Idaho Social Studies 9-12.US2.25
The Standard
Compare various ways the United States and the Soviet Union built and strengthened economic, political, and military alliances with countries during this period. These may include: • Truman Doctrine • Marshall Plan • North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) • Occupation and rebuilding of Japan and West Germany • Warsaw Pact • Occupation and rebuilding of Eastern Europe
Idaho Content Standards: K-12 Social Studies · Affluence, Cold War, and Social Revolutions 1945-1974
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how the United States and Soviet Union used aid, rebuilding, political influence, and defense agreements to gain allies. They compare how each approach worked.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain how US aid helped rebuild West Germany and Japan, while Soviet military presence helped secure aligned governments in Eastern Europe. They can identify NATO and the Warsaw Pact as military alliances, then explain one difference in how the two sides gained support.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may call the Marshall Plan a military alliance or assume NATO paid for rebuilding. Some think the Warsaw Pact began right after World War II, or that Eastern European governments joined the Soviet bloc without pressure.
How to Assess It
- On an exit ticket, ask: How did the Marshall Plan and Soviet-backed governments in Eastern Europe each strengthen a bloc? Name one difference in how they worked.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Have pairs sort cards on the Marshall Plan, NATO, the Warsaw Pact, rebuilding Japan, and Soviet control of Eastern Europe by aid, defense, or control.
Ask students to write how US rebuilding aid and Soviet pressure on Poland built alliances in different ways.
Teams match Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, NATO, and Warsaw Pact cards to dated descriptions of each policy's purpose.
Put a current NATO map beside a 1970 alliance map and ask students to name two countries whose alignment changed.
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