Download TASIS IB World History – Year Two (Taylor) Spring Term Cold War

TASIS
IB World History – Year Two (Taylor)
Spring Term
Cold War: Global Cold War, Korea 1949-53. Edwards, pp. 64-78
Manhattan Project
Hydrogen Bomb
NSC 68, April 1950
Joseph McCarthy
Domino Theory
38th Parallel
ANZUS Pact, September 1951
Reading Questions:
1) According to the Americans, what were the new communist threats that developed in
1949?
2) What were the origins of the Korean War?
3) What is the significance of the 38th Parallel?
4) How did the Korean War have an impact on US Cold War policy?
“The Korean War: A Turning Point?”- Source-Based Questions on the reading:
Source A
We must organize and enlist the energies nad resources of the free world in a positive program
for peace which will frustrate the Kremlin design for world domination. Without such a
cooperative effort, led by the United States, we will have to make gradual withdrawals under
pressure until we discover one day that we have sacrificed positions of vital interest. It is
imperative that this trend be reversed by a much more rapid and concerted build-up of the actual
strength of both the United States and the other nations of the free world. The analysis shows
that this will be costly.
National Security Council Document 68, April 1950
Source B
Intelligence Memorandum No. 302
July 8 1950
Subject: Consequences of the Korean Incident
I.
Soviet Purposes in Launching the Northern Korean Attack
A. Apart from immediate strategic advantages, the basic Soviet objectives in launching the
North Korean attack probably were to: (1) test the strength of US commitments implicit
in the policy of containment of communist expansion; and (2) gain political advantages
for the further expansion of Communism in both Asia and Europe by undermining the
confidence of non-Communist states in the value of US support.
B. The Soviet estimate of the reaction to the North Korean attack was probably that: (1) UN
action would be slow and cumbersome; (2) the US would not intervene with its own
forces.
CIA Intelligence Memorandum, July 1950
Source C
The question was not whether Germany should be brought into the general defensive plan but
rather how this could be done without disrupting anything else that we are doing and without
putting Germany into a position to act as the balance of power in Europe.
Secretary of State Acheson to President Truman, July 1950
Source D
Truman approved military expenditures totaling $51.2 billion in December 1951. His aim was
not simply to maintain present strength. The new force goals contemplated an Army of 21
divisions, a Marine Corps of 3 divisions, an Air Force of 143 wings and an active fleet of 408
combatant vessels, including 16 large aircraft carriers. These objectives for fiscal year 1953
compared to forces-in-being in June 1951 of 18 Army divisions, 2.33 Marine Corps Divisions, 87
Air Force wings and 342 combatant vessels, including 12 large carriers. It must be emphasized
that this force structure had nothing to do with waging war in Korea. Fiscal year 1953 plans
presupposed that the limited conflict would end by 30 June 1952.
From Melvin P. Leffler, Preponderance of Power, 1992
1) Using these sources and your own knowledge, explain the following terms:
(i)
‘the policy of containment’ (Source B) (3 marks)
(ii)
‘the general defensive plan’ (Source C) (3 marks)
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2) How does Source D help us to understand the fate of the proposals made in Source
A? (4 marks)
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3) “The Korean Conflict was a turning point in America’s conduct of the Cold War. “
To what degree do you agree with this statement? Using these sources and your own
knowledge, explain your answer. (10 marks)
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