Lesson Y9-U07-L06

1989-91 The End of the Cold War Quiz: KS3 History, Unit 20

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y9-U07-L06, 1989-91 The End of the Cold War: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 History (National Curriculum), Unit 20: Year 9: The Cold War, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Who became Soviet leader in 1985 and launched reforms?

    • Boris Yeltsin
    • Nikita Khrushchev
    • Joseph Stalin
    • Mikhail Gorbachev

  2. What did Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of 'glasnost' mean?

    • State censorship
    • Military expansion
    • Economic rationing
    • Political openness

  3. What was Gorbachev's policy of economic restructuring called?

    • Comintern
    • Glasnost
    • Perestroika
    • Detente

  4. Which 1988 doctrine stated the USSR would not use military force to crush protests?

    • Brezhnev Doctrine
    • Truman Doctrine
    • Sinatra Doctrine
    • Monroe Doctrine

  5. Which Eastern European uprisings were crushed by Soviet tanks?

    • Yugoslavia and Albania
    • Hungary and Czechoslovakia
    • France and Italy
    • Poland and Greece

  6. What major internal problem weakened the USSR by the mid-1980s?

    • Capitalist revolution
    • Failing economy
    • Total naval defeat
    • Famine in Moscow

  7. When did the Soviet war in Afghanistan take place?

    • 1945 to 1949
    • 1979 to 1989
    • 1956 to 1960
    • 1989 to 1995

  8. What was Gorbachev's primary goal when introducing his major reforms?

    • To split Russia
    • To end socialism
    • To join NATO
    • To save communism

  9. In which year did Solidarity win free elections in Poland?

    • 1956
    • 1968
    • 1989
    • 1979

  10. Which country opened its border with Austria in 1989, letting East Germans escape?

    • Romania
    • Bulgaria
    • Czechoslovakia
    • Hungary

  11. What happened to Romania's communist dictator Ceausescu in December 1989?

    • Elected president
    • Exiled to Moscow
    • Fled to America
    • Overthrown and executed

  12. What name was given to the peaceful revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1989?

    • Red Revolution
    • Velvet Revolution
    • Rose Revolution
    • Silk Revolution

  13. Why was the Berlin Wall suddenly opened on 9 November 1989?

    • Official muddled announcement
    • Accidental bomb blast
    • Direct treaty signed
    • US military invasion

  14. What did crowds immediately do to the Berlin Wall after it opened?

    • Charged tolls
    • Tore it down
    • Guarded the gates
    • Painted it red

  15. Who led the hardline communist coup attempt in August 1991?

    • Ronald Reagan
    • Willy Brandt
    • Hardline communists
    • Mikhail Gorbachev

  16. Who stood on a tank to lead the resistance during the coup of August 1991?

    • Nikita Khrushchev
    • Mikhail Gorbachev
    • Fidel Castro
    • Boris Yeltsin

  17. When was the Soviet Union formally dissolved?

    • 25 December 1991
    • 9 November 1989
    • 24 June 1948
    • 13 August 1961

  18. Which republics demanded independence from the USSR?

    • North American states
    • Western European nations
    • The Baltic states
    • Only East Germany

  19. Which policy meant the USSR would no longer use military force to stop Eastern European revolutions?

    • Sinatra Doctrine
    • Truman Doctrine
    • Brezhnev Doctrine
    • Marshall Plan

  20. Which country's collapse in December 1991 marked the definitive end of the Cold War?

    • United States
    • East Germany
    • West Germany
    • Soviet Union

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