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Unit 15 Review – The Cold War and the 1950’s
1. Why did tensions emerge between the Soviet Union and her former allies before World War II?
2. At the time of World War II, how did the vision of the postwar world held by the United States differ
from that of the Soviets and the British?
3. Explain the basic structure of the United Nations, and contrast its reception in the United States with that
of the League of Nations.
4. What was the purpose of the I. M. F.? the World Bank?
5. What was the policy of "containment?" What were President Truman's goals in establishing this foreign
policy?
6. Identify the main objectives of the Truman Doctrine. In what ways was the Marshall Plan the economic
component of containment? How well did it work?
7. Why was the National Security Council created? What role did it play in the development of national
policy? Why was NSC-68 a key document in the early Cold War era?
8. Why did the US initiate the Berlin Airlift in 1948? What were the effects of this move?
9. What is the "post-revisionist" view of the origins and nature of the Cold War? (page 906)
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Unit 15 Review – The Cold War and the 1950’s
10. What kept the United States from experiencing another depression after the war? What economic
challenges did the nation face?
11. Identify the provisions of the GI Bill of Rights. How did it help World War II veterans make the
transition to civilian life?
12. How did post-war labor strikes impact American sentiment regarding the power of organized labor?
13. What were the provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947? How did it address the issue of labor unions
in the post-WW II period?
14. What were the causes of the great economic growth in the country from 1945 to 1960? What was the
impact on the American standard of living?
15. Why did the Sunbelt grow faster than the rest of the nation in the post-World War II era?
16. Identify the major candidates, issues, and outcome of the 1948 presidential election. Why is it so
historic?
17. What were the Truman administration's domestic successes and failures after the 1948 election?
18. Why did the US go to war in Korean in 1950? What was the role of the United Nations in this conflict?
What were the terms of the peace treaty that ended the Korean War?
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Unit 15 Review – The Cold War and the 1950’s
19. What was General MacArthur's plan in 1951 to end the stalemate in Korea? Why did President Truman
object to it so strongly? Why did President Truman fire General MacArthur? What was the initial
reaction of most Americans to this decision?
20. What was the significance of the Korean War in terms of American military effectiveness, its prediction
of future US involvement in Asia, and its impact on the American commitment to fighting the Cold
War?
21. Why was HUAC created? What role did it play in the Second "Red Scare?"
22. Who were the "Hollywood 10?" Why was Hollywood a target of anti-communist investigations by
Congress in the 1950s?
23. What factors combined to create the anti-communist paranoia that led to the national mood that allowed
the rise to prominence of Senator Joseph McCarthy? How did McCarthy exploit the existing mood of
hysteria? What sorts of tactics did he use in his attacks on alleged subversion?
24. What personalities and policies led to the Republican victory in the presidential election of 1952?
25. Though anti-communist sentiment did not disappear, what led to the demise of Senator Joseph
McCarthy?
26. How was this 1950s "Red Scare" era similar to the one at the end of and immediately following World
War I? How was it different?
27. Identify the key medical advances of the mid-20c. What were the social results of these discoveries?
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Unit 15 Review – The Cold War and the 1950’s
28. What key developments in electronics in the 1950s and 1960s transformed consumer and industrial
products and paved the way for the computer revolution?
29. Describe the progression of the arms race and space race during the Cold War.
30. How did Americans react to the Soviet Sputnik? What was the response of the US government?
31. What was the expanded role of advertising and consumer credit in the 1950s? Why can it be said that
the prosperity of the 1950s and 1960s was substantially consumer-driven?
32. What was the appeal of Levittown and similar suburban developments? How did typical suburbs
transform family life and shape women's attitudes?
33. What impact did the automobile culture have on railroads, energy consumption, air pollution, the
traditional downtown, and retailing? How did the American experience compare with that of other
developed nations at the time?
34. Why can it be said that television was central to the culture of the postwar era? How did the medium
simultaneously unify and alienate Americans? What types of programs characterized television's
"Golden Age?" What were the major social, political, economic, and cultural themes in those shows?
35. Describe the depth of the "gender divide" in the 1950s, especially in regard to jobs, primary gender
roles, and body image.
36. What was it about Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique that sparked a revival of the women's
movement?
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37. Identify some of the writers and social critics of the period who challenged American affluence and
social ideas of the time. How did their challenge reveal the limitations and dangers of national
economic abundance?
38. What were the conclusions of the report from President Truman's Committee on Civil Rights? What
steps did Truman take to end racial discrimination in the federal government?
39. What problems were African Americans still facing in the South? How were people like Jackie
Robinson helping change national ideas about race?
40. Why was Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, KS such a landmark Supreme Court case?
41. What were President Eisenhower's views on civil rights [especially regarding the Brown decision]?
42. How did President Eisenhower enforce the Brown ruling in Little Rock, AR in the summer of 1957?
43. Why was Rosa Park's courageous stand and the resulting Montgomery bus boycott so important to the
1950s civil rights movement?
44. How and why did Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. emerge as the leader of the civil rights movement in the
US in the 1950s?
45. Identify the various African American organizations that were created during the 1950s to fight
segregation and racism.
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46. How were movements like the “sit-in’s” useful in the fight for Civil Rights?
47. How did the domestic policies of the Eisenhower administration compare and contrast with the
Roosevelt and Truman administrations?
48. Explain Eisenhower's policy of "brinksmanship" and "massive retaliation" in terms of its impact on
American foreign relations during the 1950s.
49. What was the political significance of the U-2 spy plan incident of 1960?
50. Briefly describe the effects of US intervention in Iran.
51. What were the key issues that led to the Suez War of 1956? Why did the US side with the Soviet Union
in this conflict?
52. What was the Eisenhower Doctrine? What authority did Congress give the President when they
approved this policy?
53. Why did Hungary become a Cold War trouble spot in 1956? How did the US respond to the Hungarian
Crisis?
54. What were some of John F. Kennedy's personal assets as a presidential candidate? What obstacles did
he face? How did television play a key role in Kennedy's election victory in 1960?
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