Causes of the Cold War

This outstanding resource is designed to provide stretch and challenge for the more able students by promoting discussion and debate on the causes of the Cold War. It can be used as a starter, plenary or as a revision activity.

The resource includes nine diamond shaped cards which include a range of factors to explain the causes of the Cold War. The document is provide in Microsoft Word so you can edit the resource if you wish to customise it further. Once students have cut the cards out they are set three tasks including:

1. Remove any reasons for the boom that you don’t think are important. Record and explain why you have removed them.
2. Arrange the remaining diamonds to show any links that you can find between the different reasons. Record and explain your reasons.
3. Make a smaller diamond shape using what you think are the four most important events or factors that helped to cause the Cold War?

At each stage students should be feeding back to their group or the class and explaining their choices. The discussion and explanation around the choices that they have made are critical in helping them develop their understanding of the topic.

The aims and objectives for this lesson are:

Theme: The Cold War 1945 - 1955
Know: What were the causes of the Cold War?
Understand: How did misunderstandings escalate to mistrust?
Evaluate: Which were the most significant causes of the Cold War?

WILF: What Am I looking For?
Identify and describe: The causes of the Cold War 1945 - 1955?
Explain: How are the causes linked together?
Analyse: Which were the most significant causes of the Cold War?

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Kind Regards

Roy