The End of the Cold War-1985-1991 (Edexcel GCSE History: Period Study (Paper 2, Booklet P))

Topic Questions

18 mins18 questions
11 mark

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

  • March 1983.

  • March 1985.

  • March 1987.

  • March 1989.

Did this page help you?

21 mark

What does the term ‘Perestroika’ mean?

  • Restructuring.

  • Openness.

  • Reform.

  • Money.

Did this page help you?

31 mark

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

  • SALT I.

  • START.

  • INF Treaty.

  • SALT 2.

Did this page help you?

41 mark

Who was the leader of Solidarity in Poland?

  • Wojciech Jaruzelski.

  • ustáv Husák.

  • Lech Wałęsa.

  • Ceaușescu.

Did this page help you?

51 mark

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

  • Perestroika.

  • Glasnost.

  • Brezhnev Doctrine.

  • Five-Year Plan.

Did this page help you?

61 mark

When did the Warsaw Pact officially dissolve?

  • July 1991.

  • December 1990.

  • June 1989.

  • August 1992.

Did this page help you?

71 mark

Who attempted a coup against Gorbachev in 1991?

  • Boris Yeltsin.

  • The Gang of Eight.

  • Leonid Brezhnev.

  • Joseph Stalin.

Did this page help you?

81 mark

When did the Soviet Union officially dissolve?

  • December 1989.

  • December 1990.

  • December 1991.

  • December 1992.

Did this page help you?

91 mark

When did the Berlin Wall fall?

  • November 1988.

  • November 1989.

  • October 1989.

  • December 1990.

Did this page help you?

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.

Did this page help you?

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

Did this page help you?

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.

Did this page help you?

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.’

Did this page help you?

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.

Did this page help you?

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.

Did this page help you?

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.

Did this page help you?

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.

Did this page help you?

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.

Did this page help you?