Free quiz · 8 questions · Warm-up to Boss

The Cold War quiz

How well do you really know The Cold War? These 8 questions start easy and end with a Boss round. There are no multiple choice options: you type what you know, and every answer is checked against the key facts.

60 seconds a question, one 2x boost, and a leaderboard. Playing with friends writes a fresh set of The Cold War questions for your group.

The questions

1. Warm-up

   Cold War’s heavyweight face-off: name the two superpowers, and say which one was communist-led.

   Show the answer

   • The United States
   • The Soviet Union
   • The Soviet Union was communist-led
2. Warm-up

   What 1962 crisis brought the United States and Soviet Union close to nuclear war, and what had the Soviets placed in Cuba?

   Show the answer

   • The crisis was the Cuban Missile Crisis
   • The Soviet Union placed missiles in Cuba
   • The missiles were nuclear-capable
3. Easy

   What was the U.S.-led Cold War policy for limiting communism called, and what was it trying to prevent?

   Show the answer

   • The policy was called containment
   • It aimed to prevent communism from spreading
   • It focused on limiting communist influence
4. Easy

   What was the Soviet-led military alliance called, and which rival alliance was it formed to counter?

   Show the answer

   • It was the Warsaw Pact, also called the Warsaw Treaty Organization.
   • It was formed in 1955.
   • It was led by the Soviet Union.
   • It was formed to counter NATO.
5. Easy

   Which Soviet satellite made history in 1957, and what spaceflight first did it achieve?

   Show the answer

   • It was Sputnik 1.
   • It was the first artificial satellite.
   • It became the first artificial object to orbit Earth.
6. Easy

   What was the 1948–49 airlift that supplied West Berlin called, and what essential goods did its planes carry?

   Show the answer

   • It was the Berlin Airlift
   • Planes supplied West Berlin
   • Cargo included food and fuel
   • Other supplies included medicine
7. Hard

   What 1975 pact affirmed European borders: name it, say which borders it recognized, and name the rights it pledged to respect.

   Show the answer

   • The Helsinki Final Act
   • It affirmed existing European borders
   • It included commitments to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms
8. Boss

   Name the 1987 U.S.–Soviet treaty, say what kind of missile launchers it covered, and give the missiles’ range band.

   Show the answer

   • The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF Treaty
   • It covered ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles
   • The missiles had ranges from 500 to 5,500 kilometers

How scoring works

• Each question has 2 or 3 key facts. Each one earns full, half or no credit, so a wrong answer scores zero.
• Later questions are worth more, fast answers earn a bonus, and great answers in a row build a streak.
• A famous myth or a clear factual error halves the points.

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