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GENERAL FOREIGN POLICY STUDY GUIDE (5.7)

 

Click here For Foreign Policy Glossary (with page references to Gitelson, Chapter 15)

 

I.   WWI

   

World War I started before 1917 when the United States entered the war and ended two years later. The war had started after Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist, assassinated the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The assassination generated one of the bloodiest wars in the history of humanity. The war was between Central Powers and Allied Powers. The Central Powers were formed by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey (the new name for the old Ottoman Empire). The Allied Powers were formed by Great Britain, France, Italy and only before 1917, Russia. Later, in 1917 President Wilson sent United States troops lead the Allied Powers to victory. 

 

After WWI Wilson led in the creation of the League of Nations, an international organization to maintain world peace. However, the US did not join the League of Nations. The League of Nations was always weak. It did not prevent World War II.  

 

Questions:

1.   What were the countries that formed the Central Powers?

2.   What was the name of American president who sent US troops to fight in Europe?

3.   What were the countries that formed the Allied Powers?

4.   What was the name of the organization created after WWI to keep peace?

5.   What was the main purpose of the League of Nations?

6.   Which alliance won WWI?

7.   In which year were US troops sent to fight in Europe?

8.   Which alliance did the US join during WWI?

9.   What event trigged WWI?

10. What war followed the creation of the League of Nations?  

 

II.  WWII

 

World War II ended in 1945 after six years of the most deadly warfare in history. Germany and its leader Hitler (Nazi), Italy and its leader Mussolini (Fascist), and Japan joined forces and formed the Axis.

 

To fight against the Axis the US and its president Franklin D. Roosevelt,  (F. D. R), England under Churchill, the Soviet Union under Stalin (Communist), China under Mao (Communist), leader of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and Chiang (Nationalist), leader of the Republic of China (ROC), along with the government of France in exile formed the Allies.

 

The Allies were able to defeat the Axis in 1945. Also, F. D. Roosevelt, Hitler, and Mussolini died in 1945. WWII ended after Truman, who had been Roosevelt’s vice president, ordered the use of nuclear weapons in Japan. Nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki--the first and only time that nuclear weapons have been used in war.

 

Questions:

 

201.   Who was the Nazi leader during WWII?

202.   Who was the Italian leader during WWII?

203.   When was WWII over?

204.   What countries formed the Axis during WWII?

205.   What five main countries led the World War II Allies?

206.   Which three WWII leaders died in 1945?

207.   Which American president died before the end of the WWII?

208.  Who became the U.S. president in 1945?

209.   In which country were nuclear weapons used for the first time in a war?

210.   Who ordered the use of nuclear weapons for the first time in a war?

 

III.   United Nations (UN or UNO)  

 

The UN was created in San Francisco in 1945, immediately following the end of WWII. Its headquarters is located in New York City. The United Nations is known by two initials, UN or UNO (United Nations Organization). The UN is an international organization of countries from around the world which was created to maintain peace and security.

 

The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council are the US, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China (today the PRC, but originally, the ROC). These permanent members of U.N. Security Council are the same five that were the major countries of the Allies—the winners of WWII.  Each

of the five permanent members has the power to prevent action by the United Nations simply by voting “no” in the United Nations Security Council.  This power in the United Nations is known as the veto.

 

Russia was the biggest republic of Soviet Union before 1989. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989, Russia succeeded most of the responsibilities of now former Soviet Union, and that includes its seat as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

 

Questions:  

 

301.   When was UN created?

302.   What does UN stands for?

303.   Where was created, and where is its headquarters now?

304.   What is the other name for UN?

305.   What are the five permanent members of Security Council?

306.   What is the main power of being a permanent member of Security Council?

307.   Which country succeeded Soviet Union as the permanent member of Security Council?

308.   After which year the Soviet Union left the Security Council?

309.   Why did the Soviet Union leave the Security Council?

310.   What was the name of the biggest republic of Soviet Union?
 

 

IV. Cold War

 

When WWII was over in 1945, there were two superpowers emerged from the ruins, the Soviet Union, Communist and the United States, anti-Communist (G 428). Both countries wanted to expand and to assure their area of influences. Their world-wide confrontation over power was called the Cold War. With special attention to Greece and Turkey, the U.S. declared the Truman Doctrine that assured American support to all whom wanted freedom and Marshall Plan that assured financial aid to Western European countries. Both Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan assured the democracy in many Western European countries. During the Cold War the U.S. was involved in two hot wars: Korea and Vietnam.

 

The world came closest to nuclear war with the Cuban Missile Crisis. This was the crisis when former Soviet Union installed nuclear weapons in Cuba. The U.S. president during the Cuban Missile Crisis, was J.F.Kennedy. President Kennedy ordered the removal of those missiles under the threat of nuclear war. The crisis ended after the removal of those missiles and U.S. missiles in Turkey. 

 

Beginning in 1989 with the tearing down of the Berlin Wall the Iron Curtain and Communism in the Soviet Union started to fall, symbolized by. The Cold War was over soon after with the collapse of the Soviet Union itself.

Questions:

 

401.   When did the Cold War start and when was it over?

402.   What were the two major hot wars that the US was involved in during the Cold War?

403.   What was the Truman Doctrine?

404.   What was the Marshall Plan?

405.   During what period of time that the world came closest to a nuclear war?

406.   What was the crisis that brought the world closest to a nuclear war?

407.   Who was the US president during the Cuban Missile Crises?

408.   What was the year that marked the end of Cold War?

409.   The cold was over following which event?

410. What country was supplying missiles during the Cuban Missile Crises?

 

 

 

 

 

A.     NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

 

 

NATO was created after 1945 when WWII ended and the Cold War began, as an alliance designed to provide for mutual defense among the nations of the U.S. and Canada and their European friends. The policy of NATO was to contain Communism, specifically from the Soviet Union. The US has always been the main military supplier of NATO.  

 

Members of NATO are: the US, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Turkey. In 1999, ten years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, three former members of Warsaw Pact were added to NATO. They are Poland, Hungary, and the part of the former Czechoslovakia now known as the Czech Republic. Since then, NATO has a total of 19 members. More East European nations have been invited to join. 

 

Questions:  

 

A401.   What does NATO stands for?

A402.   After which important year was NATO created?

A403.   What’s the main purpose of the NATO?

A404.   What are the three newest member of NATO?

A405.   In which the three new members were added to the NATO?

A406.   What country is the main military supplier of the NATO?

A407.   What are the two countries that are the members of NATO but not located in Europe?

A408.   Which political party does NATO fight against?

A409.   What is the name of the country that NATO had bombed?

A410. How many countries are now members of NATO?
 

 

 

 

 

      B. Warsaw Pact 

The treaty signed after 1945 by all East European countries dominated by the Soviet Union was called the Warsaw Pact. The former Communist-led Soviet Union led the Warsaw Pact. Soviet troops dominated each Warsaw Pact member except the former Yugoslavia (now the country of Serbia and Montenegro). The pact was signed in response to the creation of NATO. The end of communism in East Europe led the pact to dissolve after 1989. The pact had the main purposes of mutual defense against NATO, and to assure the power of communism within the member countries.  

 

A year after the Cold War ended in 1989, the first three former members of Warsaw Pact joined NATO. They were Poland, Hungary, and the part of the former Czechoslovakia now known as the Czech Republic.    Today many other areas of the former Warsaw Pact are also NATO members.
 

Questions:
 

B401.   When was Warsaw Pact signed?

B402.    When the Warsaw Pact was over?

B403.   What was the main purpose of the Warsaw Pact?

B404.   What country was the main leader of Warsaw Pact?

B405.   What was the political party of the Warsaw Pact?

B406.   What is the name of the organization that Warsaw Pact was against?

B407.   What was the event that trigged the creation of the Warsaw Pact?

B408.   What was the only Warsaw Pact’s member that would not allow Russian troops in its territory?

B409.   In what year did three former members of Warsaw Pact joined the NATO?

B410.   What were the first three countries that were part of Warsaw Pact, to join NATO?
 

V.  The hot wars during the Cold War

               

A.  Korean War

 

The war in Korea started while Truman was president after World War II ended in 1945. After WWII, the Soviet Union occupied North Korea and the US occupied South Korea. The North was politically Communist and the south was anti-Communist.

 

After 1945 when the USSR and US removed most of their troops, North Korea invaded South Korea. The US and its allies helped South Korea with troops, and Communist China later sent troops to North Korea. Hostilities ended, when North Korea signed a cease fire. Korea is now still divided at the DMZ

(de-militarized zone) roughly along the same 38th parallel that had originally divided Korea into two countries.

Questions:
 

A501.  Which part of Korea did the US support during the Korean War?

A502.  After what key year did the Korean War start?

A503.  How did the war start?

A504.  What is the parallel that is roughly the same as the DMZ that divides Korea in two?

A505.  What is another name for the area around the 38th parallel?

A506.  Is Korea still a divided country?

A507.  Which Korea is Communist?
 

               B. Vietnam War 
 

The war started between North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was supported by Communists, and South Vietnam was supported by the US. The war had broken out when North Vietnam tried to take over South Vietnam. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution allowed President L. B. Johnson to send massive numbers of U.S. troops to support South Vietnam. During the presidency of Richard Nixon the US started to withdraw its forces from Vietnam while promising to support South Vietnam. After American forces left Vietnam, however, further U.S. support was rejected by Congress and North Vietnam eliminated the division of Vietnam.  Saigon, the former capital city of South Vietnam, was renamed HoChi Minh City to honor the Communist leader of North Vietnam when it became the capital of the undivided country.
 

 

 

 

Questions:
 

B501.  During the war in Vietnam, which part of Vietnam was anti-Communist?

B502.  What was the name of the gulf where an attack on the U.S. triggered massive American

            involvement in  the Vietnam War?

B503.  Which American president sent large numbers of U.S. troops to Vietnam?

B504.  Under which president did the US start to withdraw from Vietnam?

B505.  Is Vietnam still divided?

B506.  What was the capital city of South Vietnam?

B507.  What is the capital of all of Vietnam today?

B508.  What party did Ho Chi Minh lead?

B509.  Before the fall of Saigon, what area did Ho Chi Minh lead?

B510.  What party ruled North Vietnam?

 

 

VI.   The Post Cold War Era--The hot wars after the Cold War Ended in 1989

 

With the collapse of Soviet Union, all 15 of its former republics gained independence and all former Warsaw Pact areas became free of Soviet control. Yugoslavia broke up into different countries, including mostly Roman Catholic Slovenia and Croatia and religiously mixed Bosnia. Wars broke out between some of the former republics of Yugoslavia and within Bosnia. NATO bombed the former Christian Eastern Orthodox Yugoslav republic of Serbia because of its treatment of the Islamic province of Kosovo. The bombing in the former Yugoslavia was the first military action led by NATO in its history.  

 

Questions:  

 

601.  Did the end of Cold War bring peace to all of Europe?

602.  Which area has NATO bombed?

603.  What is the name of the biggest republic of the former Yugoslavia that NATO bombed?

604.  What is the name of the province that was the center of the crisis in the former Yugoslavia?

605.  In which country did NATO have its first military operation?

 

 

      A.  Before September 11, 2001:  War in Yugoslavia

 

Yugoslavia, a former member of the Warsaw Pact, had lost several of its republics after the fall of former Soviet Union began in 1989. Within the largest republic of Yugoslavia, Serbia, there is a province called Kosovo. NATO started to bomb Yugoslavia hoping to solve the conflict that had started in that country. The bombing in Yugoslavia was the first military action led by NATO.

 

By 2003 the country of Yugoslavia ceased to exist.  It was replaced by the new country called Serbia and Montenegro.

 

 

Questions:  

 

A601.  Which alliance included Yugoslavia?

A602.  What happened to Yugoslavia after the fall of Soviet Union?

A603.  What was the name of the biggest republic within the Yugoslavia?

A604.  What is the name of the military alliance that bombed Yugoslavia?

A605.  What was the name of the country in which NATO conducted its first military action?

A606.  What is today’s name for the country in which NATO conducted its first military action?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     B. Before and After September 11, 2001: Wars in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan
 

Shortly after the end of Cold War in 1989, the Persian Gulf was the scene of warfare when Iraq under Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. Under the first President Bush the US and its allies sent troops to the Persian Gulf, and in 100 days of hostilities known as Operation Desert Storm removed Iraqi forces and restored the government of Kuwait with a minimum number of coalition casualties.

 

Under President Clinton, the U.S. flew missions over Iraq to enforce rules imposed by the United Nations Security Council in the north to protect the Sunni Muslim Kurds in Iraq and in the south to protect the Shia Muslim Arabs who form the majority of people in Iraq who were ruled by Saddam Hussein, a secular Sunni Arab leader.

 

 

Questions: 

 

B601.  What is the name of the country that was invaded by Iraq after the Cold War ended?

B602.  Who was the first American president that sent force to free Kuwait in the Persian Gulf?

B603.  What country invaded Kuwait?

B604.  Who led the country that invaded Kuwait?

B605.  What was the name used by coalition forces during their 100 days of hostilities to free Kuwait?

B606.  As a result of Operation Desert Storm, what country removed its forces from Kuwait??

 

 

On September 11, 2001, an event occurred that was inconceivable to most Americans due to their sense of security.  Terrorists carried out the worst attack on American soil ever; the death toll of the terrorist attack exceeded that of Pearl Harbor.  Four commercial airliners were hijacked. Two of the hijacked planes flew into the World Trade Center Towers in New York City. The third plane flew into the Pentagon, the building which houses the Department of Defense in Washington D.C.  The fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania when passengers overpowered terrorists on the plane. Osama bin Laden, who is a member of Afghanistan’s Taliban, organized the terrorist attack.

 

Shortly after the attack, the second President Bush waged a war on all forms of terrorism.  The United States successfully attacked the Taliban and Al Qaeda led by Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan by air and land.  President Bush explained that the war would lead to a new government in Afghanistan.  It would prohibit terrorist camps and anti-U.S. terrorist command and communication facilities in that country.

 

 

Questions:

 

B607.   When did the worst attack on America occur?

B608.   What was the total number of planes hijacked?

B609.   Where did the first two planes crash?

B610.   Where did the third plane crash?

B611.   Which cabinet department is housed in the Pentagon?

B612.   What state did the fourth plane crash in?

B613.   Why did the fourth plane crash?

B614.   Who organized the terrorist attack?

B615.   What group does Osama Bin Laden belong to?

B616.   What was the home country of the Taliban that allowed Osama Bin Laden to launch the

             September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States?

B617.   Prior to September 11, 2001, the attack on what U.S. area had been the most deadly?

 

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the failure of the U.N. Security Council to act in 2003, the second President Bush and a smaller coalition of countries launched an attack on Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power and to eliminate Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.