HIST 1302 Exam 3 Study Guide With
Complete Solutions
Cold War - ANSWER Term given to the political, economic, and military tensions that
existed between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union between 1945 and
the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1989.
Sphere of Influence - ANSWER Area of economic and political control exerted by one
nation over another nation or other nations.
Balance of Power - ANSWER The balance of power meant an international equilibrium of
political and military forces that would discourage aggression by any combination of
state. Balance of power kept order between U.S. and Soviet Union and kept any one
nation from becoming too powerful.
Harry Truman - ANSWER The 33rd U.S. president, who succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt
upon Roosevelt's death in April 1945. Truman, who led the country through the last few
months of World War II, is best known for making the controversial decision to use two
atomic bombs against Japan in August 1945. After the war, Truman was crucial in the
implementation of the Marshall Plan, which greatly accelerated Western Europe's
economic recovery.
Potsdam Conference - ANSWER The final wartime meeting of the leaders of the United
States, Britain, and the Soviet Union was held at Potsdamn, outside Berlin, in July, 1945.
Truman, Churchill, and Stalin discussed the future of Europe but their failure to reach
meaningful agreements soon led to the onset of the Cold War.
Atomic Bomb - ANSWER Powerful weapon used by the U.S. to end World War II. It was
dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Containment - ANSWER Containment was a United States policy using numerous
strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. A component of the Cold War,
this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge
, communist influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, Africa , and Vietnam. Kennan.
The basis of the doctrine was articulated in a 1946 cable by U.S. diplomat George F.
Kennan.
CARE Packages - ANSWER 1946 Started by Truman and was an agency that sends
needed food-packets overseas. Helped countless people survive the worst of the misery
left in the war.
George Kennan - ANSWER Ambassador in the 1940's who is known as "The Father of
Containment," which argued that the Soviet Union was always looking to expand,
therefore it was the US' duty to "CONTAIN" it.
Marshall Plan/European Recovery Plan (ERP) - ANSWER Introduced by Secretary of
State George G. Marshall in 1947, he proposed massive and systematic American
economic aid to Europe to revitalize the European economies after WWII and help
prevent the spread of Communism.
Red Scare - ANSWER Widespread fear of communism in the United States from
1919-1920 caused by the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917, the intensely patriotic
feelings due to World War I, and a series of labor strikes. Caused Attorney General A.
Mitchell Palmer to attempt to suppress radical organizations.
Joseph McCarthy - ANSWER 1950s; Wisconsin senator claimed to have list of
communists in American gov't, but no credible evidence; took advantage of fears of
communism post WWII to become incredibly influential; "McCarthyism" was the fearful
accusation of any dissenters of being communists
Julius & Ethel Rosenberg - ANSWER An engineer and his wife who were accused, tried,
and executed in the early 1950s for running an espionage ring in New York City that
gave atomic secrets to the Soviet Union; long considered unjustly accused to victims of
the Red Scare.
House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) - ANSWER Investigated communist
activities in the US, hearings concentrated on the showing that the subject matter of
Hollywood films had been tainted by communist ideas.
Complete Solutions
Cold War - ANSWER Term given to the political, economic, and military tensions that
existed between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union between 1945 and
the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1989.
Sphere of Influence - ANSWER Area of economic and political control exerted by one
nation over another nation or other nations.
Balance of Power - ANSWER The balance of power meant an international equilibrium of
political and military forces that would discourage aggression by any combination of
state. Balance of power kept order between U.S. and Soviet Union and kept any one
nation from becoming too powerful.
Harry Truman - ANSWER The 33rd U.S. president, who succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt
upon Roosevelt's death in April 1945. Truman, who led the country through the last few
months of World War II, is best known for making the controversial decision to use two
atomic bombs against Japan in August 1945. After the war, Truman was crucial in the
implementation of the Marshall Plan, which greatly accelerated Western Europe's
economic recovery.
Potsdam Conference - ANSWER The final wartime meeting of the leaders of the United
States, Britain, and the Soviet Union was held at Potsdamn, outside Berlin, in July, 1945.
Truman, Churchill, and Stalin discussed the future of Europe but their failure to reach
meaningful agreements soon led to the onset of the Cold War.
Atomic Bomb - ANSWER Powerful weapon used by the U.S. to end World War II. It was
dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Containment - ANSWER Containment was a United States policy using numerous
strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. A component of the Cold War,
this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge
, communist influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, Africa , and Vietnam. Kennan.
The basis of the doctrine was articulated in a 1946 cable by U.S. diplomat George F.
Kennan.
CARE Packages - ANSWER 1946 Started by Truman and was an agency that sends
needed food-packets overseas. Helped countless people survive the worst of the misery
left in the war.
George Kennan - ANSWER Ambassador in the 1940's who is known as "The Father of
Containment," which argued that the Soviet Union was always looking to expand,
therefore it was the US' duty to "CONTAIN" it.
Marshall Plan/European Recovery Plan (ERP) - ANSWER Introduced by Secretary of
State George G. Marshall in 1947, he proposed massive and systematic American
economic aid to Europe to revitalize the European economies after WWII and help
prevent the spread of Communism.
Red Scare - ANSWER Widespread fear of communism in the United States from
1919-1920 caused by the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917, the intensely patriotic
feelings due to World War I, and a series of labor strikes. Caused Attorney General A.
Mitchell Palmer to attempt to suppress radical organizations.
Joseph McCarthy - ANSWER 1950s; Wisconsin senator claimed to have list of
communists in American gov't, but no credible evidence; took advantage of fears of
communism post WWII to become incredibly influential; "McCarthyism" was the fearful
accusation of any dissenters of being communists
Julius & Ethel Rosenberg - ANSWER An engineer and his wife who were accused, tried,
and executed in the early 1950s for running an espionage ring in New York City that
gave atomic secrets to the Soviet Union; long considered unjustly accused to victims of
the Red Scare.
House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) - ANSWER Investigated communist
activities in the US, hearings concentrated on the showing that the subject matter of
Hollywood films had been tainted by communist ideas.
