U.S. Citizenship Civics TestRecent American History and Other Important Historical InformationEasy
A citizenship applicant is asked to identify a key characteristic of the Cold War era. What was the primary concern of the United States during the Cold War?
- AEconomic protectionism against European trade
- BResolving internal civil rights issues
- CEstablishing global colonial empires
- DPreventing the spread of communism
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Preventing the spread of communism
The Cold War was fundamentally an ideological struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, with the U.S. dedicated to containing and preventing the global expansion of communism.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Economic protectionism was not the main concern; the focus was on ideological conflict.
- B. While important, internal civil rights issues were domestic concerns, not the primary foreign policy concern of the Cold War.
- C. The U.S. was generally moving away from colonialism, not establishing new empires.
Cold War Concern
The Cold War (1947-1991) was a geopolitical rivalry between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its satellite states, primarily characterized by an ideological struggle against communism.
- Ideological conflict: Capitalism vs. Communism
- Arms race (nuclear weapons)
- Proxy wars around the globe
- Goal of U.S.: Containment of communism
Memory trick: Cold War: Communism's Containment was the Central Concern.