Lesson Y9-U07-L01

Y9-U07-L01 What Was 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-L01, What Was 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. Which two countries became the superpowers after the Second World War?

    • China and India
    • Germany and Japan
    • Britain and France
    • The USA and the USSR

  2. Roughly when did the Cold War last?

    • From about 1914 to 1918
    • From about 1956 to 1960
    • From about 1945 to 1991
    • From about 1939 to 1945

  3. Why was the conflict called a 'Cold' War?

    • The USA and USSR never fought each other directly
    • The fighting took place only in winter
    • The war was fought only in the Arctic
    • Both sides agreed to a peace treaty each year

  4. Why did both superpowers' nuclear weapons matter for the Cold War?

    • They were only used for training soldiers
    • A real war could have destroyed the world
    • They made the superpowers allies again
    • They ended the arms race

  5. What does 'capitalism' mean?

    • A system where a king rules by divine right and owns the land outright
    • A system where the state owns all industry and sets prices for every good
    • A system where workers elect each factory manager and share the profits
    • An economic system where businesses are privately owned and people compete to make money

  6. What does 'communism' mean in the Cold War?

    • A system where voters choose their leaders in free and open elections
    • A system where the state owns industry and wealth is meant to be shared equally
    • A system where businesses are privately owned and competition sets prices
    • A system where churches run the schools and set the national curriculum

  7. Which country was the main capitalist superpower in the Cold War?

    • Britain
    • China
    • The USSR
    • The USA

  8. In the USSR during the Cold War, which party was the only one allowed?

    • The Democratic Party
    • The Liberal Party
    • The Communist Party
    • The Labour Party

  9. Under capitalism in the USA, how is wealth distributed?

    • People keep what they earn, so some are rich and some are poor
    • Wealth is shared equally by the state among all citizens each year
    • Wealth belongs to the Communist Party, which spends it on its members
    • The government decides every salary in every job across the country

  10. What did the USSR control in the Cold War that the USA did not?

    • Trade unions in France
    • Free elections in Western Europe
    • Private businesses in Britain
    • Speech, the press and religion

  11. Which of these fears did the USA have about communism?

    • That capitalism would crush the workers
    • That the Communist Party would be banned
    • That communism would spread and destroy freedom
    • That the USSR would give up its nuclear weapons

  12. Which fear did the USSR have about the West?

    • That the USA would ban private businesses across the American states
    • That the West would free its own workers from their factory contracts
    • That capitalism would crush the workers and surround the USSR
    • That the USA would share its atomic bomb with its European allies

  13. Why did the USSR and the USA fall out so quickly after 1945?

    • The two countries shared the same leader after 1945 for a short period
    • The Second World War started again in 1946 across Europe and Asia
    • Old distrust and clashing ideologies, plus the atomic bomb and Eastern Europe
    • Both countries decided to swap their economies for a shared trade system

  14. Why did the USA not share its atomic bomb with the USSR in 1945?

    • Because Britain had asked the USA to keep it secret
    • Because the bomb was only useful against Japan
    • It made Stalin feel threatened and worsened the rivalry
    • Because the USSR had already built its own bomb

  15. Why had the USA been hostile to communism well before the Cold War began?

    • Communists had invaded American territory during the Second World War
    • Communist countries had refused to trade with the USA for decades
    • The USA had disliked communism since the 1917 Russian Revolution
    • Communism had cost the USA its wartime allies and its economic power

  16. Why did the USSR remember the West with suspicion?

    • The West had banned Russian culture
    • The West had invaded Russia in 1918-21
    • The West had refused to join the United Nations
    • The West had sold the USSR weapons in 1945

  17. What did Stalin do in Eastern Europe after the war?

    • He sent his army home from every country in Eastern Europe that year
    • He sold the countries to the USA in a secret treaty signed in Moscow
    • He took control of countries and broke his promise of free elections
    • He gave the countries back to their old rulers after a short occupation

  18. What did Stalin want from controlling Eastern Europe after the Second World War?

    • A supply of oil from the Atlantic coast and the North Sea fields
    • A new colony in Africa with ports and naval bases for the navy
    • A reason to join the United Nations and attend its meetings
    • A buffer zone to protect the USSR from being invaded again

  19. What was the 'Iron Curtain'?

    • A steel gate around the Kremlin built to protect the leaders inside
    • A wall built around the city of Warsaw in the early 1950s
    • A ban on trade across the Atlantic between Europe and America
    • The divide between the capitalist West and the communist East in Europe

  20. Which idea best explains why the Cold War was a rivalry of ideology?

    • Each superpower wanted to share its bomb with the world's poorer nations
    • Each superpower wanted to end the arms race and reduce its nuclear stockpile
    • Each superpower wanted to spread its own political and economic system across the world
    • Each superpower wanted to join the other's alliance and share its bases

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