19IB The Cold War
The Cold War: Superpower tensions and rivalries (20th century)
The Cold War dominated global affairs from the end of the Second World War to the early 1990s. This topic focuses on how superpower rivalries did not remain static but changed according to styles of leadership, strength of ideological beliefs, economic factors and crises involving client states. The topic aims to promote an international perspective on the Cold War by requiring the study of Cold War leaders, countries and crises from more than one region of the world.
Topic | Prescribed content |
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Rivalry, mistrust and accord |
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Leaders and nations |
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Cold War crises |
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Suggested examples
Please note that the examples provided here are suggestions only. Teachers are free to use examples from this list or any other appropriate examples, depending on the particular needs and interests of the teacher and students.
Examples of leaders
Truman*, Stalin*, Khrushchev* , Nixon, Mao, Castro, Brezhnev, Reagan, Gorbachev, Nasser, Brandt
Examples of Cold War crises
Africa and the Middle East: Suez Crisis (1956); Congo (1960–1961); outbreak of Angolan Civil War (1975)
The Americas: Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)*; US intervention in Chile (1973); Contra War (1981–1990)
Asia and Oceania: Chinese Offshore Island Crises (1954/1958); North Korean invasion of South Korea (1950)*; Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979)
Europe: Berlin blockade (1948–1949)*; Berlin Wall (1958–1961)*; Hungary (1956)*; the Prague spring (1968); the USSR and eastern Europe (1981–1989)*