Truman Foreign Policy Flashcards
When was the year of fear
1949
What two things happened in 1949?
China fell to communism
Soviets got atomic bomb
When was the formation of NATO
1949
3 impacts of NATO
US leaders of the Western Bloc
first peacetime military alliance
solidified US military leadership in western world
What was ‘duck and cover’ a program for
1950 Civil Defence
What was civil defence
Educational campaigns to get USA ready for nuclear war, evacuation drills, fallout shelters
What did Truman do to Israel
formally recognised the state of Israel - to win Jewish votes
Impact of Truman and Israel
exacerbated Middle East tensions
Arab states attacked Israel days after T’s proclamation
American thoughts on China
Republicans blamed democrats - T’s state dept. had ‘communist sympathisers’
T should not have allowed to happen
Who lost the civil war in China
Chiang-Kai-Shek
Where did Chiang-Kai-Shek flee to
Taiwan
How much did USA give to Chiang-Kai-Shek
$2 billion
Why did Truman give aid to France against Ho Chi Minh
saw as part of cold war - Stalin’s puppet
How much did Truman give to French war effort
$2 billion
78% of total war costs
Truman’s Korean war motives
contain communism
criticism losing Asia - upcoming midterm elections
Korea after WW2
Communist North - USSR occupied
Non-communist south - USA occupied
divided by 38th parallel
What started Korean war
June 1950
100,000 NK troops invaded
Truman response
ordered ‘UN police action’
army primarily Americans
sent air and naval assistance
Who lead Korean war
General McArthur
What did McArthur do
lead amphibious assault on Inchon - September 1950
MacArthur’s victory impact
catalysed T’s change in warm aim
popular demand for revenge
What prevented rollback
Chinese intervention
neither USSR, USA or China wanted WW3
Truman’s initial war aim
drive NK forces out of SK
Korean war stats
36,914 Americans died
14% of GDP in final year
labelled Truman’s war
prolonged armistice agreement - refused to return Chinese PoWs
approval rate 22%
wider context links to Korea
cold war anxieties
iron curtain completed
fear of Soviet expansion
world power balance shifted after 1949
USA and Soviets dramatically increased defence expenditure
Korea success
South Korea saved - containment worked
Korea failure
Reunification failed
