Deck 29: Reconstruction, Cold War, and Decolonization, 1945-1962

Question 1

The conflict in the Koreas helped to produce what kind of reaction in America?

A) A more tolerant understanding of communism.
B) A fervent anti-communism led by Senator McCarthy
C) A fervent anti-communism led by President Eisenhower
D) Unprecedented economic catastrophe

Answer 1

B

Question 2

_______ is the line at which the two Koreas established an armistice in 1953.

A) The Chinese border
B) The 58th parallel
C) The 83rd parallel
D) The 38th parallel

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In which year did the Soviet Union detonate its first atomic weapon?

A) 1945
B) 1949
C) 1951
D) 1955

Answer 3

B

Question 4

________ was the name of the Soviets' first space satellite.

A) Yuri Gagarin
B) Stalinik
C) Sputnik.
D) Valentina Tereshkova

Question 5

After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in the Cold War, which could be best described as

A) direct military engagement.
B) peaceful co-existence.
C) a race to implement state socialism most efficiently.
D) engagement through proxy states and ideological struggle.

Question 6

"Free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures," is a quote that describes which of the following?

A) Declaration of Universal Human Rights
B) Marshall Plan
C) Truman Doctrine
D) Warsaw Pact Statement of Purpose

Question 7

The United Nations replaced the ______________ after its charter was signed in October of 1945.

A) Warsaw Pact
B) NATO
C) The Korean Peninsula
D) China

Question 8

The Cold War turned "hot" in which region of the globe?

A) Europe
B) North America
C) The Korean Peninsula
D) China

Question 9

Despite social unrest, the Soviet Union made advancements in which of the following fields?

A) Culture
B) Politics
C) Technology
D) None of these

Question 10

At the end of World War II, most of Latin America's industry was related to what sectors?

A) Industrial machinery and automotive assembly
B) Food processing and textile manufacturing
C) Textile manufacturing and automotive assembly
D) Travel and tourism and food processing

Question 11

In the early years of the Cold War, countries could basically be placed into which of the following categories?

A) Eastern bloc and Communists.
B) Colonies, imperialists, and Communists.
C) Western camp and capitalist democracies.
D) Western camp, Eastern bloc, and the Non-Aligned Movement.

Question 12

____________ was the diplomat who proposed the policy of containment.

A) Joseph Stalin
B) Harry Truman
C) George F. Kennan
D) George C. Marshall

Question 13

_______________ is any of the various movements in philosophy and the arts characterized by a deliberate break with classical or traditional forms of thought or expression.

A) Existentialism
B) Realism
C) Modernism
D) Transcendentalism

Question 14

Which of the following Latin American leaders best represents a populist movement?

A) Fidel Castro
B) Juan Perón
C) Evo Morales
D) None of these

Question 15

The Soviet equivalent to NATO was ________________.

A) the United Nations
B) nuclear weapons
C) a blockade of Berlin
D) the Warsaw Pact

Question 16

The "Berlin Airlift" was undertaken by

A) the Soviet Union in response to the Marshall Plan.
B) the western powers to disrupt the Eastern European recovery.
C) the United States and Britain to deliver food to West Berlin for more than a year.
D) American diplomats, assisting Nazis to escape war crime trials.

Question 17

After the separation of India and Pakistan, the latter's constitution:

A) became disposable as the regime declined into authoritarianism.
B) held strong but contained fundamentalist Islamic principles.
C) was ignored in the face of anarchy.
D) was strictly upheld.

Question 18

The first nation to pioneer decolonization was:

A) South Africa
B) Ghana
C) Congo
D) Kenya

Question 19

Which statement best describes the turn of events after China's involvement in the Korean War?

A) UN forces were pushed back deep into South Korea.
B) The Chinese lost Soviet support.
C) The Chinese lost territory to the Americans.
D) Taiwan was captured by the Chinese.

Question 20

The United States response to Russian ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) was the _________.

A) Explorer I
B) Atlas
C) Hellfire
D) Scud

Question 21

Soviet troops crushed a grassroots revolt in which of the following countries after Khrushchev took power?

A) Czechoslovakia
B) Romania
C) North Korea
D) Hungary

Question 22

At the end of World War II, the French …

A) followed British policy.
B) were determined to reconstitute their empire.
C) happily rid themselves of troubled colonies
D) all of the above

Question 23

After setbacks on both sides, the Cold War reached its veritable climax during the _____.

A) Space race
B) ICBM race
C) Bay of Pigs invasion
D) Cuban Missile Crisis

Question 24

Approximately how many people (including civilians, combatants, and victims of the Holocaust) were killed during World War II?

A) 5,000,000
B) 50,000,000
C) 500,000
D) 15,000,000

Question 25

The outcome of the "The Great Leap Forward" was

A) a monumental success.
B) a slight increase in agricultural production.
C) a slight decrease in agricultural production
D) a monumental failure.

Question 26

In the United States, Europe, and Japan ________ became a powerful cultural force during the return to normalcy after the turbulent war years.

A) mass consumption
B) existentialism
C) communism
D) avant garde art

Question 27

The victors in the Chinese Civil War were the ___________________.

A) Nationalists
B) Supporters of Chiang K'ai-shek
C) Supporters of Mao Zedong.
D) Supporters of Ho Chi Minh

Question 28

The state of Israel was created in which of the following decades?

A) 1940s
B) 1950s
C) 1930s
D) 1960s

Question 29

Shortly into her tenure as Ceylon's prime minister, Sirimavo Bandaranaike faced resistance to:

A) Her joining the Non-Aligned Movement, from the British who still controlled the colony.
B) Her nationalization of the banking sector, from Soviet agents who thought this was hasty.
C) Her Sinhalese-only language policy, from the Tamil minority.
D) Her public renunciation of Islam, from the country's Muslim majority.

Question 30

As a result of a secret deal between British prime minister Churchill and Soviet leader Stalin in May 1944, Greece became part of the British sphere, in return for:

A) A substantial segment of the proposed Marshall Plan going to Eastern Europe.
B) Romania and Bulgaria being apportioned to the Soviet sphere at war's end.
C) The repatriation of displaced ethnic Greeks to Turkey.
D) British assistance against Japan in the anticipated Pacific stage of the war.

Question 31

The creation of NATO was most directly triggered by:

A) The Soviets' detonation of a nuclear device in1949, four years earlier than anticipated.
B) The shooting-down of a US spy plane over Soviet territory.
C) The failure of the "Berlin Airlift" to supply West Berlin adequately.
D) Threats from Charles De Gaulle of France to launch a pre-emptive invasion of the Soviet Union.

Question 32

The Eisenhower administration in the US ended the Korean War in 1953 with:

A) A comprehensive peace treaty that recognized North Korea's claim to Seoul.
B) A pledge to invade China if North Korea ever felt threatened again.
C) An armistice only, and no official peace treaty.
D) The withdrawal of American forces from the Korean peninsula.

Question 33

The Soviet Politburo reacted to the uprising in East Germany in 1953 by:

A) Conceding enhanced self-government to restive East Germans.
B) Sending the new premier, Nikita Khrushchev, to survey the situation and report back.
C) Sharply reducing the production quotas that had triggered the revolt.
D) Suppressing the revolt quickly and comprehensively.

Question 34

Khrushchev alarmed Western leaders by announcing that:

A) He would support anticolonial nationalist independence movements around the globe, even if they were not communists.
B) He would dismantle all the prisons and labor camps (gulags) created by Stalin.
C) He would return collectivized farms to private land-owners and restore the power of kulaks.
D) He would continue Stalin's purges of dissidents, saying his predecessor "had not gone far enough".

Question 35

As a result of the launch of Sputnik in 1957,

A) President Eisenhower resigned his office, and Vice-President Nixon rose to the presidency.
B) The United States threatened to destroy the satellite with one of its new ICBMs.
C) The United States accelerated its own missile and space program
D) Funding for math and science education, which had been central to the American education system, was sharply curtailed.

Question 36

All of the following were characteristic of the Soviet economy in the Stalinist and post-Stalinist periods except:

A) Shortages and even rationing of consumer goods were common.
B) Increased efforts were made to industrialize, though at the expense of other sectors.
C) Women entered the workplace in equal numbers to men, as all were considered "comrades".
D) Employment opportunities were not on a par with those created by the Western recovery.

Question 37

Realizing how close the world had come to World War III, President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev signed the Nuclear ____________ Treaty in 1963.

A) Disarmament
B) Test Ban
C) Arms Reduction
D) Détente

Question 38

In Guatemala, the Cold War and the interests of _________ formed the background for a CIA-fomented military coup against a populist president in 1954.

A) The anti-communist president of Mexico, Guatemala's neighbor
B) The indigenous population's efforts to restore Mayan language and culture
C) The American owners of banana plantations
D) The Pope's efforts to rein in "liberation theology"

Question 39

A crucial step in the fall of Juan Perón's regime was:

A) President Truman's refusal to include Argentina in the list of recipients for Marshall Plan aid.
B) The publicizing of the extravagant spending of his wife Isabel.
C) Its paying off of foreign debt decades ahead of schedule, which enraged local bankers.
D) Its establishment of bases for Soviet missiles outside Buenos Aires.

Question 40

Mao's land reforms between 1950 and 1955 took as many as 2 million lives and resulted in:

A) The abuse of tenants by their landlords, who were supported by Communist Party agents.
B) The removal of Chinese troops from Korea, as peasant uprisings rose in force.
C) A rise in agricultural productivity.
D) A change of policy from Mao's inner circle.

Question 41

In 1957, the "Hundred Flowers" campaign was:

A) Expanded into an "Anti-Rightist" campaign that implemented the changes proposed by critical intellectuals.
B) Designed to mirror the anti-intellectual and philosophically dormant late Zhou period.
C) A mass-mobilization effort to enrich urban landscaping with new species of wildflowers.
D) Terminated when the criticisms offered by intellectuals became too frequent.

Question 42

The Suez War of 1956 resulted in:

A) Nasser's overthrow in a military coup.
B) A military victory of the Egyptians over the Israelis.
C) The effective end of the last remnants of British and French imperialism in the Middle East.
D) A swift and impressive demonstration of American power against Nasser in Egypt.

Question 43

A decade into independence, a military officer, Field Marshal Ayub Khan from the Pashtu minority in the "Islamic" state of ___________ assumed power in a bloodless coup.

A) Indonesia
B) Pakistan
C) Iran
D) Afghanistan

Question 44

Jawarhalal Nehru's admiration for ________ successes persuaded him to adopt the five-year-plan system of development for India.

A) West German
B) British
C) American
D) Soviet

Question 45

Some in the Non-Aligned Movement equated the Soviet position in ________ with colonialism and worried about China's emergent predominance in East Asia.

A) Eastern Europe
B) Eastern Africa
C) Southeast Asia
D) The Middle East

Question 46

The United States supported a coup against _______ in November 1963 that put a military government in place in Vietnam.

A) Zhou Enlai
B) Ho Chi Minh
C) Ngo Dinh Diem
D) Nguyen Van Thieu

Question 47

In the face of British opposition, the African nationalists in ______ formed the Mau Mau movement, and independence was finally granted in 1963.

A) Malawi
B) Tanzania
C) Sierra Leone
D) Kenya

Question 48

The Congolese army chief Mobutu Sese Seko seized power from Patrice Lumumba, even though it was general knowledge that he was in the pay of the Belgians and the _______.

A) CIA
B) KGB
C) Anglo-Belgian Rubber Company
D) French in Brazzaville

Question 49

The world's first female prime minister took power in ________ in 1960.

A) India
B) Pakistan
C) United Kingdom
D) Ceylon

Question 50

The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council are China, the United Kingdom, Russia, the United States, and ______.

A) Germany
B) France
C) Japan
D) Brazil

Question 51

______ formulated the United States' policy of containment, which was designed to thwart Soviet expansion into new areas of the globe.

A) George F. Kennan
B) George C. Marshall
C) George S. Patton
D) George W. Bush

Question 52

The Marshall Plan allocated funds to all of the following countries except:

A) The Netherlands
B) West Germany
C) Italy
D) Czechoslovakia

Question 53

In response to the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Soviet Union formed the ______ Pact in 1955.

A) Moscow
B) Warsaw
C) East Berlin
D) Helsinki

Question 54

Mao Zedong was alarmed by the pronouncements of General _____________, the commander of the UN forces in Korea, about raiding Chinese supply bases on the North Korean border.

A) Douglas Haig
B) Dwight Eisenhower
C) Douglas MacArthur
D) Robert McNamara

Question 55

In the fall of 1953, Nikita Khrushchev, who was a metalworker from the Russian-_________ border, was chosen to succeed Stalin.

A) Ukrainian
B) Estonian
C) Uzbek
D) Chinese

Question 56

In the Hungarian uprising, from October to November 1956, some 2500 local troops and 700 Soviet soldiers were killed, while _________ escaped to the West.

A) 5,000
B) 10,000
C) 100,000
D) 250,000

Question 57

Between 1953 and 1961, the ________ "brain drain" reached 3 million defectors, or nearly one-fifth of the population, most of them young and ambitious people.

A) Russian
B) East German
C) American
D) Cuban

Question 58

As a result of the __________ in the United States, millions of veterans benefited from new training and educational opportunities.

A) Beveridge Bill
B) Great Society Bill
C) Bonus Bill
D) GI Bill

Question 59

Post-World War II artistic movements included all of the following except:

A) Existentialism
B) Abstract expressionism
C) Serialism
D) Neo-Federalism

Question 60

In the elections of 1946 in Argentina, __________ gained a mandate as president at the head of a fractious coalition of nationalists, socialists, and communists.

A) Juan Perón
B) Eva Duarte
C) José Napoleón Duarte
D) Jacobo Árbenz

Question 61

By 1949, Chiang K'ai-shek and most of his forces had fled to _______, and Mao's forces took Beijing.

A) Vietnam
B) The Soviet Union
C) Taiwan
D) Japan

Question 62

The Communist Party of China turned to its most colossal mass mobilization project yet, the Great Leap Forward, in ________.

A) 1949
B) 1976
C) 1965
D) 1958

Question 63

An estimated ________ Palestinians were driven out of their villages and homes after the first Arab-Israeli War ended in 1949.

A) 3 million
B) 750,000
C) 50,000
D) 200,000

Question 64

The original founders of the Non-Aligned Movement of Nations included all of the following except:

A) Turkey
B) Indonesia
C) India
D) Egypt

Question 65

Following protracted negotiations over Vietnamese independence in early 1946 between Ho Chi Minh and the _________, a stalemate ensued.

A) Americans
B) Soviets
C) French
D) Dutch

Question 66

A war of independence was declared by the _______ Front of National Liberation in 1954-and independence was finally achieved in 1962.

A) Algerian
B) Nigerian
C) Libyan
D) Senegalese

Question 67

Kwame Nkrumah appeared to be a sound choice for leading a constitutional, independent regime in _________ in 1957.

A) Rhodesia
B) Kenya
C) Sudan
D) Ghana

Question 68

In its indictment of traditional societal and cultural norms, Allen Ginsberg's __________ and Other Poems (1956) represents the earliest expression of the "Beat" ethic.

A) Twist and Shout
B) Help!
C) The Rebel Yell
D) Howl