Name:_________________________________________________ Date:______________ Class:__________President Ronald Reagan: The End of the Cold War, Communism in China, & The Iran Contra Affair

Part A: Short Answer: Instructions: In at least one paragraph, answer the questions below. 1. Describe the relationship the USA had with the USSR when Stalin ruled the nation and also when Khrushchev ruled the Soviet Union. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What was the Strategic Defense Initiative? Why did Reagan want to fund it? What critiques did Democrats offer against it? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What was the purpose of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty? Why did Mikhail Gorbachev support the treaty? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Describe the circumstances that led to the Soviet Union breaking apart. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Part B: Fill in the blank: Instructions: Choose terms from the word bank that complete the sentences below. Carter, Bush, Versailles, Forces, Boland, Reagan, Platt, Lebanon, Khrushchev, Realpolitik, Syria,

Nixon, Paris, Contras, Venezuela, Georgia, Gorbachev, Beijing, Saigon, Democracy1. After the Iran-Contra Affair, President ______________ had to pardon several staff members of Reagan.2. The USA and the USSR signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear _________________ Treaty in 1987.3. In 1989, protests broke out in Tiananmen Square, located in the Chinese city of __________________.4. In 1985, some Iranians took American hostages in the nation of _________________.5. To attempt to stop the USA from getting involved in revolutionary movements in Central America, Congress

passed the _______________________ Amendment.6. Reagan supported the revolutionary group called the _________________ because they opposed

Communist like governments. 7. __________________ was a part of the USSR, but became its own nation when the Soviet Union dissolved. 8. __________________ led the USSR in the 1980s and implemented glasnost.

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Answers:Part A: Short Answer: Instructions: In at least one paragraph, answer the questions below.

1. Describe the relationship the USA had with the USSR when Stalin ruled the nation and also when Khrushchev ruled the Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin was a ruthless dictator who killed and persecuted many people. Under his leadership, the USSR built nuclear weapons and entered into an arms race with the USA. Nikita Khrushchev, the General Secretary of the Communist Party after Stalin, experienced less tension with the USA. Yet, during his time in office, the USA and the USSR experienced the Cuban Missile Crisis and came close to all out nuclear war.

2. What was the Strategic Defense Initiative? Why did Reagan want to fund it? What critiques did Democrats offer against it? The Cold War was still a focus for the USA in the 1980s. Reagan pumped huge amounts of money into defense spending to ensure the USA remained more powerful than the Soviet Union of Russia, in terms of military might. He ordered the building of the Strategic Defense Initiative. He claimed it could stop nuclear missiles from hitting the USA, even suggesting it would use lasers to do so. It was nicknamed “Star Wars.” Democrats argued it was too expensive, unrealistic, and would simply increase hostility with the USSR.

3. What was the purpose of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty? Why did Mikhail Gorbachev support the treaty? Reagan’s massive commitment to defense spending was damaging the USSR’s economy as they tried to keep up. Gorbachev wanted to reduce military tension so the USSR could stop trying to keep up with defense spending. This led to Reagan and Gorbachev to sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty). This banned   nuclear   and   conventional ground-launched   ballistic   and   cruise missiles   with intermediate ranges, defined as between (300-3,400 miles). It also allowed inspection of nuclear capabilities between the USA and the USSR.

4. Describe the circumstances that led to the Soviet Union breaking apart. Gorbachev’s desire to implement some forms of Democracy, the desire to reduce military funding in the USSR to cease trying to keep up with Reagan’s defense spending, and the decline of the USSR’s economy led to the Soviet Union breaking apart. The Soviet Union consisted of Russia and the Russian control of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Yet, by 1991, these nations had broken away from the core nation, Russia. Russia became a Democracy and the other areas were allowed to form their own national governments. This was the end of the Soviet Union alliance.

Part B: Fill in the blank: Instructions: Choose terms from the word bank that complete the sentences below. Carter, Bush, Versailles, Forces, Boland, Reagan, Platt, Lebanon, Khrushchev, Realpolitik, Syria,

Nixon, Paris, Contras, Venezuela, Georgia, Gorbachev, Beijing, Saigon, Democracy1. After the Iran-Contra Affair, President Bush had to pardon several staff members of Reagan.2. The USA and the USSR signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987.3. In 1989, protests broke out in Tiananmen Square, located in the Chinese city of Beijing.4. In 1985, some Iranians took American hostages in the nation of Lebanon.5. To attempt to stop the USA from getting involved in revolutionary movements in Central America, Congress

passed the Boland Amendment.6. Reagan supported the revolutionary group called the Contras because they opposed Communist like

governments. 7. Georgia was a part of the USSR, but became its own nation when the Soviet Union dissolved. 8. Gorbachev led the USSR in the 1980s and implemented glasnost.

Copyright, USHistoryTeachers.com All Rights Reserved.