CHAPTER 27: THE COLD WAR AT HOME AND ABROAD, 1946–1952
Multiple Choice
1. In the year after the surrender of Japan __________.
A) Americans were reluctant to reduce the size of the armed forces
B) consumer purchases of automobiles continued to increase
C) a lack of labor strikes revealed domestic good will and confident prosperity
D) high demand and short supply meant inflationary pressure
2. What was the result of the return of Wolrd War II veterans, who created high demand and short supply
of goods?
A) depression
B) recession
C) inflation
D) stagnation
3. The Republicans won control of Congress in __________.
A) 1934
B) 1938
C) 1942
D) 1946
4. In the first few years after the war __________.
A) there were no labor strikes in America
B) total employment improved
C) more women entered the workforce
D) a brief depression occurred
5. The Taft-Hartley Act __________.
A) did not become law
B) was signed by President Truman
C) was vetoed by President Truman
D) was supported by most Republican members of Congress
6. The creation of the Council of Economic Advisers __________.
A) increased the role of the federal government in the nation’s economy
B) occurred during the first Eisenhower administration
C) took place during a time of economic prosperity
D) was achieved by an executive order of the president
7. The Taft-Hartley Act __________.
A) represented the most progressive labor reforms since the Wilson administration
B) was an attempt by big business to reverse gains made by organized labor
C) limited the immigration of Asians and eastern Europeans
D) was successful because it was supported by John L. Lewis
8. The G.I. Bill was geared at helping veterans in the areas of __________.
A) medical care and cash bonuses
B) mental health and self-esteem
C) welfare payments and job counseling
D) housing and education
9. The FHA __________.
A) financed nearly 40 percent of all home mortgage debt between 1946 and 1950
B) required that labor leaders take oaths that they were not communists
C) began a trend that resulted in rampant inflation during the early 1950s
D) supported the third-party candidacy of Henry Wallace in 1948
10. Which of the following had the highest population growth rate between 1940 and 1998?
A) suburbs
B) central cities
C) non-metropolitan areas
D) rural areas
11. One immediate problem in the first few years after the war was __________.
A) a housing shortage
B) the national feeling that not much was gained by victory in the war
C) large-scale unemployment
D) a marked decrease in the standard of living for the middle class
12. Levittown represented a change toward __________.
A) an increase in Americans who owned small farms
B) affordable homes in American suburbs
C) a belief in labor-management equity
D) the development of suburbs tied to ethnic identity
13. The courageous athlete who broke the “color line” in major league baseball was __________.
A) Jackie Robinson
B) Hank Aaron
C) Jesse Owens
D) Willie Mays
14. In what year was the number of births per 1000 women highest?
A) 1933
B) 1942
C) 1958
D) 1978
15. One trend of the period 1946–1950 was __________.
A) further segregation in professional sports
B) a growth of power for organized labor
C) a declining fear in the threat of communism
D) a significant increase in the number of babies being born
16. After the war, middle-class Americans overwhelmingly expressed the desire to __________.
A) assure peace by developing close relations with the Soviet Union
B) have small families and live in remote, rural areas
C) establish prosperity after 15 years of depression and war
D) include socialist policies in the national political agenda
17. Third-party presidential candidate Strom Thurmond left the Democratic Party because of his
__________.
A) belief that the Soviet threat was not a serious concern
B) contention that the party had abandoned organized labor
C) opposition to civil rights reforms raised by party members
D) dislike of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
18. Third-party presidential candidate Henry Wallace believed that __________.
A) U.S. foreign policy was instigating the Cold War
B) civil rights should not be a national political issue
C) progressive reforms were ruining the country
D) big business should have more power in the American economy
19. Why was Henry Wallace critical of the United States’ increased militarization?
A) He believed it was a distraction from addressing poverty and racism.
B) He was a pacifist who believed the country was too aggressive.
C) He was a veteran who experienced the horrors of war first-hand.
D) He believed that the end of World War II required all countries to decrease their militaries.
20. Truman benefitted from voters who came of age in World War II, because those voters wanted to
__________.
A) avoid another war at all costs
B) greatly expand the size and scope of the military
C) provide Europe with substantial financial assistance
D) maintain post-war prosperity
21. In the 1948 presidential election, the __________ Party won 39 electoral votes.
A) Socialist
B) States’ Rights
C) Communist
D) Progressive
22. An important legacy of the Housing Act of 1949 was that it __________.
A) established the goal of decent housing for all Americans
B) managed to put an end to all slums in the Northeast
C) succeeded because Congress generously funded the program
D) showed that the Republicans would never support federal housing measures
23. Harry Truman’s economic package was known as the __________.
A) Fair Deal
B) New Frontier
C) Great Society
D) New World Order
24. Civil rights reforms enacted by the Truman administration included __________.
A) passage of the Voting Rights Act
B) a constitutional amendment to ensure citizenship
C) desegregation of all public facilities
D) revitalizing Social Security
25. The main western economic alliance that developed in the early years of the Cold War centered on the
United States, western Europe, and __________.
A) Latin America
B) eastern Europe
C) Japan
D) China
26. The period 1946–1950 began a 40-year era of __________.
A) an American economy that never experienced a recession
B) Republican presidencies
C) rivalry with communism and the Soviet Union
D) unchecked legal segregation
27. The content of George Kennan’s “long telegram” depicted __________.
A) a return to the depression if the United States did not continue social reforms
B) an aggressive U.S.S.R. driven by expansionist communism
C) a Republican Party that was not loyal to national goals
D) President Truman as an ineffective leader in domestic affairs
28. Truman’s world-view that __________, helped to shape his policies regarding Russia.
A) all countries should exist in cooperation and interdependence
B) unprovoked aggression is better than having to respond to a tragedy
C) there was much to be learned from foreign cultures
D) the world was a series of either-or choices
29. The United States and the Soviet Union disputed the Yalta Conference’s decrees regarding
__________.
A) free elections in western Europe
B) the existence of socialism in the Soviet Union
C) the status of Poland
D) the war-guilt clause for World War II
30. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were designed to __________.
A) ease economic tensions between capitalism and communism
B) provide redevelopment loans for the Soviet Union
C) allow the United States to be isolationist in its foreign policy
D) ensure the United States’ central role in reviving the world economy
31. The Baruch plan __________.
A) was opposed by the United States
B) was supported by the Soviet Union
C) called for an international agency to supervise and regulate uranium and nuclear weapon production
D) called for all UN members to renounce the potential use of nuclear energy
32. In 1947, President Truman and Congress appropriated $400 million to __________.
A) enact desegregation policies in the South
B) fight communism in Greece and Turkey
C) rebuild public school systems in poor areas
D) support left-wing liberation movements in Africa
33. Due to fear of Soviet expansionism, the U.S. policy in Japan __________.
A) was hostile to the economic development of Japan
B) imposed a military state for the first decade after the war
C) encouraged Japanese loyalty by nurturing its economic recovery
D) called for joint investment by the United States and U.S.S.R. in Japan
34. The main purpose of the Truman Doctrine was to __________.
A) support all nationalist movements across the globe
B) continue support for further labor and social welfare reforms
C) regulate the banking industry in hopes of avoiding another depression
D) use U.S. economic power to help free nations resist subversion or aggression
35. A major effect of the Marshall Plan was __________.
A) a strengthening of the economic relationship between the United States and western Europe
B) the political downfall of President Truman
C) the communist movement in western Europe gained momentum
D) business and labor never supported the political or economic philosophy of the plan
36. The United States and other Western nations responded to the Berlin blockade by __________.
A) ignoring the Soviet Union’s awkward attempts at expansionism
B) airlifting supplies into the isolated city
C) threatening to use nuclear weapons against the Soviet Union
D) negotiating with the Soviet Union
37. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization __________.
A) continued the United States’ tradition of no entangling alliances
B) solidified ties between the United States and its western European allies
C) strengthened political ties but did not address military matters
D) consisted only of the United States, England, and Germany
38. Most development and production of American nuclear weapons took place in the __________
United States.
A) western
B) southern
C) midwestern
D) northeastern
39. The content of National Security Council Paper 68 argued that __________.
A) military solutions should be encouraged to contain communism
B) foreign aid should be the key element of containing communism
C) the United Nations was the best vehicle for achieving coexistence with the Soviet Union
D) the military force behind Soviet expansionism was weak and inefficient
40. Long-range effects of NSC-68 included which of the following?
A) Its emphasis on diplomacy contributed to American involvement in Vietnam.
B) It decreased large-scale military spending by both the United States and the Soviet Union.
C) It served as the foundation for a great deal of America’s foreign policy through the 1980s.
D) It provided American leaders with a better understanding of local nationalist movements.
41. Effects of the Korean War included which of the following?
A) The Soviet Union became once again convinced of the United States’ military invulnerability.
B) The war foreshadowed the United States’ later involvement in Vietnam.
C) The goals of NSC-68 had been confirmed as only a small portion of U.S. foreign policy.
D) The United States began to fund Britain’s efforts to retain control of colonies in Asia.
42. Dean Acheson and President Truman believed that North Korea’s invasion of South Korea
__________.
A) involved planning by the Soviet Union
B) was not a serious foreign policy matter
C) showed that the Soviet Union could not maintain expansionist policies
D) would be supported by the United Nations
43. Before 1950, the United States __________.
A) actively tried to instigate further internal violence in Korea
B) refused to recognize the South Korean government of Syngman Rhee
C) did not perceive Korea as a vital element of U.S. policy in Asia
D) met with China to discuss peaceful coexistence in Korea
44. In the years after World War II, the American Communist Party __________.
A) had been very successful in urban elections in the Northeast
B) segregated its locals based on race
C) had effectively gained control of the leadership of the CIO
D) was actually in rapid decline
45. The loyalty program __________.
A) was used for intimidation, not personnel decisions
B) was strongly opposed by Truman’s Justice Department
C) resulted in the firings and resignations of many innocent Americans
D) was ruled unconstitutional in 1952
46. The Dies Committee was originally designed to __________.
A) recommend social welfare reforms
B) identify and ferret out pro-fascists
C) investigate communist conspiracies
D) investigate Joseph McCarthy’s background
47. The major importance of the Alger Hiss case was that __________.
A) Hiss had clearly stolen top-security documents from the State Department
B) Whittaker Chambers was convicted of perjury
C) people began to place more importance on Hiss as a symbol than as an alleged spy
D) it cast suspicions upon the Eisenhower administration for the first time
48. McCarthy’s accusations reached absurdity when he claimed Communist agents included __________.
A) President Eisenhower
B) Secretary of State George Marshall
C) Elvis Presley
D) HUAC committeeman Richard Nixon
49. A particularly suspicious aspect of McCarthy’s accusations regarding the State Department was
__________.
A) that he never accused Democrats of being Communist subversives
B) that he constantly changed the number of people he was accusing
C) his insistence that President Eisenhower knew of subversive acts
D) his reluctance to talk about the accusations during televised committee meetings
50. How was the emptiness of McCarthy’s charges revealed?
A) It was discovered that Julius Rosenberg was an anti-Communist.
B) President Eisenhower condemned him in a nationally televised speech.
C) He admitted that he had lied throughout the committee hearings.
D) Army lawyer Joseph Welch challenged him at the Army-McCarthy hearings.
Essay Questions
51. What combined roles did the Truman administration and the Republican Party play in promoting fear
of an internal Communist threat?
52. Analyze the causes of Harry Truman’s upset victory in the election of 1948. Which factor do you
believe was most decisive?
53. Describe the relationship of containment and NSC-68 to the purpose of American involvement in the
Korean War.
54. What were the causes of the intense fear of Communist subversion in the late 1940s and early 1950s?
Who were the key figures in the Second Red Scare? What long-term impact did the Red Scare have on
American society?