Paper 1 C8 A world divided: superpower relations, 1945-62

Textbooks

• Ben Walsh, GCSE Modern World History, sections 11, 12 and 14.1 (Walsh).
• See also R. Bunce, et al. Edexcel ICGSE Student Handbook, Unit 2, pp. 66-107. (Edexcel).

Websites

• For key points and mnemonics see John D. Clare’s brilliant pages on the Causes of the Cold War and then on the Development of the Cold War.
• A really good timeline can be found at this US Department of State website (archived)

Scheme of Work
There are six key areas of knowledge and understanding that you need to master in this section of the course:

1. Causes of the Cold War
2. The Wartime Conferences, 1945
3. Early Developments and First Berlin Crisis, 1946-49
4. Korea, Khrushchev and Hungary, 1950-1956
5. The Arms race, U2 Incident and Second Berlin Crisis, 1957-1961
6. The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962

In addition to the items above, see also:

• A Revision page for Superpower Relations
• Videos about the Cold War available from this page.