Readiness standards comprise 65% of the U. S. History Test

1. Readiness standards comprise 65% of the U. S. History Test 8 A & C

2. Readiness Standard (8)The student understands the impact of significant national & international decisions & conflicts in the Cold War on the United States. The Student is expected to: (A) Describe U. S. responses to Soviet aggression after World War II, including the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Berlin Airlift, & John F. Kennedy’s role in the Cuban Missile Crisis

3. Readiness Standard (8)The student understands the impact of significant national & international decisions & conflicts in the Cold War on the United States. The Student is expected to: (A) 1 Describe U. S. responses to Soviet aggression after World War II, including the Truman Doctrine

4. Steps Leading to U.S. Policy of Containment American policy during the Truman administration; aimed at preventing expansion of communism beyond its existing boundaries • 1946-47 Growing mistrust of Russia inspired by Soviet imperialism in Eastern Europe, delaying its withdrawal from oil-rich Iran, & breakdown of Allied cooperation in Germany • March 1947 Fearing Soviet exploitation of the Greek civil war (1946-49), the U.S. intervened in Greece and Turkey • June 1947 Marshall Plan—a war without bullets • April 1949 NATO

5. Truman committed U. S. economic and military aid to prevent them from falling into the Soviet Sphere The Truman Doctrine Britain—the historical protector of Greek independence—was too weak after the war to continue . . . hence the need for Uncle Sam to fill the void. “The Truman Doctrine marked an informal declaration of cold war against the Soviet Union. Truman used the crisis in Greece to secure congressional approval and build a national consensus for the policy of containment. . . . The American commitment to oppose communist expansion, whether by internal subversion or external aggression, placed the United States on a collision course with the Soviet Union around the globe.”

6. Containment was designed to stop the spread of communism. HOWEVER . . . The “war” remained a cold one considering how each side during the war felt about being attacked by the other.

7. Readiness Standard (8)The student understands the impact of significant national & international decisions & conflicts in the Cold War on the United States. The Student is expected to: (A) 2 Describe U. S. responses to Soviet aggression after World War II, including the Marshall Plan

8. The Marshall Plan was he American initiative to aid Europe, in which the U. S. gave economic support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to prevent the spread of Soviet Communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948. The goals of the United States were to rebuild war-devastated regions, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, and make Europe prosperous again. The initiativewas named after Secretary of State George Marshall. During the four years that the plan was operational, US $15 billion in economic and technical assistance was given to help the recovery of the European countries. It stimulated the total political reconstruction of western Europe.

9. Soviet Response to the Marshall Plan • Refusal to allow any nation controlled by the Soviets to participate • A tightening of controls by the U.S.S.R. over any nation within her “orbit” “The division of Europe was an inevitable after-effect of World War II. Both sides were intent on imposing their values in the areas liberated by their troops. The Russians were no more likely to withdraw from Eastern Europe that the United States and Britain were from Germany, France, and Italy.” A hard shot to block

10. Readiness Standard (8)The student understands the impact of significant national & international decisions & conflicts in the Cold War on the United States. The Student is expected to: (A) 3 Describe U. S. responses to Soviet aggression after World War II, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

11. The organization constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. NATO’s headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, one of today’s 28 member states across North America and Europe The North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., on April 4 , 1949 and was ratified by the United States that August.

12. North Atlantic Treaty Organization • Conceived as a defensive shield against Soviet aggression • NATO was seen as an aggressive tool aimed at the Soviets; would pressure those not obeying the dictates of the Anglo-American bloc • the U. S. bomb monopoly encouraged the Soviets to be pushy until 1949 when they got the bomb; then, the U. S. response was NATO

13. And much like the 5th century Greek example . . . the Soviet Union countered in 1955 with an “organization” of its own.. The Warsaw Pact

14. The members agreed that an armed attack against any one of them in Europe or North America would be considered an attack against them all. Consequently they agreed that, if an armed attack occurred, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense, would assist the member being attacked, taking such action as it deemed necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.

15. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)—1949 What type of division did the “curtain” represent? Which countries supported which sides?The Iron Curtain was both a physical and an ideological division that represented the way Europe was viewed after World War II. To the east of the Iron Curtain were the countries that were connected to or influenced by the former Soviet Union. The other countries to the west of the Iron Curtain had democratic governments.

16. The choice before European nation states

17. Readiness Standard (8)The student understands the impact of significant national & international decisions & conflicts in the Cold War on the United States. The Student is expected to: (A) 4 Describe U. S. responses to Soviet aggression after World War II, including the Berlin Airlift

18. The Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies’ railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied control. Their aim was to force the western powers to allow the Soviet zone to start supplying Berlin with food, fuel, and aid, thereby giving the Soviets practical control over the entire city. The Berlin blockade (June 24, 1948–May 12, 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War.

19. In response, the Western Allies organized the Berlin Airlift to carry supplies to the people in West Berlin.Aircrews from the U. S. Air Force, the British Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, & the South African Air Force flew over 200,000 flights in one year, providing up to 4700 tons of necessities daily, such as fuel and food, to the Berliners. By the spring of 1949 the effort was clearly succeeding, and by April the airlift was delivering more cargo than had previously been transported into the city by rail. The success of the Berlin Airlift brought embarrassment to the Soviets who had refused to believe it could make a difference.

20. The blockade was lifted in May 1949 and resulted in the creation of two separate German states. The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) split up Berlin.Following the airlift, three airports in the former western zones of the city served as the primary gateways to Germany for another fifty years.

21. Readiness Standard (8)The student understands the impact of significant national & international decisions & conflicts in the Cold War on the United States. The Student is expected to: (A) 5 Describe U. S. responses to Soviet aggression after World War II, including John F. Kennedy’s role in the Cuban Missile Crisis

22. Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 • Soviet missile installations in Cuba in the fall of 1962 • Precipitated a highly tense exchange that eventually is resolved by withdrawal of the weapons • JFK’s handling of the Missile Crisis has become a model of effective diplomatic decision-making October 22, 1962

23. The Cuban Missile Crisis — known as the October Crisis or The Missile Scare — was a 13-day confrontation in October 1962 between the Soviet Union & Cuba on one side and the U. S. on the other side. President Kennedy signs the Proclamation for Interdiction of the Delivery of Offensive Weapons to Cuba at the Oval Office on Oct- ober23, 1962. The crisis is generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict. It is also the first documented instance of mutual assured destruction (MAD) being discussed as a determining factor in a major international arms agreement. After the US had placed nuclear missiles in Turkey & Italy, aimed at Moscow, and the failed U. S. attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro’s communist Cuban regime, Nikita Khruschev proposed the idea of placing Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter any future invasion attempt.

24. On October 27, after much deliberation between the Soviet Union and Kennedy's cabinet, Kennedy secretly agreed to remove all missiles set in southern Italy and in Turkey, the latter on the border of the Soviet Union, in exchange for Khrushchev removing all missiles in Cuba.  Kennedy immediately responded, issuing a statement calling the letter “an important and constructive contribution to peace.”

25. Readiness Standard (8)The student understands the impact of significant national & international decisions & conflicts in the Cold War on the United States. The Student is expected to: (C) Explain reasons & outcomes for U. S. involvement in the Korean War & its relationship to the containment policy

26. THE KOREAN WAR—1950-1953 • On June 25, 1950, the army of North Korea invaded South Korea precipitating the Korean War • The UN Security Council declared North Korea the aggressor and called for member nations to implement collective security action • The war concluded on July 27,1953 leaving the Korean peninsula divided as it had been at the start of hostilities

27. The failure to hold free elections throughout the Korean Peninsula in 1948 deepened the division between the two sides; the North established a communist government, while the South established a right-wing government. The 38th parallel increasingly became a political border between the two Korean states. • Although reunification negotiations continued in the months preceding the war, tension intensified. Cross-border skirmishes and raids at the 38th parallel persisted. The situation escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. • On Saturday, June 24,1950, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson informed President Truman by telephone, “Mr. President, I have very serious news. The North Koreans have invaded South Korea.” 

28. The fighting ended on July 27, 1953, when the armistice agreement was signed. The agreement restored the border between the Koreas near the 38th Parallel and created the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a 2.5-mile-wide fortified buffer zone between the two Korean nations. Minor incidents still continue today.

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