Name Per. Date Due: April 2, 2013 1. Identify the sources of Soviet-American tensions that began as early as the 1940 s. United States Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.) 2. Address the diplomatic issues, agreements and disagreements between Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin at the following conferences: Casablanca, Morocco Jan. 1943 Tehran, Iran Nov. 1943 Yalta, Soviet Union Feb. 1945 3. What was the date, location and circumstances surrounding the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt: 1
4. Describe President Harry S. Truman s view on the Soviet Union: 5. What were the accomplishments at the Potsdam Conference in 1945? What were its failures: 6. Describe the position of each of the following in relation to U.S. policy toward post-war China: Chiang Kai-Shek Mao Zedong Pres. Truman Gen. George Marshall China Lobby Japan 7. The Atlantic Charter was replaced by the policy of containment. Explain why containment emerged and discuss its impact on post-war foreign policy: 2
8. Explain the rationale behind the Marshall Plan and its effectiveness in post-war Europe: 9. What steps did the United States take under President Truman to expand the containment policy? 10. Define the acronym NATO and explain its reason it came into existence and its goals: 11. Describe the NSC-68 and the events leading up to it. How did this signify a shift in policy? 12. Although the atomic bomb ended the war, describe the problems America faced immediately after the event: 13. What problems did minorities and women face at the end of the war? 3
14. Describe Truman s Fair Deal and give reasons why it was rejected 15. Summarize the Taft-Hartley Act and its effect on business and labor 16. Briefly list the positions of both the Democrats and the Republicans during the election of 1948: Democrats Harry S. Truman Republicans Thomas E. Dewey 17. After Truman s victory in the election of 1948, list his Fair Deal reform successes and failures: Successes Failures 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 3. 4
18. Describe the steps which led to the outbreak of war in Korea and the reasons why the Soviet Union supported the northern area of Korea while the United States supported the south: 19. Why did President Truman relieve Gen. Douglas MacArthur of his command in Korea? 20. Why did Americans fear the infiltration of Communists within the United States? 21. Define HUAC and describe its role in eliminating suspected Communist sympathizers. 22. Describe the purpose of the McCarran Internal Security Act. 28. Husband and wife Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed on June 19, 1953. Who were they and why were they executed? 29. Identify Joseph McCarthy and explain McCarthyism 30. Who was Dwight D. Eisenhower? 5
In the five months since the Yalta Conference, a number of changes had taken place which would greatly affect the relationships between the leaders. 1. The Soviet Union was occupying Central and Eastern Europe By July, the Red Army effectively controlled the Baltic states, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania, and refugees were fleeing out of these countries fearing a Stalinist take-over. Stalin had set up a communist government in Poland. He insisted that his control of Eastern Europe was a defensive measure against possible future attacks and believed that it was a legitimate sphere of Soviet influence. 2. Britain had a new Prime Minister The results of the British election became known during the conference. As a result of the Labour Party victory over the Conservative Party the leadership changed hands. Consequently, British Prime Minister Clement Attlee assumed leadership following Winston Churchill, whose Soviet policy since the early 1940s had differed considerably from former US President Roosevelt's, with Churchill believing Stalin to be a "devil"-like tyrant leading a vile system. [7] 6
3. America had a new President, and the war was ending President Roosevelt died on 12 April 1945, and Vice-President Harry Truman assumed the presidency; his succession saw VE Day (Victory in Europe) within a month and VJ Day (Victory in Japan) on the horizon. During the war and in the name of Allied unity, Roosevelt had brushed off warnings of a potential domination by a Stalin dictatorship in part of Europe. He explained that "I just have a hunch that Stalin is not that kind of a man" and reasoned "I think that if I give him everything I possibly can and ask for nothing from him in return, noblesse oblige, he won't try to annex anything and will work with me for a world of democracy and peace." While inexperienced in foreign affairs, Truman had closely followed the allied progress of the war. George Lenczowski notes "despite the contrast between his relatively modest background and the international glamour of his aristocratic predecessor, [Truman] had the courage and resolution to reverse the policy that appeared to him naive and dangerous", which was "in contrast to the immediate, often ad hoc moves and solutions dictated by the demands of the war.". With the end of the war, the priority of allied unity was replaced with a new challenge, the nature of the relationship between the two emerging superpowers. Truman became much more suspicious of communist moves than Roosevelt had been, and he became increasingly suspicious of Soviet intentions under Stalin. [9] Truman and his advisers saw Soviet actions in Eastern Europe as aggressive expansionism which was incompatible with the agreements Stalin had committed to at Yalta the previous February. In addition, it was at the Potsdam Conference that Truman became aware of possible complications elsewhere, when Stalin objected to Churchill's proposal for an early Allied withdrawal from Iran, ahead of the schedule agreed at the Tehran Conference. However, the Potsdam Conference marks the first and only time Truman would ever meet Stalin in person. 4. The US had tested an atomic bomb On 16 July 1945, the Americans successfully tested an atomic bomb at the Trinity test at Alamogordo in the New Mexico desert, USA. On 21 July, Churchill and Truman agreed that the weapon should be used against Japan. Truman had previously been encouraged by the Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, to inform the Soviets of this new development, in order to avoid sowing distrust over keeping the USSR out of the Manhattan Project. Truman did not tell Stalin of the weapon until 25 July when he advised Stalin that America had "a new weapon of unusually destructive force." According to various eyewitnesses, Stalin appeared uninterested. It later became known that Stalin was actually aware of the atomic bomb before Truman was, as he had multiple spies that had infiltrated the Manhattan Project from very early on (notably Klaus Fuchs, Ted Hall, and David Greenglass), while Truman had only learned about the weapon after Roosevelt's death. By the 26th of July, the Potsdam Declaration had been broadcast to Japan, threatening total destruction unless the Imperial Japanese government submitted to unconditional surrender. Stalin suggested that Truman preside over the conference as the only head of state attending, a recommendation accepted by Attlee. Agreements made between the leaders at Potsdam Potsdam Agreement 7
Demographics map used for the border discussions at the conference The Oder-Neisse Line (click to enlarge) At the end of the conference, the three Heads of Government agreed on the following actions. All other issues were to be answered by the final peace conference to be called as soon as possible. Indochina Allied Chiefs of Staff at the Potsdam Conference decided to temporarily partition Vietnam at the 17th parallel (Da Nang) for the purposes of operational convenience. It was agreed that British forces would take the surrender of Japanese forces in Saigon for the southern half of Indochina, whilst Japanese troops in the northern half would surrender to the Chinese. 8
Germany Issuance of a statement of aims of the occupation of Germany by the Allies: demilitarization, denazification, democratization, decentralization and decartelization. Division of Germany and Austria respectively into four occupation zones (earlier agreed in principle at Yalta), and the similar division of each capital, Berlin and Vienna, into four zones. Agreement on the prosecution of Nazi war criminals. Reversion of all German annexations in Europe, including Sudetenland, Alsace-Lorraine, Austria, and the westernmost parts of Poland Germany's eastern border was to be shifted westwards to the Oder-Neisse line, effectively reducing Germany in size by approximately 25% compared to its 1937 borders. The territories east of the new border comprised East Prussia, Silesia, West Prussia, and two thirds of Pomerania. These areas were mainly agricultural, with the exception of Upper Silesia which was the second largest centre of German heavy industry. Expulsion of the German populations remaining beyond the new eastern borders of Germany. [13] Agreement on war reparations to the Soviet Union from their zone of occupation in Germany. It was also agreed that 10% of the industrial capacity of the western zones unnecessary for the German peace economy should be transferred to the Soviet Union within 2 years. Stalin proposed and it was accepted that Poland was to be excluded from division of German [citation needed] compensation to be later granted 15% of compensation given to Soviet Union. Ensuring that German standards of living did not exceed the European average. The types and amounts of industry to dismantle to achieve this was to be determined later (see The industrial plans for Germany). Destruction of German industrial war-potential through the destruction or control of all industry with military potential. To this end, all civilian shipyards and aircraft factories were to be dismantled or otherwise destroyed. All production capacity associated with war-potential, such as metals, chemical, machinery etc. were to be reduced to a minimum level which was later determined by the Allied Control Commission. Manufacturing capacity thus made "surplus" was to be dismantled as reparations or otherwise destroyed. All research and international trade was to be controlled. The economy was to be decentralized (decartelization). The economy was also to be reorganized with primary emphasis on agriculture and peaceful domestic industries. In early 1946 agreement was reached on the details of the latter: Germany was to be converted into an agricultural and light industry economy. German exports were to be coal, beer, toys, textiles, etc. to take the place of the heavy industrial products which formed most of Germany's pre-war exports. [14] Poland 9
Poland's old and new borders, 1945. Territory previously part of Germany is identified in pink A Provisional Government of National Unity recognized by all three powers should be created (known as the Lublin Poles). When the Big Three recognized the Soviet controlled government, it meant, in effect, the end of recognition for the existing Polish government-in-exile (known as the London Poles). Poles who were serving in the British Army should be free to return to Poland, with no security upon their return to the communist country guaranteed. The provisional western border should be the Oder-Neisse line, defined by the Oder and Neisse rivers. Parts of East Prussia and the former Free City of Danzig should be under Polish administration. However the final delimitation of the western frontier of Poland should await the peace settlement (which would take place at the Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany in 1990) The Soviet Union declared it would settle the reparation claims of Poland from its own share of the overall reparation payments. 10