Identify and discuss the concepts of Permanent War Mobilization and Permanent War Economy. What do these concepts mean and how do they impact the nation.
Hybrid/Homework
Week 14 and 15
Lesson: Cold War I
Identify and discuss the concepts of Permanent War Mobilization and Permanent War Economy. What do these concepts mean and how do they impact the nation.
Why did Senator Arthur Vandenberg tell Truman that he needed to “scare the hell out of the country” and what Truman commence scaring the American people with? : “Mr. President, if that’s what you want, there’s only one way to get it. That is to make a personal appearance before Congress and scare hell out of the country.’”
The Truman Doctrine declared war on “communism” and Containment policy vowed to contain communism to Eastern Europe. Who/what did these policy platforms truly make war on and contain? What was their actual purpose?
On what logical bases could it be argued that Soviet Russia did not threaten the United States and Western Europe?
The Marshall Plan- What was it and how did it function as part of the “war on communism?”
Identify and discuss postwar US interventionism in Western Europe, including goals and behaviors.
The National Security State- To what does it refer and on what basis do many scholars, including those with a military and intelligence background, believe it usurped (destroyed) the constitutional republic and democratic promise of the United States?
What was the intended function of the CIA and how did it (rather quickly) come to truly function? Be sure to identify its two branches and the issue of constitutionality.
Identify and discuss the background of the OSS (forerunner of the CIA) and men who organized, headed and shaped the CIA during this period, including William Donavan and Allan Dulles (what kind of backgrounds did they have? Why does it matter?)
Identify and discuss the relationship that the CIA forged with Nazis. What did the relationship entail and what did the National Security State gain, or hope to gain?
Were Nazis such as Reinhard Gehlen reliable? Why did the National Security State use them?
How was the war on communism also a war on the American people? Be specific. You should address at least 5 elements.
Operation Mockingbird:
How can we account for the anti-communist scare campaigns and the way in which they became embedded in American culture, society and governance?
One of the ironies of the war on communism is that the United States was guilty of that which it accused Soviet Russia. Explain. What types of behaviors did the US engage in even as it accused Soviet of such behaviors or wanting to do such things?
Lesson 2: Cold War II
To what degree did the US and Soviet Russia keep their war time commitments? (The lesson lists 8 points).
What logical motives and justification did Soviet Russia have for maintaining an occupation of Eastern Europe in the form of satellites and buffer states? How was the occupation portrayed to the American peoples?
What was Unit 731, how did the US respond to it, and in what regard was this response a reflection of the evolution of US foreign policy following WWII?
Identify and discuss how Japanese fascist became used to advance the goals of the National Security State. (2)
Ho Chi Minh-
Who was he? What did he help to lead during WWII?
What did he seek to establish after WWII was over?
On what basis did Ho Chi Minh appeal to the US?
How did President Truman respond?
Why did the US soldiers sent to Vietnam at the close of WWII react to what they saw there with anger? What did they see- Who greeted them and why was this upsetting?
Kim Il-Sung-
Who did he lead a struggle against in Korea and China during and after WWII?
What did he and his North Korean forces aim to achieve? (2)
Had Korea been left alone to “pursue its own destiny,” the Korean people would have likely united behind Kim Il-Sung. Why? Identify and discuss the differences between Kim Il-Sung (and his forces) and the US-installed regime of Syngmon Rhee (and his forces).
How do North Korean perspective of how the Korean War began differ from the story typical told in the US?
To deploy troops to Korea, Truman bypassed the constitution and conducted the war as a “UN police action” Why? Why would Truman not seek a congressional vote and an official declaration of war?
Describe what the US did to North Korea after the war became locked in a stalemate?
In sum, what was the motive of the CIA for working to overthrow the Syrian government beginning in the 1940s?
What did Dwight D. Eisenhower argue in his Cross of Gold speech?
Dwight D. Eisenhower is remembered for warning Americans about the Military Industrial Complex in his Farewell Address. To what did he refer? What was his warning?
In sum, what motivated the CIA to intervene in Iran in 1953 and what were the results?
In sum, what motivated the CIA to intervene in Guatemala in 1954 and what were the results?
Documentary: Untold History of the United States: JFK- To the Brink
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Recommended: All
Required: 16:00- 57:00 (41 mins)
https://vimeo.com/151432899 (Links to an external site.)
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II. Untold History of the United States: Johnson, Nixon, and Vietnam
Recommended: All
Required: 0:00- 23:00 (23 mins)
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I. Untold History of the United States: JFK- To the Brink
15:30-18:15: Cuba
Operation Mongoose: (Two major goals)
Operation Northwoods- In attempting to frame Cuba for an atrocity, as a pretext for invading Cuba, what kind of scenarios did the CIA seriously consider?
Operation Ortsac- What did it entail and what do you suppose the goal was?
18:15- 22:00: Vietnam
Did US personnel and CIA “advisors” in Vietnam increase of decrease under Kennedy?
22:00- 40:00: The Cuban Missile Crisis
Background: The USSR secretly installed ballistic missiles in Cuba in response to US missiles pointed at the USSR from West Germany and Turkey. The missiles were also meant to be a deterrent against what appeared to be an impending US invasion of Cuba and a “first strike” attack on the Soviet Union
(25:30ish) While meeting with Kennedy, what did the Joint Chiefs push? What did they want to do regarding Cuba? (Two things)
How did the Joint Chiefs, including LeMay (“Demon LeMay” of WWII terror bombing), feel about using nukes and the prospect of nuclear war?
McNamara pointed to US missiles in Turkey to argue that the Soviet missiles in Cuba marked a reasonable balance of power between the two nations. What did Kennedy fear would happen to him if he accepted this “balance of power” arrangement? … if he did not take a position of strength against the Soviet Union?
What did Kennedy opt to do, as announced to the American people?
*Note that the American people were not made aware of the US missiles on the borders of the USSR and the war the US had been waging on Cuba, which had led to this point.
*Note that both sides of the standoff were receiving faulty information about the supposed aggression of the other side. Both Kennedy and Khrushchev were losing control of their militaries.
(30:15) As American forces prepared to invade Cuba, what did Soviets forces possess in Cuba, unbeknownst to the Americans? What do you suppose would have happened had the Americans gone through with the invasion?
Which side- the US or USSR, Kennedy or Khrushchev made the first diplomatic gesture for de-escalation?
Oct 27th: The most dangerous moment in human history, according to Arthur Schlesinger: What did the US carrier not know about the Soviet sub it was launching depth charges at? How was catastrophe avoided?
*Note: The Joint Chiefs again pushed for an attack on Cuba in response to a spy plane being shot down. Kennedy again said, “No.”
(35:35) According to Khrushchev, what concerned Kennedy about his own military leadership?
(37:15) Even as the Cuban Missile Crisis had moved toward a US invasion of Cuba.- which would have been met with a nuclear attack by the USSR,….leading to a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union from the US, the US also had nuclear weapons prepared to attack this nation: (which nation?)
(37:30) How did military leaders, especially the Joint Chiefs, respond to the crisis not ending with an attack on Cuba (which would have likely led to a nuclear war)?
40:00-58:00: Aftermath
Publicly, Kennedy was under pressure to talk-tough and double-down on the US war in Vietnam. Privately, however, what did his plan seem to be (in partnership with McNamara), particularly after his reelection?
How had Kennedy changed in office by 1963, especially with regard to the Soviet Union and American empire (pax Americana)? How had he evolved?
By Kennedy’s assassination, where had he made powerful enemies? In other words, who would be among the reasonable suspects behind his murder? Who did he cross? Who did he fear? etc.
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II. Untold History of the United States: Johnson, Nixon, and Vietnam
DID Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, continue Kennedy’s course on Vietnam (“memorandum”)?
Under the Johnson Administration’s Mann Doctrine, how would Latin American nations be judged and dealt with?
In Greece, did the US support democracy or a fascist military dictatorship headed by a literal Nazi and CIA agent?
After the leader of Indonesia moved to nationalize the nation’s oil and seize American owned rubber plantations, the Johnson and the CIA sponsored a military coup. How many people are estimated to have been killed?
How many American men were being drafted into the war of Vietnam by 1965? 1967?
How many bombs did the US drop on Vietnam relative to all of WWII? (13:30)
Operation Chaos- Who (what group of people) did this CIA program target under the pretext of fighting communism?
What two groups did J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI target during this period (two movements)?
