The Cold War: two blocs, a divided Berlin and how it ended

Grade 10 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to D, all summaries in our words, written today. Card A (aid to Europe): On March 12, 1947, President Truman asked Congress for aid to Greece and Turkey. On June 5, 1947, Secretary of State Marshall spoke at Harvard. In March 1948 Congress passed the Economic Cooperation Act, and over $12 billion eventually went to rebuild Western Europe. Fear of Communist expansion drove the plan. It applied solely to Western Europe, without Soviet Bloc cooperation. Card B (Berlin): On June 24, 1948, Soviet forces blockaded rail, road and water access to the Allied areas of Berlin. The United States and Britain airlifted food and fuel. The blockade ended on May 12, 1949. Card C (the blocs): In March 1948 the Brussels Treaty was signed. In 1949 twelve countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty and agreed to consider an attack against one an attack against all. On May 14, 1955, the Soviet Union and several Eastern European countries formed the Warsaw Treaty Organization, described as a counterbalance to NATO. It was used to contain dissent in Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Poland in 1981. Card D (Korea): In 1948 Korea was divided between a Soviet-backed north and an American-backed south. War broke out along the 38th parallel on June 25, 1950. An armistice signed on July 27, 1953, stopped the fighting. It was not a peace treaty.

2. 1.

   Card A summarizes the Marshall Plan. Ari asks what it can show about why Western Europe's economies recovered.

   • That the Soviet Union refused to help, which explains the recovery
   • That Europe had recovered by 1948, since the Act passed in March of that year
   • That over $12 billion was sent; it does not say the aid alone caused recovery
   • That the plan caused the recovery, since over $12 billion was sent to Western Europe
3. 2.

   Card B summarizes the Berlin blockade. Bo asks what it can show about the Soviet aim in 1948.

   • That the blockade cut Allied access; the card does not state the Soviet aim
   • That the aim was to starve West Berlin, since it cut rail, road and water routes
   • That the Soviet aim failed, since the airlift continued until May 1949
   • That the US had no other choice, since it chose an airlift of food and fuel
4. 3.

   Card C describes the Warsaw Pact as a counterbalance to NATO. Esme asks whose description that is.

   • The view of the Pact's members in 1991, when the Pact was disbanded
   • The view of NATO's founders in 1949, since the Pact answered their treaty
   • The Soviet Union's own statement of its aims, since the Pact was a Soviet creation
   • A US historian's description, which the Pact's founders might word differently
5. 4.

   A student says NATO attacked first by forming in 1949. What does card C say, Jun asks?

   • The Warsaw Pact formed first, in 1949, and NATO answered it in 1955
   • NATO's members pledged to defend each other; card C reports NATO attacking no one
   • NATO began as an attack plan, since its members pledged to act together against others
   • NATO threatened the Soviet Union, since card C says the Pact was formed against it
6. 5.

   Which claim do cards A and B back, Kira asks?

   • The airlift was the reason the Marshall Plan began, since the two programs both helped Europe
   • Soviet Bloc countries received Marshall aid but refused the airlift to Berlin
   • The US sent aid in 1947 and 1948 and then an airlift when Berlin was blockaded
   • The US aid ended Soviet influence in Europe, since it covered Western Europe
7. 6.

   Card A gives events of 1947 and March 1948. Card B gives June 1948. Milo asks which order the two cards support.

   • Marshall's speech in June 1947, then the blockade, then the Act in March 1948
   • The Act in March 1948, then Marshall's speech, then the blockade in June 1948
   • Marshall's speech in June 1947, the Act in March 1948, the blockade in June 1948
   • The blockade in June 1948, then the Act in March 1948, then Marshall's speech
8. 7.

   Card B dates the blockade to June 24, 1948. Card C dates the North Atlantic Treaty to 1949. Noah asks what the order shows.

   • The blockade caused NATO, since it came first and NATO followed in 1949
   • The treaty came after the blockade, which may be one reason; the cards do not say
   • NATO caused the blockade, since the treaty was a threat to the Soviet Union
   • The Brussels Treaty came after the blockade, in the summer of 1948, and so was an answer to it
9. 8.

   Card D dates the war to June 25, 1950 and the armistice to July 27, 1953. Ren asks what the span can show.

   • About three years of fighting that ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty
   • Three years, so the war was won by one side in July 1953
   • Three years of fighting that ended in a peace treaty in 1953
   • Five years of war, since Korea was divided in 1948 and the war ended in 1953
10. 9.

    Card A says over $12 billion eventually went to rebuild Western Europe. Tala asks what that figure lets a reader say.

    • It was large, but a reader needs Europe's total output to see its share
    • It paid for most of Europe's rebuilding, since $12 billion is a very large sum
    • It was spent within the year of the speech in 1947, which the large sum shows
    • About $1 billion for each of the 12 NATO states, dividing $12 billion by 12
11. 10.

    Card B dates the blockade from June 24, 1948 to May 12, 1949. Zee asks how long the airlift had to supply Berlin.

    • A full year, so it lasted the whole of 1948 and 1949
    • About 11 months, through a winter, so it was a long supply effort
    • About six months, since June to December 1948 was the cold season
    • About 11 months, ending when NATO was formed in 1949