The timeline in
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/docs/coldwar_timeline.htm
is very large, but it is a good starting point.

• Copy the whole timeline into a word processor file and then edit out all the entries which you think do not help to explain the events in the programme.
• Use the material in the Background Information section to add any extra points to your timeline.

Activity 2
The Cuban Missile Crisis

Go to the Film Education website www.filmeducation.org and have a look at the study material on the film ‘Thirteen Days’. The Film Education website has asked a number of questions about the film. Your task is to add some more questions or activities based on the clips and the other material. Your questions could tackle issues such as:

• the historical accuracy of the film
• whether it only shows one side of the story
• how far the film makers were trying to entertain or inform

If you have seen the film, why not write a review? You can get some good ideas from the websites of most major newspapers – just go to their film review section.

Activity 3
Vietnam

Why was the USA unable to defeat the Vietcong in the Vietnam War? Use the programme and the websites suggested in the links section to put together a presentation or a short essay. You need to cover two main areas:

• The factors which suggest that the USA should have won
• The factors which explain why the Americans did not win

You may be able to use presentation software and the part of the programme that deals with Vietnam.

Activity 4
Star Wars – The Debate

Imagine you are going to be part of the studio audience for a live TV debate about President Reagan’s Star Wars Initiative. Draw up six questions you would like to ask the main speakers in the debate:

• Three questions for those in favour of Star Wars
• Three questions for those against it

Activity 5
Weapons of War – The Cost

Throughout the twentieth century, civilians paid the price of improving weapons technology.
In 1900 there were about nine military casualties for every civilian casualty.
By 2000 there were about nine civilian casualties for every military casualty.
On top of this, there was the huge amount of money spent on weapons, which could have gone on healthcare, welfare or education.

This programme covers the effects of weapons technology in several ways. Your task now is to prepare a presentation that pulls together the information in the programme on civilians and any other research you have done. You could use presentation software and copy some of the still pictures within these Net Notes into your slides. Here are some suggested slide titles:

• Victims of atomic bombs in 1945
• Civilians living in fear of nuclear weapons
• The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
• Environmental cost of nuclear weapons
• Gorbachev, Reagan and disarmament