Lesson Y9-U07-L07

Why the Cold War Stayed Cold Quiz: KS3 History, Unit 20

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y9-U07-L07, Why the Cold War Stayed Cold: 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. What does the French term 'détente' mean in the Cold War?

    • Nuclear escalation
    • Sudden military attack
    • Economic collapse
    • Relaxing of tension

  2. What primary factor prevented the Cold War from turning into a direct war?

    • Nuclear weapons
    • Economic sanctions
    • League of Nations
    • Peace treaties

  3. What does the acronym MAD stand for in the Cold War?

    • Mutual Alliance Doctrine
    • Military Arms Defence
    • Mutually Assured Destruction
    • Maximum Attack Deterrent

  4. Which 1962 event brought superpowers closest to nuclear war?

    • Berlin Blockade
    • Cuban Missile Crisis
    • Vietnam War
    • Korean War

  5. Which Soviet leader's refusal to use force helped keep the peace in 1989?

    • Stalin
    • Brezhnev
    • Gorbachev
    • Khrushchev

  6. What was the main aim of the 1987 INF Treaty?

    • Starting space exploration
    • Reducing nuclear missiles
    • Dividing Germany further
    • Creating a single currency

  7. How did ordinary citizens help end communist rule in Eastern Europe?

    • Peaceful protests
    • Military coups
    • Armed revolution
    • General strikes

  8. Which Polish movement was a key example of people power?

    • The Swing Youth
    • The White Rose
    • Solidarity
    • The Edelweiss Pirates

  9. What major economic issue crippled the Soviet Union?

    • Hyperinflation
    • Agricultural surplus
    • Mass unemployment
    • Stagnant economy

  10. What was a major consequence of the Soviet war in Afghanistan?

    • Territorial expansion
    • Economic boom
    • Drained resources
    • Increased alliances

  11. How did Gorbachev's political and economic reforms contribute to the fall of the USSR?

    • Increased military spending
    • Strengthened censorship
    • Allowed public protest
    • Abolished elections

  12. What is a historical judgement about the past?

    • Random guess
    • Justified main reason
    • Primary source quote
    • Unproven myth

  13. Which interpretation argues that Reagan ended the Cold War?

    • United Nations control
    • Soviet economic success
    • US pressure
    • Purely domestic accidents

  14. Which Soviet leader is credited by one major interpretation with ending the Cold War through reform?

    • Mikhail Gorbachev
    • Joseph Stalin
    • Nikita Khrushchev
    • Vladimir Putin

  15. What US defence programme put immense economic pressure on the Soviet Union?

    • NATO
    • Apollo
    • SDI
    • NASA

  16. What was the name of Gorbachev's policy of economic restructuring?

    • Glasnost
    • Soviet
    • Perestroika
    • Gulag

  17. How did US economic pressure contribute to the end of the Cold War?

    • Caused direct invasion
    • Started nuclear war
    • Funded Soviet reforms
    • Worsened Soviet weakness

  18. What term describes the tense, direct rivalry without open warfare between the superpowers?

    • Proxy War
    • Cold War
    • Hot War
    • World War

  19. What acronym stood for the nuclear deterrence policy that prevented superpower war?

    • NATO
    • SALT
    • MAD
    • SDI

  20. What was the US defence programme known as 'Star Wars'?

    • NATO
    • Marshall Plan
    • Truman Doctrine
    • SDI

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