Predicting Cold War Events

TOPIC ONE: The fate of Eastern Europe after World War II. What I think will really happen… A. Eastern European countries will vote communist leaders into power in order to gain economic and military support from the Soviet Union. B. The Soviet Union will leave its military troops in Eastern European Countries and ensure that hand-picked communist leaders take power, thus creating a buffer zone for the Soviet Union. C. The United States will send a military force to Eastern Europe to guarantee that those countries are allowed to hold elections to choose new leaders. D. None of the above scenarios is likely; I think something else will happen.

IN REALITY….. “B” After World War II the USSR left its military troops in Eastern European countries and ensured that hand-picked communist leaders took power; thus creating a buffer zone for the Soviet Union.

TOPIC TWO: The fate of Western Europe after World War II. What I think will really happen…. A. The United States will send a massive financial aid package to the war-torn countries of Western Europe to help rebuild them so that the United States can establish a healthy, profitable economic relationship with them. (U.S. helps them financially) B. The Soviet Union will send a massive financial aid package to the war-torn countries of Western Europe to help rebuild them, thus keeping U.S. influence out of Europe. (Soviet Union helps them financially) C. Western European countries will reject financial assistance from both the Soviet Union and the United States because they do not want to become part of the Cold War conflict. (They reject financial assistance to stay out of Cold War) D. None of the above scenarios is likely; I think something else will happen.

IN REALITY… “A” The U.S. will send a massive financial aid package to the war-torn countries of Western Europe to help rebuild them so that the U.S. can establish a healthy, profitable economic relationship with them.

TOPIC THREE: The fate of Germany after World War II. What I think will really happen…. A. The United States and Soviet Union will agree to allow the United Nations Security Council, an organization responsible for maintaining world peace, to establish a fair way for Germany to determine its new government. B. Unable to agree on a way to establish a new German government, the United States, along with allies France and England, will fight Soviet troops in Berlin to determine control over Germany. C. Determined to make sure that Germany will never invade the Soviet Union again, Stalin will declare to the United States, England, and France that Germany will have a communist government and that any effort to prevent this will be considered an act of war. D. None of the above scenarios is likely; I think something else will happen.

IN REALITY… “D” None of the above scenarios is likely; I think something else will happen. The United States,USSR, France, and England divide Germany into four zones.

TOPIC FOUR: The atomic bomb in the post-war world . What I think will really happen: A. Unable to develop an atomic bomb of its own, the Soviet Union will negotiate with the United States to share its atomic technology in return for a Soviet commitment to use atomic weaponry only for defensive purposes and not place nuclear weapons outside its borders. B. Recognizing the futility of trying to develop more advanced weaponry, the United States and Soviet Union will negotiate an arms reduction treaty that dramatically reduces defense spending in both countries. C. Shortly after World War II, the Soviet Union will develop its own atomic bomb, promoting an arms race for nuclear superiority between the two superpowers. D. None of the above scenarios is likely; I think something else will happen.

IN REALITY… “C” Shortly after World War II, the Soviet Union will develop its own atomic bomb, promoting an arms race for nuclear superiority between the two superpowers.

TOPIC FIVE: The impact of the Cold War in smaller countries. What I think happened… A. A civil war in Korea will start in 1950 between supporters of communism and anti-communist forces. Despite the fact that each of the superpowers would like to lend assistance to the respective sides in the civil war, both the United States and the Soviet Union will decide they cannot afford to commit their resources to Korea and instead will use the money for education and health care within their countries. B. A civil war in Korea will start in 1950 between supporters of communism and anti-communist forces. Neither the Soviet Union nor the United States will wish to send their own armed forces to fight, but instead both countries will send millions of dollars worth of financial and military assistance to the respective sides of the conflict. C. A civil war in Korea will start in 1950 between supporters of communism and anti-communist forces. Declaring that he is confident that no “right-minded peoples in the world would embrace communism,” President Truman will reject the idea of committing U.S. assistance to anti-communist forces in South Korea. D. None of the above scenarios is likely, I think something else will happen.

IN REALITY… “D” None of the above scenarios is likely; I think something else will happen. A civil war in Korea will start in 1950 between supporters of communism anti-communist forces. Americans will send troops and money to aid the anti-communists and the Soviet Union will send aid and troops to aid the communists.