Postwar America and the Cold War: Free Course

About this course

Study Postwar America and the Cold War in this free English video course from Khan Academy. The classroom preserves all 7 published source recordings, totaling approximately 1h 43m, with their original lesson titles and sequence. The selected curriculum focuses on chronology, context and careful use of historical evidence. Use the videos to follow an explanation, examine an example and develop a study output you can check independently. The course title describes this recorded subject or learning track; your study can extend beyond watching through the practical activities below.

Course at a glance

What you’ll learn

• Follow the explanation and worked reasoning in “Origins of the Cold War”, then describe the main idea in your own words.
• Follow the explanation and worked reasoning in “Communism”, then describe the main idea in your own words.
• Follow the explanation and worked reasoning in “Korean War overview”, then describe the main idea in your own words.
• Follow the explanation and worked reasoning in “Cuban Missile Crisis”, then describe the main idea in your own words.
• Connect examples across Postwar America and the Cold War by identifying the terms, assumptions and methods they use.
• Create a small independent practice output and check it against the relevant teaching explanation.

Skills you’ll gain

• Chronology
• Historical context
• Source analysis
• Evidence comparison

Course Overview

The source curriculum is presented as a complete recorded video edition of Postwar America and the Cold War. Representative lessons include “Origins of the Cold War”, “Korean War overview” and “Continuity and change in the postwar era”. These recordings give concrete examples to revisit while building chronology, context and careful use of historical evidence. Their place in the lesson list is preserved, so you can return to a particular explanation without losing its source position. Introductions, demonstrations, examples, reviews and compilations remain included whenever they appear in the original playlist. Reading a lesson title is useful for locating a topic; working through its reasoning and checking a practice attempt is what makes the recording valuable for learning.

How to study the course

• Videos 1–1: this part of the source list includes “Origins of the Cold War” through “Origins of the Cold War”. Place an example in time and context. Keep a brief working note, revisit an unclear explanation and test one example before moving to another part of the material.
• Videos 2–3: this part of the source list includes “Communism” through “Korean War overview”. Identify the evidence used in an explanation. Keep a brief working note, revisit an unclear explanation and test one example before moving to another part of the material.
• Videos 4–5: this part of the source list includes “Bay of Pigs Invasion” through “Cuban Missile Crisis”. Compare causes, consequences or viewpoints. Keep a brief working note, revisit an unclear explanation and test one example before moving to another part of the material.
• Videos 6–7: this part of the source list includes “Vietnam War” through “Continuity and change in the postwar era”. Separate description from interpretation. Keep a brief working note, revisit an unclear explanation and test one example before moving to another part of the material.

Who is this for?

This course suits students and readers studying the historical period or research method in the title. It also provides a recorded reference for revisiting a topic after an earlier lesson or study attempt. Choose examples appropriate to your background and allow time to work through the method instead of judging understanding only by how familiar the terminology sounds.

Before you start

Comfort reading and listening in English is useful. Keep a timeline and note the context attached to an event or source.

Put the lessons into practice

Select two events, sources or developments discussed in the recordings. Place them in context, identify the participants and write a short explanation of their relationship. Separate what a source describes from an interpretation of its significance. Compare a cause, consequence or viewpoint across the two examples and support the comparison with details from the lessons. Build a concise timeline or evidence table. Finish by identifying a question that the selected evidence cannot answer on its own.

This optional study activity is provided by WikiFree for independent practice. Keep your working notes and use the relevant classroom recording to check a step, definition or interpretation. It is not an instructor-marked assignment.

Certificate / Assessment

Watching the public videos and using WikiFree completion tracking does not award a certificate, academic credit, an examination voucher or instructor assessment. Use your practice output to review what you can explain and repeat independently. The recorded lessons provide study material; completion tracking records your progress through that material.

Frequently asked questions

Provider: Khan Academy. Videos play from the Khan Academy channel on YouTube.