Unit 6 Humanities

Front 1

Who was Arthur Koestler? Why would he hav written this book?

Back 1

1. Hungarian born, resided in Germany.
2. Became a member of the German communist party, but would later realize that he had devoted his life to something that was evil (similar to Rubashov)

Front 2

Communism is called secular religion. How is this religious analogy reflected in book?

Back 2

1. Darkness at Noon - symbol of when Christ died on the cross and the sky grew dark.
2. History as revelation (god) (marxist history theory - like believing Jesus coming back, class struggle eventually occur)
3. Corruption of faith (split that's why Rubashov put in jail)
4. Disallusioned believer - one who follows without knowing why, Rubashov does this.

Front 3

Why would Stalin choose to give up dream of world wide communism and instead focus on SU? Why did this make old bolsheviks mad?

Back 3

1. Stalin wanted to protect the Soviet Union at all costs and felt that if it was necessary to deal with democractic nations in order to save the SU, then so be it.
2. Old Bolsheviks did not like this, they wanted international communism like Lenin wanted.

Front 4

Who was George Kennan? What did he have to do with the policy of containment?

Back 4

1. State Dept - wrote an article about the Soviet Union and communism in "Foreign Affairs Magazine"
2. Said that communism was a threat to democracy and outlined policy to prevent this.
3. Said US only democratic nation left that is strong enough to protect against communism so they must stand up and not shy away like WW1.
3. Said that they should keep communism behind the "Iron Curtain" and it will be a long term struggle but maybe get rid of communism altogether.

Front 5

What were the goals of the Truman Doctrine of containment?

Back 5

1. Contain communism without provoking full-scale war.
2. Military confrontations are a necessity - must be willing to fight small wars to prevent larger ones.
3. Keep up economic and political pressure on Soviet Union in hopes of collapse.
4. US give aid to any democratic peoples threatened by internal/external communism.

Front 6

How did a crisis in Greece help create a policy of containment?

Back 6

1. Communist revolutionaries from inside Greece tried to overthrow government.
2. This caused the policy to be put in to place to help those nations who were also threatened by internal struggles.
3. Truman Doctrine was created off this incidence.

Front 7

What was the Marshall Plan? How did it serve the cause of containment?

Back 7

1. US pledges to help rebuild non-communist European nations in order to combat spread of Communism.
2. Gave monetary aid to bring prosperity back to these nations after WW2.

Front 8

What are NATO and the Warsaw pact?

Back 8

1. NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization - first time US entered into a peacetime treaty.
- This put atomic presence in Europe in case of Soviet attack.
2. Warsaw Pact:
- Soviet's answer to NATO, communist nations made alliance to combat threat of NATO.

Front 9

What were the Soviet Union's objections to the Truman Doctrine of Containment?

Back 9

1. Their main objection stated that the US and other major powers were just trying to gain global expansion and push in to other countries.

Front 10

What was the crisis in Berlin that led to the Berlin Blockade?

Back 10

1. Berlin was split up in to four zones, which were all within Soviet controlled Germany.
2. Soviets feared the new currency that the US had circulating in their zone, which was higher than the Soviets, so they blockaded, forcing allies to airlift supplies into their zones.
3. People fleeing east Berlin because of communism, Soviets did not like this, so they tried to starve the US side by blockading it.

Front 11

Why was the Berlin wall built?

Back 11

1. Thousands of refugees fled from East Germany to West Berlin, which looked bad for East Germany and the Soviet Union (demonstrated Soviet inability to control Eastern Europe), so they erected the wall.
2. Symbol of cold war: freedom of west with communists on the east.

Front 12

What was the crisis in Hungary in 1956? How did US policy reflect containment?

Back 12

1. Hungarian communists installed a new ministry with leader, Nagy. He called for the removal of Soviet troops and Hungarian nuetralization. People did not like communism.
2. Appealed to US for help, but US did not want to start war with Soviet's, just contain communism, so they did nothing to help Hungary and it was taken back under Soviet control.

Front 13

What was the Cuban Missile crisis of 1962? How did US policy in this crisis almost lead to nuclear war?

Back 13

1. Fidel Castro came in to power in Cuba and put communism into practice, becoming an ally with Soviet Union.
2. Soviet's placed nuclear weapons on Cuba soil, leading to an American blockade of Cuba and demanding removal of the weapons.
3. Khrushchev was the Soviet leader at the time, Castro - Cuba and Kennedy - US.
4. If any ships had been sunk, or any missles fired, US and Soviets could have started another world war.
5. Bay of Pigs: Cuban refugees trained in US and sent as an army to try and take back Cuba from communists, but they failed.

Front 14

What was the crisis in Czechoslovakia in 1968?

Back 14

1. Dubcek, leader in Czech, tried to expand freedom of discussion and intelletual rights, but Soviets didn't like this, so they replaced him with a more communist centered leader.
2. Brezhnev Doctrine: declared the right of the Soviet Union to interfere in the domestic policies of other communist countries.

Front 15

What was the status of Korea after WW2? Why was Korea divided?

Back 15

1. After WW2, Japan was expelled from Korea and it was split into two.
2. The Northern half was liberated by Soviet Union (People's Republic of Korea) and the Southern half was liberated by the United States (Republic of Korea).

Front 16

What roles did the Soviet Union and the US play in the start of the war in Korea?

Back 16

1. Soviet Union liberated the northern part of Korea.
2. United States liberated souther part of Korea.
3. It was thought that the two halves would be united, but northern communists knew they would lose elections, so they blocked these elections, keeping the halves split.
4. Dean Acheson, US secretary of State, said not US responsibility to defend Taiwan and South Korea, instead it's UN role.

Front 17

What role did the United Nations play in the war in Korea?

Back 17

1. UN ended up sending troops to help stop North Korea invasion of South Korea.
2. Vote was placed in security council because Soviet Union boycotted due to the issue of which Chinese government would be allowed the China vote.
3. UN eventually had to force prisoners of war to return to North Korea even though some did not want to because this was causing the war to continue because North Korea wanted their prisoners back.

Front 18

What was the crisis in the UN Security Council regarding Korea? How was this crisis resolved?

Back 18

1. The security council consisted of: US, England, France, Soviet Union and China.
2. However, if one country vetoed idea, it would be kicked out, so the Soviet's being communist would not want to push back communist North Korea.
2. But they happened to boycott the council due to the issue of which Chinese government would get the vote, so they could not cast a vote against the invasion.

Front 19

What was the role of China in the Korean War?

Back 19

1. The UN and supporting troops were able to drive all the way to the Chinese border and push back the North Koreans.
2. However, the communist China decided to drive the South Koreans back to the 38 parallel.

Front 20

How did the Korean War end? How did the end of the Korean War reflect the policy of containment?

Back 20

1. Ended in armistrice after peace talks between the nations.
2. They had kept communists bottled up and in spite of Chinese invasion, no world war ever broke out.
3. It was also a success for the UN and fighting with allies.

Front 21

What was the status of the French Indochina after WW2?

Back 21

1. During WW2, Indochina was in Japanese control, but resisted by Ho Chi Minh who wanted independence.
2. AFTER WW2, French wants to take back Indochina so they get help from US and keep Ho Chi Minh fighting the Japanese until they have adequate gov/troops to take control.
3. In the end, France is defeated because US denies atomic weapons/troops in trying to retake indochina.

Front 22

What countries make up French Indochina?

Back 22

1. Laos
2. Cambodia
3. Vietnam

Front 23

What role did France play in the Vietnam War?

Back 23

1. France wanted to take back Indochina, but Ho Chi Minh wanted independence for Vietnam.
2. They said they were fighting a war against communism, so US sent supplies but denied troops/atomic weapons, which leads to French defeat.

Front 24

Who was Ho Chi Minh?

Back 24

1. Leader of the Viet Minh
2. Dreams of Self-Determination for Vietnam.
3. Communist and Nationalist
- Leads rebellion against Japanese and France.

Front 25

What were the Geneva Accords of 1954?

Back 25

1. Cambodia and Laos will become independent nations.
2. Vietnam will be divided at the 17th parallel. North Vietnam will be communist/South Vietnam will be non-communist.
3. Supposed to end up being an election to unify Vietnam, but Ngo Dinh Diem (non-communist) knew communism would win, so he blocked elections with US support.

Front 26

Who was Ngo Dinh Diem?

Back 26

1. President of South Vietnam
2. Refuses to allow elections to unify Vietnam because he knows that Ho Chi Minh will win and communism will take over.

Front 27

Lyndon B. Johnson in Vietnam?

Back 27

1. As Vice President to JFK - sends advisors to South Vietnam.
2. As candidate - says he doesn't want to increase the Vietnam war.
3. President Johnson - policy of escalation of war - doesn't want to abandon non-communist nation to communist takeover.
- 1968 Johnson loses support because people see Vietnam offensive and worry/hate the war.

Front 28

Dwight Eisenhower in Vietnam?

Back 28

1. Sends first US advisors to Vietnam.
2. No role for the U.N.

Front 29

John Kennedy in Vietnam?

Back 29

1. Sends more advisors to Vietnam (increases American role).
2. Ngu Diem not liked by the people so generals in the SV army execute him and take over, leading to the question for JFK, should he continue support or not?

Front 30

What was the domino theory and how did the theory contribute to the war in Vietnam?

Back 30

1. Idea that if South Vietnam allowed to fall to communism, then all of Southeast Asia will fall to communism.

Front 31

Richard Nixon and Vietnam?

Back 31

1. Policy of Detente - means of coexisting with communist China and Soviet Union.
2. Wanted peace and honor out of war.
3. Started secrets peace talks
4. Peace treaty signed stating north vietnam would recognize south vietnam.

Front 32

Gerald Ford and Vietnam?

Back 32

1. Put it office without being elected because Nixon and his VP had to resign due to scandals.
2. North Vietnam invades South Vietnam, Ford has no power without Congress approval, so US bails on their ally South Vietnam.
3. Laos, Cambodia and South Vietnam are taken in communist control.

Front 33

Who was Mikhal Gorbachev? What were the policies of perestroika and glastnost?

Back 33

1. Leader of Soviet Union
2. Perestroika: reduced size and importance of centralized economic ministries.
3. Glasnost: Openess. Gorbachev allowed open discussion and debate against communism.

Front 34

How did nationalism contribute to the collapse of the Soviet Union?

Back 34

1. Unification of Germany
2. People started to see the benefits of the west and the luxuries that they lived in.
3. Rise of democracies in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslavakia.

Front 35

Why was the Berlin wall torn down in 1989?

Back 35

1. Communists could no longer support the wall.
2. Torn down represented destruction of Cold War - symbol.

Front 36

Why were the old buffer states important to the collapse of the soviet union?

Back 36

1. These states set up their own governments and the Red Army did not come in to stop them, which showed Soviet Union collapse.

Front 37

Who was Margaret Thatcher?

Back 37

1. Prime Minister of England
2. She cut taxes and sought to curb inflation.
3. Curbed the power of trade unions
4. Her goal was to make Britain economy more efficient and competitive.

Front 38

Who was Ronald Reagan?

Back 38

1. Increased US military spending, slowed arm limitation negotiations, deployed a new missile system in Europe and proposed Strategic Defense Initiative.
2. Forced Soviet's to increase defense spending as well which led to their collapse because they didn't have the money.

Front 39

Who is Boris Yeltsin?

Back 39

1. President of Russia
2. Russian parliament hated his policies of economic and political reform.
3. Yeltsin suspended parliament, which led to riots and tanks being used to suppress riots.