Mini-Lesson

Clash of Ideologies in Europe 1900–2000

This mini-lesson covers CCEA Unit A2 1, Option 5 — Clash of Ideologies in Europe 1900–2000: the relationship between Communist Russia and neighbouring western governments from the 1917 Revolution to the collapse of the USSR in 1991, exploring ideology, pragmatism, success and failure.

Where this sits: A2 1 is a synoptic 'change over time' unit. Option 5 is one of five options; you study one.

Answer the questions as you go and collect ⭐ stars. Press Start when you're ready.

Russia and Europe 1900–17

Tsarist foreign policy before 1917

Before the Revolution, Tsarist Russia was drawn into the European alliance system. The Franco-Russian Alliance (1894) and the Anglo-Russian Entente (1907) completed the Triple Entente with France and Britain, aligning Russia against Germany and Austria-Hungary in the run-up to the First World War.

Quick check

Before 1917

?The Anglo-Russian Entente of 1907 helped complete which grouping?

Revolutionary Russia 1917–33

Revolution and western hostility

The October Revolution (1917) and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918) took Russia out of the war and alarmed the West.
Western powers backed the Whites in the Civil War, and the new state founded the Comintern (1919) to promote world revolution.
Isolated, the USSR sought openings — notably the Treaty of Rapallo (1922) with Germany — and won diplomatic recognition (from Britain in 1924).

Quick check

Early Soviet diplomacy

?What was the Comintern, founded in 1919?

The struggle for survival 1933–45

From collective security to the Grand Alliance

Facing Nazi Germany, the USSR joined the League of Nations (1934) and pursued 'collective security'.
When that failed, Stalin signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact (23 August 1939).
Germany's invasion (Operation Barbarossa, June 1941) drove the USSR into the Grand Alliance with Britain and the USA, sealed at Yalta and Potsdam (1945).

Sort it

Which phase?

Tap a card, then tap the phase it belongs to.

🕊️ Interwar 1917–39

❄️ Cold War onset 1945–56

🌍 Détente & collapse 1956–91

Quick check

1939

?What did the Nazi-Soviet Pact of August 1939 involve?

The search for security 1945–56

The Cold War hardens

Wartime allies split into hostile blocs. The USA's Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan (1947) aimed to contain communism.
The Berlin Blockade (1948–49) and the founding of NATO (1949) deepened the divide; the USSR answered with the Warsaw Pact (1955).
After Stalin's death (1953), the Hungarian Uprising (1956) was crushed, showing the limits of any thaw.

Order it

Put the events in order

Tap the events from earliest to latest.

Co-operation and coexistence 1956–79

Confrontation and détente

Khrushchev spoke of 'peaceful coexistence', yet crises followed: the Berlin Wall (1961) and the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), the Cold War's closest brush with nuclear war.
The 1970s brought détente: arms control through SALT I (1972) and the Helsinki Accords (1975).

Quick check

1962

?Why is the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 significant?

Aggression, decline and collapse 1979–91

The end of the Soviet system

Détente broke down with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979). Under Mikhail Gorbachev (from 1985), the reforms of glasnost ('openness') and perestroika ('restructuring') loosened control. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and the USSR was dissolved in 1991, ending the ideological clash that had shaped the century.

Match it

Match each development to its significance

Tap a development on the left, then its significance on the right.

Development

Significance

Quick check

Ideology and pragmatism

?Which statement best captures Soviet foreign policy across the century?

Recap

The big ideas to know

1900–17: Tsarist alliances — Franco-Russian 1894, Anglo-Russian Entente 1907.

1917–33: Revolution and hostility; Comintern 1919; Rapallo 1922; recognition.

1933–45: collective security, League 1934, Nazi-Soviet Pact 1939, Grand Alliance.

1945–56: Truman Doctrine/Marshall Plan 1947; Berlin Blockade; NATO 1949; Warsaw Pact 1955; Hungary 1956.

1956–91: Berlin Wall 1961; Cuban Missile Crisis 1962; détente (SALT I, Helsinki); Afghanistan 1979; Gorbachev; collapse 1991.

Press Finish to see your score.