Deck 27: Cold War America 1945-1954

Question 1

The chapter introduction recounts the stories of returning GI Timuel Black and nurse Betty Basye. The point drawn from these anecdotes is how

A) relieved Americans felt now that the war was over.
B) committed Americans were to confronting the growing Soviet threat.
C) prosperous and routine life soon became after the disruptions of wartime.
D) different from "normal" life became as the American government met the international and economic challenges of peacetime.

Answer 1

different from "normal" life became as the American government met the international and economic challenges of peacetime.

Question 2

What was the "Munich analogy"?

A) If the Russians could blockade Munich, they could blockade London.
B) National power is as enticing and intoxicating as beer at Oktoberfest.
C) An aggressor might launch a surprise attack at any place, at any time.
D) You dare not appease aggressors.

Answer 2

You dare not appease aggressors.

Question 3

America's basic cold war strategy emerged when the Truman administration adopted the recommendations of U.S. diplomat and Soviet specialist George Kennan. It is known as the

A) containment doctrine.
B) counterinsurgency strategy.
C) anticommunist crusade.
D) appeasement policy.

Answer 3

containment doctrine.

Question 4

Several factors explain the rise of the cold war, according to the text. Which of the following does NOT correctly identify one these factors?

A) geopolitical: the Truman administration harbored suspicions about Soviet designs on its neighbors
B) ideological: both Soviet communism and the "American dream" represented ends and means that the other side hated
C) economic: both the U.S. and USSR were economically devastated after World War II
D) historic: the Soviets remembered earlier invasions; the Americans remembered the prewar Nazi-Soviet pact

Question 5

Four key initiatives in the Truman administration set the basic pattern for implementing the strategy of containment. Which was NOT one of these?

A) a program of secret spy-plane flights over specified potential targets within Russian territory
B) a program to rebuild Europe's war-torn economy
C) a multi-national political and military alliance among the Western democracies
D) an analysis calling for sharp increases in defense spending to deter communist aggression

Question 6

"The Truman Doctrine marked a new level of American commitment to a cold war."On what basis does the text make this statement?

A) The Truman Doctrine for the first time committed the U.S. to a peacetime military alliance.
B) Truman publicly and finally rejected Stalin's offer of friendly negotiations between onetime allies.
C) Truman's pledge to support free peoples who resisted totalitarian takeover signaled an open-ended intent to oppose the Soviets anywhere in the world.
D) Sending military advisers to Greece was the first step in U.S. involvement in the Middle East quagmire.

Question 7

What did the secretary of state offer in his Marshall Plan?

A) to provide financial aid to rebuild Europe's war-torn economies
B) to station U.S. troops in Europe to defend democratic nations
C) to train free-world armies in the art of oriental hand-to-hand combat
D) to place atomic energy research under United Nations control

Question 8

In addition to communist takeovers in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, what else did the Soviets do to try to cement their hold on Eastern Europe?

A) overthrew the Nationalist government of China
B) invaded Finland
C) occupied Greece
D) blocked Western access to Berlin

Question 9

In response to the United States' proposal for a U.S.-led international atomic agency to supervise the mining and use of the world's atomic raw materials, the Soviet Union

A) agreed.
B) demanded publication of U.S. weapons secrets.
C) demobilized its own army in Eastern Europe.
D) demanded nuclear disarmament before any agreement would be made.

Question 10

In the absence of sufficient U.S. troops to confront the Soviet army in Eastern Europe, what defense strategy was developed by the late 1940s?

A) atomic détente
B) nuclear deterrence
C) a combined NATO army
D) French and German rearmament

Question 11

What fueled the postwar economic boom, according to your text?

A) private sector spending (consumers and business)
B) public sector spending (government at all levels)
C) both private sector spending and public sector spending
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 12

Which statement about the postwar world of work is most accurate?

A) The percentage of women in the workforce declined below 1930s figures.
B) The cultural and economic status of women's work rose for those women who found jobs.
C) Minority workers lost their jobs under "last hired, first fired" rules.
D) A patriotic spirit coupled with pay hikes for unionized white workers prevented strikes.

Question 13

Which of the following forces stymied Truman's efforts to revive the New Deal?

A) un-met demands of veterans
B) liberal opposition in Congress
C) labor unrest
D) high taxes

Question 14

The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947

A) provided for loans and educational benefits for veterans.
B) imposed legal penalties for avowed Communists.
C) restricted the power of labor unions.
D) outlawed collective bargaining.

Question 15

Truman's postwar New Deal and Fair Deal efforts were largely frustrated by conservative opposition. One unparalleled success was

A) the GI Bill.
B) national health insurance.
C) the St. Lawrence Seaway.
D) the end of anti-Communist "witch hunts."

Question 16

Which statement about what might be termed the "second Red Scare"after World War II is true?

A) Rooted in fears of a Soviet invasion, it essentially began as a reaction to revelations that the Russians had the bomb.
B) The administration, the House of Representatives, and the Senate all conducted probes of possible subversive activity.
C) With Truman's blessing, the McCarran Act of 1950 was passed, requiring all Communists to register with the attorney General.
D) American fears of communist subversion eased once the Truman administration set up an internal loyalty program.

Question 17

Who was the first black player to integrate the major leagues?

A) Joe Robinson
B) Lefty Frizzell
C) Pigmeat Morton
D) Jackie Robinson

Question 18

Who was Alger Hiss?

A) a Hollywood film star accused of Communist ties
B) a high-ranking American government official convicted of lying about his association with a known Communist
C) a congressman who conducted sensational hearings into disloyal activities
D) the macho hero of a series of sensational spy novels

Question 19

Among the "shocks of 1949"was the

A) fall of China to Mao Zedong's Communists.
B) defeat of the French in Vietnam.
C) Berlin blockade.
D) North Korean invasion of South Korea.

Question 20

McCarthyism primarily and fundamentally reflected

A) fears of Soviet attack.
B) the fears and hatreds of many Americans, who were suspicious of things foreign, liberal, internationalist, European, or too intellectual.
C) hostility to the Truman administration for firing General MacArthur.
D) the threat that Communist-led insurgencies would overthrow the pro-Western governments in developing countries in Asia.

Question 21

Senator Joseph McCarthy's popularity in his crusade against domestic Communists finally began to slide after McCarthy

A) was televised badgering witnesses and mocking Senate procedures during Senate hearings.
B) accused Dwight Eisenhower of Communist sympathies.
C) claimed there were known Communists working in the State Department.
D) was fired by President Truman.

Question 22

NSC-68, a proposal of Truman's National Security Council, called for

A) a protective nuclear strike against the Soviet Union.
B) massive U.S. defense expenditures to counter the worldwide Soviet threat.
C) a U.S. invasion of North Korea.
D) limited military assistance to Vietnam.

Question 23

What was the official status of the American force fighting in Korea?

A) an authorized agent of a United Nations police action
B) a corps of military advisors to the South Korean army
C) a punitive expedition dispatched by executive order of the U.S. president in defiance of Security Council policies
D) a military response to a congressional declaration of war

Question 24

General MacArthur was relieved of his command in Korea because he

A) crossed the 38^th parallel.
B) could not successfully lead the UN forces.
C) failed to reunify the country.
D) publicly opposed Truman's policy of limited war in Korea.

Question 25

How did the Korean War finally end?

A) The U.S. withdrew its troops unilaterally when the fighting died down.
B) China persuaded the North Koreans to retreat within their own borders.
C) A military deadlock and protracted negotiations finally ended in an armistice that maintained a divided Korea.
D) With the fighting stalemated, the United Nations interposed its own peacekeeping force.

Question 26

When did Eisenhower first travel to Korea?

A) during WWII as the Supreme Allied Commander
B) during the 1952 campaign for president
C) after being elected president, but before he was inaugurated
D) after January 1953

Question 27

America's basic cold war strategy, known as ________, emerged when the Truman administration adopted the recommendations of U.S. diplomat and Soviet specialist George Kennan.

Question 28

The program to rebuild Europe economically was known as the ________.

Question 29

The U.S. decision to join in a historic peacetime collective security alliance was prompted by a Soviet move to blockade Western access to ________.

Question 30

In reaction to the Soviet blockade, the Western powers initiated a massive ________ to supply the besieged people.

Question 31

Truman adviser Bernard Baruch proposed a plan for U.S.-led international control of ________ that the Soviets rejected.

Question 32

The three major growth industries in the decades after World War II were health care, education, and ________.

Question 33

Access to a(n) ________ was a major benefit for veterans under the GI Bill of Rights.

Question 34

________ was the surprise winner in the four-way presidential campaign of 1948.

Question 35

The 1950 document that recommended a sharp rise in military spending, thus establishing the framework for U.S. cold war policy, was ________.

Question 36

The general label given to a series of investigations reflecting fear of communist subversion of American institutions, ________, bears the name of one of the leading scare-mongers.

Question 37

The McCarran Act of 1950 required ________ to register with the government.

Question 38

Officially the United States fought in Korea under the auspices of the ________.

Question 39

America's near-victory in Korea changed into a retreat, then a stalemate, with the entry of ________ into the war.

Question 40

Identify the countries in which early cold war crises occurred. What do these countries have in common?

Question 41

What was the policy of containment?

Question 42

How did the United States use nuclear weapons to deter aggression?

Question 43

What were the major steps taken to prevent subversion in the United States?

Question 44

Why did Truman relieve MacArthur of his command in Korea? Do you think it was justified? Defend your answer.

Question 45

Describe the major problems that prevented orderly conversion from a wartime to a peacetime economy.

Question 46

What major conflicts between the Soviet Union and United States resulted in the beginning of the cold war?

Question 47

How did the United States use nuclear weapons to deter aggression?

Question 48

Explain important ways in which both the United States and the Soviet Union contributed to the worsening of cold war tensions.

Question 49

Explain why staunch anticommunists were especially concerned with the possibility of subversion in the film and television industries.

Question 50

Many historians feel that Harry Truman as much as Joe McCarthy gave force to the postwar "Red Scare."Explain why you agree or disagree.

Question 51

Explain whether you feel President Truman was an effective leader on the civil rights issue.

Question 52

Why do you think the New Deal remained controversial in the elections of 1948 and 1952?

Question 53

How did the cold war affect the film industry and popular culture? Explain by discussing both the content of films and the reactions of the larger political community.

Question 54

How were the rights of African Americans advanced or blocked during the Truman years?