Question

1. Study the political cartoon and read the background information. Then, answer the questions.

A. Who is the man is being depicted in the cartoon? Remember, this cartoon was published in 1991.

B. Describe the reforms this man try to initiate in the Soviet Union.

C. What has happened to the sickle in the cartoon? What event is this symbolizing?

2. Read the statements to identify the person. Each statement describes a person’s role in the Cold War.

a) ___________________________________ This president escalated the Vietnam War by increasing ___________________________________ American troop levels after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
b) ___________________________________ Leader of communist North Vietnam
c) ___________________________________ Leader of anti-communist South Vietnam
d) ___________________________________ This president began the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam and began a policy of détente with the Soviet Union
e) ___________________________________ Leader of Czechoslovakia who tried initiate reforms to loosen communist restrictions in his country
f) ___________________________________ Led the Solidarity movement in Poland; became President when Poland turned democratic
g) ___________________________________This Soviet leader (and its last) tried to create reforms to save communism in the Soviet Union
h) ___________________________________U.S. President who urged for the Berlin Wall to be torn down; took a more aggressive approach toward the Soviet Union; was President when the Soviet Union ended

Alexander Dubcek Ronald Reagan HoChi Minh Lyndon B. Johnson
Lech Walesa Mikhail Gorbachev Ngo Dinh Diem Richard Nixon

Answer 1

1. A--Mikhail Gorbachev
B. Presidential system, more individual control of the economy, television congressional meetings, reestablished relationships with western powers.
C--Break up of the Soviet Union and spheres of influence.

2.
A--Lyndon B Johnson
B--HoChi Minh
C--Ngo Dinh Diem
D--Richard Nixon
E--Alexander Dubeck
F--Lech Walesa
G--Mikhail Gorbachev
H--Ronald Reagan

These questions are major events in the Cold War in particular ones that contributed to the end of the Cold War. As quickly as it rose and became priority, it also lost favor with many in the world. Many leaders had much at stake in the fight between capitalism and communism and therefore it took until 1989 for the Berlin Wall to fall and the USSR falls in 1991.