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Social Studies 30-1

Social Studies 30-1 · Worksheets

Communism, fascism and the Cold War · Set B

Ten questions of mixed difficulty, covering Communism, fascism, Cold War. Print it, or work through it on screen — the answer key starts on its own page.

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Communism, fascism and the Cold War · Set B

Social Studies 30-1 · maddyhelps.com

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Circle the best answer for each question. Use the space to note the reasoning or the source detail that decided it.

  1. A command (planned) economy most directly rejects which liberal principle?

    1. a) Economic freedom, because the state decides what is produced and at what price
    2. b) Freedom of religion
    3. c) The rule of law
    4. d) The separation of powers

  2. Collectivization of agriculture in the Soviet Union meant that:

    1. a) farmers were given more land to own privately
    2. b) the government bought crops at market prices
    3. c) peasants were forced to give up private farms and join state-controlled collective farms
    4. d) farming was left entirely to private companies

  3. What were Stalin's Five-Year Plans meant to do?

    1. a) Return farms to private owners
    2. b) Rapidly industrialize the Soviet Union
    3. c) Hold free elections every five years
    4. d) Reduce the size of the army

  4. The idea of "mutually assured destruction" (MAD) meant that:

    1. a) one side could win a nuclear war quickly
    2. b) neither superpower would launch a nuclear attack, because both would be destroyed
    3. c) both superpowers agreed to destroy their weapons
    4. d) nuclear weapons were only for testing

  5. What was NATO when it was formed in 1949?

    1. a) A military alliance of Western countries, including Canada, for collective defence
    2. b) A trade agreement between the United States and Mexico
    3. c) A United Nations peacekeeping force
    4. d) An alliance of communist countries in Eastern Europe

  6. Fascism places the highest value on:

    1. a) international cooperation and peace
    2. b) the nation and a single strong leader, above individual rights
    3. c) equal ownership of all property
    4. d) individual rights and free elections

  7. Why was scapegoating central to fascist movements such as the Nazi Party?

    1. a) Blaming a targeted group for the nation's problems united people against a common "enemy"
    2. b) It reduced the power of the leader
    3. c) It encouraged debate between different political parties
    4. d) It protected the rights of minority groups

  8. The Cold War was mainly a rivalry between:

    1. a) the United States and the Soviet Union
    2. b) Britain and Germany
    3. c) China and Japan
    4. d) Canada and the United States

  9. Which is a feature of a totalitarian state?

    1. a) An independent judiciary that limits the government
    2. b) Several political parties competing in free elections
    3. c) Secret police and censorship controlling nearly every part of life
    4. d) A free press that criticizes the leader

  10. The American policy of containment aimed to:

    1. a) keep the United States out of world affairs
    2. b) remove all nuclear weapons
    3. c) overthrow the Soviet government directly
    4. d) stop communism from spreading to more countries

Answer key · Communism, fascism and the Cold War · Set B

Social Studies 30-1 · maddyhelps.com

  1. a) Economic freedom, because the state decides what is produced and at what price — In a command economy, planners replace the market: no free choice of what to make, sell or buy, and no private ownership of industry. That strikes at economic freedom and private property.
  2. c) peasants were forced to give up private farms and join state-controlled collective farms — Private farms were abolished, often by force. Resistance was crushed, and the disruption contributed to devastating famines, including the Holodomor in Ukraine in 1932–33.
  3. b) Rapidly industrialize the Soviet Union — Beginning in 1928, the state set production targets for steel, coal and machinery. Industry grew quickly, but at a huge human cost.
  4. b) neither superpower would launch a nuclear attack, because both would be destroyed — If either side attacked, the other could still strike back with enough force to destroy it. That deterrence kept the Cold War from turning into a nuclear war.
  5. a) A military alliance of Western countries, including Canada, for collective defence — Canada was a founding member. Its core principle is that an attack on one member is an attack on all. The Soviet side answered with the Warsaw Pact in 1955.
  6. b) the nation and a single strong leader, above individual rights — Fascism is ultranationalist: the nation comes first, the leader embodies it, and individual rights exist only as far as they serve the state.
  7. a) Blaming a targeted group for the nation's problems united people against a common "enemy" — The Nazis blamed Jewish people, and others, for Germany's defeat and economic crisis. Scapegoating built unity through hatred and led to the persecution and genocide of the Holocaust.
  8. a) the United States and the Soviet Union — The two superpowers never fought a direct war, but competed for decades through alliances, an arms race and wars in other countries.
  9. c) Secret police and censorship controlling nearly every part of life — "Total" is the point: the state tries to control not just politics but the economy, media, education and even private life. The other three describe liberal democracy.
  10. d) stop communism from spreading to more countries — Containment accepted that the USSR existed but tried to stop its influence spreading — through aid like the Marshall Plan, alliances like NATO, and sometimes war.