Deck 27: The Cold War at Home and Abroad 1946-1952

Question 1

The Republicans won control of Congress in:

A) 1934.
B) 1938.
C) 1942.
D) 1946.

Answer 1

1946.

Question 2

The popular film The Best Years of Our Lives reflected Americans':

A) rejection of the trend toward suburban living.
B) belief that the nation had become culturally immoral.
C) fear that the fascist powers of Germany and Japan would rise again.
D) desire to stabilize and prosper during the years after the war.

Answer 2

desire to stabilize and prosper during the years after the war.

Question 3

In the year after the surrender of Japan:

A) Americans were reluctant to reduce the size of the armed forces.
B) consumer purchases of automobiles continued to increase.
C) a lack of labor strikes revealed domestic good will and confident prosperity.
D) high demand and short supply meant inflationary pressure.

Answer 3

high demand and short supply meant inflationary pressure.

Question 4

Civil rights reforms enacted by the Truman administration included:

A) passage of the Voting Rights Act.
B) a constitutional amendment to ensure citizenship.
C) desegregation of all public facilities.
D) desegregation of the armed forces.

Question 5

The Employment Act of 1946 did NOT:

A) guarantee full employment for all American workers.
B) establish a council of economic advisers to assist the president.
C) attempt to ward off a possible economic crisis.
D) help define postwar economic growth.

Question 6

In the first few years after the war:

A) there were no labor strikes in America.
B) total employment improved.
C) more women entered the workforce.
D) a brief depression occurred.

Question 7

The creation of the Council of Economic Advisors:

A) increased the role of the federal government in the nation's economy.
B) occurred during the first Eisenhower administration.
C) took place during a time of economic prosperity.
D) was achieved by an executive order of the president.

Question 8

The Taft-Hartley Act:

A) represented the most progressive labor reforms since the Wilson administration.
B) was an attempt by big business to reverse gains made by organized labor.
C) limited the immigration of Asians and eastern Europeans.
D) was successful because it was supported by John L. Lewis.

Question 9

The Taft-Hartley Act:

A) did not become law.
B) was signed by President Truman.
C) was vetoed by President Truman.
D) was opposed by most Republican members of Congress.

Question 10

The G.I. Bill was geared at helping veterans in the areas of:

A) medical care and cash bonuses.
B) mental health and self-esteem.
C) welfare payments and job counseling.
D) housing and education.

Question 11

One immediate problem in the first few years after the war was:

A) a housing shortage.
B) the national feeling that not much was gained by victory in the war.
C) large-scale unemployment.
D) a marked decrease in the standard of living for the middle class.

Question 12

The FHA:

A) financed nearly 40 percent of all home mortgage debt between 1946-1950.
B) required that labor leaders take oaths that they were not communists.
C) began a trend that resulted in rampant inflation during the early 1950s.
D) supported the third-party candidacy of Henry Wallace in 1948.

Question 13

Which of the following had the highest population growth rate between 1940 and 1998?

A) suburbs
B) central cities
C) non-metropolitan areas
D) rural areas

Question 14

Levittown represented a change toward:

A) an increase in Americans who owned small farms.
B) affordable homes in American suburbs.
C) a belief in labor-management equity.
D) the development of suburbs tied to ethnic identity.

Question 15

The courageous athlete who broke the "color line" in major league baseball was:

A) Jackie Robinson.
B) Hank Aaron.
C) Jesse Owens.
D) Willie Mays.

Question 16

One trend of the period 1946-1950 was:

A) further segregation in professional sports.
B) a growth of power for organized labor.
C) a declining fear in the threat of communism.
D) a significant increase in the number of babies being born.

Question 17

In what year was the number of births per 1000 women highest?

A) 1933
B) 1942
C) 1958
D) 1978

Question 18

After the war, middle-class Americans overwhelmingly expressed the desire to:

A) assure peace by developing close relations with the Soviet Union.
B) have small families and live in remote, rural areas.
C) establish prosperity after 15 years of depression and war.
D) include socialist policies in the national political agenda.

Question 19

Aspects of the Democratic Party's "vital center" from 1948 to 1968 did NOT include:

A) a commitment to maintaining New Deal reforms.
B) attempts to extend freedom abroad.
C) attempts to maintain the party's popularity with labor.
D) showing wide tolerance toward communist ideology.

Question 20

Third-party presidential candidate Strom Thurmond left the Democratic Party because of his:

A) belief that the Soviet threat was not a serious concern.
B) contention that the party had abandoned organized labor.
C) opposition to civil rights reforms raised by party members.
D) dislike of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Question 21

Third-party presidential candidate Henry Wallace believed that:

A) U.S. foreign policy was instigating the Cold War.
B) civil rights should not be a national political issue.
C) progressive reforms were ruining the country.
D) big business should have more power in the American economy.

Question 22

In An American Dilemma, Gunnar Myrdal:

A) stated that America's race problems had little if any impact on foreign relations.
B) stated that America's race problems were of little significance.
C) argued that the "American Creed" was based on Roman law.
D) argued that the "American Creed" was at odds with racial discrimination.

Question 23

Harry Truman's successful campaign of 1948 featured all of the following EXCEPT:

A) "whistle stops" in which he talked directly to the American public.
B) sophisticated use of television in televised debates.
C) consistent attacks on what he termed the "do-nothing" Republican Congress.
D) crowds yelling the slogan, "Give 'em hell, Harry!"

Question 24

Harry Truman's economic package was known as the:

A) Fair Deal.
B) New Frontier.
C) Great Society.
D) New World Order.

Question 25

In the election of 1948, Harry Truman benefited from all of the following factors EXCEPT:

A) his popularity in the South caused him to sweep all electoral votes in that region.
B) he positioned himself as a moderate when compared to extreme third-party candidates.
C) the Republican candidate, Thomas Dewey, became overconfident and distant from the voters.
D) the no-nonsense personality of Truman allowed him to be appealing to common voters.

Question 26

In the 1948 presidential election, the __________ Party won 39 electoral votes.

A) Socialist
B) States' Rights
C) Communist
D) Progressive

Question 27

An important legacy of the Housing Act of 1949 was that:

A) it established the goal of decent housing for all Americans.
B) it managed to put an end to all slums in the Northeast.
C) it succeeded because Congress generously funded the program.
D) it showed that the Republicans would never support federal housing measures.

Question 28

All of the following facets of Harry Truman's economic package passed EXCEPT:

A) revitalizing the Social Security program.
B) legislation to help people who had been priced out of the housing market.
C) a plan to provide national health insurance for all Americans.
D) the expansion of many existing New Deal programs.

Question 29

The period 1946-1950 began a 40-year era of:

A) an American economy that never experienced a recession.
B) Republican presidencies.
C) rivalry with communism and the Soviet Union.
D) unchecked legal segregation.

Question 30

The main western economic alliance that developed in the early years of the Cold War centered on the:

A) United States, western Europe, Latin America.
B) United States, western Europe, eastern Europe.
C) United States, western Europe, Japan.
D) United States, western Europe, China.

Question 31

The United States and U.S.S.R. disputed the Yalta Conference's decrees regarding:

A) free elections in western Europe.
B) the existence of socialism in the U.S.S.R.
C) the status of Poland.
D) the war-guilt clause for World War II.

Question 32

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were designed to:

A) ease economic tensions between capitalism and communism.
B) provide redevelopment loans for the Soviet Union.
C) allow the United States to be isolationist in its foreign policy.
D) ensure the United States' central role in the reviving world economy.

Question 33

The Baruch Plan:

A) was opposed by the United States.
B) was supported by the Soviet Union.
C) called for an international agency to supervise and regulate uranium and nuclear weapon production.
D) called for all UN members to renounce the potential use of nuclear energy.

Question 34

The content of George Kennan's "long telegram" depicted:

A) a return to the depression if the United States did not continue social reforms.
B) an aggressive U.S.S.R. driven by expansionist communism.
C) a Republican Party that was not loyal to national goals.
D) President Truman as an ineffective leader in domestic affairs.

Question 35

In 1947, President Truman and Congress appropriated $400 million to:

A) enact desegregation policies in the South.
B) fight communism in Greece and Turkey.
C) rebuild public school systems in poor areas.
D) support left-wing liberation movements in Africa.

Question 36

The main purpose of the Truman Doctrine was to:

A) support all nationalist movements across the globe.
B) continue support for further labor and social welfare reforms.
C) regulate the banking industry in hopes of avoiding another depression.
D) use U.S. economic power to help free nations resist subversion or aggression.

Question 37

A major effect of the Marshall Plan was:

A) a strengthening of the economic relationship between the United States and western Europe.
B) the political downfall of President Truman.
C) the communist movement in western Europe gained momentum.
D) business and labor never supported the political or economic philosophy of the plan.

Question 38

In his July, 1947 Foreign Affairs article, George Kennan argued that:

A) the Soviet Union was on the verge of political and economic collapse.
B) the Soviet Union was primarily concerned with internal development, not foreign involvement.
C) the United States should take the offensive to overthrow the Soviet government.
D) the United States should seek to "contain" Soviet expansion.

Question 39

Due to fear of Soviet expansionism, the U.S. policy in Japan:

A) was hostile to the economic development of Japan.
B) imposed a military state for the first decade after the war.
C) encouraged Japanese loyalty by nurturing its economic recovery.
D) called for joint investment by the United States and U.S.S.R. in Japan.

Question 40

The United States and other Western nations responded to the Berlin blockade by:

A) ignoring the Soviet Union's awkward attempts at expansionism.
B) airlifting supplies into the isolated city.
C) threatening to use nuclear weapons against the Soviet Union.
D) negotiating with the Soviet Union.

Question 41

Which organization was not created in the period 1946-1950?

A) The Central Intelligence Agency
B) The National Security Council
C) The League of Nations
D) The United Nations

Question 42

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization:

A) continued the United States' tradition of no entangling alliances.
B) solidified ties between the United States and its western European allies.
C) strengthened political ties but did not address military matters.
D) consisted only of the United States, England, and Germany.

Question 43

In the period 1946-1954, fears of communism were fueled by all of the following EXCEPT:

A) the Soviets' development of the atomic bomb.
B) the Communist victory in the Chinese Revolution.
C) Chinese participation in the Korean War.
D) the Soviet installation of nuclear weapons in Cuba.

Question 44

Which statement about the role of possible atomic war in the 1950s is NOT true?

A) New environmental and health problems emerged because of nuclear testing.
B) The United States-U.S.S.R. rivalry did not threaten the safety of western Europe.
C) Both the United States and the U.S.S.R. developed the enormously powerful hydrogen bomb.
D) The rivalry between the United States and the U.S.S.R. produced the beginning of a long arms race.

Question 45

Most development and production of American nuclear weapons took place in the ________ United States.

A) western
B) southern
C) midwestern
D) northeastern

Question 46

Results of the Communist victory in China included all of the following EXCEPT:

A) members of the State Department were often unjustly accused of weakness.
B) the Cold War between the United States and the U.S.S.R. was no longer as intense has it had been.
C) critics accused the United States of placing too much emphasis on European allies.
D) foreign service officers had correctly identified the weaknesses of the Chinese nationalists.

Question 47

The content of National Security Council Paper 68 argued that:

A) military solutions should be encouraged to contain communism.
B) foreign aid should be the key element of containing communism.
C) the United Nations was the best vehicle for achieving coexistence with the Soviet Union.
D) the military force behind Soviet expansionism was weak and inefficient.

Question 48

Long-range effects of NSC-68 included all of the following EXCEPT:

A) its emphasis on military action contributed to American involvement in Vietnam.
B) it caused large-scale military spending by both the United States and the Soviet Union.
C) it served as the foundation for a great deal of America's foreign policy through the 1980s.
D) it provided American leaders with a better understanding of local nationalist movements.

Question 49

The world was brought to the brink of World War III surrounding a civil war in:

A) Korea.
B) Taiwan.
C) Greece.
D) Hungary.

Question 50

Before 1950, the United States:

A) actively tried to instigate further internal violence in Korea.
B) refused to recognize the South Korean government of Syngman Rhee.
C) did not perceive Korea as a vital element of U.S. policy in Asia.
D) met with China to discuss peaceful coexistence in Korea.

Question 51

Dean Acheson and President Truman believed that North Korea's invasion of South Korea:

A) involved planning by the Soviet Union.
B) was not a serious foreign policy matter.
C) showed that the Soviet Union could not maintain expansionist policies.
D) would be supported by the United Nations.

Question 52

Effects of the Korean War included all of the following EXCEPT:

A) the Soviet Union became once again convinced of the United States' military invulnerability.
B) the war foreshadowed the United States' later involvement in Vietnam.
C) the goals of NSC-68 had been confirmed as a major portion of U.S. foreign policy.
D) the United States began to fund France's efforts to retain control of colonies in Asia.

Question 53

All of the following statements about the Second Red Scare are true EXCEPT:

A) loyalty programs were established to identify and fire suspect employees.
B) the whims of committee chairs wielded extreme power in Congress.
C) Democrats used the scare to discredit Dwight Eisenhower's political coalition.
D) anti-Communist crusaders often used dubious evidence to cast suspicion.

Question 54

In the years after World War II, the American Communist Party:

A) had been very successful in urban elections in the Northeast.
B) segregated its locals based on race.
C) had effectively gained control of the leadership of the C.I.O.
D) was actually in rapid decline.

Question 55

Loyalty boards were originally created and initiated by:

A) Richard Nixon.
B) Alger Hiss.
C) the Truman administration.
D) President Eisenhower.

Question 56

The loyalty program:

A) was used for intimidation, not personnel decisions.
B) was strongly opposed by Truman's Justice Department.
C) resulted in the firings and resignations of many innocent Americans.
D) was ruled unconstitutional in 1952.

Question 57

The Dies Committee was originally designed to:

A) recommend social welfare reforms.
B) identify and ferret out pro-fascists.
C) investigate communist conspiracies.
D) investigate Joseph McCarthy's background.

Question 58

One of the most provocative activities of the House Committee on Un-American Activities was to investigate alleged communism in:

A) the military.
B) corporate America.
C) the film industry.
D) professional sports.

Question 59

The Hollywood Ten:

A) was led by Ronald Reagan, who established he was an anti-Communist.
B) refused to discuss their politics, citing the protections of free speech.
C) called for Charlie Chaplin's permanent exile from the United States.
D) supported Richard Nixon's attacks on alleged Communists.

Question 60

The McCarran Committee and state legislatures both attempted to intimidate:

A) "red-baiters" such as Joseph McCarthy.
B) anyone who would not use their Fifth Amendment rights.
C) federal judges who would not convict alleged communists.
D) teachers and college professors who had been accused of subversion.

Question 61

The major importance of the Alger Hiss case was that:

A) Hiss had clearly stolen top-security documents from the State Department.
B) Whittaker Chambers was convicted of perjury.
C) people began to place more importance on Hiss as a symbol than as an alleged spy.
D) it cast suspicions upon the Eisenhower administration for the first time.

Question 62

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg:

A) turned over a list of Communist agents to the American government.
B) were convicted and electrocuted for passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union.
C) testified on behalf of Alger Hiss.
D) showed that Joseph McCarthy's political maneuverings had run out of momentum.

Question 63

A particularly suspicious aspect of McCarthy's accusations regarding the State Department:

A) was that he never accused Democrats of being Communist subversives.
B) was that he constantly changed the number of people he was accusing.
C) was his insistence that President Eisenhower knew of subversive acts.
D) was his reluctance to talk about the accusations during televised committee meetings.

Question 64

McCarthy's accusations reached absurdity when he claimed Communist agents included:

A) President Eisenhower.
B) Secretary of State George Marshall.
C) Elvis Presley.
D) HUAC committeeman Richard Nixon.

Question 65

The emptiness of McCarthy's charges were revealed when:

A) it was discovered that Julius Rosenberg was an anti-Communist.
B) President Eisenhower condemned him in a nationally televised speech.
C) he admitted that he had lied throughout the committee hearings.
D) Army lawyer Joseph Welch challenged him at the Army-McCarthy hearings.

Question 66

Which event happened last?

A) Truman establishes the federal employee loyalty program.
B) The Rosenbergs are convicted and executed.
C) The Marshall Plan provides economic aid to Europe.
D) The Best Years of Our Lives wins the Academy Award.

Question 67

Which headline would have appeared in the 1940s?

A) "Truman Stuns Pollsters-Rolls to Reelection Over Dewey"
B) "Truce Talks Begin in Korea"
C) "McCarthy, Eisenhower Appear Together on Convention Stage"
D) "Forces of U.S., China Come Face-to-Face in Korea"

Question 68

Which event did NOT occur during the Truman presidency?

A) McCarthy censured by the Senate.
B) The Berlin Airlift overcomes Soviet blockade.
C) George Kennan first explains containment policy.
D) The Alger Hiss hearings.

Question 69

Which event happened first?

A) Truman defeats Dewey.
B) Communist Chinese defeat Nationalists.
C) The United Nations is founded.
D) Alger Hiss convicted of perjury.

Question 70

In what year did the United States first test a hydrogen bomb?

A) 1945
B) 1947
C) 1949
D) 1952

Question 71

In what year did containment first become a strong component of American foreign policy?

A) 1947
B) 1949
C) 1951
D) 1952

Question 72

Describe the differences between the Democrats and Republicans regarding the legacy of the New Deal in the period 1945-1952.

Question 73

In what ways did the immediate postwar years provide more opportunities for veterans and members of the working class?

Question 74

What evidence reveals the existence of consumer and baby booms in the immediate postwar years?

Question 75

How did the Taft-Hartley Act reduce the influence and power of American labor?

Question 76

What combined roles did the Truman administration and the Republican Party play in promoting fear of an internal Communist threat?

Question 77

Analyze the causes of Harry Truman's upset victory in the election of 1948. Which factor do you believe was most decisive?

Question 78

Describe the relationship of containment and NSC-68 to the purpose of American involvement in the Korean War. Do you feel that the United States was successful in achieving its goals?

Question 79

What were the causes of the intense fear of Communist subversion in the late 1940s and early 1950s? Who were the key figures in the Second Red Scare? What long-term impact did the Red Scare have on American society?

Question 80

Choose three of the following factors that intensified the Cold War and evaluate them: NSC-68, Soviet expansionism, American fear of communist infiltration, spy rings, the further development of nuclear weapons, the strategy of containment, the victory of Chinese Communists, Joseph McCarthy's congressional hearings.