10.6 - Unresolved Global Conflict 1945-1991

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The second half of the 20th century was shaped by the Cold War, a legacy of World War II. The United States and the Soviet Union emerged as global superpowers engaged in ideological, political, economic, and military competition.

10.6a The Cold War originated from tensions near the end of World War II as plans for peace were made and implemented. The Cold War was characterized by competition for power and ideological differences between the United States and the Soviet Union.
  • Students will compare and contrast how peace was conceived at Yalta and Potsdam with what happened in Europe in the four years after World War II (i.e., Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, Truman Doctrine, Berlin blockade, NATO).
10.6b The Cold War was a period of confrontations and attempts at peaceful coexistence.
  • Students will investigate the efforts to expand and contain communism in Cuba, Vietnam, and Afghanistan from multiple perspectives.
  • Students will examine the new military alliances, nuclear proliferation, and the rise of the military-industrial complex.
  • Students will examine the reasons countries such as Egypt and India chose nonalignment.
  • Students will explore the era of détente from both American and Soviet perspectives.
10.6c The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the communist bloc in Europe had a global impact.
  • Students will investigate the political reforms of glasnost and economic reforms of perestroika.
  • Students will examine the impacts of those reforms within the Soviet Union, on the Soviet communist bloc, and in the world.

Supporting Materials

Game

13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis

13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis is a nail-biting, theme saturated two-player strategy game about the Cuban Missile Crisis. Your fate is determined by how well you deal with the inherent dilemmas of the game, and the conflict.

1) Will you push to gain prestige at the risk of escalating...

Game

This War of Mine

This War Of Mine: The Board Game is the tabletop adaptation of the award-winning video game that pictures the drama of civilians trapped in a war-torn city.

You will enter this experience as a group of civilians trapped in a besieged and conflict-ridden city, enduring many hardships that...

Game

Twilight Struggle

In 1945, unlikely allies toppled Hitler's war machine, while humanity's most devastating weapons forced the Japanese Empire to its knees in a storm of fire. Where once there stood many great powers, there now stood only two - the United State and the Soviet Union.
The world had...

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