foreign policy and containing communism

Question 1

how did both leaders of NK and SK rule?

Answer 1

as an oppressive dictatorship

Question 2

what causes the Korean war to enter a stalemate?

Answer 2

china’s involvement

Question 3

what caused china to get involved? who was responsible?

Answer 3

UN forces pushing into china
general Douglas MacArthur

Question 4

why is MacArthur dismissed?

Answer 4

for undermining Truman’s authority

Question 5

why does MacArthur’s speech make Truman unpopular?

Answer 5

because the public agreed that attacking China was necessary to secure total victory in the Korean war

Question 6

how did the Korean war create an ultimatum for future presidents?

Answer 6

will they repeat Trumans perceived weakness or not?

Question 7

what was the sentiment among the American population after the Korean war had ended?

Answer 7

a sense of war weariness

Question 8

why was American foreign policy questioned after the korean war?

Answer 8

consensus was that the war was handled poorly due to internal conflict between Truman and MacArthur

Question 9

which presidents foreign policy was engulfed by the Bay of Pigs invasion?

Answer 9

JFK

Question 10

what did the soviets launch in 1957 that suggested a technological gap between the USA and the USSR?

Answer 10

launch the first satellite - Sputnik

Question 11

what kind of conflicts began to emerge in the 50s that served as the main battleground between the US and USSR?

Answer 11

proxy wars

Question 12

why was Cuba seen as a huge threat to the US?

Answer 12

it had emerged as a communist state right on Americas doorstep

Question 13

what was the aim of the Bay of Pigs invasion?

Answer 13

to spark a revolution in Cuba against communism

Question 14

why was the Bay of Pigs invasion doomed from the start?

Answer 14

Kennedy was anxious about concealing US involvement so scaled back support massively

Question 15

what were the two main immediate consequences of the Bay of Pigs failure?

Answer 15

tarnished US reputation in Latin America
showed the limitations of US power

Question 16

how did Cuba respond to the Bay of Pigs invasion?

Answer 16

it turned to the USSR for support

Question 17

what were the 4 main reasons for the USSR establishing missile salvos in cuba?

Answer 17

assumption JFK would back down
moral mission to protect Cuba from USA
address missile imbalance
US had missiles in NATO countries e.g italy and turkey

Question 18

how many troops did the USSR send to cuba?

Answer 18

42000

Question 19

how did the US respond to the missiles being set up in cuba?

Answer 19

naval blockade

Question 20

why did the USSR eventually back down?

Answer 20

false intelligence that war with the US was inevitable

Question 21

how was JFK viewed in the aftermath of the CMC?

Answer 21

viewed as a hero as he handled the situation maturely given his young age

Question 22

how did the US and USSR respond to the aftermath of the CMC?

Answer 22

signed the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Question 23

what did the partial nuclear test ban treaty do?

Answer 23

banned nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere, in outer space, and under water.

Question 24

what were the two main consequences of the CMC domestically?

Answer 24

fear of nuclear war intensified
nuclear war became a big criticism of american government

Question 25

how much money did eisenhower send to south vietnam in 1954 to defend itself from north vietnam?

Answer 25

800 million dollars

Question 26

what was the vietcong?

Answer 26

a liberation front/communist movement in south vietnam that acted as an army against the USA

Question 27

why was the vietcong unique?

Answer 27

it adopted both guerrilla and conventional military tactics

Question 28

what gave LBJ the authority to launch an invasion of vietnam?

Answer 28

a NV gunboat supposedly firing on an american destroyer

Question 29

how did america military strength become its biggest weakness against the Vietcong?

Answer 29

misplaced racial superiority failure to adapt to guerrilla warfare alienation of SV population due to use of agent orange to destroy jungles

Question 30

what caused the My Lai massacre?

Answer 30

lines between who is a vietcong fighter and regular civillian became blurred therefore many innocent civillians lost their lives

Question 31

how many tonnes of explosives were dropped on vietnam?

Answer 31

3.2M

Question 32

what was the average of o an american soldier in WW2 compared to vietnam? what percentage were working class?

Answer 32

26-19 80%

Question 33

which four future US presidents managed to dodge the draft and what did this reveal?

Answer 33

Bush, Clinton, Trump and Biden that if you had the money you could escape the draft

Question 34

what was the vietnam war the first case of?

Answer 34

a televised war

Question 35

how was the vietnam war criticised by civil rights activists?

Answer 35

disproportionate sacrifice meaning many troops african american and many whites were exempt (e.g. future presidents)

Question 36

what did Ali do in protest to the draft and how was he punished?

Answer 36

he refused to join - was stripped of his heavyweight title and given 5 years in prison

Question 37

why did the Tet offensive in 1968 suggest vietnam was 'unwinnable' for the Americans?

Answer 37

the scale of the assault was massive - it took place in 1968 whereas the americans assumed the war would be practically won by 1967

Question 38

how did Nixon try to dominate peace talks?

Answer 38

he intensified bombing campaigns to strong arm favourable conditions

Question 39

why is Vietnams legacy so significant?

Answer 39

it acts as a framework for decisions on future wars for America

Question 40

what is Merrills argument about the Truman doctrine?

Answer 40

it was not just aimed at containing soviet expansion but also modernity itself such as the social and political transformations that threatened american order

Question 41

what is lefflers argument on US post ww2 FP?

Answer 41

the US was dedicated to preventing the spread of comminism by any means necessary

Question 42

what is Gaddis' argument on changing containment strategies?

Answer 42

changed via two broad phases: early containment which focused on political and economic pressure global containment which was far more military focused especially with Truman and Eisenhower

Question 43

what is Patersons argument regarding the Cuban missle crisis?

Answer 43

the United States fundamentally misunderstood the nature, causes, and trajectory of the Cuban Revolution which caused it to 'create the very thing it sought to destroy'