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History Quiz - The Cold War 01 (Questions)

This KS3 History quiz is our first on the Cold War. The period of history that is called the Cold War lasted from the end of World War II until 1991, when the Soviet Union (USSR) collapsed. During WWII, The Soviet Union and other Eastern European communist countries fought alongside the Allies in order to help to defeat the Nazis. After the war, the temporary alliance ended. The reason was distrust. The boundary between the communist countries and democratic countries was referred to as the Iron Curtain. Churchill used this nickname because it was heavily guarded and many Eastern Europeans trying to escape to the west were either shot, or captured and imprisoned.

A few months after the war, the organisation known as the United Nations (UN) was formed. It was intended to ensure world peace. The principles of the UN were negotiated between the four main WWII allies - UK, USA, China and USSR but when it was established, 51 nations signed up. The USA and USSR did not agree with each other much and so the UN was generally able to carry out peacekeeping in situations that did not involve those two countries.

1. What was set up in 1945 to try and bring world peace?
[ ] Common Market
[ ] League of Nations
[ ] OPEC
[ ] United Nations
2. The U.N. partly aimed to help those fleeing whose regime in Russia?
[ ] Brezhnev
[ ] Khrushchev
[ ] Lenin
[ ] Stalin
3. The leader of the U.N. has what title?
[ ] Chief Executive
[ ] President-in-Chief
[ ] Principal Secretary
[ ] Secretary-General
4. In 1948 the U.N. issued the Universal Declaration of what?
[ ] Civil Liberties
[ ] Common Agreement
[ ] Future Peace
[ ] Human Rights
5. Many East European countries had what type of government?
[ ] Capitalist
[ ] Communist
[ ] Democratic
[ ] Republican
6. What barrier was said to divide Europe?
[ ] Aluminium wall
[ ] Bronze fence
[ ] Iron curtain
[ ] Steel blanket
7. Who first used the expression 'iron curtain'?
[ ] Adolf Hitler
[ ] Harry Truman
[ ] Joseph Stalin
[ ] Winston Churchill
8. At that time Germany was divided into how many zones?
[ ] 2
[ ] 3
[ ] 4
[ ] 5
9. Which country did NOT occupy one of these zones?
[ ] Britain
[ ] France
[ ] Italy
[ ] USA
10. Which U.S. President had an anti-Communist policy in the 1940s?
[ ] Dwight D. Eisenhower
[ ] F. D. Roosevelt
[ ] Harry S. Truman
[ ] Herbert Hoover

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - The Cold War

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History Quiz - The Cold War 01 (Answers)
1. What was set up in 1945 to try and bring world peace?
[ ] Common Market
[ ] League of Nations
[ ] OPEC
[x] United Nations
Its first meeting was in 1946
2. The U.N. partly aimed to help those fleeing whose regime in Russia?
[ ] Brezhnev
[ ] Khrushchev
[ ] Lenin
[x] Stalin
Stalin was a brutal and ruthless leader
3. The leader of the U.N. has what title?
[ ] Chief Executive
[ ] President-in-Chief
[ ] Principal Secretary
[x] Secretary-General
The first was Trygve Lie from Norway
4. In 1948 the U.N. issued the Universal Declaration of what?
[ ] Civil Liberties
[ ] Common Agreement
[ ] Future Peace
[x] Human Rights
It was intended to ensure that every human being had freedom of speech, belief and freedom from fear
5. Many East European countries had what type of government?
[ ] Capitalist
[x] Communist
[ ] Democratic
[ ] Republican
Stalin imposed Communism on many countries
6. What barrier was said to divide Europe?
[ ] Aluminium wall
[ ] Bronze fence
[x] Iron curtain
[ ] Steel blanket
It was called the Iron Curtain because it was hard for people to cross it to reach the democratic countries
7. Who first used the expression 'iron curtain'?
[ ] Adolf Hitler
[ ] Harry Truman
[ ] Joseph Stalin
[x] Winston Churchill
He had been the Prime Minister of Britain during WWII
8. At that time Germany was divided into how many zones?
[ ] 2
[ ] 3
[x] 4
[ ] 5
Berlin, in East Germany, was also in four zones
9. Which country did NOT occupy one of these zones?
[ ] Britain
[ ] France
[x] Italy
[ ] USA
The USSR (Russia) occupied the fourth zone
10. Which U.S. President had an anti-Communist policy in the 1940s?
[ ] Dwight D. Eisenhower
[ ] F. D. Roosevelt
[x] Harry S. Truman
[ ] Herbert Hoover
His policy was called the Truman Doctrine