Deck 24: Cold War and Hot War, 1945-1953

Question 1

Which of the following nations was given a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council?

A) Spain
B) Italy
C) Germany
D) France

Answer 1

France

Question 2

American's overriding fear at the end of the war was __________.

A) racial discord
B) a Soviet invasion
C) the return to economic hard times
D) falling population rates

Answer 2

the return to economic hard times

Question 3

The GI Bill provided veterans with which of the following?

A) low-cost mortgages
B) retirement pensions
C) medical care for four years
D) free housing

Answer 3

low-cost mortgages

Question 4

Segregation in voting primaries was outlawed by the Supreme Court ruling in which case?

A) Smith v. Allwright
B) Morgan v. Virginia
C) Shelley v. Kramer
D) Sweatt v. Painter

Question 5

After World War II, the Soviets considered which of the following part of their sphere of influence?

A) Iran
B) Italy
C) Japan
D) Thailand

Question 6

Why did the American people fear a return to economic hard times after the war?

A) Western Europe was poised to compete with U.S. industry.
B) The U.S. population had fallen during the war.
C) Government spending was cut back sharply.
D) Most veterans had few job skills.

Question 7

Which of the major combatants in World War II emerged from the war in better shape than they were at the beginning?

A) the United States
B) the Soviet Union
C) China
D) Japan

Question 8

The defeat of fascism and militarism discredited __________.

A) leftist ideologies
B) right-wing political ideas
C) republicanism
D) experimental political ideologies

Question 9

What was the intent of Taft-Hartley Act?

A) to strengthen national security
B) to reduce gender inequality
C) to weaken labor unions
D) to identify subversives

Question 10

In 1945, the United States controlled __________ percent of the world's wealth.

A) 10
B) 25
C) 50
D) 75

Question 11

The fundamental task for Americans at home was to __________.

A) absorb new waves of immigrants from Europe and Latin America
B) prepare for wars in Asia and Africa
C) to provide work for refugees from Europe
D) convert from a wartime society back to a peacetime one

Question 12

How did postwar American society treat African-American veterans returning home?

A) Jobs were waiting for them.
B) They were treated as heroes and exercised unprecedented civil rights.
C) The Cold War reinforced white America's unwillingness to acknowledge racism.
D) In the South, returning black veterans were met with a wave of violence.

Question 13

In 1946, U.S. officials believed the primary threat to national security came from __________.

A) communist China
B) climate change
C) income inequality
D) the Soviet Union

Question 14

The Ninth Circuit Court's decision in Mendez v. Westminster __________.

A) affirmed the president's authority to issue executive orders
B) reduced funding for interstate highways
C) upheld the legality of immigration quotas
D) outlawed segregated schools for Mexican Americans

Question 15

Alan Freed brought __________.

A) the works of the Harlem Renaissance to widespread notice
B) rock 'n' roll to mainstream white audiences
C) discrimination in public housing to the public's attention
D) the plight of the homeless to the notice of government officials

Question 16

As in 1919, the end of the war in 1946 brought __________.

A) a wave of strikes
B) an influenza epidemic
C) a surge in union membership
D) relative racial harmony

Question 17

Which of the following was true of western Europe in the immediate aftermath of World War II?

A) Right-wing parties rose sharply in popularity.
B) Consumer spending rose sharply.
C) Socialist and Communist parties rose sharply in popularity.
D) Most Europeans were eager for the U.S. to leave the continent alone.

Question 18

From a U.S. perspective, national security came to be identified with __________.

A) the creation of a free-trading capitalist world order
B) the total destruction of America's enemies
C) peaceful co-existence
D) the creation of international organizations to mediate conflict

Question 19

Following World War II, __________ gained its independence from Britain.

A) India
B) Algeria
C) the Philippines
D) Indonesia

Question 20

The end of the war led to an economic depression in __________.

A) China
B) South America
C) the Soviet Union
D) the United States

Question 21

The U.S. decision to grant __________ independence in 1946 was put forward as a model of decolonization.

A) Okinawa
B) Puerto Rico
C) the Philippines
D) Taiwan

Question 22

__________ articulated the policy of containment in an influential 1946 telegram.

A) Harry Truman
B) George Kennan
C) John Foster Dulles
D) J. Edgar Hoover

Question 23

Why was control of Poland not negotiable for Joseph Stalin?

A) The Germans had invaded Russia by going through Poland.
B) Most Poles were ethnic Russians.
C) Poland used Soviet currency.
D) Poland had been annexed by Germany in 1933.

Question 24

The creation of NATO in 1949 made the American commitment to __________ permanent.

A) Europe
B) Central America
C) South America
D) Japan

Question 25

Why did Truman ask his advisers for a full reevaluation of the nation's foreign policy in 1949?

A) He fundamentally disagreed with Roosevelt's views.
B) The U.S. and Britain had broken off their alliance.
C) The Soviet Union had acquired nuclear weapons.
D) War had broken out in North Africa and the Middle East.

Question 26

The United States considered a rebuilt industrial __________ as crucial for a healthy, integrated western European economy.

A) Germany
B) Soviet Union
C) Italy
D) Spain

Question 27

How did Truman respond to the Jewish desire for a homeland in the Middle East?

A) He actively opposed the creation of the state of Israel.
B) He refused to take a stand on the creation of the state of Israel.
C) He decided to recognize the state of Israel.
D) He urged Jews to reconsider establishing the state of Israel.

Question 28

President Truman argued that the world's peoples __________.

A) were confronted with two ways of life
B) were freer than they had ever been before
C) had to pay the United States back for winning World War II
D) had been duped by their leaders

Question 29

After Japan's defeat in 1945, __________.

A) Soviet and U.S. forces each occupied half of Korea
B) the Soviets demanded a say in the Japanese government
C) Soviet and U.S. forces each occupied half of Vietnam
D) the United States abandoned Korea to its fate

Question 30

The National Security Act of 1947 created the__________.

A) OSS
B) NSA
C) CIA
D) FBI

Question 31

The Truman Doctrine was put forward in the context of a crisis in __________.

A) eastern Europe
B) Guam
C) the Philippines
D) Greece and Turkey

Question 32

Despite traditional tensions, Mao __________.

A) signed a mutual defense pact with the Soviet Union
B) agreed to a trade relationship with the United States
C) signed an alliance with Japan
D) allowed southern Chinese to participate in his government

Question 33

Japan's withdrawal from China in 1945 __________.

A) led to the immediate rise to power of Mao and the Communists
B) plunged China into a decade of violence and unrest
C) led to a four-year long civil war
D) sparked a war between China and Korea

Question 34

In 1946, most of the world's non-white majority __________.

A) sided with the Soviet Union
B) lived under European colonial control
C) was in open rebellion against colonialism
D) had thrown off colonial control

Question 35

During World War II, the United States had a close alliance with the government of __________.

A) Mao Zedong
B) Jiang Jieshi
C) Ho Chi Minh
D) Chiang Kai-Shek

Question 36

George Kennan linked Soviet hostility to __________.

A) resentment of American wealth
B) unhappiness over American military performance during World War II
C) traditional Russian insecurity
D) the paranoia of its leaders

Question 37

NSC-68 argued that the United States had entered an era of __________.

A) unmatched prosperity
B) limitless opportunity
C) permanent crisis
D) geopolitical stability

Question 38

Korea was a colony of __________ between 1910 and 1945.

A) Japan
B) China
C) Britain
D) the Soviet Union

Question 39

NSC-68 called for __________.

A) containment of the Soviet Union
B) the de-escalation of the arms race
C) the demilitarization of western Europe
D) fostering a fundamental change in the Soviet system

Question 40

__________ was the first major communist government created without the presence of Soviet troops.

A) The Democratic Republic of Germany
B) Poland
C) Vietnam
D) The People's Republic of China

Question 41

The "Dixiecrats" selected __________ as their presidential candidate in 1948.

A) Strom Thurmond
B) Ronald Reagan
C) Huey Long
D) Henry Wallace

Question 42

Which of the following reaped the benefits of the second Red Scare?

A) Libertarians
B) Independents
C) Republicans
D) Democrats

Question 43

What was NSC-68 and how did it help produce the American national security state?

Question 44

Joseph McCarthy lost credibility after charging that the __________ was filled with communist sympathizers.

A) Truman administration
B) Republican party
C) British government
D) U.S. army

Question 45

Discuss the impact of the Red Scare on American politics and civil liberties.

Question 46

How did African Americans challenge racial discrimination in the years immediately following World War II?

Question 47

How did General MacArthur turn the tide of the Korean War?

A) by using nuclear weapons against China
B) by invading China and destroying North Korea's base of support
C) by strategically bombing Soviet military targets along North Korea's borders
D) by directing an amphibious assault on Inchon and landing fresh troops

Question 48

What role did civil rights for African Americans play in the election of 1948?

Question 49

How did the United States redefine national security after 1945?

Question 50

The academic studies of Dr. Alfred Kinsey __________.

A) shocked the American public
B) were greeted with indifference by the American public
C) were censored by the federal government
D) were proven to be fraudulent

Question 51

Suburban life encouraged __________.

A) the promotion of spirituality over materialism
B) the liberalization of American society
C) the formation of interracial communities
D) a sharpening of gender roles

Question 52

What was the real target of the second Red Scare?

A) Liberal Democrats
B) African Americans
C) Socialists
D) Fascists

Question 53

Why did Truman fire General MacArthur?

A) MacArthur grew increasingly insubordinate.
B) MacArthur wanted the U.S. to withdraw from Korea.
C) MacArthur was genuinely incompetent.
D) Truman had a personal dislike for MacArthur.

Question 54

Levittown was a __________.

A) toxic waste disposal site
B) decaying industrial center
C) mixed-race community
D) suburban housing development

Question 55

Which of the following technologies helped break down the South's regional distinctiveness?

A) the concrete highway
B) diesel locomotives
C) air conditioning
D) the telephone