Increasing Cold War tensions -> US dominance of United Nations and the isolation of China Flashcards
Where was the headquarters of the UN?
New York
- established US dominance in the organisation
When was the United Nations Charter agreed?
June 1945
When did the UN come into being?
October 1945
How many original members were there?
50
Where were 20 of the members from?
Capitalist Central and South American states
What were the members of the middle east?
Iran, Iraq and Egypt who were also pro-Western
How were European empires until the mid 1950s?
Largely intact although nationalist movements were growing stronger and more effective after the end of WWII
What did nationalist movements signify?
De-colonisation had not started, limiting the number of potential new members and ensured that the USA had the support of these states because their imperial European masters were allies of the USA
What did the absence of newly colonised states remove the possibility of?
Them functioning as non-aligned or pro-Soviet states in the UN, serving to protect US dominance
What did the USA forbid mainland China from doing?
Insisted that mainland China, a communist state from 1949, could not take China’s seat in the UN (occupied by nationalist regime in Taiwan)
- disqualified from UN membership
What was the executive decision-making arm of the UN?
The Security Council consisting of five permanent members
Who were the permanent members of the security council?
The USA, Britain, France, China and the USSR
How did this structure enhance US power further?
The power of veto did enable any one member to block UN intervention
What did the US see the UN as an opportunity for?
As a vehicle for intervention on a global scale and in order to enhance its own foreign policy aims
What was the primary route of the US’ role?
To act as a ‘global policeman’ favoured by Eisenhower
What became central to US thinking?
That communism was a global threat and therefore needed a global response
What did Truman and his senior advisers favour in their approach to China?
They favoured an avoidance of any military conflict with China as a consequence of supporting Jiang Jieshi
What did Britain recognise in 1950?
Britain recognised Mao’s regime in 1950, albeit through the muted dispatch of a charge d’affaires rather than the ambassador
How had McCarthyism impacted British policy on the far east?
It had little impact on British policy in the far east but it did begin to influence Truman
What provoked the US in greater involvement with China?`
When China and the USSR formed an alliance in early 1950
What was the most alarming element of the alliance for the USA?
The commitment to mutual security guarantees to combat any aggression from Japan, ‘or any other state that may collaborate in any way with Japan in acts of aggression’
What did the alliance reinforce for the US?
It reinforced the USA’s need to develop its own power base in the eastern world
What did the alliance make Stalin believe about the influence of China?
Made him believe the alliance would work to the USSR’s advantage rather than open up wider international opportunities to consolidate the USSR’s security in the Far East
How did this impact the US?
Forced the US to review its policies towards Asia and reduced their European priorities, shifting the Cold War focus out of Europe to some extent
