Deck 24: Coexistence, Confrontation, and the New European Economy

Question 1

Which of the following is true of the stance taken by the French president Charles de Gaulle when a new kind of arms race emerged in the 1960s?

A) He viewed postwar international relations as a conflict of ideologies.
B) He rejected the rigid bipolar patterns of the Cold War.
C) He urged West Europeans to support the United States in the arms race.
D) He followed the American lead in foreign policy in Europe or elsewhere.

Answer 1

He rejected the rigid bipolar patterns of the Cold War.

Question 2

American foreign policy in the Cold War remained based on the premise that _____.

A) unrest on every continent was caused by local conflicts within Europe
B) unrest on every continent was Soviet-inspired
C) a strategy of massive retaliation had to be promoted to intervene against Soviet aggression in East Europe
D) western European countries had to recognize their own spheres of national interest and promote Europe's reunification

Answer 2

unrest on every continent was Soviet-inspired

Question 3

President Charles de Gaulle withdrew France from the integrated NATO military command in 1966 because:

A) he wished to ally with the Soviet Union.
B) he wanted France to assume more of a leadership role and viewed American hegemony with unease.
C) he disliked the increasing influence of the Germans in NATO.
D) he wanted France to be neutral in the Cold War.

Answer 3

he wanted France to assume more of a leadership role and viewed American hegemony with unease.

Question 4

De Gaulle viewed the Cold War differently than the Americans since he believed that:

A) international affairs were more a struggle between great powers than a conflict of ideologies.
B) Europe should work toward reunification.
C) America enjoyed too much power in world affairs.
D) All of these are correct.

Question 5

All of the following were evidence of increased Cold War tension during the Kennedy presidency except:

A) the U.S. supported Cuban exiles, who launched an unsuccessful assault on Cuba.
B) the Soviets constructed the Berlin Wall to stop the exodus of East Germans.
C) the Soviets supplied arms to Communist guerrillas in Turkey.
D) the Soviets and the U.S. confronted each other over the Soviet military presence in Cuba.

Question 6

The 1962 missile crisis:

A) led to the use of the first nuclear bomb in the western hemisphere.
B) demonstrated Castro's remarkable military capacity.
C) led to a cooling off of the relationship between Cuba and the Soviets.
D) was resolved through compromises by both the American and Soviet sides.

Question 7

The most dangerous Western-Soviet confrontation of the Cold War occurred:

A) in Berlin, where the Berlin Wall was constructed to prohibit West Germans from entering East Germany.
B) in East Berlin, where the United States intervened when the Soviets put down antigovernment riots.
C) in Cuba, where Khrushchev dispatched Soviet soldiers and technicians to construct missile sites.
D) in Poland, where the United States intervened when the Soviets exerted pressure on Poland to curb its reform movement.

Question 8

Which of the following statements is true about America and the Vietnam War?

A) The U.S. supported the anti-communist regime in North Vietnam.
B) The American army launched wide-ranging attacks on Communist guerrilla forces.
C) The U.S. presidents had the support of the American public for the war.
D) The American army helped the French win back their colony from Ho Chi Minh.

Question 9

Which of the following occurred during the "Prague Spring"?

A) Alexander Dub?ek introduced liberalizing reforms in Czechoslovakia during the Soviet regime.
B) Czechoslovakia returned to dictatorship ruled by party bosses with close Muscovite ties.
C) The Hungarian uprising in 1956 against Russian communism was suppressed.
D) The Soviet invaded Czechoslovakia to destroy the attempts to create a more democratic political system.

Question 10

Which of the following is true of the Brezhnev Doctrine?

A) It proclaimed the Soviet right to intervene in any Communist country to protect socialism against internal or external forces.
B) It proclaimed the right of eastern European countries to suppress Soviet reforms.
C) It proclaimed the Soviet right to intervene in the name of proletarian internationalism in any Communist country to restore a capitalist regime.
D) It proclaimed the right of eastern European countries to directly confront the Soviets.

Question 11

Which of the following is true of the Nixon-Kissinger policy of détente?

A) It was based on the belief that each country's ideology should count more than national self-interest and geopolitical concerns.
B) It linked Western technology, trade, and investment to Soviet cooperation in international affairs.
C) It was based on the belief that China was more important to America's vital interests than Russia.
D) It was developed out of a reassessment of the European territorial boundaries established after the Second World War.

Question 12

In 1974, the western economic boom of the previous twenty-five years ended and an economic crisis began. Why?

A) Japan flooded Europe and America with inexpensive, high-quality goods.
B) The costs of the welfare state had increased astronomically.
C) The quadrupling of oil prices led to huge inflation and economic recession.
D) A glut of consumer goods on the market, combined with the end of the baby boom, led to business depression.

Question 13

OPEC was formed to:

A) strengthen the power of foreign companies in oil-producing countries.
B) decrease dependence on Middle Eastern oil.
C) curb the monopoly concessions of foreign companies and to better control production and prices.
D) cause a recession in the Western economies that depended on cheap oil.

Question 14

What was the effect of the 1970s recession on employment?

A) Labor unions became inactive and declined in influence and membership.
B) Welfare benefits provided were less advanced than they were in the 1930s.
C) The levels of structural unemployment, coupled with inflation, were high.
D) The limited government unemployment compensation that was provided increased human suffering.

Question 15

Faith in Keynesian theories was shaken by western "stagflation" during the 1970s. British Prime Minister Thatcher:

A) challenged the welfare state as costly and wasteful.
B) curbed spending for social measures.
C) encouraged private enterprise by tax reductions and deregulation.
D) All of these are correct.

Question 16

In opposition to Keynesian precepts, Reagan and other conservative leaders championed "supply side" economics, which meant that:

A) private enterprise must be encouraged through high capital gains tax rates.
B) increased production rather than consumer demand was important for economic growth.
C) minimum wage standards must be lowered to ensure higher employment.
D) All of these are correct.

Question 17

Mitterrand dealt with slow economic growth, inflation, and unemployment by:

A) using labor reforms to raise purchasing power and stimulate the economy.
B) insisting on retrenchment and shifting government support to high technology.
C) nationalizing large banks and leading industrial corporations.
D) accepting deregulation and the free market philosophy that Thatcher was advocating in Britain.

Question 18

During the 1980s, the Socialists and Social Democrats holding office in western Europe:

A) reverted to the politics of class struggle.
B) became concerned with building strong market economies.
C) championed a good society as the path to economic growth.
D) tried to build up the welfare state.

Question 19

In West Germany, when the Christian Democrats returned to office with Helmut Kohl as chancellor, _____.

A) the competitiveness of the German economy in world markets increased until the late 1990s
B) the country saw scarcity of labor
C) the economy of the German Federal Republic accounted for about a third of the combined output of the European Community (EC)
D) the economic growth saw a downturn

Question 20

In the postindustrial age of the 1980s and 1990s, economic progress in advanced economies was measured in:

A) steel, ships, and textiles.
B) chemicals, electricity, and petroleum.
C) robotics, computers, telecommunications, and space technology.
D) automobiles, supersonic jets, and nuclear submarines.

Question 21

In order to reinvigorate the European Community, the Single European Act and the Treaty of European Union established all of the following except:

A) the recognition of each country's professional and commercial licensing.
B) the elimination of paperwork at border crossings.
C) the establishment of common production standards.
D) the eventual creation of a common European language.

Question 22

Ronald Reagan pledged to:

A) limit nuclear proliferation.
B) move beyond the politics of the Cold War.
C) commit to a hard line in the Cold War.
D) respect the leftist governments of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Question 23

Between the mid-1950s and the mid-1970s, the United States and the Soviets oscillated between dangerous confrontation and a marked lessening of tensions, or détente. Explain the background leading up to the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 and the reasons for the subsequent lessening of tensions.

Question 24

Why did détente give way to a new phase of the Cold War at the end of the 1970s and during the 1980s?

Question 25

Trace the history of the nuclear arms race over the course of the twentieth century. Which side of the security debate (deterrence vs. disarmament) do you find most persuasive?

Question 26

Explain the reasons for the end of a quarter century of western prosperity in 1974. Why did Keynesian economics, which had apparently been so effective during the boom years, no longer provide guidelines during the years of "stagflation"?

Question 27

During the 1980s, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher rejected the welfare state and sought to transform their economies and societies with new policies. What were these policies? What were their benefits and drawbacks?

Question 28

How had the world changed since the Second World War? Identify and discuss the regions that had experienced the most change in the postwar period.

Question 29

How did the changes that occurred in the world in the postwar period set the stage for the Cold War?

Question 30

How was France's colonial empire in Indochina divided once they withdrew from the region?

Question 31

How did Eisenhower imagine that communism would spread through Southeast Asia? Was he proved correct?

Question 32

Why did a new kind of arms race emerge between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the late 1950s?

Question 33

What were the arguments made by critics of U.S. involvement in Vietnam?

Question 34

What were the Nixon-Kissinger policies? How did they change relations between the U.S. and communist countries?

Question 35

What were the causes for continued concern about the U.S. economy in the 1980s?

Question 36

What obstacles did Europeans face in attempting political and economic union?