Deck 24: The Cold War and American Globalism, 1945-1961

Question 1

In the "long telegram," George F. Kennan asserted that _______________________.

A) the fanaticism expressed by the Soviets made even a temporary understanding with them impossible
B) the United States should extend humanitarian aid to the Soviet Union
C) the Soviets did not want confrontation with the United States
D) the United States should use military force to liberate Eastern Europe from the Soviet Union

Answer 1

the fanaticism expressed by the Soviets made even a temporary understanding with them impossible

Question 2

Why did economic turmoil in Europe and Asia cause conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union in the period immediately following the Second World War?

A) Each believed that it was the other's duty to invest large sums of money in European and Asian nations to ensure their recovery.
B) Each offered a different model to solve the economic problems that plagued Europe and Asia.
C) Each blamed the other for the economic problems that existed throughout the world.
D) Each contended that the other was responsible for extending humanitarian aid to the peoples of Europe and Asia.

Answer 2

Each offered a different model to solve the economic problems that plagued Europe and Asia.

Question 3

The Truman-Molotov meeting provides evidence of which of the following?

A) The Soviets used underhanded tactics in achieving their goals.
B) Truman did not appreciate the nuances of international diplomacy and adopted a "get-tough" approach toward the Soviet Union.
C) Truman privately realized that the Soviets had earnestly attempted to live up to their agreements at Yalta.
D) The Soviets refused to negotiate on even the most trivial of issues.

Answer 3

Truman did not appreciate the nuances of international diplomacy and adopted a "get-tough" approach toward the Soviet Union.

Question 4

What was the purpose of the Marshall Plan?

A) The industrialization of Latin America
B) A democratic Middle East
C) The economic recovery of Europe
D) A communist-free China

Question 5

NSC-68 ____________________.

A) cautioned that a rapid arms buildup by the United States might actually cause the Soviet Union to become more aggressive
B) warned that the Soviet Union and North Korea were conspiring to invade South Korea
C) presented evidence that the Soviet army was preparing to invade Western Europe
D) called for a much larger U.S. military budget as a response to the expansionistic communist regimes in China and the Soviet Union

Question 6

Which of the following statements is most consistent with Walter Lippmann's views as expressed in his book The Cold War?

A) The Soviet Union had nothing to do with the start of the Cold War.
B) The United States must police all parts of the world to protect itself from the worldwide Soviet menace.
C) The containment doctrine is a strategic monstrosity that will drain the nation's patience and resources.
D) The containment doctrine will lead to nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Question 7

The Marshall Plan was successful in that ______________________.

A) it corrected Western Europe's adverse balance-of-payments arrangement with the United States
B) it brought about the complete economic integration of the Western European states
C) it stopped postwar inflation in Western Europe
D) it stimulated impressive industrial production and investment in Western Europe

Question 8

In 1947, those who criticized President Truman's request for Congress to extend aid to the Greek government in its fight against leftists asserted that ___________________.

A) the Greek resistance movement was composed of noncommunists as well as communists.
B) the leaders of the resistance movement in Greece had purged the movement of all noncommunists.
C) the Greek government could not be saved, regardless of whether it received American aid.
D) the British were fully capable of defending the Greek government without American aid.

Question 9

Why did the Soviet Union refuse to join both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund?

A) The United States dominated both institutions.
B) They could not afford the contribution required to become a member.
C) Both organizations had refused to lend money to the Soviet government.
D) Both institutions provided funds to anticommunist rebels inside the Soviet Union.

Question 10

Diplomatic records from the immediate postwar years reveal that _________________________.

A) Secretary of War Stimson favored using the atomic bomb in Eastern Europe
B) the Soviets had no desire to develop an atomic bomb of their own
C) American possession of the atomic bomb was never mentioned directly in diplomatic discussions
D) some American officials believed that the United States could deter Soviet expansion by using the atomic bomb as a bargaining tool

Question 11

The Baruch Plan provided for which of the following?

A) A unified German state
B) The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Iran
C) U.S. abandonment of its atomic monopoly only after the creation of an international agency to control the world's fissionable materials
D) Humanitarian loans to nations recovering from the Second World War

Question 12

After the Second World War, why did American planners seek a world economy based on free trade and the speedy reconstruction of Germany, Japan, and other nations?

A) They believed these policies would allow the United States to aid the impoverished masses in the newly emerging nation states.
B) They believed these policies would give the United States the military prowess it needed to overthrow the Soviet government.
C) They believed these policies would help enhance the prestige of the United States-backed United Nations.
D) They believed that both the economic well-being and the security of the United States depended on these policies.

Question 13

Which of the following was a consequence of the Russian decision to cut off Western land access to Berlin in 1948?

A) The United States, France, and Britain relinquished their sectors of Berlin to the Soviet Union.
B) President Truman ordered a massive airlift of supplies to the isolated city.
C) The United States threatened to use the atomic bomb if access was not restored.
D) President Truman ordered an armored tank division through the Soviet zone of Germany to West Berlin.

Question 14

In postwar Yugoslavia, Josip Broz _______________.

A) became the Soviet Union's most reliable ally
B) concluded a military alliance with the United States
C) successfully staged a democratic revolution against a totalitarian communist regime
D) established a communist government independent of Moscow

Question 15

Which of the following was a source of instability in the aftermath of the Second World War?

A) Japanese military power
B) The disintegration of empires
C) Germany's recalcitrance in defeat
D) Economic competition among the European nations

Question 16

The Truman Doctrine and George F. Kennan's "Mr. X" article both proposed ___________________.

A) the policy of détente
B) the containment doctrine
C) that the United States refrain from getting involved in the internal affairs of other nations
D) a plan to encourage dissent and instability within the Soviet Union

Question 17

Which of the following unified the armed forces under a single agency, later known as the Department of Defense?

A) National Security Act of 1947
B) Marshall Plan
C) North Atlantic Treaty Organization
D) NSC-68

Question 18

In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, which of the following was a major concern of officials in the American government regarding the Soviet Union?

A) The Soviet Union's economic power
B) The clear indication that the Soviet Union was preparing to attack Western Europe
C) The advanced technology of the Soviet Union
D) The possibility that the Soviet Union would exploit economic and political instability in Europe and Asia to the detriment of U.S. interests

Question 19

Which of the following is true of the Senate debate over the North Atlantic Treaty Organization?

A) Some opponents asserted that the treaty would provoke rather than deter conflict.
B) Conservative Republicans complained that the treaty did not provide for the stationing of American troops in Western Europe.
C) Although the treaty was fully supported by Truman, members of the president's own party led the opposition to Senate ratification.
D) Supporters of the treaty contended that it would keep the United States out of any future war between Western Europe and Russia.

Question 20

How did the United States respond to the Soviet Union's testing of its first atomic bomb?

A) President Truman called for the formation of an international agency to control atomic energy.
B) Secretary of State Acheson asked that a summit be scheduled for negotiation of differences between the superpowers.
C) The United States called for an agreement between the superpowers on the number of nuclear-capable warheads each side would be allowed to have.
D) The United States began development of the hydrogen bomb.

Question 21

As a result of the Korean War, _____________________.

A) the United States decided to rearm Japan
B) the Eisenhower administration decided to cut off American aid to France in Vietnam
C) the globalist foreign policy of the United States became highly militarized
D) Japan requested that an American military base be established at Okinawa

Question 22

Which of the following statements is true of President Eisenhower regarding foreign policy?

A) Although he had little knowledge of foreign affairs, he refused to follow the advice of key foreign policy advisers and career diplomats.
B) Although he relied heavily on his secretary of state, he controlled the making of foreign policy.
C) Because Congress was controlled by Democrats, he encountered persistent resistance to most of his foreign policy initiatives.
D) Because he rejected the belief that communism posed a threat to U.S. security, he worked to reduce America's defensive commitments abroad.

Question 23

What country did President Truman believe had masterminded the North Korean attack on South Korea?

A) North Korea
B) Japan
C) The Soviet Union
D) The People's Republic of China

Question 24

The Soviet Union and the United States both coveted positive relations with Third World nations because such nations ___________________.

A) could provide sites for military and intelligence bases
B) had stable political systems
C) were technologically advanced
D) had productive industrial systems

Question 25

Which of the following is true of the Formosa Resolution of 1955?

A) It urged Jiang Jieshi to negotiate with the People's Republic of China concerning the status of Quemoy and Matsu.
B) It gave the president the authority to use American troops to defend Formosa.
C) It pledged U.S. support to the fledgling democratic movement against Jiang Jieshi's autocratic government.
D) It supported negotiations aimed at consolidating the governments of Formosa and mainland China.

Question 26

After the Second World War, Japan's reconstruction was ______________________.

A) a cooperative effort on the part of the United States, Britain, and Russia
B) jointly undertaken by the United States and Russia
C) monopolized by Russia
D) monopolized by the United States

Question 27

Which of the following developments demonstrated the Eisenhower administration's difficulty in applying the concept of liberation?

A) The Suez crisis
B) The Lebanon crisis
C) The U-2 incident
D) The Hungarian revolution

Question 28

What was the main obstacle to achieving a negotiated settlement in the Korean War?

A) Questions concerning the number of troops, the United States could leave in South Korea
B) Questions about whether the United States would sign an alliance with South Korea
C) Questions regarding the fate of many North Korean and Chinese POWs who did not want to return home
D) Determination of the new boundary between North and South Korea

Question 29

What was one of the political consequences of the Korean War?

A) It increased the powers of the presidency and weakened the powers of Congress in the conduct of foreign affairs.
B) It heightened public support for the Democratic Party in the 1952 election.
C) It increased bipartisanship in the making of American foreign policy.
D) It led the Republican Party to include a plank in its 1952 platform questioning the validity of the containment doctrine.

Question 30

In the year following the victory of Mao Zedong's forces over the Nationalist Chinese, the People's Republic of China __________________.

A) launched an offensive against the Nationalists on Formosa
B) attempted to work constructively with Americans still in China
C) launched attacks against the states of Indochina
D) signed a treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union

Question 31

In the contest for power between the Soviet Union and the West, the West did not reap many propaganda points when the Soviets crushed the Hungarian uprising because _________________.

A) the United States had recently invaded Cuba in an attempt to crush the Cuban revolution
B) the United States prevented its European allies from sending troops to liberate Hungary
C) Great Britain, France, and Israel invaded Egypt just before the Soviets invaded Hungary
D) the Soviets brought an end to the human rights abuses of the Hungarian rebels

Question 32

Who was the first U.S. president to support a noncommunist government in Vietnam?

A) John Kennedy
B) Harry Truman
C) Dwight Eisenhower
D) Lyndon Johnson

Question 33

The United States ultimately supported France in the war in Indochina because the American government ___________________.

A) was firmly convinced that the French were legally entitled to the land
B) wanted to punish the Vietnamese for the assistance they gave to Japan during the Second World War
C) believed doing so would help curtail the further spread of communism
D) believed that most Vietnamese wanted the French to remain

Question 34

How did President Truman ultimately define the goal of American military involvement in the Korean War?

A) North Korea was to be "contained" at the 38th parallel.
B) Korea was to be reunified by force.
C) The Communist governments in both North Korea and China were to be overthrown.
D) Indochina was to be taken and the territory divided among the United States, France, and Great Britain.

Question 35

The principle of "plausible deniability" holds that ____________________.

A) nonaligned Third World nations should not receive foreign aid from the United States unless those nations can "plausibly" deny an affiliation with the Soviet Union
B) the president of the United States is the chief instrument of American foreign policy and, as such, may deny Congress a role in foreign-policy decisions
C) Congress should reassert itself in the making of foreign policy by denying foreign-aid money to nondemocratic nations
D) the covert activities of the CIA should be planned and executed in such a way that the president can deny knowledge of them

Question 36

China entered the Korean War in response to ________________.

A) the commitment of American troops to the war
B) the taking of Seoul by U.N. and South Korean forces
C) the bombing of bridges on the Yalu River and the subsequent advance of American troops toward the Chinese border
D) the involvement of Nationalist Chinese forces in the war

Question 37

Why was the planned 1960 summit meeting in Paris between Eisenhower and Khrushchev canceled?

A) An attempt by dissenters in the Soviet Politburo to depose Khrushchev posed a threat to his power.
B) It appeared that the meeting might benefit the Democrats in the upcoming presidential election.
C) The United States refused to apologize after an American spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union.
D) Conservative Republicans bitterly protested Eisenhower's willingness to meet with Khrushchev.

Question 38

General MacArthur was fired as commanding general in the Korean War because he _________________________.

A) did not foresee Chinese entry into the war
B) denounced the concept of limited war supported by President Truman and the Joint Chiefs of Staff
C) made several foolish tactical mistakes
D) had secretly begun a presidential campaign

Question 39

Which of the following is true of the "New Look" of the American military under Eisenhower and Dulles?

A) It relied on strong land forces.
B) It stressed superior conventional forces.
C) It emphasized air power and nuclear weapons.
D) It trained soldiers for guerrilla warfare.

Question 40

The ______________ is a mutual defense pact between the United States and eleven other nations promising to stand united in the face of military aggression, specifically by the Soviet Union

A) Atomic Diplomacy Plan
B) Marshall Plan
C) National Security Council
D) North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Question 41

The 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine proclaimed that the United States would intervene in the Middle East if ____________________.

A) the survival of Israel were endangered
B) the Soviets moved troops into the area
C) any government threatened by a communist takeover asked for help
D) the United Nations called for United States intervention to keep the peace

Question 42

Discuss the similarities and differences between American and Soviet perceptions of major world events from 1945 to 1950. Were the superpowers' responses to these world events based on reality or merely on perception? Explain.

Question 43

Analyze the career of General Douglas MacArthur in the Cold War period.

Question 44

Which of the following was a consequence of America's foreign investments?

A) Such dependence meant that it was in the best interests of the United States to support the conservative, propertied classes against revolutionaries in the Third World.
B) Such dependence caused the United States to suffer more than the Third World nations from the economic decline of the 1970s.
C) Such dependence led to improved relations with underdeveloped nations in the 1970s.
D) Such dependence caused the United States to increase its commitment to and support for the United Nations.

Question 45

When Israel, Britain, and France invaded the Suez Canal area in 1956, the Eisenhower administration _______________.

A) demanded that they pull their troops out
B) provided military support to Egypt
C) applauded the action
D) stood by and did nothing

Question 46

Which of the following was a provision of the 1954 Geneva accords?

A) The Diem government was recognized as the legitimate government of South Vietnam.
B) Vietnam would be reunified after national elections in 1956.
C) The 17th parallel was established as the permanent boundary between North and South Vietnam.
D) The United States could permanently station a limited number of troops in South Vietnam.

Question 47

Why did the CIA help to overthrow Mohammed Mossadegh?

A) He ended Iran's nonaligned status by allying with the Soviet Union.
B) He attempted to nationalize foreign oil interests in Iran.
C) He vowed to build a military coalition to destroy the state of Israel.
D) He attempted to create an organization through which the oil-producing nations of the Middle East could control the price of oil.

Question 48

An obstacle to relations between the United States and Third World countries in the 1950s was ________________.

A) the segregation practices in the United States
B) the bumbling diplomatic style of John Foster Dulles
C) the opposition of the United States to the Soviet use of force in Eastern Europe
D) the unwillingness of the United States to extend foreign aid to Third World nations

Question 49

Examine the containment policy as the cornerstone of American foreign policy during the Truman and Eisenhower administrations. What were the goals of containment as established by President Truman in the Truman Doctrine? How successful had the United States been by 1961 in achieving those objectives?

Question 50

The United States responded to Gamal Abdul Nasser's declaration of neutrality in the Cold War by _________________.

A) threatening to use American warships to close the Suez Canal
B) going back on its promise to finance the Aswan Dam project
C) cutting off all foreign aid to Nasser's government
D) threatening to use "disinformation" to destabilize the Nasser government

Question 51

Examine the policy of the United States toward China between 1945 and 1949, and explain the reaction in the United States to the creation of the People's Republic of China.

Question 52

It seems likely that Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán, president of Guatemala, turned to the Soviet Union for military aid because ________________________.

A) the Soviet Union would sell him weapons without any restrictions on how those weapons would be used
B) he was working under the direction of the Kremlin to create a Soviet-dominated empire in Central America
C) Moscow would extend credit to Arbenz for weaponry purchases, but such purchases from the United States were on a cash-only basis
D) the United States was hostile to his government and its policies.

Question 53

The CIA was not successful in its relationship with _______________________.

A) Iran
B) Guatemala
C) Indonesia
D) Jordan

Question 54

Examine and evaluate the response of the Truman administration to major world problems and events between 1945 and 1950.

Question 55

Discuss the sources of international tension in the aftermath of the Second World War, and explain how the goals and policies of the United States and the Soviet Union clashed and led to the Cold War.

Question 56

How did John Foster Dulles react to the neutralist movement among some Third World nations?

A) Believing that the leaders of Third World nations had to pacify their people by professing to be anti-American, Dulles worked tirelessly to provide more aid to most of the neutralist nations.
B) Believing in the concept of self-determination, Dulles praised Third World nations for their independent and pragmatic approach to the Cold War.
C) Believing that such nations actually favored the United States over the Soviet Union, Dulles saw the neutralist movement as unimportant and non-threatening.
D) Believing that neutralism was the first step to communism, Dulles was alarmed by the neutralist movement.

Question 57

Why did Ngo Dinh Diem and President Eisenhower refuse to allow national elections in Vietnam as called for in the Geneva accords?

A) They believed the elections would have been virtually impossible to administer.
B) They held that the 1955 South Vietnamese election had given Diem a mandate to govern.
C) They feared that Communist leader Ho Chi Minh would win.
D) They realized that the Communists would never allow a genuinely free election.

Question 58

Those members of Congress who warned the Eisenhower administration against military intervention in Vietnam did so, in part, for what reason?

A) They accepted the British view that such intervention was morally wrong.
B) They were reluctant to support French colonialism in Southeast Asia.
C) They accepted State Department warnings that such action would jeopardize American interests in the Third World.
D) Public opinion polls indicated that such action was not supported by the American people.

Question 59

Discuss the objectives of the United States in launching the Marshall Plan, and assess the extent to which those objectives were achieved.

Question 60

Explain the containment policy and its implementation by President Truman.

Question 61

Examine the policy of the United States toward Vietnam during the Truman and Eisenhower administrations.

Question 62

Explain and evaluate the Eisenhower administration's perception of and response to nationalist movements in the Third World. Pay particular attention to the administration's response to Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán and Gamal Abdul Nasser.

Question 63

Examine the role of the CIA in the Third World during the Eisenhower administration.

Question 64

Compare and contrast Eisenhower's reaction to the Arab-Israeli conflict to that of the Hungarian uprising.

Question 65

Explain the basic principles on which the Eisenhower-Dulles foreign and defense policies were based, and discuss the consequences of those policies.