1. What was the impact of leaders?

Activity 1 - Which Cold War leaders?

Select - Pick two Cold War leaders, each from a different region. Select from the options on this worksheet. Remember which option you choose - you will continue with this option for crises and nations:
1. Option 1 - Early Cold War - Joseph Stalin vs. Harry S. Truman
2. Option 2 - Early Cold War - Joseph Stalin vs. Harry S. Truman
3. Option 3 - Mid Cold War - Nikita Khrushchev vs. John F. Kennedy
4. Option 4 - Mid Cold War - Dwight D. Eisenhower vs. Mao Zedong
5. Option 5 - Late Cold War - Leonid Brezhnev vs. Jimmy Carter
6. Option 6 - Late Cold War - Mikhail Gorbachev vs. Ronald Reagan
Biographies - Begin researching your Cold War leaders by examining their early lives. Complete the first part of this worksheet by researching at least five biographical details about the lives of your leaders before they gained power.
Supporters - In many cases, the foreign policies of Cold War leaders were influenced by the roles and ideas of other significant politicians in their governments. Complete the second part of your worksheet by researching and identifying at least two other significant individuals or groups that influenced or worked for your leader.

Key Policies - Complete the third row of your table by researching and making note of the key foreign policies, doctrines, strategies and other aims your leader had in the Cold War.
Key Events - Consider next the key events that your leader was involved in and how they put their policies into practice. Which events could be considered successes, and which could be considered failures?

Impact - Now complete the last row of your table by reflecting on the impact that your leader had on the course and development of the Cold War. Consider the following questions for each leader:
1. Severity - Did they escalate or de-escalate tensions?
2. Scope - Did they increase or decrease the scale of the conflict?
3. Nature - Did they change the nature of the conflict?
4. Range - Did they change the geographic reach of the conflict?
5. Dynamics - Did the solve or increase underlying tensions?
Summarise - Write a summary for the impact that each leader had on the course and development of the Cold War. Use page two of this connectives mat to find words to help you explain their impact.

Examine - What were the main similarities between the two leaders? Consider at least three ways in which you can compare the two leaders for similarities in terms of their impact on the course and development of the Cold War.
Explore - Now consider the main differences between the two leaders in terms of their impact on the course and development of the Cold War. Add these to your worksheets.
Discuss - Who was the more effective Cold War leader? Discuss this question as a class before noting down your answer with at least three reasons.
Research - Finally, complete the second page of your worksheet by recording different historical viewpoints and perspectives on your two leaders. You can include contemporary accounts, and the views of historians.