Question 1

In 1939, the Soviet Union tested its first nuclear bomb.

Accepted Answer

The Soviet Union tested its first nuclear bomb, known as "First Lightning" or "Joe-1" by the West, on August 29, 1949.

Question 2

In 1950, President Truman authorized the development of a new hydrogen bomb.

Accepted Answer

In 1950, President Harry S. Truman announced that he had directed the Atomic Energy Commission to proceed with the development of the hydrogen bomb, marking a significant escalation in the nuclear arms race during the Cold War.

Question 3

The Cold War produced a reactionary period of hysteria that included a loyalty program that violated civil liberties.

Accepted Answer

The Cold War era saw the implementation of loyalty programs, such as those initiated under President Truman's Executive Order 9835, which aimed to assess the loyalty of federal employees. These programs, along with McCarthyism and the Red Scare, led to investigations, blacklisting, and the violation of civil liberties under the guise of protecting national security.

Question 4

During the Cold War, Congress targeted homosexuals working in government service as a security risk.

Accepted Answer

During the Cold War, the Lavender Scare was a moral panic about homosexual people in the United States government and their dismissal from government service because they were considered a security risk, paralleling the anti-communist Red Scare.

Question 5

Black leaders Paul Robeson and W.E.B. Du Bois were criticized for communist leanings during the era.

Accepted Answer

Both Paul Robeson and W.E.B. Du Bois faced significant criticism and scrutiny for their perceived sympathies towards communism, especially during the Cold War era when anti-communist sentiment was high in the United States.

Question 6

In 1948, starving Navajos were given federal assistance despite their "communistic" way of life.

Accepted Answer

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Question 7

Assume that you were Val Lorwin. Describe your position in relation to the United States government from November 1950 through March 1952.

Accepted Answer

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Question 8

Contrast the American worldview with the Soviet worldview at the end of World War II.

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Question 9

Characterize the foreign policy interests of American presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, as well as the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

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Question 10

Discuss the background to the Polish question and illustrate how it became the first confrontation in the Cold War.

Accepted Answer

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Question 11

Discuss the issue of American aid to the Allies at the end of World War II and explain how the American position contributed to the development of Cold War with the Soviet Union.

Accepted Answer

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Question 12

Discuss the development of the United States' containment policy and explain the major attempts of the American government to implement it prior to 1950.

Accepted Answer

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Question 13

Suppose you were a Chinese communist leader in 1950. Explain how you would have felt about the situation in China, as well as about the response of the United States to that situation.

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Question 14

Suppose that you had been General Douglas MacArthur leading the United Nations' forces in the Korean War. Explain your objectives in the war, as well as how you would respond to President Truman's approach to the war.

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Question 15

Imagine that you were the Central American correspondent of an American news magazine during the 1950s. How would you evaluate the economic and political conditions of Latin America, and how would you explain the United States's reaction to the Castro revolution in Cuba?

Accepted Answer

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Question 16

Upon his death in 1953, Joseph Stalin was succeeded by ________ as the leader of the Soviet Union.

Accepted Answer

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Question 17

The individual primarily responsible for developing the American containment policy during the Cold War was ________.

Accepted Answer

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Question 18

The key Republican senator responsible for gaining congressional support for the Truman Doctrine was ________ of Michigan.

Accepted Answer

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Question 19

The Allied powers had decided to divide Germany into four occupation zones at the ________ Conference.

Accepted Answer

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Question 20

The first commander of the United Nations forces during the Korean War was General ________.

Accepted Answer

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Quiz 24: Chills and Fever During the Cold War, 1945-1960