Study Guide - World War II

Study Guide 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Why was it unlikely that the Soviet Union was going to embark on a new military campaign in the years following World War II? The communist nation had suffered more than 20 million casualties, along with immense devastation Why was it inevitable that the United States and the Soviet Union would eventually come into conflict after the war ended? Historically, both nations had never shared long- term interest or values. The policy of “containment” can best be described as? Preventing the spread of communism worldwide Why were American diplomats particularly dismayed that the Soviets had installed a procommunist government in Poland in 1945? Stalin had promised that he would allow a democratic government in Poland, at the Yalta conference What obstacle did Harry Truman face when he assumed the presidency following the death of Franklin Roosevelt in April 1945? Harry Truman lacked experience in foreign policy What precedent was set after Truman’s 1947 speech to Congress? American assistance to anticommunist regimes for the global defense against the USSR Assess the effects of the Marshall Plan. The plan offered economic assistance to noncommunist governments to noncommunist governments. Western Production exceeded prewar levels and the region was poised to follow the United States as a massconsumption society. Why did American policymakers agree to spend billions of dollars on the economic recovery of Europe under the Marshall Plan? They were afraid that if they did not help with economic recovery, western European nations might fall into the Soviet sphere of influence. What happened right after World War II to the U.S. status in the world? Why? The United States emerged as the world’s greatest power. It boasted the world’s most powerful navy and air force, accounted for half of the world’s manufacturing capacity, and alone possessed the atomic bomb. The Berlin Blockade was the Soviet Union’s reaction to? The establishment of a separate currency in western Berlin’s occupied zones. Why did the United States allow West Germany to become part of a defensive alliance less than ten years after the defeat of Nazi Germany? The successful Soviet detonation of a nuclear bomb underlined the importance of a military united west 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. Why did France and other European nations understand NATO as a form of double containment? West Germany would serve as a wall against the Soviets while integration into the Western alliance tamed Germany The United Nations authorized the use of force to repel the North Koreans in what war? The Korean War After World War II, the only nation that could rival the United States was? The Soviet Union The Truman Doctrine assumed the U.S. would provide aide to who? Any anticommunist regime threatened by communism The “Iron Curtain” was? The separation from the free west and the communist East What was the result of the Korean War? An armistice and the divide along the 38th parallel between the two Koreas The Marshall Plan was popularized by the use of the slogan? “Prosperity makes you free” After World War II, which country gained its independence from Great Britain? India How did Truman respond to Joseph Stalin’s blockade around Berlin? An eleven-month airlift followed, which brough supplies to their zones of Berlin In 1949, Mao Zedong did what? Led a successful communist revolution in China To wage the cultural Cold War, the Central Intelligence Agency and Defense Department sought to censor the work of what painter? (Jason Pollock) Guess How was Truman’s national health insurance plan defeated? The American Medical Association raised the specter of “socialized medicine” to discredit and defeat Truman’s proposal for national health insurance. What were the Nuremberg trials? The trials of numerous German officials at Nuremberg for crimes against humanity. What introduced the concept of human rights to the broader world? The Cold War, the atrocities committed during WWII, and the global language of the Four freedoms and the Atlantic Charter. During the Cold War, the United States considered all anticommunist regimes as part of the free world even when the government was oppressive to its own people. What nation fit this description? South Africa Know the major provisions of the Fair Deal. Increase the minimum wage, enact a program of national health insurance, and expand public housing, Social Security, and aid to education 28. Which long-held U.S. territory was granted independence in 1946? Philippines Between 1945 and 1952, what was one way in which black Americans gained 29. more rights? The NAACP launched a voter registration campaign in the South What artist had his work promoted by the CIA but at the same time had his 30. paintings criticized as un-American? Jason Pollock Before breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball, Jackie Robinson did 31. what? Had been tried for insubordination in 1944, when he refused to move to the back of the Bus at Fort Hood, Texas 32. President Truman’s civil rights plan called for what? The federal government to assume the responsibility of for abolishing segregation and ensuring equal treatment in housing, employment, education, and the criminal justice system. Who were the “Dixiecrats”? 33. Numerous southern delegates who supported state rights over human rights 34. The committee that drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was led by? Eleanor Rosevelt 35. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights protected people against what types of government? Arbitrary government 36. In the aftermath of World War II the majority of soldiers went back to what? Work The 1948 presidential race was the last to occur before what technology forever 37. changed campaigning? Television What reason did the Hollywood Ten give for not cooperating with the HUAC 38. hearings? The hearing violated the First Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of speech and political association. The charges against which of the following organizations led to the downfall of 39. Joseph McCarthy in 1954? Army 40. During the Cold War, Americans formed anticommunist groups who pressured public libraries to do what? Remove from their shelves “un-American” books like the tale of Robin Hood, who took from the rich and gave to the poor. 41. The McCarran-Walter Act authorized what? The deportation of immigrants identified as communists, even if they had become citizens. Starting in the 1950s, the government asked federal employees to demonstrate 42. their patriotism. This was especially true for those who were suspected of being disloyal. Along with this group, what other minority was specifically targeted by the government? Jews 43. Describe Operation Wetback. The federal government launched a program that employed the military to invade Mexican-American neighborhoods and round up undocumented aliens. How did black organizations employ the language of the Cold War? 44. They insisted American that by damaging the American image abroad, racial inequality played into the Russian’s hand. Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed to have a list of communists working for the 45. U.S. State Department. Why did the Republican Party initially support McCarthy’s actions? They believed that the attacks would help them win the 1952 election Why did Margaret Chase Smith disagree with Joseph McCarthy’s anticommunist 46. agenda? McCarthy was promoting hate and character assassination 47. Civil rights initiatives after 1948 waned because? Given widespread American sentiment that any criticism of American society smacked of "disloyalty." 48. The impact of the Cold War on the civil rights movement? Included government action against black leaders Describe examples of anticommunism with businesses and government 49. regulations? Anticommunism became part of a campaign to identify government intervention in the economy with socialism What did the McCarren-Walter Act of 1952 permit? 50. The revoking of citizenship and deportation of an American born abroad if he or she refused to testify about “subversive” activity, joined a sub verse organization, or voted in a foreign election. What did Nixon recognize as even more globally influential than military might? 51. “Soft Power”-the penetration across the globe of American goods and popular culture During the “Kitchen Debate,” what prediction made by Nikita Khrushchev would 52. never become a reality? Within seven years the Soviet Union would surpass the United States in the production of consumer goods Between 1946 and 1960, what happened to the American gross national product? 53. More than doubled Describe the growth of the postwar West? 54. They benefited enormously from government contracts for aircraft, guided missiles, and radar systems How did Los Angeles epitomize the new emphasis on the car in 1950s America? 55. People drove to and from work on a web of highways and shopped at malls only accessible by driving What was essential to the growth of suburbs? 56. A growth in affordable automobiles and highways 57. Why did auto manufacturers and oil companies vault to the top ranks of corporate America in 1950s? The consumer demand for the automobile boomed in this decade Between 1950 and 1973 there was a reduction in income inequality. This was in 58. part due to the federal government’s progressive income tax policy. In practice, how did this policy work? Wealthy Americans paid a far higher rate of taxation than other Which statement about industry is correct? 59. The West benefited from the industries that sprang up from the Cold War. What did the “Kitchen Debate” between Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev 60. focus on? The merits of capitalism and communism Why were American suburbs of the 1950s so heavily segregated? 61. Residents, brokers, and realtors dealt in contracts and mortgages that barred the sale to non-white residents. 62. The Housing Act of 1949 reinforced what? The concentration of poverty in non-white urban neighborhoods How did American companies contribute to the influx of Puerto Rican migrants by 63. the hundreds of thousands beginning in the 1950s? The increasing control of land by U.S sugar companies on the island pushed small tobacco and coffee farmers off the land and into a search for jobs on the mainland. 64. During the 1950s, mass consumption was promoted as? A patriotic act William Levitt, with the help of the GI Bill, gave many Americans the opportunity to 65. do what? Buy a home 66. The shopping mall was the inevitable result of? The suburb 67. As suggested by some commentators, how did big business enable individual freedom in the 1950s? With large-scale production of goods cam ethe freedom for individuals to choose among many items. How did 1950s consumerism differ from previous eras? 68. Americans became accustomed to buying goods with credit cards 69. During the 1950s, television became what? An effective advertising medium 70. To libertarian conservatives, freedom meant? Individual autonomy, limited government, and unregulated capitalism 71. After World War II, most working women did what? Were concentrated in low-paying, nonunion jobs What helped Dwight D. Eisenhower win the election of 1952? 72. Manifested a public image of fatherly warmth Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed which kind of individuals to his cabinet? 73. Wealthy businessmen to run the government like an efficient businessman How did President Dwight D. Eisenhower surpass the New Deal in government 74. involvement in the economy? He presided over the construction of 41,000 miles of interstate highways During the postwar suburban boom, how did African-Americans experience 75. suburban life? We're often unable to receive financing for housing 76. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles’s policy of massive retaliation declared what? Any Soviet attack on an American ally would be countered by a nuclear assault on the Soviet Union itself. Why did the Eisenhower administration embrace the doctrine of “massive 77. retaliation”? The constant threat of mutually assured destruction under the doctrine made for more cautious diplomacy. During the Eisenhower administration, U.S.-Soviet relations improved after what 78. two events? Korean War and death of Stalin What event renewed the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union 79. in 1960? The Soviets shot down the U.S spy plane flying over their territory 80. The “Third World” was a term invented for? To describe developing countries aligned with neither two Cold War powers and desirous of finding their own model of development between Soviet centralized economic planning and free market capitalism. Why did the Soviet Union strongly support the national independence movements 81. in the new Third World? They hoped to convince new nations to ally themselves against European and American imperialists Which of the following spurred the growth of the suburban middle class? 82. Federal highway construction 83. Why did President Eisenhower use the CIA to overthrow the government of Iran in the early 1950s? The government had attempted to nationalize British-owned oil fields 84. New conservatives trusted government to restore what? A Christian morality they saw as growing weaker in American society. 85. The new conservatives believed in what? They wanted the government to be expelled from the economy, they trusted it to regulate personal behavior. What made Elvis such a popular celebrity? 86. He brought the rhythms and sexually provocative movements of black musicians to white audiences. Why did the government encourage Americans to build bomb shelters in their 87. houses? Aimed to convince Americans that a nuclear war is survivable 88. What did Allen Ginsberg’s Howl (1955) protest? Against materialism and conformism written while the author was under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs. What was the specific danger that arose from school segregation in the case of 89. Linda Brown? White protesters Most likely why did the U.S. Supreme Court not order the immediate 90. implementation of its ruling in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954? Some justices on the Court feared the outbreak of widespread violence with such a bold ruling 91. Ngo Dinh Diem was who? An anticommunist southern leader, which was urged on by the United States, refused to hold elections, which would have resulted in a victory for Ho Chi Minh’s communists. What ended the Montgomery Bus Boycott? 92. the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional. What institution ended up confronting racial segregation? 93. The judiciary 94. Which statement best describes how the white South reacted to the Brown v. Board of Education decision? Some states closed the public schools, rather than integrate, and offered white children the choice to opt out the integrated schools. 95. Why was America’s image abroad a source of embarrassment in the nonwhite world during the Cold War? The slow pace of change What event did President John F. Kennedy blame on the failures of the 96. Eisenhower administration? The launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik The 1960 presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon 97. highlighted the impact of television on what? Political campaign 98. Why did the writers of the Southern Manifesto claim the Brown v. Board decision was unconstitutional? It was a clear abuse of judicial power 99. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was what? A coalition of black ministers and civil rights activists, to press for desegregation. 100. By the end of the 1950s, what problem was the car causing? 101. Air pollution