Competing Ideologies-
The Cold War
- What were the causes of the Cold War?
- What were the key characteristics of the ideologies of communism in the USSR and democracy and capitalism in the USA?
- What was the impact of the Cold War on nations and people?
- What led to the end of the Cold War?
In this area of study students focus on causes and consequences of the Cold War; the competing ideologies that underpinned events, the effects on people, groups and nations, and the reasons for the end of this sustained period of ideological conflict.
You will explore the causes of the Cold War in the aftermath of World War Two. They investigate significant events and developments and the consequences for nations and people in the period 1945–1991. While the USA and the USSR never engaged in direct armed conflict, they opposed each other in Vietnam. They both tried to exert their influence through aid and propaganda in Africa, Asia and the Americas and engaged in an arms race and a space race with competition also extending to sport and the arts. Students consider the reasons for the end of this long-running period of ideological conflict and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.