The Cold War
The Cold War, a period or geopolitical tension between the United States and Soviet Union, was a direct result of major events in the late 19th and early/mid 20th centuries. Using the knowledge you learned throughout the year, as well as the documents below, address the following prompt.
Examine three of the major events we have studied below, and identify how they were ultimately the direct causes of the Cold War. In your answer, address one political, one economic and one social aspect for each event, with details showing its influence on the Cold War.
Imperialism Apartheid World War I The Russian Revolution The Armenian Genocide The Weimar Republic/Inte World War II/Holocaust The Middle East Independence of India
Then, in a well-argued, five (5) paragraph essay, include the following:
• Introduction (1 paragraph)
o Attention-getter
o A brief overview of the Cold War
o A transition to your thesis statement (2 sentence thesis statement)
• Three points to support your argument
• The significance of WHY your argument matters
• Three (3) body paragraphs
o A clear topic sentence that lets the reader know what you will argue
o 3 pieces of evidence – 2 different documents used and one outside source per paragraph.
o Argues the political, economic and social impact per paragraph.
o Explanation of how and why your evidence supports your argument (think significance)
• Conclusion (1 paragraph)
o Restate your argument (but do not recopy your thesis statement word-for-word)
o Connect your main points together
o Clearly state why the reader should care about this topic – what is the larger significance?
