Blog 45

Topic 12 Concept Guide

Truman Doctrine - Policy set up by President Harry Truman in 1947 stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere. This basically meant that we would provide help at all costs to make sure any anti-communist country did not succumb to communism. This consisted of several aspects such as the Marchall Plan and the Point Four Program.

Containment Policy - United States policy using military, economic and diplomatic strategies to stall the spread of communism, enhance America's security and prevent a the "domino effect" (method of communism spreading to all countries and them falling into it like dominos).

Bay of Pigs Invasion & Similarities with Panama - An unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba with support and encouragement from the U.S. government in attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. In 1989, we invaded Panama during the administration of President George W. Bush to overthrow Noriega. Similar to the Bay of Pigs Invasion, we did this to defend democracy.

U.S. Foreign Policy (Korea & Vietnam) - In Korea, we became very involved - President Truman said to "give the Korean government troops, cover and support." The U.S. also heavily influenced South Korean uniforms and way of fighting. In Vietnam, we were quite involved as well. Although many hippies and anti-way protesters existed in America at this time, we sent many troops over to help fight off communism.

Intervention - In Vietnam we sent troops to help fight; we didn't really want to get our military involved in Korea so we sent financial aid and support to fight communism without getting physical.

Cold War Development - The main cause of the Cold War was the growing fear of communism. Countries all over the world, especially America, we trying to prevent the "domino affect" and not give in to communist ways. Nuclear powers also contributed to this heated time period of stress and worry.

WWII Foreign Policy vs Post WWII Foreign Policy - Before WWII, the U.S policy was isolation; we tried to stay our of foreign affairs and focus on building up our economy. After the war our policy began to intervene and get more involved with countries in need of help. 

Limited War - the opposite of total war. A limited war consists of participants not using all avaliable resources (human, industrial agricultural, military, natural, technological...)

Examples of Containment in Europe - One of the most well known examples of containment is the Berlin Wall which was used to separate Germany from communists.

Main Points of Division of Germany - Germany split into two sections: East Germany and West Germany. The east was a dictatorship allied with the Soviet Union and the west was a parliamentary democracy.

MacArthur Dismissal - In 1950 after North Korea invaded South Korea, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur was designated commandr of the UN forces defending South Korea. Seven months later, President Truman fired him for making public statements that contradicted the offcial policies of the U.S. Government, especially with regard to Truman's order to restrict military interaction with the media.

Korean War Similarities with Persian Gulf War - The Korean and Persian Gulf war were similar in which they both had the assistance of the U.S in order to prevent a government from gaining power and they both started with a sudden invasion of one country over the other.

Nuclear Test Ban - In August 1963, The U.S, U.K, and Soviet Union signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty after eight years of action. Although we signed this agreement, we still continued to test nuclear weapons.

Long Term Effects of Vietnam - Every war comes with significant long term effects. From the Vietnam war , people/countries suffered great economic costs, extreme number of casulties, toxic chemicals in soil and water and angry hippies in the U.S.

Peace Corps - an American volunteer program run by the United States Government. The mission includes: providing technical asistance, helping people outside the U.S to understand our culture and helping Americans unterstand the cultures of other countries.

End of Cold War - The end of the Cold War was really determined when the Berlin Wall was torn down in 1990. This freed Germany and ended communism regimes in eastern Europe.

Domino Theory - If one country became communist, all other surrounding countries would fall to it in a domino effect.

Nixon's Détente - Extrication from Vietnam and the opening to China were two strategies that Nixon designed to produce a more favorable balance of power in the East. In the West, a policy of political and military détente with the Soviet Union, coupled with expanded East-West trade, formed the cornerstone of Nixon's diplomacy.