Deck 22: The Cold War and Reconstruction After the Second World War

Question 1

All of the following led the west to fear that Stalin had embarked on a plan of unlimited expansion after World War II except

A) the Soviets violated their pledge of free elections for the east European states.
B) Stalin's stubbornness, paranoia, and lack of concern for world public opinion.
C) Stalin's massive aid to the Communist guerrillas in northern Greece.
D) the U.S.S.R.'s consolidation of northern Korea into a Communist government.

Answer 1

Stalin's massive aid to the Communist guerrillas in northern Greece.

Question 2

In 1949, the United States and eleven other countries signed the Atlantic Pact, which was all of the following except

A) the first military alliance of its kind in American history.
B) affirmation of American determination not to abandon Europe.
C) a military alliance of unlimited duration.
D) unrelated to the Soviet bid for global supremacy.

Answer 2

unrelated to the Soviet bid for global supremacy.

Question 3

Japan's 1946 constitution did all the following except

A) denounce the brutality of Japan's World War II conquests.
B) renounce war as a means of settling international disputes.
C) end the divine right rule of the emperor.
D) give women the right to vote for the first time.

Answer 3

denounce the brutality of Japan's World War II conquests.

Question 4

In response to a labor shortage during the postwar years, Japan sustained its growth through

A) the importation of thousands of guest workers.
B) high technology, automation, and innovation.
C) a high level of agricultural exports.
D) subcontracting production to plants in other countries.

Question 5

While the precise reasons for North Korea's invasion of the south are unknown, the most likely cause _was

A) Stalin ordered the invasion.
B) the Red Chinese ordered the attack.
C) North Korea, concerned over South Korea's ambition to unite the country, took the initiative on its own.
D) A and B

Question 6

Which of the following statements about the Marshall Plan is not correct?

A) A central office in Paris coordinated the allocation of funds for all the beneficiaries.
B) It accelerated European recovery.
C) The U.S. only permitted countries with free market economies to participate.
D) It helped fuel the postwar economic boom in the United States.

Question 7

In 1945, the British Labour party achieved its first parliamentary majority. It set the course of British life for years to come by doing all the following except

A) nationalizing the Bank of England, coal mines, and the iron and steel industries.
B) inaugurating a comprehensive national health service.
C) sharply increasing income and inheritance taxes.
D) creating a comprehensive plan for the growth of the economy and targeting promising industries for development.

Question 8

One of de Gaulle's important achievements was

A) to temporarily end political instability in France.
B) to resolve the Algerian crisis by giving Algerians the right to vote in the French parliament.
C) to take the lead in promoting the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
D) to take the lead in the expansion of the Common Market by negotiating the membership of Britain.

Question 9

In the 1950s and 1960s, Italy experienced

A) political instability that hindered its economic development.
B) a rate of industrial growth rivaling West Germany's.
C) a few unstable years, but then greater stability with the attainment of a majority in parliament by the Christian Democrats.
D) an increasingly extremist Communist party under the control of Moscow.

Question 10

In the 1960s and 1970s, "Eurodollars" were

A) surplus dollars in European hands.
B) America's postwar economic surpluses with Europe.
C) German marks, similar in strength with respect to the European economy to the dollar's strength with respect to the world economy.
D) a new form of currency printed by the European Community.

Question 11

Khrushchev, chief Soviet leader after the death of Stalin, denounced the crimes of the Stalin era in 1956. Why?

A) The United States forced him to do so.
B) Khrushchev wanted change and needed to win allies against conservatives in the Communist party.
C) Khrushchev's denunciations were simply a ruse to expose dissenters and potential opponents in Soviet society.
D) He had always hated and opposed Stalin.

Question 12

The weakest sector of the Soviet economy since Stalin had been

A) industrial production in general.
B) steel production.
C) agriculture.
D) transportation.

Question 13

After the war, agriculture in eastern Europe was

A) completely collectivized but without violence.
B) only partially collectivized.
C) collectivized with the same brutality and loss of life as in Stalin's Russia.
D) never collectivized except in Bulgaria.

Question 14

The Marxist-Leninist revolutionaries who established the People's Republic of China

A) were completely alien to traditional Chinese culture.
B) gave China its first unified central government since 1911.
C) were unable, despite great efforts, to modernize China.
D) disregarded Soviet experiences.

Question 15

The Great Leap Forward of 1957

A) organized communes into militaristic production brigades.
B) required communes to mechanize farms and develop local industry.
C) resulted in a disastrous famine, which took millions of lives.
D) all of the choices are correct.

Question 16

Among the achievements of China's Communist government were all of the following except

A) great increases in rice production.
B) China's rank among the top ten industrial powers by 1960.
C) the reform and simplification of the Chinese language.
D) impressive strides in public sanitation and health.

Question 17

The Cultural Revolution which began in 1966

A) attempted to restore Confucian values in China.
B) enhanced the position of white collar workers, students, and professors.
C) denounced bourgeois ways, and led to the harassment and humiliation of government and party . officials, as well as of cultural and educational leaders.
D) freed China from authoritarianism for several years.

Question 18

The split that developed between China and the Soviet Union in the 1960s was based upon all of the following issues except

A) their rivalry for ideological leadership of the Communist world.
B) disputes over the lands of inner Asia into which the U.S.S.R. had expanded in the age of the tsars.
C) Mao's accusation that Khrushchev had vacillated during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.
D) the U.S.S.R.'s refusal to support the Vietnamese intervention in Cambodia.

Question 19

Describe the factors that led to the development of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Which country was more responsible for the outbreak of the Cold War?

Question 20

After World War I, there was a sharp depression that lasted for years in some European countries. Why was the situation reversed after World War II, when Europe experienced an economic boom and about a quarter century of prosperity?

Question 21

Compare and contrast the histories of France and Italy during the twenty-five years following the end of World War II. Why did France, but not Italy, find political stability by the 1960s?

Question 22

How was the Soviet political and economic system imposed on eastern Europe after 1945? What were the major differences, if any, between the political and economic systems in the U.S.S.R. and eastern Europe?

Question 23

What economic challenges did the Soviets face after 1945? What were the approaches of Khrushchev and Brezhnev to resolving the economic problems of the U.S.S.R.?

Question 24

Describe and analyze the movement toward a united Europe in the decades following the Second World War. Which nations and which statesmen most vigorously pushed the idea of cooperation? Why?

Question 25

How did Mao attempt to build up China's economy and revolutionize its society? What were his successes and failures?

Question 26

How did capitalist and communist societies organize themselves differently in the post-war period?

Question 27

How did Japan change after World War II? What brought about those changes?

Question 28

How did the policy of containment lead to U.S. involvement in Asia?

Question 29

What was the role of Algeria in the fall of France's Fourth Republic?

Question 30

How did planners attempt to restore the economic stability and prosperity of the pre-1914 period after World War II?

Question 31

Why did Khrushchev fall from power?

Question 32

Evaluate the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. What were the consequences of each?

Question 33

How did the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 shape patterns of resettlement and deportation in Germany, Poland, the U.S.S.R., and the Baltic republics?

Question 34

To what degree did the Soviet victory and the fall of Hitler result in a reversal of the displacements and resettlements triggered by the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939? What new patterns of movement emerged?

Question 35

What happened to the areas annexed by Germany after Hitler's defeat?

Question 36

Compare the Weimar republic to the area constituting the G.D.R. and the F.R.G. How dramatically did the settlements of World War II check German territorial power?