Unit 4 Test

ESSAY QUESTIONS

  1. What were President Truman’s 2 alternatives for ending the war with Japan in 1945?

    1. Costs & benefits of each
    2. What choice would you have made, and why?
  • Land invasion of mainland Japan
    • Cost: Loss of territory & drawn out
    • People were moved from their homes and away from their families (I am a Berliner)
    • They could have lost their sense of cultural identity
    • Benefits: Solid ground (could send more men)
  • Drop the atomic bomb
    • Cost: Repair costs & loss of lives
    • Killed 70,000 civilians instantly at Hiroshima
    • 140,000+ died from side effects
    • Benefits: Powerful & quick
    • End the war
    • Show off nuclear power

  1. Describe and discuss (in detail) the Cuban Missile Crisis: Who were the key people/countries involved? Why was this the most intense moment of the Cold War, and how was it resolved?

    1. Write like a story
  • What did the United States discover in October of 1962?
    • U-2 photos revealed Soviet missiles in Cuba
    • Missiles could reach targets in a fraction of the time
  • What were Kennedy’s two main options?
    • Naval quarantine of Cuba
    • Launch an air strike
  • What option did Kennedy choose, and what happened next?
    • He ordered the quarantine, then addressed the nation
    • Invasion forces were ready to go to Cuba, but then the Soviet ships turned around
    • 3 days the world was on the brink of nuclear war…most intense moment of the Cold War
    • USSR sent two telegrams, we agreed to one
    • If they agreed to take the missiles out of Cuba, we would stop the quarantine
  • Taking our case to the United Nations
    • Crisis continued…we took our case to the UN, attempting to get the rest of the world on our side.

  1. Explain how the Korean War was a series of miscalculations on the part of several different nations

    1. Harry Truman & the U.S.
    2. Joseph Stalin & the USSR/Kim Il Sung & the North Koreans
    3. Douglas MacArthur
    4. Mao Zedong
  • The United States:
    • After World War 2, the U.S. left the Korean Peninsula unguarded…inviting the communists in it
  • Joseph Stalin & Kim Il Sung
    • Stalin encouraged Kim Il Sung to invade the South…thinking the U.S. would not get involved
  • Douglas MacArthur
    • He underestimated the skills of the North Koreans & the Chinese…AND pushed all the way to the Yalu River, provoking the Chinese to enter the war
    • The Yalu River is past the 38th parallel
  • Mao Zedong
    • He believed the fighting spirit of his men could defeat American superior weaponry…AND he pushed too far into South Korea