Pearson EDEXCEL GCSE (9-1) History Option P4: Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91

Option P4: Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91

Key topic 1: The origins of the Cold War, 1941–58

Key topic 2: Cold War crises, 1958–70

Key topic 3: The end of the Cold War, 1970–91

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

Reaction to crisis

Attempts to reduce tension between East and West

Flashpoints

The collapse of Soviet control of Eastern Europe

The Grand Alliance. The outcomes of the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences

The ideological differences between the superpowers and the attitudes of Stalin, Truman, and Churchill

The impact on US-Soviet relations of the development of the atomic bomb, the Long and Novikov telegrams and the creation of Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe.

The impact on US-Soviet relations of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, 1947.

The significance of Cominform (1947), Comecon (1949) and the formation of NATO (1949).

Berlin: its division into zones. The Berlin Crisis (blockade and airlift) of 1948-49 and its impact. The formation of the Federal Republic of Germany and German Democratic Republic.

The significance of the arms race. The formation of the Warsaw Pact.

Events in 1956 leading to the Hungarian Uprising, and Khrushchev's response

The international reaction to the Soviet invasion of Hungary

The refugee problem in Berlin, Khrushchev’s Berlin ultimatum (1958), and the summit meetings of 1959–61.

Soviet relations with Cuba, the Cuban Revolution and the refusal of the USA to recognise Castro’s government. The significance of the Bay of Pigs incident.

Opposition in Czechoslovakia to Soviet control: the Prague Spring.

The construction of the Berlin Wall, 1961

The events of the Cuban Missle Crisis

The Brezhnev Doctrine and the re-establishment of Soviet control in Czechoslovakia.

Impact of the construction of the Berlin Wall on US-Soviet relations. Kennedy’s visit to West Berlin in 1963.

The consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis, including the ‘hotline’. Attempts at arms control: the Limited Test Ban Treaty (1963); the Outer Space Treaty (1967); and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968).

International reaction to Soviet measures in Czechoslovakia.

Détente in the 1970s, SALT 1, Helsinki, and SALT 2

The significance of Reagan and Gorbachev’s changing attitudes.

Gorbachev’s ‘new thinking’ and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty (1987).

The significance of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Carter Doctrine and the Olympic boycotts.

Reagan and the ‘Second Cold War’, the Strategic Defence Initiative.

The impact of Gorbachev’s ‘new thinking’ on Eastern Europe: the loosening Soviet grip on Eastern Europe.

The significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and its significance in bringing about the end of the Warsaw Pact