Quiz for Thinking Like a Historian:
The Global Cold War

Question

1. In his speech before Congress in 1947 (source 1), President Harry Truman stated that, “At the present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose between alternative ways of life. The choice is too often not a free one. One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished by free institutions, representative government, free elections . . . . The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled press and radio; fixed elections, and the suppression of personal freedoms.” Which of the following developments led Truman to this assessment?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is b. Stalin’s exercise of control and unwillingness to hold free elections or honor self-determination in the nations of Eastern Europe in 1946 and 1947 led Truman to claim that communism threatened every nation in the free world.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Stalin’s exercise of control and unwillingness to hold free elections or honor self-determination in the nations of Eastern Europe in 1946 and 1947 led Truman to claim that communism threatened every nation in the free world.

Question

2. Syngman Rhee’s appeal to the United States for weapons and assistance was for its war against which of the following invading nations?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is c. Syngman Rhee asked the United States for weapons and assistance in its shooting war against North Korea, which had launched a surprise attack across the 38th parallel that had divided Communist North and Democratic South Korea since the end of World War II.
Incorrect. The answer is c. Syngman Rhee asked the United States for weapons and assistance in its shooting war against North Korea, which had launched a surprise attack across the 38th parallel that had divided Communist North and Democratic South Korea since the end of World War II.

Question

3. In his 1951 testimony before the Senate Armed Forces and Foreign Relations Committee (source 3), Secretary of State Dean Acheson justified the United States’ decision to initiate a “police action” in Korea by saying, “As a people we condemn aggression of any kind. We reject appeasement of any kind. If we stood with our arms folded while Korea was swallowed up, it would have meant abandoning our principles, and it would have meant the defeat of the collective security system on which our own safety ultimately depends.” In these remarks, Acheson compared the actions of North Korean leader Kim Il Sung to which of the following events?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is b. Acheson was making a fairly explicit comparison between North Korea and Nazi Germany in these remarks. He chose the phrases “we condemn aggression” and “we reject appeasement” because of the use of those terms in relation to Hitler’s actions in Europe before World War II.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Acheson was making a fairly explicit comparison between North Korea and Nazi Germany in these remarks. He chose the phrases “we condemn aggression” and “we reject appeasement” because of the use of those terms in relation to Hitler’s actions in Europe before World War II.

Question

4. The remarks Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida made to the Japanese Diet in 1950 provide evidence to support which of the following historical arguments?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is d. Shigeru Yoshida’s remarks demonstrated that he and other Japanese citizens were relieved by the deployment of U.S. and UN troops to South Korea to protect it against North Korea’s incursions. As a disarmed nation, the Japanese were fearful of a Communist threat and dependent on the United States and United Nations for protection.
Incorrect. The answer is d. Shigeru Yoshida’s remarks demonstrated that he and other Japanese citizens were relieved by the deployment of U.S. and UN troops to South Korea to protect it against North Korea’s incursions. As a disarmed nation, the Japanese were fearful of a Communist threat and dependent on the United States and United Nations for protection.

Question

5. According to John Foster Dulles, why did the United States intervene in Guatemala and depose its democratically elected president?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is c. Dulles suggested that the United States had intervened in Guatemala because the Soviet Union had installed Arbenz to “breed subversion which would extend to other American Republics.” He insinuated that the nationalist government in the nation was actually a Soviet one.
Incorrect. The answer is c. Dulles suggested that the United States had intervened in Guatemala because the Soviet Union had installed Arbenz to “breed subversion which would extend to other American Republics.” He insinuated that the nationalist government in the nation was actually a Soviet one.

Question

6. What did Guillermo Toriello suggest in source 6 about why the United States objected to Guatemala’s new democratically elected government?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is a. Toriello stated that the United States opposed the new government in Guatemala because it “affected the privileges of the foreign enterprises that are impeding the progress and economic development of the country” and put “an end to the monopoly of the [American owned] United Fruit Company.”
Incorrect. The answer is a. Toriello stated that the United States opposed the new government in Guatemala because it “affected the privileges of the foreign enterprises that are impeding the progress and economic development of the country” and put “an end to the monopoly of the [American owned] United Fruit Company.”