The U.S. Attempts to Contain Cuba

1. Why was Cuba so important to the United States?

Cuba was so important to the US because it had been an ally before Castro took power, and it owned most of the businesses in Cuba, and there was as huge naval base on the island.

2. Why do you think the Americans chose to equip Cuban exiles rather than invading themselves?

The Americans chose to equip exiles rather than invade themselves because they didn't want to make a direct act of violence against the Soviets, who were backing Cuba, so they used the exiles as a decoy, so that it looked like the exiles were fighting back against their exile.

3. Why did the invasion fail?

The invasion failed because the exiles were greatly outnumbered, and the US did not give enough support to allow them to win.

4. Compare Source 17 on page 345 (in the Arms Race.pdf reading) with Source 24 on page 348. Describe how the Soviet Union missiles on Cuba changed the Cold War balance of power

The Soviet Union missiles on Cuba gave the USSR their upper hand. The US had the ICBMs, which could hit the Soviet Union from the US. It also had shorter range missiles in NATO countries that could reach the Soviet Union in minutes. With missiles in Cuba, the USSR had weapons ready right off the shore from the US, and could hit almost anywhere in the US within 20 minutes. The missiles in Cuba evened things out between the US and USSR.

The Arms Race

1. Read Source 12. What methods do you think Dulles had in mind to 'liberate captive peoples' without a war?

Dulles was likely thinking about using atomic bombs to "liberate captive peoples." His plan was probably to drop atomic bombs in order to make them submit quickly without full scale war.

2. Look at Source 13. Would you agree that the Communist world was encircled? Explain your answer.

The Communist world was mostly surrounded. The only side of the country that didn't have an opposing country in that direction is the eastern side. The rest of it was surrounded by nations that were members of NATO, SEATO, and CENTO.

3. Carefully examine the verticle timeline on page 343. Then look back at Source 12. Do you think the development of nuclear weapons was what Dulles might have had in mind?

The development of nuclear weapons was probably not what Dulles had in mind. He would have been fairly pleased with the development and progress of the United States, but at some points the USSR has superiority and makes better progress. Dulles couldn't have had that part in mind.

4. Look at Source 16. What is the Soviet cartoon saying about the U-2 plane?

The Soviet cartoon is saying that Eisenhower had been closely watching the Soviet Union through a spyglass using the U-2 planes. It was making Eisenhower look like a sneaky, deceitful leader.

5. Read the Factfile on page 344. Explain why the USSR was so angry about the US spy flights.

The USSR was angry about the US spy flights, because they all violated the Soviet air space. Truman didn't allow the flights, but Eisenhower did. The Soviets knew about some of the flights but couldn't do anything about them, and they were an unfair act that was not at all authorized by the USSR.

6. How would the USA justify this violation of Soviet territory?

The USA would justify this violation by arguing that it was for the safety of its people. The US wanted to know what the USSR was capable of and what power it had achieved, otherwise they had no idea what might hit them or when. They could be much more prepared if they knew about the technology that the Soviets possessed.

7. If the USSR had had U-2 planes, do you think it would have used them? Why?

If the USSR had U-2 planes, they would have used them. They already had plenty of spies in the US feeding them information, so they wouldn't have a problem flying spy planes over the US.

8. Look at Source 17. Why do you think the USA had missiles based in Europe?

The USA probably had missiles in Europe because they could launch and hit their target in minutes. The long range ones in the US would take around thirty minutes, and they wouldn't be able to respond to an immediate threat as quickly with those as they could with the short range ones in Europe.

9. Define the term 'nuclear deterrent' in not more than 20 words.

Nuclear Deterrent- possessing nuclear weapons to make another nation afraid to attack with their nuclear weapons.

Eisenhower & The Cold War

How did the United States react to the following 7 events, and why?

1. The Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb in 1949.

Truman had to face the decision of whether or not to create a more devastating weapon that the atomic bomb to surpass the USSR again. The two countries set out on a race to create the Hydrogen bomb, or H-Bomb, first. The US made it first, but their advantage only lasted a year until the USSR exploded their own thermonuclear bomb. The arms race escalated to brinkmanship, which was pushing to the verge of nuclear war,

2. In 1951, the Iranian prime minister placed the oil industry in Iran under the Iranian government’s control.

The CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) gave money to opponents of the governing party of Iran in hopes of a pro-American change in government so that Iran would not become weak and fall victim to the spreading communism.

3. The Guatemalan head of government gave American-owned land in Guatemala to peasants.

The US believed that Guatemala was a communist sympathizing nation, so the CIA trained an army to invade it and overthrow the president, who resigned. The leader of the army became the dictator of Guatemala.

4. In 1956, Britain, France, and Israel invaded Egypt and occupied the Suez Canal.

The UN stepped in to stop the fighting and convinced Britain, France, and Israel to back down out of Egypt, and allowed Egypt to keep control of the canal.

5. Soviet tanks invaded Hungary and fired on protesters in 1956.

The US did nothing to aid Hungary in its fight against Soviet Control. The containment policy did not include driving the Soviets out of countries that it already had control of. That would probably be far too risky and lead to war.

6. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik.
The US panicked, because they had been trying to do the same, and the Soviet's successful satellite was a few times the size of the failed US satellite. The US feared the Soviets not because their satellite, but because they had a rocket that was capable of launching an object all the way into space, which is an idea that could be used in warfare.

7. In 1960, the Soviet Union brought down an American U-2 piloted by Francis Gary Powers.

Eisenhower met with Khrushchev where he agreed to stop the U-2 flights, since he had already decided to do so, but refused to apologize for the incident.

The Red Scare (1950s)

1. HUAC

The HUAC investigated the movie industry for Communist influence, and pointed to the pro-communist movies made in World War II to support alliance with the USSR. Most accused people agreed that the film industry was infiltrated by communism, but some, like the Hollywood 10, refused to cooperate and were jailed.

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2. Blacklist

The blacklist accused certain people of communistic activities or beliefs and condemned them. Their careers would be ruined because they could not work.

3. Alger Hiss

Alger Hiss was the subject of a largely publicized case. He was accused of being a Soviet spy, and former Soviet spy Whittaker Chambers tried to prove it by presenting documents supposedly printer on Hiss's typewriter. Hiss was jailed for perjury because they believed he lied about the documents.

4. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were accused of leaking information about the atomic bomb to the Soviets, enabling the USSR to develop their own atomic bomb 3 to 5 years earlier than expected. The two were sentenced to death.

5. Joseph McCarthy

Joseph McCarthy made many unsupported accusations at countless people, and claimed that communism had infiltrated the US government. These accusations were just so he could gain a reputation in order to be reelected into his position again.

6. McCarthyism

Multiple, rapid accusations of communistic actions. It was an unfair tactic of accusing people of disloyalty without any evidence of proof against them.

7. In a paragraph, describe the motivations and actions of Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s. What prompted his actions? What did he do? What happened as a result of his actions?

Joseph McCarthy's actions were totally irrational and selfish. He had not been a good senator during his term, so he was afraid that he wouldn't be reelected into another term. In an attempt to gain reputation so he can get reelected, he tried to make people believe that he was doing something against communism and had information about it. He made multiple unsupported accusations against many people in the government, and claimed he had a list of communists in the government. Eventually, he made accusations against the US Army, which led to a large investigation that revealed McCarthy's lies and condemned him for his behavior.