Chapter 27 - The Aftermath of Global War: The Cold War and Domestic Politics, 1945-1952

Question 1

Which present consolidated and institutionalized the New Deal state?

Answer 1

Harry S. Truman

Question 2

What type of politicians was Harry S. Truman?

Answer 2

Pragmatic and deal-making. Not an idealistic reformer.

Question 3

What were the five domestic policy themes that marked the Truman administration?

Answer 3

1) Economic Prosperity
2) No extension of New Deal Legislation Except Social Security and Public Housing.
3) Token, but not material support for, the Civil Rights Movement.
4) Held Together, But Did Not Expand, The New Deal Coalition That Kept the Democratic Party in Control
5) The Firing of Douglas MacArthur.

Question 4

What type of liberal was Harry S. Truman?

Answer 4

Pragmatic/Centrist Liberal.

Question 5

What type of liberal was Henry Wallace (FDR’s VP)?

Answer 5

Left-Wing/Philosophical Liberalism

Question 6

How was one way the Truman Administration aided the transition of the economy from war-time production?

Answer 6

The GI Bill.

Question 7

How did the GI Bill help transition the economy smoothly?

Answer 7

As returning soldiers went to college, the number of staff and the number of colleges needed to grow to accommodate the record number of students. This created new economic opportunities and maintain levels of growth.

Question 8

What council was created to give Harry S. Truman economic advisement?

Answer 8

The Council of Economic Advisors.

Question 9

In the 1950s, who was public housing for?

Answer 9

Middle-Class, NOT POOR, Families.

Question 10

What would token pressure gain the Harry S. Truman Administration and Black Americans?

Answer 10

The 1954 Decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

Question 11

What groups did the New Deal Coalition contain?

Answer 11

• Organized Labor
• Southern Whites
• Blacks
• Intellectuals
• Philosophical Liberals
• Women
• Immigrants
• Reforms
• Urban Dwellers

Question 12

What views did MacArthur espouse about the Korean War that were unpopular among military experts and President Truman?

Answer 12

An expanded Korean War into China and the use of Nuclear Weapons against China.

Question 13

What are two important things to note about the decision to fire MacArthur?

Answer 13

1) It was done only after extensive consultation with leading military men who argued that MacArthur should be fired.
2) It reaffirmed the Constitution’s establishing of civilian control over the military.

Question 14

How popular was Harry S. Truman in the end of his presidency?

Answer 14

Less popular than Nixon.

Question 15

How do historians assess Harry S. Truman’s presidency?

Answer 15

A no-nonse administration that dealt effectively with difficult issues. (High B Grade)

Question 16

What is another term used to describe the Second Red Scare?

Answer 16

McCarthyism.

Question 17

When did the Second Red Scare sweep America?

Answer 17

Later 1940s - 1956.

Question 18

What sparked the Second Red Scare?

Answer 18

Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed to have inside information and names of communist spies that the U.S. government and military was protecting.

Question 19

List two incidents that seem to confirm McCarthy’s assertion?

Answer 19

1) Alger Hiss

2) Whittaker Chambers

Question 20

Why did the Second Red Scare occur?

Answer 20

The sudden string of unexpected communist victories that made it seem like communism might be winning.

Question 21

What are the three deep-seated reasons why the US and USSR ignited a Cold War after 1945?

Answer 21

1) The USSR and US defined national security differently.
2) The USSR and US refused to abandon Europe to the other and saw them as vital to their own national security.
3) The relationship between Stalin and Truman deteriorated rapidly and mistrust and fear killed diplomacy.

Question 22

How did the US define national security during the Cold War?

Answer 22

As faith in democratic institutions. Nations that avoided tyranny would be safe and peaceful.

Question 23

How did the USSR define national security during the Cold War?

Answer 23

As a group of buffer states to prevent invasion.

Question 24

How did the US manage its “empire” in Europe?

Answer 24

By invitation. Europe wanted the US involved and proactive.

Question 25

How did the USSR manage its “empire” in Europe?

Answer 25

By imposition. They took over nations they wanted for security reasons.

Question 26

Why was the relationship between Truman and Stalin so susceptible to deterioration?

Answer 26

FDR failed to accurately communicate the outcome of his talks with Stalin. FRD often painted a sunny picture of negotiating with Stalin which was highly inaccurate. When the Soviets occupied Eastern Europe, as FDR knew at Yalta, Truman perceived it as a break in trust.

Question 27

What is the three-stage model for understanding U.S. post-war policy development?

Answer 27

1) The U.S. Believed the Soviets Could Be Worked With After Compromises Such as USSR control over the Baltic states and the creation of the UN.
2) USSR actions in late 1945-1946 destroyed the above assumption. The election in Poland and the Long Telegram from Kennan confirmed American fears and convinced the United States to pursue a policy of containment.
3) Stalin’s actions attempting to create security for the USSR had the consequence of making the USSR even more insecure.

Question 28

What actions did the Soviets take in late 1945-1946 that alarmed the U.S.?

Answer 28

1) Stalin’s public declaration that communism and capitalism are incompatible and that war was inevitable.
2) The launch of COMINFORM to dictate policy to communist leaders and parties around the globe.
3) The USSR’s overthrow of Czechoslovakia
4) The Berlin Blockade

Question 29

What type of containment did Kennen advocate and what type did the U.S. ultimately adopt?

Answer 29

Kennen - Strategic intervention of only important stakes.

U.S. - Global containment. Everywhere challenge communism.

Question 30

What was the Truman Doctrine?

Answer 30

The US would support any government resisting communism.

Question 31

What four actions backfired on Stalin?

Answer 31

1) Installing pro-Soviet governments in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, which prompted a stronger West Europe-US Alliance via the Marshall Plan
2) The Berlin Blockade that prompted the Berlin Airlift and the ultimate Western commitment to forming West Germany and ensuring its success.
3) COMINFORM had the effect of alienating Yugoslavia and Tito.
4) Disclosure of a 1930s Soviet Spy Ring in the United States alienated the people of the United States to their Soviet allies.

Question 32

What did the Marshall Plan do?

Answer 32

Offer money to any country seeking to rebuild a capitalist economy.

Question 33

What is the phrase historians use to denote a non-monolithic communism?

Answer 33

Casual ascription.

Question 34

How did the American view of communism shift in the 1940s and 1950s?

Answer 34

Americans went from viewing communism as non-connected to monolithic.

Question 35

What consequences did the American view of communism have?

Answer 35

1) Led to Global Containment Policy

2) The NSC 68 which committed the US to higher military spending and a protracted Cold War.

Question 36

What did post-War Korea initially look like?

Answer 36

Two states, the North backed by Soviet and Chinese communists and the South backed by the United States.

Question 37

When did North Korea launch a full scale assault on South Korea?

Answer 37

1950.

Question 38

What decision did MacArthur make in the Korean War that was both a mistake and a violation of containment policy?

Answer 38

Launched an invasion into North Korea.

Question 39

Why did MacArthur’s invasion into North Korea fail?

Answer 39

The Chinese poured over one million troops into North Korea.

Question 40

When did an armistice halt hostilities?

Answer 40

1953.

Question 41

What were the Korean War’s impacts on foreign policy?

Answer 41

1) Hastened approval of the NSC-68 and the assumptions it perpetuated.
2) It militarized NATO.
3) Embedded US resolve to convert West Germany and Japan into staunch anti-communist allies.Wh

Question 42

What is one of Harry S. Truman’s greatest foreign policy achievements?

Answer 42

Formulating a policy both Republican and Democrats endorsed.

Question 43

Who bears the burden of the Cold War?

Answer 43

The Soviets more than the Americans.

Question 44

What are the salient features of the Cold War foreign policy paradigm?

Answer 44

1) A Rare Bipolar System
2) High levels of defense spending
3) High levels of Foreign Aid
4) Permanent Military Mobilization and Permanent Military Vigilance
5) The Supposed Results of Appeasement Militarizing the Conflict.
6) Nuclear Arms Race and Deterrence
7) War by proxy.
8) American Policymaker’s Domino Theory means every square inch of the globe is strategically valuable.
9) Peace is redifined as the absence of outright war

Question 45

What are the USSR’s Postwar national security assumptions?

Answer 45

1) National Security Requires a Protective corridor of pro-Soviet states in Eastern Europe
2) The U.S. is committed to destroying communism and the governments of communist states.
3) The Laws of History dictate that communism is morally correct and will triumph
4) The U.S. is not really a just society and capitalists are aggressive and exploitative.
5) The U.S. Demands for free-elected government is an attempt to create pro-US governments.
6) The US cannot be trusted or appeased and force must be used.

Question 46

What are the US’s Postwar National Security Assumptions?

Answer 46

1) National security requires a planet full of democratically elected governments and constitutional republics
2) The USSR is committed to destroying capitalism and the governments of capitalist states.
3) The USSSR violated its WWII agreements and conquered Eastern Europe
4) All Communism is Directed from Moscow
5) Domino Theory
6) Communism is Dictatorial slavery; no free man chooses communism.
7) The U.S. proves that the American Way > Communism
8) The USSR cannot be trusted and appeased and force must be used.