Ari Gilder, 2-406!
Homework #8
1. Define/identify:
- Satellites:
Countries which were dependent on the Soviet Union, like planets dependent
upon the sun. In satellite countries such as Albania and Yugoslavia,
Communists had established a Communist government and joined league with
the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union claimed these satellites as buffer
regions against Germany.
- Truman
Doctrine: President Truman believed that the United States should not
interfere with current Communist countries, or those that choose Communism
as their national government. However nations that request aid in
defending themselves against Communism should receive help from the U.S.
- Containment:
The constituent of the Truman Doctrine, it states that nations that
request financial or other aid from the United States in assisting the
prevention of the spread of Communism into their country shall receive the
assistance they require. This effectively restricts the spread of
Communism.
- Marshall
Plan: US Secretary of State George C. Marshall had proposed a policy that
would aid Europe in stabilizing itself after the war. He agreed that the
US was prepared to assist Europe provided that they: a) convene and decide
what they need throughout the entire continent. b) indicate their willingness
by donating the resources they had to a continental pool of resources
which would be used for rebuilding throughout Europe. c) stabilize the
value of their currencies and stop inflation. d) stop restricting trade
between countries so trade can flow unrestricted throughout Europe.
- NATO:
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, originally signed by twelve
nations and later joined by Greece, Turkey and West Germany, had agreed
that if one member nation was attacked by a foreign nation, all NATO’s
members would assist the defending country against the attacker. NATO
member countries were required to supply about 750,000 troops as well as
aircraft and ship necessities.
- Warsaw
Pact: The Communist nations – the Soviet Union, Poland, East Germany,
Czechoslovakia, Hunagry, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania – had met together
in Warsaw in May 1955 as a response to the strengthening of NATO. They
established a 20-year agreement to supply 1.5 million troops should war
break out.
2. Why did a crisis arise in Berlin in 1948?
Since the three nations occupying West Berlin at the time
had began to discuss plans for uniting their territories, the Soviet Union had
decided to cut of all traffic into West Berlin, threatening the inhabitants
with starvation.
3. How did the Western powers solve the problem?
The United States and Great Britain quickly responded by
organizing a daily airlift of supplies into West Berlin. They had supplied food
and coal to the 2 million residents of West Berlion. Finally in May 1949, the
Soviet Union lifted the blockade.
4. What was the final resolution in regard to Germany
post-WWII?
The three Western nations occupying Germany had assisted the
Germans in writing their own consititution and setting up their own democratic
government, the Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany. In October 1949,
a Communist government was set up in East Germany, known as the German
Democratic Republic.