1.  How did atomic weapons change the world’s geopolitical dynamic?  What were the two main options for socio- economic organization at the end of WWII?  What was the purpose of the United Nations?  What were the two most important bodies within the U.N.?  How many members did the U.N. have when it began?  How did decolonization and the growth of the “third world” affect the U.N.?

2.  Why did the United States and the Soviet Union become enemies after WWII?  Why is this oppositional relationship known as the “Cold War”?  What did the United States fear with regard to Soviet intentions?  What was the strategy they devised to combat possible Soviet expansion?  How did developments in Eastern Europe support the American interpretation of Soviet intentions?  How did the Soviet handling of situations elsewhere in the world, such as Iran and Turkey, affect the American point of view?

3.  What did Churchill mean when he said that an “iron curtain” had descended across eastern Europe?  * Who was George C. Marshall?  * Who were Dean Acheson and George Kennan?  What was the Truman Doctrine?  What was the role of the national security apparatus established within the United States in the late 1940s and early 50s?  What is the most well known example of the national security establishment?  Why did the Soviet Union feel threatened by the United States?  How did the U.S.S.R. respond to these perceived threats?

4.  How did the policies of the western powers in Germany provoke a response from the Soviet Union?  What form did that response take (June 1948?)  *How did Truman respond to the blockade?  * What was the significance of the blockade for the U.S. domestically and internationally?  * What was the Marshall plan and why was it proposed?  What is NATO?  How did it come to exist?

5.  * What was the significance of the stationing of American forces inside West Germany?  How did the Soviet Union interpret the “three prongs” of the Western response to the Soviet Union?  What was the geopolitical situation in Europe by 1950?  * What did the National Security Act of 1947 accomplish?  * Why was Dean Acheson, and others, insistent that the U.S. should develop the hydrogen bomb?

6.  * What is the significance of NSC-68?  What changes to Japanese government and society did the American government bring about in occupied Japan?  What factors contributed to Japan’s economic revival?  What was the situation in Korea as of 1950?  How did it get this way?  How did the United States interpret the invasion of South Korea by the North in June 1950?  What were the most likely intentions of the North and the U.S.S.R. in mounting the invasion?

7.  What role did the UN play in the Western response?  How did the initial fighting go for the UN forces?  What turned the tide and put the UN back on the offensive?  Why did China enter the war and what was the effect?  How did the war finally “end”?  What were the “costs” of fighting the war to the participant nations?  Did they view the costs as acceptable?

8.  How did many of the nonaligned nations view the outcome of the war?  Section 112  When did Stalin die?  What was his impact on the Soviet Union?  How did Stalin’s paranoia and totalitarian controls manifest themselves in Soviet policy?  What was meant by “Khruschev’s thaw”?  How deep did the thaw really go?  What was Sputnik?  Why was Khruschev ousted from power in 1964? Who succeeded him?

9.  Which eastern European countries fell into the Soviet sphere of influence after the war?  How did Soviet supported policies in eastern Europe “make a mockery” of the idea of free elections?  How did Stalin’s paranoia fuelled purges manifest themselves in eastern Europe?  What economic reforms did the communist governments enact?  What was the Warsaw Pact?  Who was Tito?  How and why did Poland revolt aginst the Soviet Union following Khruschev’s de-Stalinization speech in 1956?

10.  How did the Polish success influence Hungary?  Why did the Soviet Union crush the Hungarian uprising of 1956?  What happened to its leader, Imre Nagy?  Section 113  How did the Chinese Nationalists and Communists get along during the war with Japan?  What happened when WWII ended?  What happened to China’s seat in the UN in 1971?

11.  What were Mao’s goals for China after he attained power?  How repressive was Mao’s regime during the 1950s?  Why did Mao encourage a “hundred schools of thought”? What happened to many of the thinkers?  What evidence was there of friendly Sino- Soviet relations early on?  What was the “Great Leap Forward”?  How successful was it?  What are some examples of positive changes brought about by Mao?

12.  What was the cultural revolution? Who were its main tools and who were its main victims?  What were the results of the Cultural Revolution?  When did Mao die?  What was Mao’s legacy?  What was his “little red book”?  Why did China invade Tibet?  Why did Sino-Soviet relations sour throughout the 1960s?  Whom did Mao welcome to China in 1972?

13.  Readings for the next few weeks:  Main Text:  P. 947-950 French Algerian War  P.961-962 Belgian Congo  P.981-987 Iran-Iraq War, First Persian Gulf War  P.995-1010 Section 121: Confrontation and Détente  P. 1021-1027 Section 123: The Cold War Rekindled  P. 1027-1032 Section 124: China After Mao  P. 1033-1064 Ch. 26 End of the Cold War  Handouts  American Text:  P. 706 -720 Cold War at Home and Abroad  P. 728- 738 Sputnik, Beginning of Civil Rights  P. 739-772 the 60s  P. 793-94 Collapse of Détente  P. 799-804 Reagan and the World  P. 808-809 Ending the Cold War, The Gulf War

14.  Describe Spain and Portugal’s system of control over Latin America during the colonial period.  What class (caste) distinctions were there in Latin American society?  How did these influence the push towards independence?  What role did the Napoleonic invasion of Spain and Portugal play in increasing Latin American autonomy?  Why did many Spanish American “colonies” create their own juntas?

15.  Why did Brazil not need to create a junta?  Who were some of the leaders of the independence movements?  How did the United States view the newly independent nations of the south?  What was the Monroe Doctrine?  What was Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress? Did it work?  What impact did borrowing money have on the countries of Latin America?  What is the OAS?  How did the United States often “handle” governments that were deemed to be too far left?

16.  Who was Salvador Allende of Chile? What happened to him?  How did Castro challenge America’s power in the Western Hemisphere?  Section 117/Handout on Algerian War of Independence  How did France’s treatment of Tunisia and Morocco differ from its treatment of Algeria?  Why do you think this was the case?  How many of Algeria’s 9 million people were French settlers, or “colons”?

17.  What is a guerrilla war? Where does the term come from?  What are the common strategies and tactics used in most guerrilla campaigns?  What are some of the challenges in mounting a guerrilla campaign?  How did Mao’s victory in China influence other movements?  Describe the societal advantages French settlers enjoyed over Arab natives in Algeria.  What were the three sides involved in the war?

18.  What were the UDMA and the Ulema? What were their respective beliefs regarding Algerian independence?  How were the two sides represented in the MTLD and its successor the Font de Liberation Nationale (FLN)?  Who was Ahmed Ben Bella?  How did events in Korea and French Indochina (Vietnam) influence the Algerian nationalists?  How similar were the Viet Minh with the FLN?  When and how did the Algerian War begin?

19.  What tactics did the FLN use throughout 1954-55? How did the French respond?  What does the principle of “collective responsibility” mean? Is it just?  How did the use of helicopters affect the French army’s ability to conduct operations?  How many soldiers did France have “in- country” by 1957? How many guerrillas were they fighting?  Why did the French use torture? How did this knowledge affect public opinion of the war in France?

20.  Did Morocco and Tunisia play a role in the war?  Why did the army and pied-noirs turn to Charles de Gaulle?  How did things go for the FLN in Algeria during 1959?  How did they bring the war “home” to the people of France?  Why did de Gaulle put the issue of Algerian independence to a referendum? How did it turn out?

21.  Do you agree with Kissinger’s quote, “A conventional army loses if it does not win. A guerrilla army wins if it does not lose.”?  How did the colons/pied-noirs/French settlers in Algeria, along with portions of the army, react to the move toward Algerian independence?  Approximately how people were killed during, and as a result of, the war?  What were the Evian Accords?  How did Islamic extremism affect Algeria in the 1990s?

22.  The Belgian Congo:  What did the Belgian government decide to do in 1960?  Who was Patrice Lumumba?  What happened that undermined the power and authority of Lumumba’s government?  Why did Moise Tshombe have the European financial support for his attempted secession of the Katanga region of the Congo?  Why did Lumumba appeal to the UN for help?  How did the UN respond?  To whom did Lumumba turn after the UN?

23.  Why was Lumumba removed as Prime Minister?  How was he able to establish his own government in Stanleyville?  What happened on January 17, 1961?  How did the UN end up conducting offensive military operations against the Katanga government?  How did it turn out?  Why is this an important event in the history of the UN?  In what ways did the larger struggle of the Cold War manifest itself in the Congo Crisis?

24.  How did the internal strife in the Congo finally resolve itself?  Why did the United States support Mobutu?  How did Mobutu remake the Congo?  Iran-Iraq War  How is Iran different than most of the Arab Gulf states?  What had been Iran’s history through the 20 th century up to the revolution of 1978-79?  What was the nature of the Iranian Revolution?  Who took ultimate control of Iran as result of the revolution?

25.  How did the Ayatollah Khomeini and his Supreme Council change the country?  How did they view the west? How did they express their view in the autumn of 1979?  Why were Iraq and Iran natural enemies as of 1980?  What did Iraq use an excuse to attack Iran?  How did the war progress for each side?  What was the extent of western involvement in the Persian Gulf?  Why did Iran and Iraq bring the war to an end in 1988?

26.  What were the effects of the war on each country and the region?  The Persian Gulf War, 1990-1991  Why did Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invade Kuwait in August of 1990?  How did other countries in the region, and around the world, interpret Iraq’s aggression?  *What was Operation Desert Shield?  What was the purpose of economic sanctions against Iraq?  Were they successful?  *Why did the Soviet Union not block the United States’ push for UN support of military action against Iraq?

27.  What was Operation Desert Shield?  *How did the attack on Iraq begin? How was this an example of the increased importance of air power in modern warfare?  How successful was the ground assault launched five weeks later?  Why did President Bush not push American forces all the way to Baghdad and remove Hussein from power?  What were the immediate and long-term effects of the war?

28.  The Cold War: The 50s  How did the Berlin crisis of 1948 help Truman retain the presidency?  * How did the Cold War impact America’s “home front”?  * What was the purpose of Truman’s loyalty program?  * Was the House Un-American Activities Committee?  * What did Senator Joseph McCarthy say on February 12, 1950 that grabbed national attention?  * How did this lead to “McCarthyism” and what does the term mean?

29.  * What were McCarthy’s usual tactics?  * How did he use his Senate sub-committee to promote his agenda?  * To whom did McCarthy appeal?  * What was Eisenhower’s approach to dealing with McCarthy?  * What were the Army-McCarthy hearings?  * How did it bring about McCarthy’s political downfall?