63 riddles about cold war with answers

The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies. It began after World War II and lasted until the early 1990s. Though no direct military campaigns were fought between the two superpowers, the Cold War nonetheless shaped global events for over four decades. This article presents 63 riddles related to the Cold War and its key events, figures, and dynamics. The riddles span the origins of the tensions to the conflict’s end in 1991.

Riddles about the origins of the Cold War

Here are 21 riddles about the factors that contributed to the start of the Cold War after WWII:

1. Built like a wall, I divided a city into east and west. What am I?
2. We convened in July 1945 to shape the postwar world. Truman, Churchill and Stalin were among the “big three” at me. What conference am I?
3. I outlined how Germany would be divided into four occupied zones after World War II. What document am I?
4. I was a 1946 speech by Winston Churchill that spoke of an iron curtain dividing Europe. What historical phrase am I?
5. I was established in 1947 to provide aid to Western Europe and counter Soviet influence there. What U.S.-led effort am I?
6. In 1948, I cut off all roads, rails and water access into the western-controlled sectors of Berlin. What Soviet blockade am I?
7. I was the U.S. response to fly supplies into blockaded Berlin. What 1948-1949 operation was I?
8. I was the 1949 collective defense treaty between the U.S., Canada and Western European nations. What alliance am I?
9. I was established in 1955 as a military alliance between the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc states. What pact am I?
10. In 1946, I gave my “Long Telegram” outlining my containment strategy for dealing with Soviet expansionism. Who am I?
11. My policy of contenment aimed to stop the spread of communism worldwide. What U.S. foreign policy doctrine am I?
12. I was the 1950 National Security Council paper arguing for significant U.S. military buildup to contain the Soviets. What proposal am I?
13. In 1949, I was the first Soviet atomic bomb test that ended the U.S. nuclear monopoly. What was I code-named?
14. My trials in 1949 found 12 eastern European communist leaders guilty of colluding with imperialism. Where was I held?
15. I was the first nuclear fusion bomb, tested by the U.S. in 1952. What was I nicknamed?
16. My 1953 speech denounced Stalin’s cult of personality. Who am I?
17. I crushed the 1956 Hungarian uprising against Soviet control. Who am I?
18. My spy plane was shot down in 1960 while flying over the Soviet Union. What incident am I?
19. I built the Berlin Wall in 1961 to divide West from East Berlin. Who am I?
20. In 1962, I sparked fears of nuclear war by stationing Soviet missiles in Cuba. What crisis am I?
21. My failed 1961 CIA-backed invasion of Cuba was a huge embarrassment for the U.S. What was I called?

Answers:

1. The Berlin Wall
2. The Potsdam Conference
3. The Potsdam Agreement
4. “Iron Curtain”
5. The Marshall Plan
6. The Berlin Blockade
7. The Berlin Airlift
8. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
9. The Warsaw Pact
10. George Kennan
11. Containment
12. NSC-68
13. Joe-1
14. The Budapest Show Trials
15. The H-bomb (hydrogen bomb)
16. Nikita Khrushchev
17. Leonid Brezhnev
18. The U-2 Incident
19. Nikita Khrushchev
20. The Cuban Missile Crisis
21. The Bay of Pigs Invasion

Riddles about the nuclear arms race

Here are 12 riddles about the nuclear weapons buildup between the U.S. and Soviet Union:

22. I was the first Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile, introduced in 1957. What was I called?
23. I was the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis agreement between Kennedy and Khrushchev to remove missiles from Cuba and Turkey. What was I named after?
24. In 1963, I established a Moscow-Washington hotline for crisis communication. What agreement am I?
25. I was the 1963 treaty banning above-ground nuclear weapons testing signed by the U.S., Soviet Union and Britain. What was I named after?
26. In 1968, I pledged non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and disarmament goals. What treaty am I?
27. I was Richard Nixon’s 1969 doctrine saying allies should provide more for their own defense. What doctrine am I?
28. Strategic Arms Limitation Talks in the 1970s produced me, an anti-ballistic missile treaty between the superpowers. What was I called?
29. In 1972, I limited the number of ballistic missile launchers held by the U.S. and Soviet Union. What treaty am I?
30. My détente policy aimed to ease Cold War tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union in the 1970s. Who am I?
31. I allowed U.S. satellites to verify Soviet missile compliance with arms treaties. What was I called?
32. In 1979, NATO approved me, the deployment of U.S. nuclear-tipped missiles in Western Europe. What was I called?
33. I was Reagan’s 1983 plan to develop a missile defense shield. What initiative was I?

Answers:

22. The R-7 Semyorka
23. The Moscow-Washington hotline
24. The Limited Test Ban Treaty
25. The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
26. The Nixon Doctrine
27. The Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty
28. The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I)
29. Richard Nixon
30. The National Technical Means (NTM)
31. The 1979 NATO Double-Track Decision
32. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

Riddles about Cold War conflicts

Here are 15 riddles about proxy wars and regional conflicts linked to U.S.-Soviet rivalry:

34. I was the 1950-1953 Korean War between communist North Korea and U.S.-backed South Korea. What was I nicknamed?
35. I advised Kennedy during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Who am I?
36. My Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave Johnson broad power to escalate U.S. involvement in Vietnam. What resolution was I?
37. I was the communist leader of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Who am I?
38. I was the 1973 agreement that ended U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. What peace agreement am I?
39. I led the communist takeover of China in 1949 and established the People’s Republic. Who am I?
40. I was the 1950-1953 conflict where UN forces defended South Korea from communist North Korea. What war was I?
41. My domino theory argued that if one country fell to communism, surrounding countries would follow. What theory was I?
42. I advised Kennedy after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion to take a hard line against Cuba and communism. Who am I?
43. I was the group of advisors who urged Kennedy to invade Cuba during the 1962 missile crisis. What committee was I?
44. I argued for bombing the missile sites in Cuba first during the crisis. Who am I?
45. I flew secret U-2 spy plane missions over Cuba during the crisis. Who am I?
46. I convinced Kennedy to first blockade Cuba instead of immediately bombing it. Who am I?
47. I was the Soviet leader who agreed to remove missiles from Cuba in 1962. Who am I?
48. Détente led to me, the 1975 accord recognizing West and East Germany. What was I called?

Answers:

34. The Forgotten War
35. EXCOMM (Executive Committee of the National Security Council)
36. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
37. Ho Chi Minh
38. The Paris Peace Accords
39. Mao Zedong
40. The Korean War
41. The domino theory
42. Dean Rusk
43. The Executive Committee (EXCOMM)
44. Curtis LeMay
45. Major Rudolf Anderson
46. Robert Kennedy
47. Nikita Khrushchev
48. The Helsinki Accords

Riddles about internal Soviet and Eastern Bloc issues

Here are 15 riddles related to challenges within the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War:

49. My thaw relaxed artistic censorship and freed political prisoners in the mid-1950s Soviet Union. What was I called?
50. I crushed the 1956 Hungarian Uprising against Soviet control. What was I named after?
51. I built the Berlin Wall in 1961 after 3 million East Germans fled to the West. Who am I?
52. In 1968 I intervened militarily to stop liberal reforms in Czechoslovakia. What operation was I?
53. I was the shipbuilding labor strike in Poland in 1980 that gave rise to the Solidarity movement. What was I called?
54. I led the Soviet Union from 1964-1982 and oversaw détente with the West. Who am I?
55. I took over as Soviet leader in 1982 and opposed political reforms. Who am I?
56. I took power in 1985 and began political openness and economic reforms in the Soviet Union. Who am I?
57. My policy of glasnost called for increased government transparency in the Soviet Union. What policy was I?
58. My policy of perestroika aimed to restructure the Soviet economy by introducing market reforms. What policy was I?
59. I was the 1986 nuclear power plant meltdown that exposed Soviet secrecy. What disaster was I?
60. I was Poland’s anti-communist trade union and social movement in the 1980s. What was I called?
61. I was the 1989 nonviolent revolution that overthrew communism in Czechoslovakia. What was I called?
62. That same year I peacefully ended communist rule in Romania. What was I called?
63. I tore down the Berlin Wall in November 1989 after East Germany opened borders to the West. What was I called?

Answers:

49. The Khrushchev Thaw
50. Operation Whirlwind
51. Nikita Khrushchev
52. Operation Danube
53. The Gdansk Shipyard Strike
54. Leonid Brezhnev
55. Yuri Andropov
56. Mikhail Gorbachev
57. Glasnost
58. Perestroika
59. The Chernobyl Disaster
60. Solidarity
61. The Velvet Revolution
62. The Romanian Revolution
63. The Peaceful Revolution

Riddles about the end of the Cold War

Here are 15 final riddles about the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s-early 1990s:

64. My policy of non-intervention let Eastern Bloc regimes fall with little Soviet resistance. What Soviet stance was I?
65. I authorized the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 after opening East German borders. Who am I?
66. I was the last leader of the Soviet Union before its dissolution in 1991. Who am I?
67. I sought to revitalize the Soviet economy through market reforms in the 1980s. What was I called?
68. I reduced long-range nuclear arms in the landmark START I treaty with the U.S. Who am I?
69. I withdrew Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1988-1989 after 9 years of war. Who am I?
70. I was the 1989 protest in China crushed by the military after calls for democracy. What was I named after?
71. The 1990 treaty reunified East and West Germany and paved the way for the USSR’s demise. What was I called?
72. I dissolved the Warsaw Pact military alliance in 1991. Who am I?
73. My August 1991 coup tried but failed to seize control from Gorbachev. What was I called?
74. I enacted reforms that hastened the end of the USSR in 1991. Who am I?
75. On Christmas Day 1991, I officially dissolved the Soviet Union. Who am I?
76. I was the last country in Eastern Europe to overthrow communism, in 1989. What country am I?
77. I peacefully ended communist rule through elections in Poland in 1989. Who am I?
78. I was elected Russia’s first president after the fall of the Soviet Union. Who am I?

Answers:

64. The Sinatra Doctrine
65. Egon Krenz
66. Mikhail Gorbachev
67. Perestroika
68. George H.W. Bush
69. Mikhail Gorbachev
70. Tiananmen Square Protests
71. The Two Plus Four Treaty
72. Mikhail Gorbachev
73. The August Coup
74. Boris Yeltsin
75. Mikhail Gorbachev
76. Romania
77. Lech Walesa
78. Boris Yeltsin

Conclusion

The Cold War created a tense era in geopolitics that had wide-ranging impacts worldwide. These 63 riddles cover key aspects of the conflict’s origins, crises, proxy wars, internal Eastern Bloc issues, the nuclear arms race, and finally the Soviet collapse. Solving the riddles allows a broad understanding of this pivotal period in modern history. The Cold War standoff between East and West dominated global affairs from the 1950s until communism fell in Europe in the early 1990s.