EOCT Review Questions GPS 19 & 20World War II and the Cold War

178. Who was A. Philip Randolph and what did he do? • In 1941, A. Philip Randolph proposed a march on

Washington D.C. to protest racial discrimination in the military.

• President Roosevelt responded by supporting the Fair Employment Act which prohibited discrimination in the national defense industry.

• As the first federal law against employment discrimination, the Fair Employment Act convinced Randolph and his colleagues to cancel their march – but he was still able to draw attention to the injustices facing African Americans in the US.

179. What happened at Pearl Harbor?

• As Hitler blitzed through Europe, the US had their eye on Japan in the Pacific; the US imposed an embargo on oil and steel.

• Japan looked to the Dutch East Indies for natural resources but to go after more territories, it had to deal with the US naval fleet stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

• Six aircraft carries sailed across the Pacific in radio silence, undetected – a few minutes before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, Japanese airplanes began the first wave of bombings on the Pacific fleet in Pearl Harbor.

• Within 2 hours, the Japanese seriously damaged and sank 12 ships, destroyed nearly 200 warplanes, & killed or wounded nearly 3000 people.

• The next day, FDR described December 7th as “a day that will live in infamy” – both houses of Congress approved a declaration of war against Japan, & later against Germany & Italy as well.

180. How did WWII affect immigrants living in the U.S.? • The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor caused suspicion &

fear for US citizens – most suspected that Japanese, German, & Italian immigrants would support the war on the side of the Axis Powers.

• As a result, thousands were forced to internment camps; intended to be in remote areas to keep potential threatening citizens in an isolated location where the government could keep an eye on them.

• The Japanese Americans suffered the most, forcing more than 100,000 from their homes & businesses during the war.

• In 1944, the US Supreme Court ruled that the government internment of Japanese Americans was lawful & justified due to “the military urgency of the situation.”

181. How did Pearl Harbor affect Japanese immigrants? • As a result, thousands were forced to internment

camps; intended to be in remote areas to keep potential threatening citizens in an isolated location where the government could keep an eye on them.

• The Japanese Americans suffered the most, forcing more than 100,000 from their homes & businesses during the war.

• In 1944, the US Supreme Court ruled that the government internment of Japanese Americans was lawful & justified due to “the military urgency of the situation.”

182. What was the Lend-Lease program? • As Britain struggled to fight Germany, Roosevelt

publicly said, “If Great Britain goes down, all of us in the Americas would be living at the point of a gun. We must be the great arsenal of democracy.”

• March 1941, Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act providing that the president could send aid to any nation whose defense was considered vital to the US’s nation security.

• If the country had no resources to pay, the US could send it & defer payment until later.

183. What was the military significance of the Battle of Midway? • Japanese Admiral Yamamoto knew the rest of the

US Pacific fleet had to be destroyed if Japan should win the war – hoping to fight one more decisive battle before the US could recover from Pearl Harbor.

• The Battle of Midway in June 1942 proved to be a turning point in the war – but this time it was the Japanese that failed to detect the location of the enemy; the US planes were able to attack as the Japanese were loading bombs on their planes.

• The victory at Midway boosted American morale in the Pacific and allowed the US to finally go on the offensive.

184. What was the military significance of D-Day? • To create a second front against Hitler in Western

Europe, the Allies planned an invasion of France. • They appointed US General Dwight D. Eisenhower

as the supreme allied commander of Operation Overlord which would involve hundreds of thousands of troops and would be the largest amphibious invasion in military history.

• The date became known as D-Day; hitting the beaches @ Normandy, the first soldiers ashore met overwhelming gunfire; within a week, over 500,000 troops would be ashore.

• This force would fight its way to Paris by August 25, 1944, liberating it after 4 years of German occupation.

185. What was the military significance of the Fall of Berlin? • After successfully fending off Germany’s final major

attack at the Battle of the Bulge (Dec. 1944 – Jan. 1945), the Allies marched toward the German capital of Berlin.

• The Soviet forces were bearing down from the east; Hitler, in a last-ditch effort sends young boys and the elderly to defend Berlin with their lives.

• In the spring of 1945, Berlin fell before the advancing Soviet army; in the face of certain defeat, Hitler committed suicide on April 30th, 1945 – shortly after, Germany surrendered, ending the war in Europe.

• People in allied countries finally celebrated V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day) on May 8, 1945.

186. What does it mean to mobilize for war? • Mobilization is the act of assembling and making

both troops and supplies ready for war.• Poland partly mobilized its troops on August 24, 1939, and

fully mobilized on August 30, 1939, following the increased confrontations with Germany since March 1939.

• On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland, which prompted both France and Britain to declare war on Germany.

• However, they were slow to mobilize, and by the time Poland had been overrun by the Axis powers, only minor operations had been carried out by the French.

• United Kingdom mobilized 22% of its total population for direct military service, more than any other nation of WWII era.

187. What does “war time conversion” mean? • War meant the US economy had to switch from

peacetime to wartime as quickly as possible; FDR est. the War Production Board.

• This board redirected raw materials & resources from the production of civilian consumer goods to the production of materials needed for waging war.

• The economic result was that the US economy boomed, standards of living increased, unemployment (from Great Depression) decreased as industries produced the goods needed for the war effort.

188. How did women “win” WWII? • With so many men off to fight the war, women

became an important part of the workforce at home.

• Women of all cultural & racial backgrounds stepped forward to take on jobs traditionally held by men.

• “Rosie the Riveter” became to symbolize women who entered the workforce to fill the gap left vacant by men serving.

189. What was the Manhattan Project? • Soon after entering WWII, the US began working

on developing the atomic bomb; this top secret project was known as the Manhattan Project.

190. Who was Robert Oppenheimer? • Oppenheimer headed the Manhattan Project.

191. Where was the majority of the Manhattan Project conducted? • Most of the development took place in

laboratories at Los Alamos, New Mexico. • On July 16, 1945, scientists tested the new

weapon in the New Mexico desert.

192. What cities did the U.S. drop atomic bombs on? • August 6, 1945, a specially equipped B29 bomber,

called the Enola Gay, dropped the first bomb on Hiroshima, Japan; the blast leveled the city & killed thousands of civilians & military personnel; many more died later b/c of radiation.

• Two days later, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan & invaded Manchuria.

• When Japan delayed in issuing its surrender, the US dropped another bomb on August 9th on the city of Nagasaki.

• Japan finally surrendered on August 14, 1945.

193. Why were these cities chosen?

• The decision to drop the atomic bombs on the cities was defended by Truman; he pointed out that by dropping the bombs, an invasion of Japan was avoided, thereby saving the lives of Allied soldiers.

194. Describe a few ways that the war in the Pacific theater was different from the war in Europe?

• Pacific: naval battles, “island hopping” – attacking & conquering one group of islands, then moved on to the next; Japanese soldiers often preferred fighting to the death rather than surrendering; Japanese use of kamikaze pilots; use of the atomic bomb

• Europe: in the early years, Britain and the US focused on North Africa & Italy; later (June 6, 1944) would invade Europe through Normandy, France, fighting an overland campaign to Berlin; the invasion exposed the horrible atrocities committed by the Nazis against people they labeled socially inferior & unfit to live – no group suffered as much as the Jewish people.

195. What was the Marshall Plan? • A financial plan to build up Europe worked out by

former army chief of staff and then Secretary of State George Marshall.

• Labeled the Marshall Plan, it provided nation in war-torn Europe with much-needed financial support from the4 US; this aid served to spark economic revival and prosperity in these countries. Alleviating the suffering of many people.

• Since Communist revolutions often started due to economic hardships, the Marshall Plan went a long way towards preventing Soviet advances into Western Europe & became the crowning achievement of the containment policy.

196. What was the purpose of the Truman Doctrine? • Post WWII, tensions were high b/c the Allies & the

Soviet Union; neither side trusted each other – the West were democracies with capitalist market systems, the Soviet Union was a socialist state led by the Communist Party.

• The US and the West would focus on “containing” Communism in those countries in which it already existed and not let it spread any further.

• The Truman Doctrine stated that the US would not hesitate to intervene and aid nations overseas to resist Communism; it featured a financial plan called the Marshall Plan.

197. Who changed China in 1949? • (1949) Communist Mao Tse-Tung, supported by

the Soviet Union, won control of mainland China over the Nationalist leader, & US supported, Chiang Kai-shek.

• Chiang and his Nationalist supporters were forced to flee to the island of Taiwan.

• The US refused to recognize the new government, insisting that the Nationalists still represented the true government of China.

• It used its veto power to prevent the UN from formally recognizing Mao’s government in the newly formed United Nations – organization founded in 1948 where nations meet to negotiate peaceful solutions to problems.

198. What was the Korean War all about? • After WWII, Korea was liberated from Japan; since

both the US & Soviet Union played a role in liberation, the nation was divided along the 38th parallel.

• The Northern half est. a Communist government while the southern half put in place a pro-US democracy.

• In June 1950, the Korean War began when North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel; UN forces led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, pushed the North back across the 38th parallel.

• Concerned in keeping a Communist gov’t in power in the North, the Chinese sent troops to aid the North Koreans causing a stalemate – both sides signed a truce in 1953.

• The agreement left the country divided at almost the same point as when the conflict started.

199. How did Joseph McCarthy scare Americans? • Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy was

convinced that Communists had infiltrated high levels of gov’t & the military.

• Eventually, however, McCarthy had to defend his views in a series of televised hearings; by the time the hearings ended in June 1954, most US citizens view McCarthy as paranoid & crazy.

• “McCarthyism” – the ideas and fears of Communism voiced by McCarthy & his supporters – began to collapse, and the irrational fear that “Communists are everywhere” ultimately subsided.

200. Describe how Fidel Castro came to power? • During the 1950s, a young revolutionary, Fidel

Castro, rose to fame as the leader of the Cuban Revolution which made him the Communist leader of Cuba.

• He executed more than 700 of his opponents and jailed many more; the government also seized control of much of the land & property of the country – including US property.

• Castro allied himself with Soviet Union.

201. Explain the Bays of Pigs? • With US lacking support, Castro allies himself with

the Soviet Union; Eisenhower authorized the CIA to train anti-Castro Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba.

• Kennedy succeeded Eisenhower in 1961 & approved of the operation.

• The invasion landed at the Bay of Pigs on April 17, 1961 which turned out to be a terrible failure & a huge embarrassment for Kennedy – leaving many doubting the ability of Kennedy to defend democracy against Communism.

202. What was the Cuban Missile Crisis? • Even though the Bay of Pigs invasion was a

failure, Castro still feared a US forces invasion of Cuba.

• He secretly allowed the Soviets to put nuclear missiles in Cuba which is only 90 miles from Florida.

• US spy planes spotted them in 1962 & Kennedy responded by authorizing a naval blockade of the island – for 13 days, the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the US & Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war.

• After UN involvement, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in exchange for a US promise to NOT invade Cuba.

203. Why was the U.S. in Vietnam? • In the 1800s, France est. a colony in Vietnam;

after WWII, Vietnamese nationalists wanted their independence from France

• Eisenhower was concerned b/c of their ties to Communism.

• At the Geneva Accords (1954), Vietnam was divided into 2 nations: North – Ho Chi Minh est. a Communist-backed gov’t; South – US supported the gov’t of Ngo Dinh Diem; it wasn’t long before a war broke out

• Eisenhower & Kennedy both sent advisors to help the South against the North & Communist rebels in the South (Vietcong).

• After Kennedy’s assassination, Johnson was committed to not losing the South to Communism & increased US involvement.

204. What was the Tet Offensive? • January 30, 1968 – North Vietnamese & Vietcong

launched a major offensive against the US & South Vietnamese known as the Tet Offensive.

• It produced heavy fighting; The North & Vietcong were eventually turned back but won a psychological victory.

• The Tet Offensive showed that the Communist could launch a coordinated attack; it also led people in the US to question HOW the US was handling the war and if the US should be involved at all.

205. Explain 3 ways people protested the Vietnam War? • College campuses became places of protest;

students & professors wrote books & articles criticizing the war; many came out in public protest & demonstrations.

• Students for a Democratic Society – (SDS) launched large protests against the war & supported social causes; they demanded the gov’t should take radical steps to deal with poverty, racial inequality, & to end the war in Vietnam.

• Protestors constantly picketed the White House, accusing the president of heartlessly sending young US men to die in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

206. What happened with the Kent State Incident? • The Kent State shootings (also known as the May 4 massacre or

the Kent State massacre) occurred at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, in the United States and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970. The guardsmen fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis.

• Some of the students who were shot had been protesting the invasion of Cambodia, which President Richard Nixon announced during a television address on April 30. Other students who were shot had been walking nearby or observing the protest from a distance.

• There was a significant national response to the shootings: hundreds of universities, colleges, and high schools closed throughout the United States due to a student strike of four million students, and the event further affected public opinion—at an already socially contentious time—over the role of the United States in the Vietnam War.

207. What was the U2 Incident? • May 1960, an American U2 spy plane was shot

down over the Soviet Union. • At first, the US denied it conducted spying

missions on the Soviet Union BUT when the Soviets produced evidence, Eisenhower had to acknowledge the report as accurate.

• The president took responsibility but refused to apologize for spying further infuriating Khrushchev and damaging the US/Soviet relationship.