Which of the following statement about the Cold War is correct?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → It was an ideology war between the US and the USSR
Option (1) It was an ideology war between the US and the USSR — Correct. The Cold War was not only a rivalry of power and military alliances; it was also a real ideological conflict. The western alliance led by the US stood for liberal democracy and capitalism, and the eastern alliance led by the Soviet Union stood for socialism and communism.
Option (2) It ended in 1965 — Incorrect.
Option (3) It started in 1956 — Incorrect.
Option (4) It was a direct war — Incorrect. The Cold War never escalated into a ‘hot war’, that is, a full-scale war between the two powers; there were only wars in various regions in which the two powers and their allies were involved.
Note: This question is taken from the chapter ‘The Cold War Era’ which was there in the pre-rationalised NCERT and has been deleted from subsequent editions of NCERT, including the NCERT book (2026-27).
NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “Cuban Missile Crisis … The Cuban Missile Crisis was a high point of what came to be known as the Cold War. The Cold War referred to the competition, the tensions and a series of confrontations between the United States and Soviet Union, backed by their respective allies. Fortunately, however, it never escalated into a ‘hot war’, that is, a full-scale war between these two powers. There were wars in various regions, with the two powers and their allies involved in warfare and in supporting regional allies, but at least the world avoided another global war. The Cold War was not simply a matter of power rivalries, of military alliances, and of the balance of power. These were accompanied by a real ideological conflict as well, a difference over the best and the most appropriate way of organising political, economic, and social life all over the world. The western alliance, headed by the US, represented the ideology of liberal democracy and capitalism while the eastern alliance, headed by the Soviet Union, was committed to the ideology of socialism and communism. You have already studied these ideologies in Class XI.” |