Europe
Western Hemisphere
Southwest Asia
East Asia
Miscellaneous
100
What is the Iron Curtain?
The metaphorical line that separates communist East Europe and democratic West Europe. It was called "iron" because of the harshness of Soviet Rule
100
Who are Fidel Castro and Efrain Rios Montt?
Fidel Castro was the communist leader of Cuba Rios Montt was the dictator of Guatemala during the early 80's
100
Why did the United States get rid of Mohammad Mossadegh
Nationalization of Iranian Oil
100
What happened to the most populous country in the world in 1948, causing concern in the United States?
It (china) became communist.
100
Define Containment
The strategy the United States used to combat communism. It consisted of a foreign policy of preventing the SPREAD of communism anywhere on the globe. It took the form of financial as well as military aid.
200
How did the United States respond when the Soviets blockaded West Berlin? What does it have to do with containment?
The U.S. was afraid that without supplies, West Berlin would submit to the U.S.S.R. and become part of the Iron Curtain. In response, the U.S. airlifted supplies to West Berlin for months in order to aid the West Berliners.
200
How does the United State's involvement in Guatemala highlight problems with containment theory?
The United States funded and supported a genocidal regime that aimed to eliminate the Mayan population in Guatemala. The US supported this regime because in return the Guatemalan government opposed communism, which according to containment, is a good thing, but it resulted in genocide.
200
Who are the Mujahideen?
Muslim anti-communist forces in Afghanistan
200
How did the United States fail to follow containment policy in Korea?
US and UN forces went above the 38th parallel and into communist North Korea. At this point they stopped trying to prevent the SPREAD of communism and began fighting communism on its own soil.
200
What is a Satellite State? How does it relate to the Cold War
A country that is formally independent, but under heavy political and economic influence or control by another country. The Soviet Union turned east-European countries into Satellite states.
300
How did the United States react to the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, and what does it have to do with containment?
The US did nothing to help the Hungarian freedom fighters. Containment says prevent the SPREAD of communism. Communism was not spreading to Hungary (just the opposite), and so the United States did not intervene.
300
Who were the leaders of the United States and the USSR during the Cuban Missile Crisis?
John F Kennedy Nikita Khrushchev
300
Who is the Shah?
Iranian monarch given full political power by the United States until his overthrow in 1979.
300
Who were the guerilla forces inside of South Vietnam?
Vietcong
300
What extremely anti-US leader came into power after the Shah was overthrown in 1979?
Ayatollah Khomeini
400
What is the Truman Doctrine
It is a document written by president Harry S Truman, outlining the situation in Greece (you should know the situation in Greece), and what the US planned to do. The document describes that the US will provide financial aid to the Greek government to fight off the communist rebels. This is the beginning of Containment.
400
What was the Bay of Pigs?
A U.S. attempt to overthrow the Cuban government before the Cuban Missile Crisis. The United States armed Cuban expatriots and sent them to Cuba to start a revolution. It was a miserable failure that greatly discredited JFK.
400
How does US action in Afghanistan highlight problems with containment?
The United States ended up helping groups that would later oppose the U.S. and engage in terrorist actions that cost thousands of American lives.
400
Who were the North Vietnamese fighters?
Vietminh
400
how did the United States respond to the USSR obtaining nuclear weapons?
Nuclear Arms Race
500
What is the Marshall Plan?
A document outlining an aid package to western Europe. The reasoning is that communism becomes popular in areas of strife. Therefore, give money to prevent poverty and chaos, and you've prevented the spread of communism.
500
Describe the Cuban Missile Crisis. Include the reason Cuba was a threat, what was happening in the ocean, and how the crisis was resolved.
Cuban SAM bases were being constructed that could reach D.C. and NYC. There was a possibility that they might be nuclear. Additionally, 28 Soviet ships were crossing the Atlantic with nuclear warheads. JFK set up a blockade to prevent the shipment. Secretly he agreed with the Soviets to take out his missiles in Turkey and Greece if the USSR turned their ships around.
500
What does it mean that Afghanistan was the "soviet vietnam"?
Like America's war with Vietnam, the Soviet war in Afghanistan was costly, unpopular, and greatly discredited the government.
500
What was John Kerry's point about containment theory/Domino theory?
That it was paranoid and unrealistic. He said that anyone who had been in Vietnam would know that if it became communist, that meant absolutely nothing in terms of increased threat to the United States.
500
Why was it called the Cold War?
Because it was a conflict between the United States and the USSR, yet the two sides never actually directly fought each other. Relations between the two were not "hot" and angry like in WWII against the Nazis. Instead, relations were "cold" and calculated.
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