foreign policy under Truman 1945-53

Question 1

why did relations between the USA and the USSR deteriorate after WWII?

Answer 1

• USSR set up communist governments in Eastern Europe to create a buffer zone due to mutual distrust.
• USA feared a communist world would be closed to US trade.
• and there were disagreements about what should happen to Germany.
• tension from the USAs monopoly over nuclear weapons.

Question 2

what were foreign policy approach did Truman adopt during his administration?

Answer 2

Containment

Question 3

what was containment?

Answer 3

policy aimed at limiting the spread of communism President Truman throughout the world.

Question 4

how did Truman introduce containment?

Answer 4

the Truman Doctrine in March 1947

Question 5

when was the Truman Doctrine put forward?

Answer 5

March 1947

Question 6

what was Marsh aid? (foreign policy under Truman)

Answer 6

• the economic counterpart to the Truman Doctrine.
• USA offered $13 billion to help European countries recover
• financial aid would stop countries turning to communism but also it would help to build
  up Western European nations as a defence against communism.

Question 7

when was the Berlin Airlift?

Answer 7

June 1948 to May 1949

Question 8

what was the what was agreed at Potsdam with regards to Germany and Berlin?

Answer 8

At the Potsdam meeting the Grand alliance decided to split Germany into 4, zones 3 of which occupied by the allies and Berlin as the capital eventho it was on the soviet zone.

Question 9

what was the Berlin blockade?

Answer 9

the Soviets blocked all access from Western Germany to Berlin by closing all roads and railways. This cut off 2 million West Berliners from the rest of Western Europe.

Question 10

What lead to the Berlin blockade?

Answer 10

By 1948, it was clear that the Western zones were cooperating and recovery was well on the way through Marshall Aid. In contrast the Soviet zone remained relatively poor and was increasingly having communism imposed upon it.

Question 11

why did Truman not want to give in to the Berlin Blockade?

Answer 11

Truman believed that the fall of Berlin to communism would represent the failure of Containment at the very first stage

Question 12

what was the Berlin airlift 1948-9?

Answer 12

in response to Starlins blockade of Berlin allied aircrafts took off every 3 minutes from Western Germany and at the height of the airlift 10,000 tons of supplies were carried each day.

Question 13

when did the Berlin airlift end?

Answer 13

On 9 th May 1949, Stalin called off the blockade and things returned to normal.

Question 14

when was NATO signed?

Answer 14

April 1949

Question 15

why was NATO signed?

Answer 15

The crisis in Berlin had convinced the US of the need to strengthen
Europe against the Soviets.

Question 16

what was NATO?

Answer 16

the first peacetime military alliance in US history, with 12 founding members, stating an attack on one member was an attack on them all.

Question 17

what was Trumans foreign policy in Japan?

Answer 17

• after WWII USA was the main occupier of Japan and tried to set up a democratic government.
• after the fall of china in 1945 Truman changed the policy to building Japan up to be and ally in asia.

Question 18

when did china fall to communism?

Answer 18

1949 the People’s Republic of China was formed

Question 19

why was Chinas fall to communism 1949 significant?

Answer 19

it was the first failure of Trumans containment policy

Question 20

when did the Korean war start?

Answer 20

25th June 1950, North Korean troops invaded South Korea.

Question 21

how did America become involved in the Korean war 1950?

Answer 21

Truman felt that the USA needed to intervene to uphold the policy of Containment. Truman
was able to gain UN authorisation to join the war to remove the North Korean troops from South Korea

Question 22

what were the two sides in the Korean war 1950?

Answer 22

the communist North and the democratic South.

Question 23

how did China become involved in the Korean war 1950?

Answer 23

• by October 1950 the us troops had removed the N Korean troops and had decided to go further and invade N Korea
• China warned the US not to invade and when the US troops reached the boarder with china they invaded

Question 24

when did China join the Korean war 1950?

Answer 24

On 19 th October 1950, 250,000 Chinese troops poured over the border.

Question 25

when did the Korean war end?

Answer 25

• fighting settled around the 38th parallel in the spring of 1951
• the 2 sides were stuck in a deadlock for 2 years
• ceasefire was agreed in 1953 and North and
  South Korea would remain divided.

Question 26

significance: how many died/ financial cost of Korean war 1950-53?

Answer 26

• 54,246 Americans lost their lives
• cost is estimated at around $20 billion.

Question 27

significance: how did the Korean war impact the military?

Answer 27

• defence budget was increased to $50 million in 1953
• the US army was doubled in size

Question 28

significance: how did Korea set the stage for future proxy wars?

Answer 28

Containment was upheld in this instance but if this was to continue in the future, the USA would have to commit to preventing the spread of communism on a global stage.