Cold War
Activity 1

Triptych Poster Topics

Topic 1. U.S., British and Soviet Relationships in the 1930s Prior to World War II

  1. Panel 1 will present with text and illustrations reasons why the Soviet Union distrusted and felt animosity toward the United States, Great Britain, and France in the 1930s.
  2. Panel 2 will present with text and illustrations reasons why the United States, Great Britain, and France distrusted and felt animosity toward the Soviet Union during the 1930s.
  3. Panel 3 will present the team’s conclusions on the most important insights they gained from their studies in the project.

Topic 2. Uniting against Common Enemies during World War II as Illustrated in Propaganda Posters and Speech Excerpts

  1. Panel 1 will focus on the common allied efforts against Germany and Japan emphasizing the perspectives of the United States and Great Britain.
  2. Panel 2 will focus on the common allied efforts emphasizing the perspective of the Soviet Union.
  3. Panel 3 will show how despite the uniting to face a common enemy, there were disagreements among the allies about how the war should be fought.

Topic 3. The Effects of World War II upon Europe

  1. Panel 1 will show areas liberated from the Nazi Germany during 1944 and 1945 by the Soviet Union, on the one hand, and by the United States and Great Britain, on the other hand.
  2. Panel 2 will show why the United States and Soviet Union became superpowers at the end of the war.
  3. Panel 3 will show why Great Britain and France ceased to be strong powers at the end of World War II.

Topic 4. Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech

  1. Panel 1 will present the circumstances of and key excerpts from the speech.
  2. Panel 2 will address the events that led Churchill to conclude that “an iron curtain has descended across the Continent [of Europe].”
  3. Panel 3 will focus on how Soviet Union under Stalin responded to the speech and upon the consequences of that response.

Topic 5. The Truman Doctrine

  1. Panel 1 will address these questions: What was the Truman Doctrine? Who was responsible for it?
  2. Panel 2 will present the problems that led the Truman administration to adopt the Truman Doctrine and take a more active role in the world than it took following World War I, when it rejected the Treaty of Versailles.
  3. Panel 3 will address these questions: What options did the Soviet Union and the Eastern European nations have with regard to the Truman Doctrine? What did they choose to do? What were the consequences of their choice?

Topic 6. The Marshall Plan

  1. Panel 1 will address these questions: What the Marshall Plan? Who was responsible for it?
  2. Panel 2 will present the problems that led the Truman administration to adopt the Marshall Plan and take a more active role than it took following World War I.
  3. Panel 3 will address these questions: What options did the Soviet Union and the Eastern European nations have with regard to the Marshall Plan? What option did they choose? What were the consequences of their choice?

Project 7. The Berlin Airlift

  1. Panel 1 will address these questions: Where was Berlin in relationship to the four zones of Allied occupation? Why did the Soviet Union decide to cut off road transportation from the western zones of Germany to the western zones within Berlin?
  2. Panels 2 and 3 will show how the allies might have responded to the blockade, how they did respond to the blockade, and the costs and benefits of the allied response.

Topic 8. Germany Is Divided

  1. Panel 1 will show why and how the U.S., British, and French took steps to create the German Federal Republic.
  2. Panel 2 will show why and how the Soviet Union took steps to create the German Democratic Republic.
  3. Panel 3 will compare the two Germanies.

Topic 9. The Communist Revolution in China

  1. Panel 1 will address these questions: Who was Mao Zedong? What was his vision for China?
  2. Panel 2 will explain and show how World War II presented opportunities for Mao to expand his influence and gain control of China.
  3. Panel 3 will address these questions: What options did the Communist takeover of China present to the United States? What option did the United States choose? What were the consequences for the Cold War?