Unit 17: Paper 2 — The Cold War: Superpower Tensions and Rivalries (20th Century)
Topic 17.1: Rivalry, mistrust and accord Questions
Practice 20 exam-style questions for IB History Topic 17.1. Review the question stems below, then unlock the full Question Bank to access markschemes, model answers, and AI grading.
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What was significant about the INF Treaty of 1987 compared with earlier arms-control deals?
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Which term describes Gorbachev's policy of 'openness', allowing people to criticise the government?
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In which year did the Soviet Union create the Warsaw Pact?
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Which Western action in June 1948 most directly triggered the Berlin Blockade?
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What was the approximate value of aid provided by the Marshall Plan (the European Recovery Program)?
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Which pair correctly matches a Soviet organisation with its main purpose?
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To what extent was the Soviet Union responsible for the division of Europe by 1955?
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In which year did Mao Zedong and Stalin sign the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance?
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What did Khrushchev's 1956 Secret Speech attack?
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Discuss the causes and consequences of the 1969 Zhenbao (Damansky) Island border clashes between China and the USSR.
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Examine the impact of the withdrawal of Soviet advisers from China in 1960 on Sino-Soviet relations.
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Discuss the view that Cold War alliances between communist states were driven by national interest rather than shared ideology, using the Sino-Soviet relationship as your main example.
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To what extent did the events of 1969 to 1972 represent a genuine turning point in Sino-American relations?
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To what extent was the Sino-Soviet split the main reason for the Sino-American rapprochement of the early 1970s?
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Compare and contrast the reasons for the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations with the reasons for the improvement of Sino-American relations, 1947 to 1979.
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Analyse the significance of ping-pong diplomacy and Kissinger's 1971 secret visit to Beijing in bringing about the Sino-American rapprochement.
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Examine the reasons why the USSR and the People's Republic of China formed an alliance in 1950, and the extent to which this alliance was tested in its first years.
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Evaluate the importance of ideological disagreements, compared with other factors, in causing the Sino-Soviet split.
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Evaluate the successes and limitations of the Shanghai Communiqué of February 1972 in transforming Sino-American relations.
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Why did Stalin want a 'buffer zone' of friendly states in Eastern Europe after the war?
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