Power, Ideology, and Terror in the Atomic Age Worksheet
The Cold War
Answer each of the following questions in a single paragraph:
1. What role did atomic weapons play in the Cold War? Summarize nuclear developments from 1945 to 1991. Capitalist and communist nations distrusted each other and wanted to further their own ideals while stopping the spread of the other. This led to the formation of NATO and other pacts to protect their respective “areas”. This also resulted in new forms of technology, both for war and offensive weapons such as the hydrogen bomb, ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles), and satellites.
2. What important events and symbolism in Berlin helped define the Cold War? The important events in Berlin that helped define the Cold War were the division of the country and capital into East and West Germany, one being communist the other capitalist. The important symbolism in Berlin that helped define the Cold War was the creation of the Berlin Wall because it was not just a physical representation of the segregation of the nation but also a symbolic one because it divided not just the city but the Germany people from friends and loved ones, who were so close yet so far away.
3. Why did European communism collapse? European communism collapsed because it no longer had popular support and faced both political and economic problems. After World War II, the Soviet Union (with Stalin at the helm) put all the money it received from the Eastern European states into its arms race and with no money being sent back into the country. This caused a tailspin in the countries’ economies and ultimately led to the fall of communism in Europe.
Terrorism and the West
Answer each of the following questions with a short sentence or phrase:
1. Why were many Palestinians angered by the creation of Israel in 1948? Palestinians were angered by the creation of Israel in 1948 because the