The Cold War, 1949-1963
25. 1 American Commitment to Cold War: National Security Council Document 68
1. How NSC-68 influenced America’s response to Communist North Korea’s invasion of South Korea in June 1950 and to Communist expansion in Southeast Asia in the 1960s. The NSC-68 called for military assistance programs that would meet the requirements of our allies. Since South Korea was an ally, we assisted them in repelling the invasion of another communist nation. This help for South Korea meant that a communist nation would be weakened and therefore possibly cripple a potential ally for the Soviet Union. Also, South Korea would then respond to a call for aid if the Soviet Union ever attacked America.
2. The implications of NSC-68 for military spending by the United States and its allies. The NSC-68 stated that “ budgetary considerations will need to be subordinated to the stark fact that our very independence as a nation may be at stake.” This meant that no matter how much it cost to build up our military, it would be done in order to protect our nation. Also, the rebuilding of European economies and defenses in order to try and contain Russian expansion without armed conflict, lead to the help of European powers having to return the favor of having their economies rebuilt with helping the United States in the Cold War.
3. The implications of the call for “ covert actions” in NSC-68. Covert actions in the NSC-68 implies that the United States was not ready for another war so soon after World War II. Also, the Soviet Union had developed atomic weapons, which meant that the Soviet Union could cause mass destruction in the United States. However, America was unwilling to allow the communist nation of the Soviet Union to expand and gain enough power to crush the United States. So the government decided to use covert operations which would hurt their economy and cause unrest in the Soviet Union.
25. 2 American Public Opinion and the Korean War, 1950-1952
1. What these responses reveal about attitudes toward American involvement in the Korean War. At the beginning, American opinion supported the war in Korea. However, as time went on, the American opinion changed because we no longer had a clear chance of winning the war. People then changed their opinions to say it was a mistake to enter the war and that overall, the enemy won the bigger victory according to the people.
2. Which events in the war may have influenced responses in the polls of October 13, 1950, and January 22, 1951. On October 9th, 1950, the UN troops that crossed the 38th parallel declared the defeat of North Korea and the attempted reunification of the country. On October 13th, 1950, Chinese Communist Forces entered Korea.
3. How much public opinion polls should influence the conduct of American foreign policy. American foreign policy should be heavily influenced by the public opinion polls as long as the public has enough information about the issue to make an intelligent decision. However, if the American government is keeping secrets from the people that need to be considered when concerning the conduct of American foreign policy, then the polls should not influence it.
25. 3 The Origins of “ McCarthyism”
1. Whether Griffith’s evidence supports his evaluation of McCarthy and McCarthyism. Griffith’s evidence does support his evaluation of McCarthy. Griffith says that McCarthy simply adopted a “ political issue which was already sanction by much of the nation’s political leadership.”
2. Whether Griffith’s view of McCarthyism helps explain American politics in the 1950s. Griffith’s view of McCarthyism offers a clear explanation of American politics in the 1950s. Griffith says that political leaders helped to instill a sense of concern and urgency in the people about communism that dominated the decade. This concern and urgency was used by the Republican party in the 1946 elections and helped them to win the election. They crusaded with anti-Communism rhetoric.
3. Whether conditions similar to McCarthyism occurred in any other period in American history. A similar condition to McCarthyism occurred after World War I during the 1920s Red Scare.
25. 4 Restraining Communism: United States Security Agreements, 1947-1959
1. The assumptions about the Soviet aggression this map suggests. The map suggests that Russia was seeking a warm water port somewhere and that they would look for it almost anywhere.
2. How these mutual security alliances reinforced the idea of the United States as “ world policeman”. The United States was in nearly every alliance that took place and probably initiated the talks of an alliance also. This means that America is seeking a series of alliances that will increase the invulnerability of all countries involved since if any are attacked, all allies will respond, including allies of allies. This makes it difficult to attack any country without bringing the wrath of many other countries.
3. Whether such mutual security alliances were in the best interests of the United States. These alliances decreased the chances of Russia declaring war on America. With all of these countries allied with the United States, Russia would have had to fight a war overseas and on its own continent. These alliances also opened up new people to trade with and therefore made the economy better.
25. 5 Eisenhower and the U-2
1. The long-term implications for national defense by relying on high technology for information about trouble spots in the world. With high technology, America can learn much about trouble spots in the world. This information includes possible attacks, size of forces, types of weapons, and other valuable information that could prevent the United States from either being attacked or from attacking another country. The information can also be used to discover if a threat is real or actually a bluff, and make decisions that are based on facts rather than guesses.
2. Whether President Eisenhower should have gone “ public” with U-2 information during the “ bomber gap” and “ missile gap” discussion. Eisenhower was wise to keep the information about the U-2s secret. He knew what the facts were and so the critics were just spewing nonsense which he knew to be true. If he had revealed his information, they would have wanted to know how he came about it and could possibly have leaked the information to other countries which could have created Soviet aggression towards America for their espionage.
25. 6 The Military-Industrial Complex
1. Whether events in the 1970s and 1980s have borne out President Eisenhower’s warning to the American people. During the 1970s and 1980s, America spent more money on military security than the net income of all United States corporations. The government was building up armed forces to combat the Soviet Union until its collapse.
2. How to ensure that the “ military-industrial complex” does not endanger American liberties and the democratic process. This can be done by the statesman, according to Eisenhower, it is their job “ to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old,, within the principles of our democratic system.”
25. 7 Globalization of the Monroe Doctrine
1. Whether the nation’s Cold War policy to contain Communism outside the Western Hemisphere was consistent with the Monroe Doctrine. I believe that it the policy was consistent with the Monroe Doctrine. By allowing Communism to form in the western hemisphere, we created a threat that was extremely close to home. If we had not allowed Castro to create a Communist government in Cuba, there never would have been a Cuban missile crisis.
2. Whether the presence of offensive missiles and other high-technology weapons in Cuba really made any difference in the modern world. Cuba’s possession of offensive missiles and other high-technology weapons definitely made a difference in the modern world. Because Cuba had these weapons, it has made America very suspicious of other countries that could possibly control such weapons and use them to threaten other countries.
3. Whether it is realistic for United States foreign policy in the twentieth century to be guided by principles in the nineteenth century. If the principles still fit for the time period, then there is no reason to change them. However, when the policy no longer works, then is the time to change.
Chapter Questions
1. How did American foreign-policy interests and goals change between 1949 and 1963? American foreign0policy changed a lot between 1949 and 1963. War was breaking out in Europe that would eventually pull in most of the world. This war was going to decide the fate of Earth and the fate of the nations upon it. America at first did not want to get involved with the war because it wasn’t really our problem and the American people did not think that we should. This all changed after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. America went to war to defeat Communism with the help of the Communist nation of the Soviet Union. After the war was won, the Soviet Union became a threat of sorts to America. This caused the United States to try and hold back the Russians from expanding their country without entering war. America helped to rebuild European countries for the first time in order to prevent the expansion of Russia. Also, America entered into treaties with countries around the world including Japan. Before 1949, America’s policy was to leave the rest of the world alone and concentrate on getting our economy back on track.
2. Compare the rise of McCarthyism in the 1950s with the Red Scare in the 1920s. The Red Scare in the 1920s consisted of the American government and people being frightened of anything that resembled communism. People were also arrested for expressing their views and their Constitution given rights were ignored as well. The Red Scare was therefore similar to McCarthyism in the 1950s because it was a movement against communism that many people had. The Smith Act was passed which prevented the teaching of overthrowing the government and forced all foreign residents over the age of 14 to register their occupation and political beliefs.
3. How successful were United States responses to the Soviet Union in the 1950s? Were there alternatives to these responses? Eisenhower did a brilliant job in his responses to the Soviet Union in the 1950s. He kept the Soviet Union from expanding by rebuilding the economies of the war struck countries in Europe. Had technology developed that would allow the United States to spy on other countries armaments and military actions without exposing ourselves to any risk. Entered nine treaties that would make attacking the United States bring down a multitude of other countries attacks. Eisenhower also developed a large amount of nuclear devices that would allow the United States to respond to any attack with powerful force. Eisenhower could not have developed a better strategy to hold back the Russians.
