Primary
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Woodrow Wilson Center: Digital Archive: Cold War Origins

For Students 9th - 10th
This collection of primary source documents discusses international relations during World War II and the years shortly after. It begins with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signed in 1939 and ends with documents from the 1950's. The...
Unit Plan
Department of Defense

Do Dea: Ap Us History: Unit 8: An Age of Confidence and Anxiety

For Students 9th - 10th
This extensive learning module examines the United States' response to the global uncertainty and instability that followed World War II and the ways that marginalized groups challenged discrimination, and the counter-responses to their...
Handout
Country Studies US

Country Studies: The Polish People's Republic

For Students 9th - 10th
This article discusses the Soviet Union's influence in Poland following World War II and during the Cold War.
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: America's Story: The Modern Era

For Students 3rd - 8th
For a brief overview of the period after World War II until the present, visit this Library of Congress resource. Learn about the Cold War and the first man to walk on the moon.
Website
ibiblio

Ibiblio: Soviet Archives Exhibit

For Students 9th - 10th
This ibiblio.org exhibit discusses in detail the history of the Soviet Union. The site is grouped into two main categories with several sub-headings. One is Internal Workings of the Soviet System including: Repression and Terror: Stalin...
Handout
Other

St. Martin: Iron Curtain 1945 1947

For Students 9th - 10th
This article discusses the development of the Soviet Union's Communist buffer zone after World War II and its evolution into the Iron Curtain of the Cold War.
Website
Center for Educational Technologies

Nasa Classroom of the Future: Korean Enigma: Korea Divided

For Students 9th - 10th
Explores the historical events that took place between the United States and the USSR to bring about the political division of Korea on the 38th parallel into north and south after the end of World War II.
Website
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Anti Communism in the 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] An essay tracing the anti-Communist hysteria beginning in earnest at the end of World War II that resulted in Truman's federal Loyalty Security program and ending with McCarthyism in the 1950s.
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: World History: World War Ii

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about World War II history. Topics include Germany under the Nazis, appeasing Hitler, the Blitzkrieg, the bombing of London, and Berlin during the Cold War.
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: The Cold War

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a collection of 16 Grade-Leveled texts (6-12) on the topic The Cold War. After America and the Soviet Union fought as allies in World War II, a new "cold" war emerged between the two superpowers characterized not by direct...
Website
US Army Center

U.s. Army Center of Military History: Korea, Case History of a Pawn

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the U.S. Army Center of Military History provides information on Japan's control of Korea, the subsequent change of control to the United States following World War II, and the USSR's involvement.
Handout
Other

Facts About Germany: The Cold War

For Students 9th - 10th
German authors provide an article about the Soviet Union's influence in Germany during the Cold War.
eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: Post War Prosperity and Cold War Fears 1945 1960: The American Dream

For Students 11th - 12th
Looks at the policies of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, both at home and abroad. Also examines changing gender roles in the 1950s, and the impact of suburbanization on America.
Website
National Archives (UK)

Cold War: The Yalta Conference

For Students 9th - 10th
Outline of proceedings that took place at the Yalta Conference. Features student questions.
Website
US Army Center

U.s. Army Center of Military History: The Centennial: Omar Nelson Bradley

For Students 9th - 10th
This lengthy biography of General Omar Bradley was written on the centennial of his birth. It traces his life as a military man through World War I, World War II, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Included is a map that shows...
Unit Plan
CPALMS

Florida State University Cpalms: Florida Students: International Conflicts: 1914 1975

For Students 7th
This tutorial discusses four wars between 1914 and 1975 that the United States participated in. These include: World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. A PDF file of the tutorial is available.
Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Postwar Tension and Triumph

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Comprehensive teaching unit on tensions of the Cold War era: conflicts between domestic prosperity and unfulfilled expectations, ideals of conformity and individualism. Contains video and text materials, web interactives, student...
Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: The United Nations

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses the formation of the United Nations after World War II as a way to provide a venue for resolving differences between countries and as an international peacekeeping organization.
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Us History: 1945 1980: Start of the Cold War the Yalta Conference

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn how the end of World War II contributed to the rise of the Cold War.
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Cold War Germany

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes what happened to Germany at the end of World War II and the start of the Cold War, how it was divided into East and West Germany with the construction of the Berlin Wall. Western countries worked to rehabilitate their half of...
Graphic
Google Cultural Institute

Google Cultural Institute: Cold War

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the Cold War, a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc, which began following World War II.
Lesson Plan
University of Minnesota

Univerisity of Minnesota: Immigration Syllabus: Weeks 7 8

For Students 11th - 12th
Syllabus for WEEK 7: World War II and the Cold War: The Geopolitics of Immigration Reforms. WEEK 8: Family, Gender, and Sexuality
eBook
Digital History

Digital History: Postwar America: 1945 1960

For Students 9th - 10th
Chapter focus on the political, social, and economic events following World War II. Examines both foreign and domestic issues, including the origins of the Cold War and Civil Rights movements.
Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Start of Cold War, Part 1: Yalta Conference and Containment

For Students 9th - 10th
At the end of World War II, the Yalta Conference saw the splitting of Germany into four zones and the United States began a policy of containment of communism.