NY Regents Global History and Geography II Module 5: a complete overview of the Cold War, its conflicts, decolonization in Asia and Africa, and the fall of communism

What Module 5 actually demands

Module 5 covers Key Idea 10.9: the Cold War and decolonization, the two great stories of the postwar world. The Cold War was the global rivalry of the superpowers; decolonization was the end of the European empires and the birth of dozens of new nations. The dominant skills are cause and effect, turning points, and comparison. The enduring issues are power, conflict, self-determination, human rights, and the impact of ideas.

This guide ties together the matching dot-point pages, each with its own practice questions: the origins of the Cold War, Cold War conflicts, decolonization in Asia and the Chinese Revolution, decolonization in Africa and the Middle East, and the end of the Cold War.

The origins of the Cold War

The Cold War was the global rivalry between the United States (capitalism, democracy) and the Soviet Union (communism) from 1945 to about 1991. It grew from their ideological clash and disputes over the postwar order. The Soviets installed communist governments in Eastern Europe, dividing the continent along the Iron Curtain. The United States adopted containment (the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan), and the two sides formed NATO and the Warsaw Pact and raced to build nuclear weapons.

Cold War conflicts

Because the superpowers avoided direct war, they fought proxy wars: the Korean War (ending in a divided stalemate) and the Vietnam War (ending in communist unification after American withdrawal). The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) was the closest the world came to nuclear war. The superpowers also competed in an arms race ("mutually assured destruction") and a space race (Sputnik; the Moon landing).

Decolonization in Asia

India won independence in 1947 through Gandhi's nonviolent resistance, but with a violent partition into India and Pakistan that caused mass migration and communal violence. In China, the Communists under Mao Zedong won the civil war in 1949, founding the People's Republic; Mao's Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution brought famine and upheaval.

Decolonization in Africa and the Middle East

Most of Africa became independent in the 1950s and 1960s, but faced challenges from arbitrary colonial borders (ethnic conflict), weak economies, and instability. South Africa's apartheid (enforced racial segregation) was dismantled by 1994 under Nelson Mandela. The creation of Israel in 1948 led to lasting Arab-Israeli conflict.

The end of the Cold War

The Soviet economy was weak and strained by the arms race. Gorbachev's reforms (glasnost and perestroika) loosened controls, and in 1989 communist governments fell across Eastern Europe and the Berlin Wall came down; Germany reunified. In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed, ending the Cold War and leaving the United States the sole superpower in a globalizing world.

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall and application questions covering Module 5. Attempt them under timed conditions, then check against the solutions.

1. Define the Cold War and explain why it was "cold". (2 marks)
2. Define containment and name one policy that expressed it. (2 marks)
3. Explain what a proxy war is and give one example. (2 marks)
4. Explain why the Cuban Missile Crisis was significant. (2 marks)
5. Name the method Gandhi used to win Indian independence. (1 mark)
6. Identify one cause and one effect of the partition of India. (2 marks)
7. State the outcome of the Chinese Revolution of 1949. (1 mark)
8. Define apartheid and explain how it ended. (2 marks)
9. Explain how Gorbachev's reforms contributed to the end of the Cold War. (3 marks)