Cold War Review

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Cold War Review

• Chapters 18 and 19

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• Recognize the fear of communism in the late 40s
  and early 50s, and the lengths that people went
  to in order to protect the country from them
• HUAC - House Un-American Activities Committee was
  created to look for Communists both inside and
  outside the government. Concentrated on
  Hollywood because of suspected Communist
  influences. Those who refused to testify were
  blacklisted.
• Rosenbergs Husband and wife that were members
  of the American Communist Party and were both
  executed for espionage.

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• McCarthyism- Republican Senator who claimed that
  Communists were taking over the federal
  government.
• Alger Hiss Accused of spying for the Soviet
  Union and was sent to prison

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• How did post WWII mechanization impact the work
  force?
• As technology increased, more Americans began to
  work in white-collar jobs versus blue-collar.
  Less people are needed to work in the factories
  or on the farms. There is a shift to the service
  sector. (jobs that provide a service)

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• 2. Recognize the attempts that the Soviets used
  to push the U.S. out of West Berlin, and U.S.
  response to the Soviets actions.
• The Soviets cut off all transportation to West
  Berlin in the hopes that the Allies will give up
  the idea of German reunification. For 327 days,
  planes brought food and supplies to West Berlin.
  Finally, the Soviets gave up the blockade.

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• 3. What were/are the goals of the United
  Nations? NATO? Warsaw Pact?
• United Nations - Peacekeeping body of nations
• NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a
  defense military alliance of the United States,
  Canada and 10 European nations.
• Warsaw Pact Military alliance of the Soviet
  Union and its satellite nations. Established in
  response to the formation on NATO.

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• 4. What is meant by mutually assured
  destruction? brinkmanship?
• Mutually assured destruction is the concept that
  since more than one country has the ability to
  destroy the other with a few stokes of a keypad,
  this assures peace.
• Brinkmanship is the willingness to go to the
  edge, or brink of war. The U.S. must be prepared
  to use all of its nuclear weapons against any
  aggressor.

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• 5. What were real fears of the American people
  post WWII? What were real fears of the
  government? Which one proved to be true?
• Many Americans felt threatened by the rise of
  Communism in Europe and Asia. Some felt that
  Communists could threaten the U.S. government
  from within. These fears increased when people
  found out about some spies selling U.S.
  government secrets to the Soviets.

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• 6. What preparations did the U.S. government put
  in place to address the millions of returning
  soldiers post WWII?
• The G.I. Bill of Rights provided financial and
  educational benefits for WWII veterans.

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• 7. How did the Soviets successful testing of the
  atomic bomb change foreign policy and the nature
  of war?
• American leaders wanted to develop a more
  powerful weapon. In 1952, the U.S. exploded the
  first hydrogen bomb, or H-bomb. In addition, the
  U.S. began making more weapons and entered into
  an arms race with the Soviet Union.

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• 8. How did the launching of Sputnik impact the
  United States?
• U.S. began to work frantically to catch up to the
  Soviets. Funding for math and science programs
  also increased.

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• 9. What factors motivated the creation of the
  Dixiecrats in 1948?
• Southern Democrats formed their own political
  party under the leadership of Strom Thurmond (SC)
  because President Truman supported civil rights.

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• 10. Be able to cite advantages of the Interstate
  Highway Act.
• New suburbs were developed
• High-speed, long- haul trucking became possible
  (decline in RRs)
• Towns near the new highways prospered.
• The system of highways helped to unify and
  homogenize the nation

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• 11. What policy did the United States take to
  address post WWII communist expansion? How
  was this policy used in Europe the Middle
  East.
• A policy of containment was enacted. In Europe,
  some examples are the Marshall Plan, Truman
  Doctrine (Greece and Turkey) and the Berlin
  Airlift. In the Middle East, the U.S. stated
  that it would defend against a communist attack
  (Eisenhower Doctrine).

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• 12. What were major features of Trumans Fair
  Deal policy? Why was it not embraced by the
  American people?
• The Fair Deal was Trumans domestic policy. This
  program included economic and social reforms,
  such as national health insurance and subsidies
  for farmers. These were defeated by Congress.
  Many Americans felt that there was not a need for
  social programs following the boom of WWII.

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• 13. What factors allowed for the shift to the
  suburbs? What did the move to the suburbs
  represent? Did everybody have the option of
  moving out of the inner-cities?
• Suburbia allowed for affordable housing, fresh
  air, low crime and good schools. The closeness
  to major cities for jobs and culture promoted
  this movement. Having the ability to move was
  seen as a step up. Not everyone could afford
  this move out of the cities and the inner cities
  began to decline.

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• 14. The Korean War was a proxy war. What does
  this mean?
• Even though the war was being fought by North and
  South Korea, the bigger issue was between the
  U.S. and Soviet Union.

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• 15. Did Truman embrace the Taft Hartley Act? Be
  able to explain.
• Truman vetoed the Taft-Hartley bill and it was
  passed with a 2/3 majority in Congress. This
  bill overturned many rights won by the unions
  under the New Deal.

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• 16. How did the Chinese Civil War shake up the
  permanent Security Council of the United Nations?
• The United Nations refused to recognize Maos
  government as the true government of China. As a
  result, the Soviet Union walked out in protest
  and was unable to veto the vote that allowed
  Chiang Kai-Shek and his government on the island
  of Taiwan the seat on the Security Council.