Edexcel GCSE History · Option P4

Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91

Exam-style questions with answers for Option P4 Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91 in Edexcel GCSE History (spec 1HI0). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below.

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Question 1 · Option P4, Key topic 1.1
What was the Grand Alliance? [1 mark]
Answer:
The wartime alliance of the USA, the USSR and Britain against Nazi Germany.
Question 2 · Option P4, Key topic 1.1
What was agreed at the Tehran Conference (1943)? [2 marks]
Answer:
Britain and the USA would open a second front by invading France (1); the USSR would have a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe (1).
Question 3 · Option P4, Key topic 1.1
State two decisions made at the Yalta Conference (February 1945). [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Germany would be divided into four zones (1); Berlin would also be divided (1); free elections in Eastern Europe (1); the USSR would join the war against Japan (1); the United Nations would be set up (1).
Question 4 · Option P4, Key topic 1.1
State two ideological differences between the USA and the USSR. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: the USA was capitalist, the USSR communist (1); the USA had free elections, the USSR a one-party state (1); the USA valued individual freedom, the USSR state control (1).
Question 5 · Option P4, Key topic 1.1
Explain how the atomic bomb affected relations between the USA and USSR. [2 marks]
Answer:
Stalin felt threatened because the USA had not shared the secret (1); it began an arms race, and the USSR tested its own bomb in 1949 (1).
Question 6 · Option P4, Key topic 1.1
What was the Long Telegram (1946)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Kennan’s analysis urging containment of Soviet expansion.
Question 7 · Option P4, Key topic 1.1
What was the Novikov Telegram (1946)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A report by the Soviet ambassador in Washington warning that the USA wanted world domination and was preparing for war with the USSR.
Question 8 · Option P4, Key topic 1.2
What was the Truman Doctrine (1947)? [2 marks]
Answer:
A US promise to support free peoples resisting communism (1); it began with aid to Greece and Turkey and set out the policy of containment (1).
Question 9 · Option P4, Key topic 1.2
What was the Marshall Plan? [2 marks]
Answer:
US economic aid of about $13 billion to rebuild Europe (1); to stop poverty that could encourage communism (1).
Question 10 · Option P4, Key topic 1.2
What was Cominform (1947)? [2 marks]
Answer:
The Communist Information Bureau set up by Stalin (1); to coordinate and control the communist parties of Europe (1).
Question 11 · Option P4, Key topic 1.2
What was Comecon? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (1949), the Soviet alternative to the Marshall Plan.
Question 12 · Option P4, Key topic 1.2
What was NATO and when was it formed? [2 marks]
Answer:
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, formed in 1949 (1); a military alliance in which an attack on one member was an attack on all (1).
Question 13 · Option P4, Key topic 1.2
Describe how Germany was divided after the war. [2 marks]
Answer:
Into four zones controlled by the USA, USSR, Britain and France (1); Berlin, inside the Soviet zone, was also divided into four sectors (1).
Question 14 · Option P4, Key topic 1.2
Why did Stalin begin the Berlin Blockade in June 1948? [2 marks]
Answer:
The West introduced a new currency (the Deutschmark) in its zones (1); Stalin wanted to force the West out of Berlin (1).
Question 15 · Option P4, Key topic 1.2
Describe the Berlin Airlift. [2 marks]
Answer:
The USA and Britain flew supplies into West Berlin for about 11 months (1); Stalin lifted the blockade in May 1949 (1).
Question 16 · Option P4, Key topic 1.3
What was the Warsaw Pact (1955)? [2 marks]
Answer:
A military alliance of the USSR and its satellites (1); set up in response to West Germany joining NATO (1).
Question 17 · Option P4, Key topic 1.3
Describe the events in 1956 that led to the Hungarian Uprising. [2 marks]
Answer:
Khrushchev's 'secret speech' attacked Stalin, which encouraged hopes of reform (1); Hungarians protested against the hated Rákosi and Soviet control, and Nagy became leader (1).
Question 18 · Option P4, Key topic 1.3
How did the USSR respond to the Hungarian Uprising? [2 marks]
Answer:
Soviet tanks invaded Budapest in November 1956 (1); about 3,000 Hungarians were killed, and Nagy was later executed (1).
Question 19 · Option P4, Key topic 1.3
Describe the international reaction to the Soviet invasion of Hungary. [2 marks]
Answer:
The USA and the UN condemned the invasion but did nothing to help (1); about 200,000 Hungarians fled as refugees to the West (1).
Question 20 · Option P4, Key topic 2.1
Explain why Berlin had a refugee problem by 1958. [2 marks]
Answer:
Over 2 million East Germans had fled to the West through Berlin (1); many were skilled workers, which damaged East Germany's economy and image (1).
Question 21 · Option P4, Key topic 2.1
What was Khrushchev's Berlin ultimatum (1958)? [2 marks]
Answer:
He demanded that Western troops leave West Berlin within six months (1); and that Berlin become a free city (1).
Question 22 · Option P4, Key topic 2.1
State two summit meetings of 1959–61. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Geneva (1959) (1); Camp David (1959) (1); Paris (1960), ruined by the U2 incident (1); Vienna (1961) (1).
Question 23 · Option P4, Key topic 2.1
Explain why the Cuban Revolution worried the USA. [2 marks]
Answer:
Castro took over US-owned businesses on Cuba (1); he grew closer to the USSR, so a communist state was only 90 miles from Florida (1).
Question 24 · Option P4, Key topic 2.1
What happened at the Bay of Pigs (1961)? [2 marks]
Answer:
CIA-trained Cuban exiles invaded Cuba to overthrow Castro (1); they were quickly defeated, embarrassing Kennedy (1).
Question 25 · Option P4, Key topic 2.1
What was the Prague Spring (1968)? [2 marks]
Answer:
Dubček’s reforms in Czechoslovakia (1); including freedom of speech, less censorship and limited trade with the West (1).
Question 26 · Option P4, Key topic 2.2
Why was the Berlin Wall built in 1961? [2 marks]
Answer:
About 3 million East Germans had fled to the West through Berlin (1); the loss of skilled workers embarrassed and weakened East Germany (1).
Question 27 · Option P4, Key topic 2.2
Why did Khrushchev place missiles on Cuba in 1962? [2 marks]
Answer:
To protect Castro from another US invasion (1); to balance US missiles in Turkey and strengthen his position (1).
Question 28 · Option P4, Key topic 2.2
How was the Cuban Missile Crisis resolved? [2 marks]
Answer:
Khrushchev removed the missiles from Cuba (1); the USA promised not to invade Cuba and secretly agreed to remove its missiles from Turkey (1).
Question 29 · Option P4, Key topic 2.2
How did the USSR respond to the Prague Spring? [2 marks]
Answer:
Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968 (1); Dubček was removed and the reforms reversed (1).
Question 30 · Option P4, Key topic 2.2
What was the Brezhnev Doctrine? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Soviet claim to the right to intervene in any communist country where communism was threatened.
Question 31 · Option P4, Key topic 2.3
How did Kennedy respond to the Berlin Wall? [2 marks]
Answer:
He did not use force to remove it (1); he visited in 1963 and gave the ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ speech (1).
Question 32 · Option P4, Key topic 2.3
What did Kennedy say in West Berlin in 1963? [1 mark]
Answer:
'Ich bin ein Berliner', showing US support for the people of West Berlin.
Question 33 · Option P4, Key topic 2.3
What was the Hotline (1963)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A direct communication link between Washington and Moscow.
Question 34 · Option P4, Key topic 2.3
What was the Limited Test Ban Treaty (1963)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A ban on nuclear tests in the atmosphere, underwater and in space.
Question 35 · Option P4, Key topic 2.3
What was the Outer Space Treaty (1967)? [1 mark]
Answer:
An agreement not to put nuclear weapons in orbit or in space.
Question 36 · Option P4, Key topic 2.3
What was the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968)? [1 mark]
Answer:
An agreement that nuclear powers would not help other countries obtain nuclear weapons.
Question 37 · Option P4, Key topic 2.3
Describe the international reaction to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. [2 marks]
Answer:
Western countries condemned it but did not intervene (1); communist states such as Yugoslavia and Romania also criticised the USSR (1).
Question 38 · Option P4, Key topic 3.1
Define the term ‘Détente’. [1 mark]
Answer:
The easing of tension between the USA and the USSR in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Question 39 · Option P4, Key topic 3.1
What did SALT 1 (1972) agree? [2 marks]
Answer:
Limits on the number of ICBMs and submarine-launched missiles (1); the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty limited defensive systems (1).
Question 40 · Option P4, Key topic 3.1
What were the Helsinki Accords (1975)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Agreements accepting post-war borders and promising human rights.
Question 41 · Option P4, Key topic 3.1
What was SALT II (1979)? [1 mark]
Answer:
An arms limitation treaty never ratified by the US Senate.
Question 42 · Option P4, Key topic 3.2
Why was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979) significant? [2 marks]
Answer:
It ended détente (1); the USA feared the USSR was threatening oil supplies in the Middle East (1).
Question 43 · Option P4, Key topic 3.2
What was the Carter Doctrine (1980)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A US statement that it would use force to defend its interests in the Persian Gulf.
Question 44 · Option P4, Key topic 3.2
What were the Olympic boycotts? [2 marks]
Answer:
The USA and over 60 countries boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics over Afghanistan (1); the USSR and its allies boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in return (1).
Question 45 · Option P4, Key topic 3.2
What was SDI? [1 mark]
Answer:
Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (‘Star Wars’).
Question 46 · Option P4, Key topic 3.2
Who was Gorbachev? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Soviet leader from 1985 who introduced reforms and ended the Cold War.
Question 47 · Option P4, Key topic 3.2
What was the INF Treaty (1987)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It eliminated intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
Question 48 · Option P4, Key topic 3.3
Why was the fall of the Berlin Wall (November 1989) significant? [2 marks]
Answer:
It symbolised the end of the division of Europe (1); it led to the reunification of Germany in 1990 (1).
Question 49 · Option P4, Key topic 3.3
When did the USSR dissolve? [1 mark]
Answer:
December 1991.
Question 50 · Option P4, Key topic 3.3
When was the Warsaw Pact dissolved? [1 mark]
Answer:
In 1991, after the communist governments of Eastern Europe collapsed.

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Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91

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