Lesson 2: Cold War Strategies and Proxy Conflicts
Duration of Days: 3
Lesson Objective
Students will explain how Cold War powers used political, economic, and military strategies to expand influence without direct warfare.
How did the Cold War remain “cold”?
Why were proxy wars used instead of direct conflict?
proxy war, nuclear deterrence, arms race, military alliances
APWH Unit 8 Topics 8.2, 8.3
Skill 3.A
Reasoning Process: Causation
Analyzing claims and evidence across multiple sources.
Students examine Cold War strategies and regional proxy conflicts.
Purpose: Analyze methods of ideological competition
DOK: 3
Modern proxy conflicts and indirect warfare.
Students may assume proxy wars were minor or isolated events.
Conflict maps; structured comparison prompts.
Short analytical paragraph using evidence.
Cold War conflict maps, primary excerpts