A Level History chapter 5: A Level: The origins and development of the Cold War, 1941-1950 MCQs with answers
By Team Megalecture · Updated 4 Nov 2026
46 exam-style questions on A Level: The origins and development of the Cold War, 1941-1950, each with the answer and a short explanation. Ten of them are below to try. The chapter test draws ten fresh questions each time and is marked the moment you finish, with your score by topic.
Tensions in the wartime alliance and peace-making, 1941-194512 questions
Increasing tensions in a divided Europe, 1945-194712 questions
The Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan and the Berlin Blockade12 questions
Historians' approaches to the origins of the Cold War10 questions
Ten A Level: The origins and development of the Cold War, 1941-1950 questions with answers
Try each one, then open the answer. These ten stay the same; the test draws new ones every time.
1. Why is the Truman Doctrine seen as a turning point in US foreign policy?
A
it committed the USA to opposing communism well beyond the Americas
B
it set up the United Nations with the USA as a permanent member
C
it ended US wartime aid to Britain and France
D
it was the first peacetime US military alliance with Western European states
Show answer
Answer: A. It broke with the tradition of avoiding peacetime commitments outside the Americas and set the framework of containment.
2. How did the Western powers respond to the Berlin Blockade?
A
they sent an armed convoy along the autobahn to break through
B
they withdrew from West Berlin
C
they supplied West Berlin by air for about eleven months
D
they bombed Soviet positions around Berlin
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Answer: C. The airlift carried food and fuel until Stalin lifted the blockade in May 1949, avoiding direct armed confrontation.
3. What did George Kennan argue in his Long Telegram of February 1946?
A
that Soviet expansion could be contained by firm, patient pressure
B
that the USSR wanted lasting peaceful cooperation with the West
C
that the USA should launch a preventive war while it had the bomb
D
that the USSR's economy would collapse within five years of the war
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Answer: A. Kennan saw Soviet policy as driven by insecurity and ideology but cautious in the face of strength. His ideas shaped containment.
4. How were German reparations settled at Potsdam?
A
Germany would pay a fixed sum in gold, mostly to the USA
B
reparations were abandoned to help German recovery
C
each power would take reparations mainly from its own zone
D
the USSR would receive all German industry east of the Rhine
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Answer: C. The zonal compromise meant Germany was treated less as one economic unit, which became a source of later disputes.
5. Which historian is most associated with the Revisionist argument that US economic expansion, the 'Open Door', drove the Cold War?
A
Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
B
John Lewis Gaddis
C
Herbert Feis
D
William Appleman Williams
Show answer
Answer: D. Williams's The Tragedy of American Diplomacy (1959) inspired revisionism. Schlesinger and Feis are usually seen as orthodox, Gaddis as post-revisionist.
6. What was Cominform, set up in September 1947?
A
a body coordinating European communist parties under Soviet lead
B
the Soviet bloc's economic answer to the Marshall Plan, set up in 1947
C
the military alliance of the Eastern bloc states
D
the East German secret police set up with Soviet help
Show answer
Answer: A. Cominform tightened Soviet control over communist parties; Zhdanov described the world as split into two camps. Comecon (1949) was the economic body.
7. What was Comecon, founded in January 1949?
A
the military alliance of the Eastern bloc, led by the USSR
B
the Soviet bloc's organisation for economic cooperation
C
a Soviet intelligence network
D
a UN agency for refugees
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Answer: B. Comecon was presented as an answer to the Marshall Plan. The military alliance, the Warsaw Pact, came in 1955.
8. What was decided about Poland's western border at Potsdam?
A
the pre-war frontier of 1939 would be restored in full
B
Poland would gain East Prussia but no other German land
C
a plebiscite would decide the border in Silesia
D
the Oder-Neisse line, pending a final peace settlement
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Answer: D. German territory east of the Oder-Neisse was placed under Polish administration, and Germans there were expelled. The West regarded the line as provisional.
9. Which Western action in June 1948 triggered the Berlin Blockade?
A
the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty creating NATO
B
the introduction of the Deutsche Mark in the western zones
C
the withdrawal of US troops from their sector of Berlin
D
the election of Adenauer as Chancellor of a new West German state
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Answer: B. The currency reform was a step towards a separate West German state. Stalin responded by closing land routes to West Berlin.
10. How did official Soviet-era historians explain the origins of the Cold War?
A
as caused by US and Western imperialism threatening the USSR
B
as the fault of Stalin's personal rule and policies
C
as a shared misunderstanding between two superpowers
D
as the result of British imperial policy in the Middle East and Greece
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Answer: A. Soviet accounts blamed Western capitalist aggression. Criticism of Stalin's role became possible in Russia mainly after glasnost and the opening of archives.
A Level: The origins and development of the Cold War, 1941-1950: questions students ask
How many A Level: The origins and development of the Cold War, 1941-1950 MCQs are there?
46, each with the answer and a short explanation, across 4 topics: Tensions in the wartime alliance and peace-making, 1941-1945, Increasing tensions in a divided Europe, 1945-1947, The Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan and the Berlin Blockade, Historians' approaches to the origins of the Cold War. Every chapter test draws ten of them, so you can take it many times.
Is the A Level History chapter 5 test free?
Yes. The test, the answers and the explanations are free and need no sign-up. Sign in only if you want your scores kept across devices.
How is the chapter test marked?
The moment you press Finish: your score, the right answer and an explanation for every question, and the ones you got wrong saved in My mistakes to retry.
