This resource uses the stories of some interesting figures involved in the Cold War to introduce GCSE students to an overview of the conflict and to structure their wider understanding of its underlying principles.

The diffuse nature of the conflict means that students benefit from a conceptual framework (in this case, some organising principles) to structure their understanding of the Cold War. By using some defined ‘foundations’ of the Cold War, students will hopefully be able to work out how the Cold War became established, and then how the importance of these foundations fluctuated over time. These can be revisited to deepen both their understanding of the links between the events of the Cold War and also their understanding of the ‘foundations’ themselves.

This resource was developed by Steve Farndon, professional tutor at the Institute for Teaching.