Cold War Heats up in Asia

1. Who was Chiang Kai-shek?         
 Chiang Kai-shek was a nationalist who ruled Eastern and Southern China in 1945. He relied heavily on aid from the United States. He also struggled inflation and a failing economy and suffered from weak leadership and poor morale.  

2. Who was Mao Zedong?      
  Mao Zedong was a communist who ruled northern China in 1945. He relied heavily on aid from the Soviet Union and also attracted peasants with promises of land reform. Also he benefited from experienced guerrilla army and a highly motivated leadership. 


3. How were the Communist able to take over China?     
  The communist were able to take over China by the nationalists collected a grain tax from farmers even during the the famine of 1944. When city dwellers demonstrated against a 10,000 percent increase in the price of rice, Chiang's secret police opened fire on them. Which then allowed Mao Zedong to gain strength throughout the country by working to win peasant support. They encouraged peasants by encouraged them to learn how to read and write and they also helped to improve food production.  


4. How did the State Department respond to critics that Truman's "Containment" policy didn't extend to Asia?               
 The State Department responded by saying that what happened in China was a result of internal forces and that the United States had failed in it's attempts to influence these forces, such as Chiang's inability to retain the support of his people. 


5. How did Korea become a divided nation after World War II?      
 Korea became a divided nation after World War two by Japan was originally taken over by the Japanese  from 1910 until 1945 and when World War Two ended the top half of Korea surrendered to the Soviets while the bottom half surrendered to America. Which caused the two nation to divided into communists and democrats.


6. What is the importance of the Yalu River and what prompted the Chinese to enter the Korean War?     
 The importance of the Yalu River was that it was the "border" in the war and the Chinese were prompted to enter the Korean War by the fact that they wanted North Korea as a communist buffer state to protect their northeastern provinces that made up Manchuria. 

7. Who is General Douglas MacArthur and what did he want to do against China?     
 General Douglas MacArthur was an American general and he wanted an extension of the war into China being convinced that Korea was the place "where the communist conspirators have elected to make their play for global conquest." Also MacArthur called for the use of nuclear weapons against Chinese cities.


8. Why did Truman relieve MacArthur from duty?       
  Truman relieved MacArthur from duty because he spoke and wrote privately about the idea to newspapers , magazine publishers and especially Republican Leaders and he also continued to criticize the president.


9. How did the war end?       
 The war ended by the opposing sides reached agreement on two points: the location of the cease fire line at the existing battle line and the establishment of a demilitarized zone between the two opposing sides. Negotiators spent another year wrangling over the exchange of prisoners and finally in July 1953 the two sides signed an armistice ending the war.
10. He is the current leader of North Korea and was also named the "Sexiest Man Alive" in 2012.      

Origins of the Cold War Outline

To what extent were the policies of the United States responsible for the outbreak and development of the Cold War between 1945 and 1949?

 The United States was responsible for the outbreak of the development of the Cold War that was between 1945 and 1949 because of a numerous amount of reasons for example there was the Marshall Plan, The Truman Doctrine, Truman being an anti-communist, the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan and lastly the Nato Alliance. However some may argue that the U.S.S.R were responsible for the Cold War because of Stalin took over Eastern Europe.
 First the Marshall Plan was a huge reason for the the United States being apart of the Cold War to begin with; The Marshall plan changed the economic situation in the European continent as a result of freeing up trade policies within the continent. This created a situation in which trade could be conducted freely and this ended up boosting their economy. While the Marshall Plan may not have initiated the economic recovery it was important in helping it. Also the Marshall plan helped America by the fact that to supply Europe with goods American farms and factories raised production levels which as a result the American economy continued its wartime boom.
 Second the Truman Doctrine and Truman being an anti-communist was another reason why the United States was responsible. To begin with the Truman Doctrine  provided Turkey and Greece with economic and military aid after the Ottoman Empire's  collapse in World War II.Therefore it was an indirect way by the United States to promote their idea of democracy to these nations.The United States did this because the Soviet Union's idea of communism was fastly spreading throughout Europe and the United States saw it as a threat. Therefore, by supplying other countries with aid, they won them over.
  Third the bombs being dropped on Japan by the United States Harry Truman dropped the bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima to end the war. At the time you could say that America was fighting two wars, one against Germany and one against Japan. Even though Japanese military supplies were very limited at this point in time of the war, Truman still enforced the Japanese to sign a treaty to surrender. After they failed to surrendered, America dropped 2 bombs on Japan. The effect was Japan surrendered the war immediately after the 2nd bombing. It also showed the military power America could potentially use to the world. The significance of it now is that the atomic bomb has basically created an arms race. The Cold War was a feud over not only communism but the fear of a nuclear war.
Fourth the NATO Alliance was another reason why the United States was responsible for the cold war NATO is an abbreviation for North Atlantic Treaty Organization the 12 members of NATO were the United States and Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Portugal. The twelve members of NATO pledged military support to each other in case any member was attacked.
Others may say that the U.S.S.R was to blame for the Cold War because of Stalin taking over Eastern Europe because the United States believed that Stalin was building up communism in the eastern European countries which the United States did not want. Some may say that  Soviet expansionism really did stem the whole cold war because it brought to the forefront the US's fear of communism and total hostility and the proxy war began over Marshall Aid, and the Berlin Airlift in 1948, which were as a result of soviet expansionism.
Hence the United States were responsible for the cold war because of The Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine, Truman being an anti-communist, the bombs being dropped on Japan and lastly the NATO alliance however some may argue that the U.S.S.R was responsible for the Cold War because of Stalin taking over Eastern Europe.

The Berlin Blockade and Airlift

1. What is Source 37 (p. 75) saying about Josip Tito, leader of Yugoslavia?     
  Source 37 is saying that Josip Tito is betraying Yugoslavia by accepting money from Americans. However when he is accepting the money he is under a cloak because does not want to be seen by anybody from Yugoslavia or the Soviet Union because he is not supposed to be taking money from Americans so he is therefore betraying Stalin and the Soviet Union.


2. Why do you think Stalin was so hostile to Tito?        
 I think that Stalin was so hostile to Tito because he was suspicious that Tito would not follow his ways and that he knew that he would do anything for his country even if it meant betraying Stalin by taking money from America. 


3. Look back at the map in Source 27 on page 71. How does the geographical position of Yugoslavia help to explain why Stalin did not take any direct action (such as sending in troops) against Tito?     
 The geographical position of Yugoslavia helps to explain why Stalin did not take any direct actions towards Tito because right next to Yugoslavia is Albania and he knew that Albania would help Yugoslavia if they needed it and also Yugoslavia is right near the ocean so if they had to the people of Yugoslavia could run away on boats.
 


4. Read Source 40 (p. 77). What reasons did the Soviet Union give for cutting off West Berlin?       
 The reasons that the Soviet Union gave for cutting off West Berlin were that they it was deep in the Soviet zone and was linked to the Soviet zones of western Germany by vital roads, canals and railroads.
5. Why do you think the USA did not believe these were genuine reasons?           
 The U.S did not believe that they were genuine reasons because they saw it as a test case and if they gave in to Stalin on this issue western Germany might of been next and Truman wanted to show that he was serious about his policy of containment.
 


6. How do Sources 41–43 differ in their interpretation of the blockade?            
 Sources 41-43 differ in the interpretation of the blockade by source 41 says that the blockade was considerable achievement but that neither side gained. Source 42 says that it brought the people of western Europe closer to the Americans and that it was a move to test our ability and our will to resist. Also source 43 says that the blockade the U.S was forced to yield and that their war plans had come to nothing because of the U.S.S.R.


7.  Which do you think is the most useful source for a historian studying the Berlin Blockade?       
 I think that source 43 is the most useful source because it showed both the U.S.S.R and the U.S view on the blockade.



8.  Which source do you think gives the most reliable view of the blockade?   
 I think that source 42 gives us the most reliable view of the blockade because it shows how the blockade gave Western Europe and America a closer relationship.