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About This Quiz
The Cold War History quiz all about the USSR, USA and everything around the world this war touched.
The USA and what other super power was at the centre of the Cold War?
USSR
The other hegemonic superpower that participated in the Cold War was the USSR. The Soviet Union included Russia, the Baltic states, as well as the Ukraine, Belarus and the former Yugoslavia
Russian Federation
United Kingdom
France
What event ended the Cold War?
Korean War
World War Two
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990 marked the end of the Cold War. The wall separated East and West Berlin from each other, and since Berlin say in East Germany, West Berlin was the only American influenced area in the Soviet Bloc.
Olympic Games in 1936
What years did the Cold War span?
1945-1990
The Cold War spanned from 1945-1990. The end of the Second World War, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall bookmarked the start and end of the war.
1953-1990
1960-1990
1980-1990
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What country was split between the Allies and the USSR
Poland
Belarus
France
Germany
Germany was split into East and West Germany by the Allies and the USSR. As well, the capital Berlin was split between East and West Berlin and this continued until 1990.
The first proxy war between the USSR and the USA during the Cold War was?
Vietnam
Korea
The Korean War (1950-53) was the first proxy war that the USSR and USA fought. This was the first example of the US policy of containment and has created present day North and South Korea.
Brazil
Afghanistan
What weapon became the epicentre of Cold War discussions?
Bomber
Fighter
Nuclear Weapon
Nuclear weapons became the epicentre of the Cold War, and led to an arms race between the USA and USSR that lasted more than four decades.
Submarine
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What war saw only the US with direct involvement, with the USSR with indirect involvement?
Korea
Laos
Vietnam
Vietnam lasted from 1955-75 and saw direct USA involvement. This war also saw the first inclusion of media on the front lines, which made this war extremely unpopular at home.
Cambodia
What is considered the peak point of the Cold War?
Korea
Vietnam
Australia
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis is considered the peak point of the Cold War. It circled around the want of the USSR to place missiles in Cuba to counter USA missiles in Turkey.
How many US presidents reigned during the Cold War?
Five
Six
Eight
Nine
There were nine sitting presidents during the Cold War. They were: Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush
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What Olympics was boycotted by the USA due to issues during the Cold War?
St. Petersburg
Moscow
In 1980, the Summer Olympics in Moscow was boycotted by the USA, as well as a number of other western nations. This boycott was due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Montreal
Vancouver
What nation mapped the Canadian Arctic during the Cold War?
USA
United Kingdom
USSR
Soviet subs, and ships mapped much of the Canadian Arctic during the Cold War. These charts are still in use, and were most recently used by the Crystal Serenity cruise ship in 2016.
Korea
What technology was invented during the 1930's but was reutilized as a vital communication tool during the Cold War?
Bluetooth
In the 1930’s starlet Hedy Lamarr invented a new technology to stop Nazi’s from jamming Navy torpedoes, but the idea was rejected until 1962 and implemented during the Cold War. Her frequency hopping technology is also the basis for modern Bluetooth
LTE
Cell Phones
Wifi
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What Race almost did not happen, but due to the death of JFK it did.
Arms race
Space Race
The USSR and the USA were originally in talks to jointly go into space together during the Cold War. The USSR almost accepted but then President Kennedy was assassinated and the Soviets didn’t trust Vice President Johnson, so the plan fell through
Sputnik
International Space Station
What part of Soviet passports allowed USSR officials to determine a fake passport?
Staples
During the Cold War, the USSR was able to tell a Soviet passport was a forged and fake because the staples in real passports would corrode due to the poor quality of metal.
Paper
Cover
Coloring of Cover
What term was added to the Pledge of Allegiance during the Cold War?
One Nation
Under God
Congress added the “Under God†phrase to the Pledge of Allegiance during the Cold War. This symbolized the resistance to communists, who were atheists
We pledge
Trusted People of the USA
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What item was used as propaganda that was airdropped in the USSR
Pamphletes
Condoms
During the Cold War, USA considered airdropping enormous condoms labeled “Medium†into USSR, to demoralize them against an anatomically superior American Army.
Beef wraps
Guns
What building in the Pentagon was mistakenly thought by Soviet Brass to be a secret meeting room?
Taco Stand
Hot Dog Stand
During the Cold War, USSR thought that the heavily trafficked building in the center courtyard of the Pentagon was a top-secret meeting room and pointed nukes at it. It was a hot dog stand.
Bathroom
Hallway
Who said “Berlin is the testicles of the West. Every time I want to make the West scream, I squeeze on Berlin.â€
Putin
Khrushchev
During the Cold War, Nikita Khrushchev said to Mao Zedong that “Berlin is the testicles of the West. Every time I want to make the West scream, I squeeze on Berlin.†This was the start of a close relationship between the Russian and Chinese governments
Stalin
Gorbachuv
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What countries civilian airliner was shot down by Russian forces, killing 269?
Korea
The Soviet Union shot down a Korean civilian Boeing 747 that unknowingly entered its airspace during the Cold War, killing all 269 passengers. This incident prompted the U.S. to make the GPS technology available for civilian use.
Vietnam
Germany
Poland
What animal did the CIA utilize in Operation Kitty
Dog
Cat
During the Cold War, the CIA launched Operation Kitty in which cats were surgically implanted with bugging devices to eavesdrop on Soviet conversations, after all who would suspect a cat of wearing a wire. The 1st mission failed after the cat was run over and the $15million operation was dropped.
Zebra
Dolphin
What was the name of this operation, an offshoot of the Berlin Airlift, which provided candy to West Berlin children?
Vittles
Brig. Gen. Joseph Smith, Commander of the Wiesbaden Military Post, dubbed the U.S. portion of the airlift Operation Vittles because "We're haulin' grub," he said. Lt. Gen. William H. Tunner, Director of Airlift Operations, followed suit when the candy drop started and named it Operation Little Vittles. The Berlin Airlift ran from June 27, 1948 to May 12, 1949. May 12th was the day the Soviets quit the blockade. It officially ended on Sept. 30, 1949. The West Berliners called it the "Air Bridge."
Candy
Big Gulp
Lollipop
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Which nuclear submarine was the lead ship of its class and was the first to be lost at sea, most likely to mechanical failure instead of hostile action?
Viking
Bear
Wolf
Thresher
USS Thresher (SSN-593) was conducting post-maintenance dives off of Cape Cod, MA when she was lost on April 10, 1963. Her later sister ships were first known as "593s" or "Thresher-class"; after her loss, the class was called "594s" or "Permit-class
In 1959, Project Horizon was developed by the US Army Ballistic Missile Agency to create a military base where none had existed before. Where did they plan on putting it?
Mars
Vietnam
Underwater
The Moon
Two years before President Kennedy's challenge for NASA to put a man on the moon and bring him back alive by the end of the 1960s, Heinz-Hermann Koelle decided that by the middle of the decade the United States could send dozens of missions to the moon for the aim of keeping men there for the long-term. The main building would be only ten feet by twenty feet, and was supposed to hold up to twelve people at one time. It also included two nuclear reactors, two lunar rovers, and eventually a bioscience and physics laboratory.
After WWII, what vital area of intelligence were Soviet spies most interested in?
President secret book
Nuclear Secrets
After WWII, the number one interest of Soviet intelligence agents was the acquiring of nuclear secrets. That included development, delivery systems and the location of nuclear sites.
Enigma Code
Encryption keys
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What does MAD stand for?
Mutual Assured Destruction
Mutual Assured Destruction was the phrase that was between the US and USSR, and meant that if one of the super powers launched a nuclear weapon, the other would also which would lead to mutual destruction.
Mad About Denial
Made Advertisement Denial
Mutual Assured Denial
Of the numerous military conflicts that the United States was involved in during the Cold War, how many times did Congress make an official declaration of war?
One
Two
Three
Zero
US Congress never declared war on any of the countries they were involved with. The last time they did, they declared war on Germany during WW 2.
What was the pact, signed in 1949, that enabled the US to muster the conventional forces of much of Western Europe under US military leadership?
OSCE
NATO
NATO saw a new balance of power created following the cooling in relations between the US and Soviet Union - the need for such resolve was highlighted when China became Communist (1949) and the Soviet Union had developed its first A-bomb (and carried out its first test in 1949, too).
ICE
Arctic Council
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Who used the term 'Cold War' for the first time?
Khruschev
Stalin
Baruch
The term 'Cold War' had an American origin and was used for the first time by Bernard Baruch who observed thus on 16 April 1947, 'Let us not be deceived today. We are in the midst of a Cold War.' The term was picked up by Walter Lippmann who through his book on the Cold War, popularised it.
Wilson
At the _____ Conference in February of 1945, Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill made plans to divide Germany into 3 zones (later 4). Which conference was this?
Yalta
Yalta, was the conference that divided Germany into the four sections. This conference was a success but made Stalin jealous, and started the issues between the US and the USSR
Brussels
Paris
London
The United States offered what to help influence democracy in many nations?
Marshall
The Marshall Aid plan was created by George Marshall Jr. who was the U.S. Army Chief of Staff and the Secretary of State during this time. This plan became the backbone of Eastern and Central European nations, as well as Asian and African to become democratic
John
Frank
Hitler
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The Communist bloc in Europe during the Cold War was called what?
Warsaw Pact
Warsaw is the capital of Poland, a Communist nation at the time. This was created in opposition to NATO and continued to function until the end of the Cold War
St. Petersburg Pact
Moscow Pact
Luxembourg Pact
In September 1954, the United States conducted Operation Big Itch over the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. It involved testing possible entomological infection dispersal using an uninfected insect inside cluster bombs. What insect was used?
Mosquito
Fleas
The government tested Operation Big Itch with fleas. Two types of cluster bombs were used to hold either 100,000 or 200,000 fleas to be dropped. However, the E23 bomb (which was supposed to hold 200,000 fleas) misfired inside the aircraft and the smaller bomb was used for the rest of the trials.
Black Flies
Bees
What was the name of the border site between East and West Berlin where U.S. and Soviet tanks faced each other in a tense standoff in October 1961 before both sides withdrew?
Frederik
Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie was in the infamous checkpoint between East and West Berlin. To this day, there is still a monument for it, and you can buy Cold War era souvenirs and take some photos at this infamous spot.
Douglas
Johnny
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About 1955 the US, Canada, Greenland and Iceland agreed to the construction of a chain of manned radar stations across the Arctic at roughly the 69th parallel. What was this line called?
FEW
DEW
The Distant Early Warning (DEW) line began as a reaction to US fears that the Soviet Union might launch an aerial bomb or nuclear attack over the Arctic into Canada and the US. Fifty-nine full or part-time manned radar stations were built in a line across the continent stretching from Alaska to Greenland and Iceland, about 200-300 kilometers (124-187 miles) north of the Arctic Circle. The DEW line became operational in 1957, and was expected to provide "early warning" of oncoming Soviet attack.
MEW
QUEW
What did J. Robert Oppenheimer famously say after the Trinity test?
That is one small step for man...
What now
Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds
Oppenheimer quoted from a Hindu scripture, and have become infamous due to the damage that nuclear bombs did in Japan. "That's one small step for man..." is what astronaut Neil Armstrong said when he first stepped on the moon.
I love the smell of Napalm in the morning
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