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AP®HistoryCollege BoardUS HistoryExam QuestionsPeriod 9: 1980-PresentThe End of the Cold War

The End of the Cold War (College Board AP® US History): Exam Questions

4 mins4 questions
11 mark

"The decay of the Soviet experiment should come as no surprise to us. Wherever the comparisons have been made between free and closed societies -- West Germany and East Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia, Malaysia and Vietnam -- it is the democratic countries what are prosperous and responsive to the needs of their people. And one of the simple but overwhelming facts of our time is this: Of all the millions of refugees we've seen in the modern world, their flight is always away from, not toward the Communist world."

Ronald Reagan, "Address to Members of the British Parliament,", June 8, 1982

Which of the following best describes Reagan’s central argument in the excerpt?

  • Communist societies were more economically stable than democratic ones

  • Refugees were fleeing democratic nations due to economic hardship

  • Communist regimes were failing to provide for their citizens, leading to their decline

  •  The United States should pursue a full-scale military confrontation with the Soviet Union to end the Cold War

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21 mark

"The decay of the Soviet experiment should come as no surprise to us. Wherever the comparisons have been made between free and closed societies -- West Germany and East Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia, Malaysia and Vietnam -- it is the democratic countries what are prosperous and responsive to the needs of their people. And one of the simple but overwhelming facts of our time is this: Of all the millions of refugees we've seen in the modern world, their flight is always away from, not toward the Communist world."

Ronald Reagan, "Address to Members of the British Parliament,", June 8, 1982

The sentiments of Ronald Reagan in this speech can most clearly be seen in which of the following Cold War policies?

  • The Truman Doctrine

  • The Nixon Doctrine

  •  The Helsinki Accords

  • The policy of Détente

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31 mark

"The decay of the Soviet experiment should come as no surprise to us. Wherever the comparisons have been made between free and closed societies -- West Germany and East Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia, Malaysia and Vietnam -- it is the democratic countries what are prosperous and responsive to the needs of their people. And one of the simple but overwhelming facts of our time is this: Of all the millions of refugees we've seen in the modern world, their flight is always away from, not toward the Communist world."

Ronald Reagan, "Address to Members of the British Parliament,", June 8, 1982

The observations described in the excerpt above occurred in the context of the

  • Soviet launch of Sputnik

  • Economic stagnation of the Soviet Union

  • Korean War

  • Expansion of the European Union

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41 mark

"The decay of the Soviet experiment should come as no surprise to us. Wherever the comparisons have been made between free and closed societies -- West Germany and East Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia, Malaysia and Vietnam -- it is the democratic countries what are prosperous and responsive to the needs of their people. And one of the simple but overwhelming facts of our time is this: Of all the millions of refugees we've seen in the modern world, their flight is always away from, not toward the Communist world."

Ronald Reagan, "Address to Members of the British Parliament,", June 8, 1982

The stance that Ronald Reagan is taking in this excerpt was later enacted as a result of the

  • Collapse of Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe

  • Emergence of new communist governments in Asia and Latin America

  • Permanent decline of US-Russian tensions after the Cold War

  • Shift toward isolationist policies in the United States

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