Review Notes, Part Three:
Road to World War II.
I. Germany, Italy, and Japan became aggressive.
A. To revive economies.
B. Nationalism.
II. Japan: Advanced into Manchuria, Manchurian Incident in 1931-2.
III. Italy
A. Weak and fragmented until Mussolini brought Fascism, 1922.
B. As dictator Mussolini created a belligerent nation.
IV. Germany
A. Had problems after World War I with reparations.
B. National Socialists promised to bring order.
C. Hitler took control of nation in 1933.
D. Hitler took provocative steps.
1. Blamed Jews for Germany’s problems.
2. Rearmed the nation.
3. Pulled out of League of Nations.
4. Promised to control all German people.
V. World did little in response.
A. Depression.
B. Isolationism.
C. Appeasement.
VI. United States’ response.
A. FDR was an internationalist.
B. Congress reflected isolationism.
C. Neutrality Acts started in 1935.
1. Passed to cover any new circumstance.
2. Americans fully agreed.
D. FDR had limits.
1. In 1937, FDR condemned Japan’s attack on China.
2. Public opinion forced FDR to back down.
VII. War expanded in Europe.
A. Hitler annexed Austria.
B. Munich Conference gave Hitler Sudetenland.
C. Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, World War II began.
D. France invaded in Spring 1940.
World War II.
I. America’s response.
A. Amended Neutrality Act in 1939, started cash & carry of arms.
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B. FDR tried to balance neutrality and preparedness.
1. Enlarged military.
2. Peacetime draft.
3. Manhattan Project started.
4. FDR swapped destroyers for English bases.
C. Isolationism remained strong.
1. America First Committees saw no threat.
2. Joseph Kennedy thought war was lost.
II. Election of 1940.
A. Roosevelt sought third term.
B. Political/personal/policy reasons
C. Promised that the country would not enter any foreign wars.
D. Roosevelt reelected.
III. Reelection caused Roosevelt to act more boldly.
A. Lend-Lease to help allies.
B. Fireside chat assured America that the loans were defensive.
IV. United States came close to war with Germany.
A. Russia invaded, June 1941, US extended Lend-Lease.
B. FDR joined Churchill to draft the Atlantic Charter, August 1941.
C. American ships began escorting ships.
D. American ships were being sunk.
E. Neutrality abandoned for all practical purposes.
America and World War II.
I. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
A. Tensions had risen since Manchurian Incident.
B. Japan wanted “Greater East Asia Sphere of Co-Prosperity.”
C. Attempts at compromise broke-down.
D. War party under Tojo came to power in Japan.
E. Fleet at Pearl Harbor attacked.
II. Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.
III. The United States in World War II.
IV. Mobilization.
A. Armed forces dramatically increased.
B. Unemployment disappeared with increased manufacturing.
C. Paying for the war.
1. Borrowed money.
2. Sold bonds.
3. New taxes developed, and taxes broadened.
4. Payroll deduction introduced.
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D. War administrations.
1. Office of War Mobilization to create war plants.
2. Office of Price Administration to ration goods.
3. National War Labor Board to stabilize labor.
E. Changes in Society.
1. Population moved from country to city, south to north and
east to west.
2. The American West grew with government investment.
3. FDR created Fair Employment Practices Committee.
4. Women gained new jobs: “Rosie the Riveter.”
5. Mexican-Americans involved in Zoot Suit Riots.
F. Japanese-Americans moved to internment camps.
Allied strategy.
I. Status at the time of U.S. entry.
A. Japan to Philippines.
B. Germany to Stalingrad.
II. Allies needed to decide what to do.
A. Churchill feared the fall of Europe.
B. Japan more remote.
III. Allies needed to decide how to fight.
A. United States wanted to invade France.
B. Churchill wanted to attack indirectly.
IV. Operation TORCH.
A. Attacked North Africa in 1942.
B. Campaign stalled in Italy.
V. Russians turned the German advance.
VI. Operation OVERLORD.
A. Dwight Eisenhower the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces.
B. D-Day, June 6, 1944.
C. Allies advanced along a broad front.
D. Battle of the Bulge, December 1944.
E. Berlin fell to the Soviets.
VII. Battle in the Pacific.
A. Japanese stopped at Coral Sea and Midway in 1942.
B. Japanese pushed back.
C. Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
D. Unconditional surrender.
Road to Cold War
I. Post-war Conferences
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A. Yalta
1. Poland
2. United Nations
3. Fate of Germany/reparations
B. Potsdam
1. Poland
2. Germany
3. Atomic Bomb/Japan
II. Election of 1944
A. Roosevelt returned for fourth term
B. Harry Truman, Vice-president
The Cold War
What is the Cold War?
Who is to blame?
Different ways of looking at the world.
I. The United States
A. Self-determination for nations.
B. Free markets.
II. Soviet sphere of influence: Eastern Europe
A. Protection
B. Economic recovery.
Cold War rhetoric
I. Stalin: struggle continued
II. Winston Churchill, March 1946, spoke of “iron curtain.”
First events of Cold War
I. Civil War in Greece.
II. Soviets pressured Turkey for control of Dardanelles.
III. The Truman Doctrine became law, 1947.
A. Sweeping statement to stop Communism.
B. Containment policy born.
IV. Marshall Plan followed in 1947.
A. Economic assistance to stop Communism.
B. Rebuild trade.
C. Help European people.
First confrontation of Cold War.
I. Berlin blockade, June 1948.
II. Why did Stalin block Berlin?
A. Protested allied action.
B. Drive the West out of Berlin.
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III. Berlin airlift.
IV. Berlin an issue until 1989.
V. NATO created, 1949.
VI. Soviets formed Warsaw Pact.
Other Cold War events.
I. China
A. Mao Zedong, Chinese Revolution.
B. Nationalists to Taiwan.
II. Soviets dropped atomic bomb, 1949.
III. Development started on hydrogen bomb.
Korean War.
I. Country divided at 38th parallel.
III. Truman wanted Communist aggression stopped.
IV. United Nations Security Council voted to stop the Communists.
V. MacArthur invaded at Inchon.
VI. War into North Korea.
VII. War stabilized around 38th parallel.
VIII. Truman fired MacArthur.
IX. Eisenhower brought an armistice.
XI. United States to support South Korea.
The Cold War at Home.
I. Defense expenditures increased.
II. Communists within United States -- Second Red Scare.
A. Truman instituted “Loyalty Review Boards,” 1947.
B. House Un-American Activities Committee, 1947.
1. Hollywood investigated.
2. Alger Hiss, 1948.
C. Joseph McCarthy and McCarthyism.
1. Began campaign in 1950 to find “internal subversion.”
2. Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954.
Truman and Domestic America.
I. Truman introduced Fair Deal.
A. Civil Rights.
B. National health insurance.
C. Public aid to education.
II. Truman failed in most instances to expand liberal agenda.
III. Some Truman advances.
A. Addressed Civil Rights.
1. Supported report: “To Secure These Rights.”
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2. Congress would not pass the program.
B. Truman ordered an end to discrimination in military.
Truman era successes.
I. National Security Act of 1947.
A. Created National Security Council.
B. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
C. Central Intelligence Agency.
II. 22nd Amendment -- limited terms.
Problems of the time.
I. Inflation.
II. Wage and Price controls.
III. Workers strike in major industries.
IV. Taft-Hartley Act, 1947.
Elections of Truman era.
I. 1948 Presidential election.
A. Thomas Dewey, Republican.
B. Henry Wallace, Progressive.
C. Strom Thurmond, “Dixicrat.”
D. Harry Truman, Democrat.
II. Truman won biggest upset in history.
End of Truman Presidency.
I. By 1952 had a low approval rating.
II. Today classified as “Near Great President.”
Postwar Society.
I. Economy grew.
A. Government spending.
B. New Consumer Spending.
C. Suburbs.
D. Baby Boom
II Religion
A. Society turned to religion
III. Poverty
IV. Civil Rights
A. Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 1954
B. Little Rock Central High School, 1957
C. Rosa Parks, bus boycott, Montgomery, Alabama, 1955
D. Martin Luther King, Jr.
V. Developments in 1950s
A. Disneyland
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B. McDonalds
C. Television shows
D. Youth Rebellion
1. Rock and Roll
2. “The Beats”
3. Jack Kerouac.
Eisenhower as President.
I. Campaign of 1952.
A. K1C2.
B. Eisenhower won on reputation, Korea, Democrat coalition broke.
II. Principles of administration.
A. Dynamic conservatism.
III. Major programs.
A. St. Lawrence Seaway, opened in 1959.
B. Federal Aid Highway Act, 1956.
IV. Federal aid to education.
A. Sputnik caused Americans to look at education.
B. National Defense Education Act, 1958.
V. Civil Rights
Eisenhower’s foreign policy.
I. Supported containment.
II. Massive retaliation and brinkmanship.
III. Activities in Southeast Asia.
A. Ended war in Korea.
B. Vietnam.
1. Gave no military support to French.
2. Vietnam divided at 17th parallel.
IV. Activities in Middle East.
A. Why Middle East important?
1. Business.
2. Israel.
3. Soviets.
B. Iran.
1. CIA engineered coup in 1953: Shah of Iran.
C. Egypt.
1. Egypt nationalized Suez Canal, 1956.
2. British and French felt wronged and attacked Egypt.
3. United States stood against former allies.
V. Latin America.
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A. Cuba.
1. Castro forced Batista to flee in 1959.
2. 1961 severed diplomatic relations.
3. Trained Cuban refugees for invasion
VI. Summit Diplomacy.
A. Detente?
B. U-2 flight of Francis Gary Powers, May 1960.
C. Paris Peace Conference
America in the 1960s.
I. America felt disgraced.
A. Missile Gap
B. Cold War tensions
C. National malaise
Election of 1960.
I. Republicans -- Richard Nixon, Vice-President.
II. Democrats.
A. Kennedy.
B. Catholic faith.
C. New Frontier.
III. Close election, Kennedy won.
A. Money and corruption.
B. Televised debates.
IV. Inauguration asks for sacrifice.
Kennedy’s domestic program.
I. Domestic program failures.
A. Health care for seniors
B. Public aid to education
C. Poverty
II. Civil Rights: Protests moved through the South and nation.
A. Freedom Rides, 1961.
B. School integration
C. Kennedy made it a moral issue, 1963
Foreign Relations.
I. Initiatives.
A. Alliance for Progress in Latin America.
B. Peace Corps, 1961.
II. Crisis Moments.
A. Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1961.
B. Berlin Wall, 1961.
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C. Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962.
1. Threatened U.S. Security.
2. Soviets defended action.
3. Kennedy decided on quarantine or blockade.
4. Kennedy threatened Soviets.
5. Soviets backed down.
III. Tensions reduced.
A. Hot Line.
B. Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, 1963.
IV. Vietnam.
Assassinated, November 22, 1963.
I. Lee Harvey Oswald.
II. Warren Commission.
III. Conspiracy?
The next liberal: Lyndon Johnson.
I. Lyndon Johnson.
II. As President moved aggressively.
The Election of 1964 -- The Rise of Conservatism.
I. Barry Goldwater.
A. Conservative ideology.
II. Lyndon Johnson
A. Well known.
B. Tough on Communism: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
III. Johnson, a landslide victory.
Johnson’s achievements.
I. Civil Rights Act of 1964, attacks discrimination and segregation.
II. Voting Rights Act of 1965.
III. Poll Tax Amendment in 1964.
A. Malcolm X and Black Muslims.
B. Riots in the nation, such as at Watts in 1965.
IV. Johnson declared war on poverty.
A. Job Corps.
B. Head Start.
C. Upward Bound.
V. Great Society born.
A. Medicare.
B. Medicaid.
C. Environment: Water Quality Act, Air Quality Act.
D. Elementary & Secondary Education Acts.
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E. National Endowments of the Humanities; of the Arts.
F. Affirmative Action.
Vietnam
I. Background: Geneva Accords divided country at 17th parallel, 1954.
A. Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh.
B. Diem.
II. Ho intensified effort in 1960.
A. National Liberation Front -- the Viet Cong.
III. Lyndon Johnson into Vietnam.
A. Turmoil in the south.
B. Johnson decided to get tough.
C. Tonkin Gulf Resolution, 1964.
IV. Johnson’s war policy.
A. Reprisal policy.
B. Bombing
1. Ho Chi Minh Trail.
C. Troops.
1. Protect bases.
2. Search and destroy missions.
D. Escalated to prevent knock-out blow.
E. Wanted Ho at the negotiating table.
V. War of attrition, a quagmire.
A. My Lai in 1968.
B. Body counts as evidence of winning.
VI. Reaction to war.
A. United States.
1. Demonstrations.
2. Presidential challenge in 1968.
VII. Tet Offensive, January 31, 1968.
A. North Vietnam defeat.
B. Credibility gap.
C. Johnson out of presidential race, political defeat.
VIII. Election of 1968.
A. Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota.
B. Robert Kennedy.
C. Vice-President Humphrey entered race.
D. Kennedy assassinated, June 6, 1968.
E. Chicago convention, 1968.
F. Nixon made comeback.
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G. George Wallace, American Independent Party, segregationist.
H. Nixon won
IX. Nixon took over war.
A. “Peace with honor,” and “honorable terms.”
X. Nixon’s policy.
A. Negotiations.
B. Vietnamization.
1. Withdraw American troops.
C. Continued to bomb.
D. Troops into Cambodia.
1. Escalation.
2. Kent State, May 1970.
XI. War continued in early 1970s.
A. Election of 1972.
B. China and the Soviet Union.
C. Kissinger and “peace is at hand.”
D. Peace in January 1973.
XII. Final assault.
A. Saigon fell in April 1975..
Nixon and American Politics.
I. Nixon and foreign policy.
A. Triumph with China and Soviet Union in 1972, Henry Kissinger.
1. Soviets buy American grain.
2. SALT I negotiated.
3. Detente achieved.
B. War in Middle East, October 1973.
1. OPEC and oil as a weapon: oil embargo.
2. Increased price.
III. Nixon and domestic affairs.
A. Undertook innovative programs.
1. Occupational Safety & Health Act, 1970.
2. Environmental Protection Agency.
B. Problems with inflation, from war and oil embargo.
1. Stagflation.
2. Control wages and prices.
IV. Election of 1972.
A. Nixon challenged by George McGovern of South Dakota.
B. George Wallace out of race.
C. Nixon won.
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1. “Peace is at hand.”
2. Desegregation.
D. Watergate.
V. Watergate haunted second term.
A. Nixon resigned, August 1974.
VI. Spiro Agnew had resigned.
VII. Gerald Ford replaced Nixon, and pardoned Nixon.
Ford Presidency.
I. Ford’s pardon was controversial.
II. Ford as President.
A. Fought inflation.
1976 Election.
I. Republicans seemed doomed.
A. Watergate.
B. Poor economy.
II. Democrats.
A. Jimmy Carter.
B. Carter stressed honesty and Watergate.
President Carter.
I. Carter as President.
A. Carter claimed a “crisis of confidence.”
II. Carter’s domestic program.
A. Carter and energy independence.
1. Conservation.
2. Stimulate production and alternate fuels.
3. New energy sources: “syn” fuels.
B. Second energy crisis came in 1979.
III. Carter’s foreign policy.
A. Human rights.
B. Signed treaty with Panama.
C. Camp David Accords, 1978, peace between Israel and Egypt.
D. Soviets invaded Afghanistan, 1979.
1. Boycott of 1980 Olympics.
2. Stopped grain and technology sales.
IV. Iranian hostage crisis occupied last year of administration.
A. November 4, 1979, American embassy captured.
B. Hostages released in 1981.
Ronald Reagan.
I. 1980 election.
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A. States’ rights, less government.
B. Won because of problems.
II. Reagan as president.
A. Great communicator.
B. Delegated authority.
III. Reagan’s economic plan.
A. Supply side economics -- Reaganomics.
B. Prosperity in middle of 1983.
1. Energy glut.
2. Government spending.
C. Military spending.
1. Soviet Union collapsed.
F. Federal budget unbalanced.
IV. Reagan and foreign policy.
A. Opposed communism.
B. Made relations worse with Soviet Union.
C. Thaw began in 1985.
VI. New era in Soviet relations with Mikhail Gorbachev.
A. Glasnost and perestroika.
B. Tried to save Soviet Union.
C. Sought accommodation with the West
D. Reagan & Gorbachev met
E. Relations improved
1. Reduction of Soviet forces in Eastern Europe
2. Withdrew from Afghanistan
3. Détente returned
VII. Cold War wound down
A. Eastern Europe fell from Soviet control in 1989
B. Berlin Wall came down in 1989
C. Warsaw Pact ended
D. Gorbachev fell in 1991
E. Boris Yelstin emerged the hero
F. Soviet Union dead
G. Tiananmen Square, 1989
VIII. Reagan elsewhere in the world
A. Invaded Grenada, 1983
B. Supported Contras in Nicaragua
1. Congress prevented aid to Contras
2. Secret aid to the Contras
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3. Contra money went to Iran
4. Iran-Contra Hearings
IX. Election of 1984: Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro against Reagan
I. 1988 election
A. Bush & Dan Quayle
B. Democrats
1. Gary Hart and “Monkey Business”
2. Jesse Jackson: Rainbow Coalition
3. Michael Dukakis
C. Brutal campaign
Bush as President
I. Seemed to lack a domestic agenda
A. Lacked revenue
B. No new taxes
II. Increased taxes in 1990
III. Savings & Loan Scandal
IV. Recession in last years of administration
V. Foreign affairs: a “new world order”
A. Post-Soviet governments
B. General Noriega and Panama
C. Gulf War, Operation Desert Storm
1. Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990
2. Trade sanctions
3. Invasion
4. Hussein survived
1992 Election
I. Bush seemed popular after Gulf War
II. Democrats selected a “New Democrat:” Bill Clinton
A. Economic issues over cultural issues
C. Personal issues
III. Third Party candidates
A. Ross Perot
IV. Clinton elected
Clinton presidency
I. Took a liberal turn
A. Gays in the military
B. Hillary Clinton and nation’s health care
II. Clinton moved to the center
A. Republican resurgence in 1994
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B. Newt Gingrich & “Contract with America”
1. Balanced budget & lower taxes
2. Less federal government
C. Clinton co-opts Republican program
D. Clinton and Republicans fought over budget
III. Foreign policy
A. NAFTA: North American Free Trade Agreement
B. The Balkans
IV. Problems in the White House
A. Whitewater
B. Special Prosecutor
C. Clinton and Paula Jones
D. Lewnisky and Clinton’s trustworthiness
E. Clinton impeached
F. Clinton not removed
Election of 2000
I. Republicans selected George W. Bush
II. Democrats selected Vice-President Albert Gore
III. Election proved indecisive
Bush Administration
A. September 11, 2001
History 152: Third Examination Essay Questions
Of the following three essay questions, two will appear on the examination. You must answer both. You
are encouraged to prepare before the exam, but you are not allowed to bring anything to class to assist
you with your answer. Each is worth 15 points for a possible 30 points.
1. Describe the Allied strategy for winning World War II and discuss the implementation of that
strategy.
2. Discuss the Cold War. Explain what it was, how it began, and the rhetoric, events, and confrontations
that reflected Cold War hostility.
3. Since World War II the nation’s presidents have either introduced or promoted programs designed to
improve the welfare of the American people. Identify those programs and explain their eventual outcome.
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