Cold War & Lessons from it

Above is an video summarising the origins of the Cold War. It also covers some of the cultural aspects of the Cold War.

When watching the video, think about the following issues:
1. What were the causes of the Cold War?
2. Which cause do you think was most responsible for the Cold War?
3. Who do you think was more at fault, the USA or the USSR? Or was it just a misinterpretation?
4. What was the Cold War all about - an arms race, an ideological battle, a cultural war? Or perhaps everything at once?
5. Was it good that the Cold War ended?

Very often we think that History is all about learning facts. At O level we study a list of causes and impacts. Once in a while we must ask ourselves, "What can we learn from this?"

Melvyn Leffler, a professor at the University of Virginia, shares his views of what can be learnt from the Cold War below.



What have you learnt from the Cold War? What have you learnt from your study of History?