CNN Cold War Documentary Viewing Questions (Episodes 1–24)

This resource contains viewing question sheets for a complete 24-episode Cold War documentary series, covering events from 1945 to 1991.

All questions have been written manually. Each episode has been watched in full, and the questions were created specifically to match the content and chronology of the documentary.

Each episode includes a dedicated set of structured questions designed to:

Support student understanding while watching

Encourage active engagement rather than passive viewing

Check key factual knowledge

Provide a clear written record of learning

All episodes have been shown in full, with questions written to closely follow the documentary content and sequence of events.

Curriculum suitability

This resource is suitable for:

IGCSE History

IB History

UK and international secondary history courses

The relevance of each episode to IGCSE and IB History topics is outlined below.

Episode overview and curriculum links

Episodes 1–2: Origins of the Cold War
IGCSE: Reasons for superpower tension after 1945
IB: Rival ideologies, wartime alliances, breakdown of relations

Episodes 3–4: Post-war Europe and economic reconstruction
IGCSE: Marshall Plan, division of Europe
IB: Economic strategies, emergence of blocs

Episodes 5–6: Germany and Berlin
IGCSE: Berlin Blockade, Berlin Wall
IB: Impact of Germany on superpower relations

Episodes 7–9: The Cold War in Asia
IGCSE: Korean War
IB: Regional conflicts and superpower involvement

Episodes 10–11: Cuba and superpower confrontation
IGCSE: Cuban Missile Crisis
IB: Brinkmanship and crisis management

Episodes 12–14: Vietnam and Cold War escalation
IGCSE: Vietnam War
IB: Causes, course, and consequences of proxy wars

Episodes 15–17: Détente and the arms race
IGCSE: Détente
IB: SALT, changing superpower relations

Episodes 18–20: The Soviet bloc and internal challenges
IGCSE: Control of Eastern Europe
IB: Methods of control and resistance

Episodes 21–22: Reform and decline of Soviet power
IGCSE: Gorbachev and the end of the Cold War
IB: Structural weaknesses of the USSR

Episodes 23–24: The end of the Cold War
IGCSE: Collapse of Soviet control
IB: End of superpower rivalry