The Cold War

Question 1

What provided the”Balance of Terror” during the Cold War?

Answer 1

Nuclear weapons

Question 2

Imaginary border that separated the Free World from the Soviet Union

Answer 2

The Iron Curtain

Question 3

The “Big Three” at the Conference of Yalta

Answer 3

Britain/Winston Churchill
United States/Franklin D Roosevelt
Russia/Joseph Stalin

Question 4

Describe the condition of the Big Three when World War II ended.

Answer 4

Britain: was weakened so much that it could no longer control its colonial empire. Its role as the world leader ended.
Russia: seized the opportunity to enlarge its territory at the expense of many “victim” countries and formed the Soviet Union
United States: dropped Isolationism as foreign policy; assumed the role of leader of the free world

Question 5

List three facts about Winston Churchill

Answer 5

1. British Prime Minister during WWII
2. distrusted Stalin from the beginning
3. was voted out after the war and replaced by the Labor Party

Question 6

What does MAD stand for?

Answer 6

Mutual Assured Destruction

What do you think? How did MAD protect the world and jeopardize the world?

Question 7

What made life behind the Iron Curtain different from life in the western countries?

Answer 7

1. Economically there was no competition, prices were fixed, production was regulated by the government instead of business
2. Politically there was no free speech, concentration camps were used to punish the non-compliant
3. The Soviet Union took so much territory that many European countries felt threatened (rightly so)

Question 8

Explain the dilemma presented by the Nuclear War Games.

Answer 8

If a country agreed to only attack nuclear silos, then the attacked silos would be destroyed and nothing would be available for the attacked country to use to retaliate. So rather than risk losing all of its weapons during an attack it would be smarter to preemptively launch its weapons first–even before confirmation would come that an attack was underway. The result was that the Super Powers aimed their nuclear bombs at cities and relied on MAD to keep anyone from making the first strike.

Question 9

With the diagnoses of leukemia increasing this treaty was signed so that nuclear tests would only be conducted underground.

Answer 9

1963 Atmospheric Ban Treaty

Question 10

Ideologically, what was the Korean War about?

Answer 10

Communism

Question 11

What was McCarthyism and how did it affect US society?

Answer 11

McCarthyism was an anti-communism debacle investigation instigated by Joseph McCarthy (Republican) whereby Congress proposed to eliminate communism from high places in government and society. It resulted in campaigns that forced friends to accuse friends of being communists. Many lost their jobs and were black-listed from Hollywood, politics, and “High Society”

Question 12

Name a book and name a play written in response to McCarthyism

Answer 12

Book: Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Play: The Crucible by Arthur Miller

Question 13

What happened to McArthur the WWII hero?

Answer 13

McArthur helped rebuild Japan. Korea had been divided after WWII: communist in the north and the Republic of Korea in the south. N Korea invaded South Korea. McArthur led the war in South Korea. After several months he then invaded N Korea and publically opposed the president because McArthur wanted a total victory in Korea. He was fired by Truman. Congress glorified him and invited him to speak to both houses. A quote often cited from McArthur is, “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.”

Question 14

Why didn’t President Truman and General Bradley want a “total victory” in Korea?

Answer 14

They feared it would escalate to nuclear war. N Korea was backed by China whose ally was the Soviet Union

Question 15

How was the Korean War ended? Who was the president?

Answer 15

President Eisenhower ended the war in 1953. Korea was again divided at the N 38º Parallel. The North is communist. The South is a democracy.

Question 16

Trace the American perspective toward Socialism after the Great Depression.

Answer 16

Socialism arose in prominence leading up to the Great Depression. Many people believed that capitalism had run its course and was bad for the average person. Roosevelt utilized many ideas promulgated by Socialism as part of the New Deal. When The Bolsheviks took over Russia, Socialism was tainted by Communism. By the time Stalin formed the Soviet Union and people learned about the atrocities occurring behind the Iron Curtain, the terms socialism and communism were used interchangeably. In addition to those world events, the United States learned that spies within our own government had given information to the Soviets which helped them build their own nuclear bomb. 1932-1952 was called the 20 Years of Treason. After that, the anathema attached to communism was also attached to socialism.

Question 17

How was McCarthy stopped?

Answer 17

He overstepped by going against the military. In 1954, TV showed the investigation hearings and Americans watched his high-handed badgering and reckless allegations. They saw him for the fanatic he was. The Senate censured him in 1954.

Question 18

What started the Korean War?

Answer 18

The country had been divided after WWII. In 1950 N Korea invaded S Korea to unite the county under communism.

Question 19

The term applied to white American culture after WWII

Answer 19

The Affluent Society

Question 20

This bill provided whites with an opportunity to own a home and get a good education.

Answer 20

The GI Bill.

Question 21

This man started building ships on the model William Levitt used to build houses. It was a form of prefabrication.

Answer 21

Henry Kaiser

Question 22

Region of the country that opened up to settlement after the invention of air conditioning.

Answer 22

The SunBelt.

Question 23

Name a new leisure activity started during this time by the Affluent Society.

Answer 23

Shopping/window shopping

Question 24

American society was very wealthy after WWII. Name two reasons that the Great Depression would not come back.

Answer 24

Bank regulations that protected investments.

The income was more widely distributed than before the Great Depression.

Question 25

Before WWII societies were divided between urban and rural. The affluence of the 1950’s gave rise to the _______

Answer 25

suburbs

Question 26

This time period gave rise to a higher birth rate and a lower death rate. Society also divided its ages differently. It now recognized ________ as well as infancy, childhood, adults, and seniors.

Answer 26

adolescence

Question 27

Name two new places built because of car ownership and extra spending money.

Answer 27

LasVegas and Disneyland

Question 28

President Eisenhower signed into law funds for this system; ostensibly to be able to move troops quickly but actually to provide easy travel opportunities to car owners.

Answer 28

Interstate Highway System

Question 29

So, America attempted to maintain the tricky balance between anxiety caused by the Cold War and affluence caused by the accumulation of wealth. Name things that could only have come about in a culture like this.

Answer 29

Inflated personal credit system (grew by 840%)
High wages (only the man was working again)
Airplanes replaced trains
Fallout Shelters
Packaging
Wastefulness
Conformity (keep up with the Joneses)
Market for children
Great universities
Skyscrapers

Question 30

What was Sputnik? How did it affect Americans?

Answer 30

Sputnik was the first satellite launched into space. The Soviets launched it. Americans were horrified that communists would conquer space. They were galvanized to improve their education system, especially in science and math. This led to the race to the moon, resulting in the US landing the first person on the moon in 1969.