GCSEHistoryEdexcelExam QuestionsSuperpower Relations & the Cold WarThe End of the Cold War: 1985-1991

The End of the Cold War: 1985-1991 (Edexcel GCSE History)

Exam Questions

18 mins18 questions
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11 mark

When did Mikhail Gorbachev become the General Secretary of the Soviet Union?

  • March 1983.

  • March 1985.

  • March 1987.

  • March 1989.

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21 mark

What does the term ‘Perestroika’ mean?

  • Restructuring.

  • Openness.

  • Reform.

  • Money.

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31 mark

What treaty was signed at the Washington Summit in December 1987?

  • SALT I.

  • START.

  • INF Treaty.

  • SALT 2.

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41 mark

Who was the leader of Solidarity in Poland?

  • Wojciech Jaruzelski.

  • ustáv Husák.

  • Lech Wałęsa.

  • Ceaușescu.

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51 mark

Which Soviet policy allowed more freedom of speech and less censorship?

  • Perestroika.

  • Glasnost.

  • Brezhnev Doctrine.

  • Five-Year Plan.

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61 mark

When did the Warsaw Pact officially dissolve?

  • July 1991.

  • December 1990.

  • June 1989.

  • August 1992.

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71 mark

Who attempted a coup against Gorbachev in 1991?

  • Boris Yeltsin.

  • The Gang of Eight.

  • Leonid Brezhnev.

  • Joseph Stalin.

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81 mark

When did the Soviet Union officially dissolve?

  • December 1989.

  • December 1990.

  • December 1991.

  • December 1992.

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91 mark

When did the Berlin Wall fall?

  • November 1988.

  • November 1989.

  • October 1989.

  • December 1990.

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101 mark

What was the order of countries that overthrew their communist countries to collapse the Eastern Bloc?

  • Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia.

  • Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia.

  • Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary.

  • Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Hungary.

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11 mark

What was the purpose of the INF Treaty signed in 1987?

  • To ban chemical weapons.

  • To reduce the number of short and intermediate-range missiles.

  • To expand NATO's influence in Europe.

  • To establish better relations between Gorbachev and Reagan

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21 mark

What was the consequence of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty?

  • The complete disarmament of nuclear weapons.

  • The reduction of land-based missiles with a range between 500km and 5,500km.

  • The development of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).

  • The end of the Warsaw Pact.

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31 mark

What caused the fall of the Berlin Wall?

  • The announcement of the GDR’s new travel policy.

  • The end of communism in Yugoslavia.

  • An airstrike by the US Army.

  • Gorbachev’s ‘old thinking.’

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41 mark

What caused the ‘Velvet Revolution’ in Czechoslovakia?

  • The independent trade union, Solidarity.

  • East Germany closed their border with Czechoslovakia in October 1989.

  • The 31st anniversary of the assassination of Imre Nagy.

  • The loss of support of the army.

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51 mark

What was a consequence of the fall of the Berlin Wall?

  • It discouraged any more Eastern Bloc countries from breaking away from communist control.

  • The fall of the Berlin Wall was symbolically important. The 'Iron Curtain' no longer existed in Europe.

  • Immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany was reunified.

  •  It ended the Soviet influence in Eastern Europe.

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11 mark

What was the significance of the Malta Summit in December 1989?

  • It marked the official end of the Cold War.

  • It resulted in the signing of the SALT II treaty.

  • It was the first meeting between Gorbachev and Reagan.

  •  It led to the invasion of Afghanistan.

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21 mark

How did the fall of the Berlin Wall impact US-Soviet relations?

  • The fall of the Berlin Wall had no impact on US-Soviet relations. It was inevitable that the Berlin Wall would fall.

  • The fall of the Berlin Wall worsened US-Soviet relations. The USSR was incredibly vulnerable and began acting more aggressively towards the West.

  • The fall of the Berlin Wall improved US-Soviet relations. There was no need for a confrontational relationship between the USA and the USSR.

  • The fall of the Berlin Wall had a significant impact on US-Soviet relations. The event led to the first diplomatic meetings between the USA and the USSR and the end of the Cold War.

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31 mark

How did Boris Yeltsin contribute to the collapse of the Soviet Union?

  • Yeltsin did not contribute to the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was wholly the actions of the satellite states that caused the end of the USSR.

  • Yeltsin made some contributions to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Yeltsin positioned himself to benefit from the attempted coup against Gorbachev.

  • Yeltsin made some contributions to the collapse of the Soviet Union. He was the president of the Soviet Republic of Russia in May 1990.

  • Yeltsin was fundamental for the collapse of the Soviet Union. He organised the coup against Gorbachev to take power and enact reforms.

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