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Origins of the Cold War

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How did the world come to be organised around two superpowers after 1945?

Explain the emergence of a bipolar international order after 1945 and assess how far the structure of two superpowers made Cold War conflict likely
A focused answer to the H2 History origins dot point on bipolarity. The decline of the old great powers, the rise of the United States and the Soviet Union, the formation of rival blocs, and whether the bipolar structure made conflict likely.
9 min answer →

How important was ideology, the clash of capitalism and communism, in causing the Cold War?

Evaluate the role of ideological conflict between capitalism and communism, as against power and security interests, in the origins of the Cold War
A focused answer to the H2 History origins dot point on ideology. The capitalist and communist worldviews, the security dilemma, the orthodox, revisionist and post-revisionist debate, and how to weigh ideology against power politics.
10 min answer →

Why did Germany and Berlin become the first great crisis of the Cold War?

Explain how the German question and the Berlin Blockade of 1948 to 1949 turned the breakdown of cooperation into open confrontation and the formal division of Europe
A focused answer to the H2 History origins dot point on Germany and the Berlin Blockade. The occupation zones, currency reform, the 1948 to 1949 blockade and airlift, the two German states, and how Berlin crystallised the Cold War.
9 min answer →

Were the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan defensive containment or aggressive expansion?

Assess the aims and impact of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, and whether they were defensive or provocative, in the early Cold War
A focused answer to the H2 History origins dot point on the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan. Containment, the Greek and Turkish crisis, economic recovery in Western Europe, the Soviet response, and the defensive versus provocative debate.
10 min answer →

How far did the wartime conferences and the breakdown of the Grand Alliance cause the Cold War?

Assess the role of the wartime conferences at Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam, and the collapse of Allied cooperation in 1945 to 1947, in the origins of the Cold War
A focused answer to the H2 History origins dot point on the wartime conferences and the collapse of the Grand Alliance. Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam, the Polish question, the orthodox and revisionist debate, and how cooperation gave way to confrontation by 1947.
10 min answer →