a "cold war" beginning in 1946?

Contents

Objectives

Description of lesson/activity

Resources


Objectives: The students will be able to:

  1. explain the concept of "cold war."

  2. describe major Communist actions and the United States' reactions to them.

  3. interpret primary resources.

  4. gather information from primary and secondary sources.

Description of lesson/activity:

  1. Students should understand from Unit X the United States involvement in World War II including the decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan and the growing tension between the United States and the Soviet Union.

  2. Teachers should use the accompanying "Defining the Cold War" worksheet to explore how U.S./Soviet relations led to "cold war."

  3. Students should use the accompanying "Major Events of the Cold War" worksheet to research important events in the Cold War between 1947 and 1962. Each of the six United States reactions has a primary resource reading (see Readings A-F). Students should use these primary sources plus American history textbooks to complete the chart. The teacher may wish to evaluate student skills in gathering information on this activity.

  4. In addition to the events on the chart, teachers should review with students other themes involving both the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War such as:

    • the nuclear arms race-- the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb in 1949 and the United States tested its first hydrogen bomb in 1952.

    • the search for subversives in the United States-- Senator Joseph McCarthy's activities helped create paranoia in the late 1940s.

    • government expenditures-- the Cold War created increased expenditures in both defense spending and foreign aid.

    Teachers may also add events to the chart, such as the popular uprising in Hungary (1956) and the building of the Berlin Wall (1961).

  5. Students should understand that the Cold War did not end in 1962. Question/Problem 4 deals with a major event in the confrontation with communism, the Vietnam War. Question/Problem 5 includes opportunities to discuss dentente and the opening of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. The teacher may also wish to refer to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union; while these events fall outside of the time period covered in this unit, they are important events that help culminate the period begun in 1946.
Resources: Among the many student accessible resources on the Cold War:

  1. Pimlott, John. The Cold War. New York: Franklin Watts, 1987.

  2. Westerfeld, Scott. The Berlin Airlift. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Silver Burdett Press, Inc., 1989

    Resource 1: Defining "Cold War"

    Resource 2: Major Events of the Cold War

    Resource 3: Reading A: Truman Doctrine

    Resource 4: Reading B: Marshall Plan

    Resource 5: Reading C: Berlin Airlift

    Resource 6: Reading D: Creation of NATO

    Resource 7: Reading E: Korean War

    Resource 8: Reading F: Quarantine of Cuba

Back to Crossroads: Unit XI: Leader of the Free World: 1945-1975