The Cold War Turns Hot
(p.544)
1. How did China become a communist country?
Mao Zedong leader of the Chinese Communist Party gained control over most of China in 1949, forcing Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist Party to flee to Taiwan. The Communist Party established the People’s Republic of China.
2. Identify the Korean War.
From 1950-53, United Nations led effort to repel a North Korean invasion of South Korea; resulted in the establishment of a border between the two countries at about 38Th parallel. Americans questioned the outcome justifying the US losses of some 54,000 dead and 103,000 wounded. More than 1.5 million Koreans and Chinese dead. The war permanently split Korea into two countries, North (Communist) and South (democratic) Korea.
3. How did General MacArthur and President Truman’s views of handling the Korean conflict differ?
Gen. MacArthur proposed an invasion of N. Korea and China, ending the Communist rule of China. He gave an ultimatum of unconditional surrender to N. Korea which conflicted with Truman plans of peace negotiations. Opponents argued that an attack on China would bring the Soviet Union into the conflict. Truman didn’t want Korea to lead to a world war.
4. Who became President of the U.S. after Truman left office?
Dwight D. Eisenhower
5. What is the CIA and what does it do?
Central Intelligence Agency gathers strategic, international information.
6. What role did the CIA play in Iran in 1951?
Premier Mohammad Mosaddeq nationalized (government controlled) British oil fields in Iran. The CIA organized a military coup and replaced him with Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a pro American shah of Iran.
7. What role did the CIA play in Guatemala in 1954?
President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman took possession of Guatemala’s plantations to redistribute among the rural poor. The U.S. suspected Guzman was sympathetic to Communism. The CIA bombed the capital and installed a new pro-U.S. government that quickly reversed his reform program.
8. Explain the Suez Canal crisis and how Eisenhower avoided a war.
Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, threatening the Western oil trade. Israel, Britain, and France seized the Mediterranean Sea area controlled by Egypt. The Soviet Union threatened war with the three countries if they didn’t withdraw. Eisenhower supported a cease fire and withdraw of troops and the 3 countries agreed.
9. How did new Premier Nikita Khrushchev put down Hungarians demand for democracy?
Nov. 4, 1956, Khrushchev sent troops to Budapest, Hungarian capital, and crushed a revolt, setting up a new pro-Soviet government that imposed martial law and executed or imprisoned rebel leaders.
10. Why didn’t the United States intervene in the Hungarian uprising?
Eisenhower worried that a U.S. intervention would lead to an all-out nuclear war with the Soviet Union.
11. What happened in the U-2 incident that strained the U.S.-Soviet relationship?
An incident in which U.S. pilot, Francis Gary Powers, was captured, while spying on the Soviet Union. Khrushchev demanded that U2 flights stop and wanted an apology for past flights. Eisenhower promised Flights would stop but offered no apology.