Materials

• Outline maps
• Colored pencils
• Textbook
• Atlas

Instructional Activities

1. Distribute to students an outline map of the world during the Cold War or, alternatively, two separate maps — one of Europe and one of Asia. Explain to students that they will develop their map so that it will
   • offer them additional information about what regions of the world were under communist control
   • provide information on how the countries of the West worked together to protect themselves from the communist threat by forming military alliances, such as NATO
   • show three of the major trouble spots of the Cold War.
   
   
2.   Have students use their textbooks and other resources, such as an atlas of history, to do the following:
   • Color and label the communist bloc countries of the Soviet Union.
   • Color and label China (fell to communism in 1949 under Mao Tse-Tung).
   • Color and label the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (formed in 1949).
   • Indicate the countries that were members of the Warsaw Pact.
   • Indicate the location of the Iron Curtain.
   • Color and label North Korea (communist) and South Korea.
   • Color and label North Vietnam (communist) and South Vietnam.
   • Color and label Cuba (fell to communism in 1959 under Fidel Castro).
   • Include a map legend.
   
   
3. After students have completed their maps, have students answer the following questions, working in pairs or as a group:
   • What year was NATO organized?
   • From your map and considering past historical events, why did countries in the West feel that they needed to protect themselves?
   • What year was the Warsaw Pact organized?
   • What problems could have been foreseen for the countries of North and South Korea? For North and South Vietnam?
   • Why was the United States concerned about the fall of Cuba and China to communism?
   • What role do you see the United States playing in the effort to address the growing influence of the Soviet Union?
   
   
4. To conclude this session, explain to students the principle that shaped American foreign policy during the Cold War. Explain the importance of the Truman Doctrine and the policy of “containment” that it promoted. Emphasize that the goal of American foreign policy was to contain communism, not to “liberate” countries from communist rule.