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Module 5: The Cold War and decolonization

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How was the Cold War fought around the world without the superpowers fighting each other directly?

Explain how the Cold War was fought through proxy wars and crises: the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, and the space and arms races (Framework Key Idea 10.9).
A Framework-level answer on Cold War conflicts for the NY Global History and Geography II Regents: how the superpowers competed through proxy wars (Korea, Vietnam), the Cuban Missile Crisis and the threat of nuclear war, and the arms and space races, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

How did African and Middle Eastern peoples win independence, and what challenges did the new states face?

Explain decolonization in Africa and the Middle East: independence movements, the end of European empires, apartheid in South Africa, the creation of Israel, and the challenges new nations faced (Framework Key Idea 10.9).
A Framework-level answer on decolonization in Africa and the Middle East for the NY Global History and Geography II Regents: independence movements, the end of European empires, apartheid and Mandela, the creation of Israel, and the challenges of new nations, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

How did Asian peoples win independence, and how did communism come to China?

Explain decolonization in Asia and the Chinese Revolution: Indian independence and partition, Gandhi's nonviolent movement, and the communist victory in China under Mao (Framework Key Idea 10.9).
A Framework-level answer on decolonization in Asia for the NY Global History and Geography II Regents: Indian independence and partition, Gandhi's nonviolent resistance, and the Chinese communist revolution under Mao Zedong, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

Why did the United States and the Soviet Union become rivals after World War II, and what was the Cold War?

Explain the origins of the Cold War: how ideological and political differences between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II created a global rivalry, including containment, the division of Europe, and the arms race (Framework Key Idea 10.9).
A Framework-level answer on the origins of the Cold War for the NY Global History and Geography II Regents: the ideological clash between capitalism and communism, the division of Europe and the Iron Curtain, containment and the Truman Doctrine, NATO and the Warsaw Pact, and the arms race, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

Why did the Cold War end, and what changed when the Soviet Union collapsed?

Explain why the Cold War ended: Gorbachev's reforms, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the emergence of a new world order (Framework Key Ideas 10.9 and 10.10).
A Framework-level answer on the end of the Cold War for the NY Global History and Geography II Regents: Gorbachev's reforms (glasnost and perestroika), the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the new world order, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →