Pearl Harbor AMH1050 Final Study Guide o December 7 1941 hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu Hawaii o The day after the assault President Franklin D Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan Congress approved his declaration with just one dissenting vote o Before the US was isolationist The US didn t get involved in other countries affairs All the US did was trade and that s it After WWII the US became a superpower and had conflict with the Soviets The Soviets were trying to spread their communist influence around the world and the US didn t like that To counter this the US gave foreign aid and military support to countries being effect with communist so that these countries can lean toward democracy o Latin American governments stated that belligerent activities of WWII could not occur in Declaration of Panama the waters off of the Americas WWII alliances including heads of state o The Strange Alliance The big three Great Britain the Soviet Union and the United States Had distrust lack of trust An uneasy relationship that worked as long as Hitler posed a threat Major point of contention was the opening of a second front o Heads of State Winston Churchill Franklin D Roosevelt Joseph Stalin Wartime conferences o Tehran Conference One of the first large wartime conference aimed at determining the post war order Large disagreements between the Allies especially over Germany FDR unveil his Four Policemen of the World Concept Each of these policemen would look over their neighborhood Were viewed at the head for the United Nations The Four Policemen were o The United States o Britain o Soviet Union o Chinese Established a date for the long awaited cross channel invasion also known as Operation OVERLORD o Decided to open the second front against Hitler in the west o 06 06 1944 they have what is known as D Day o Yalta Conference 02 1945 Demonstrated that Great Britain and the US were dependent on the Soviet Union especially its Red Army AMH1050 Final Study Guide The Allies discussed a series on contentious issues including Poland the vision of Germany war reparations the establishment of the United Nations etc The Soviet Union pledge to enter the Pacific War within three months of Hitler s defeat in exchange for regaining territory lost during the Russo Japanese war of 1904 1905 o Potsdam Conference 07 1945 New Leaders Clement Atlee and Harry Truman Establish Soviet entry into the Pacific War 08 1945 Truman learns about the successful detonation of the atomic bomb Issued a stern ultimatum to Japan Surrender or be destroyed Dropping of Atomic Bomb o On August 6th 1945 a US B 29 bomber dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima o Three days later a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki o Truman s Justification Ending the war at the earliest possible moment The primary objective for the U S was to win the war at the lowest possible cost Specifically Truman was looking for the most effective way to end the war quickly not for a way to not use the bomb To impress the Soviets With the end of the war nearing the Soviets were an important strategic consideration especially with their military control over most of Eastern Europe Cold War interpretations and the Origins of the Cold War o Origins Bi Polar World the world after WWII was divided into two large camps the US and the Soviet Union Super Powers the US and the Soviets after WWII were the two strongest military powers on Earth Cold War a war on all levels economic political and ideological but no fighting That must be qualified there is no official fighting or declared war between the two superpowers o Interpretations Traditional Revisionist Developed immediately after the war Believed the Soviets caused the Cold War Said that the rest of Europe feared a communist takeover Therefore the US must act to defend the free world from these communist threats Developed around the mid 1960s It contends that the US is responsible for the Cold War for 3 reasons o 1 Russians pushed the Germans back causing more material loss and casualties to the Germans than the English and Americans combined Russians suspected the delay was to let them bleed AMH1050 Final Study Guide themselves dry against the Germans which would allow the British and Americans to have their way in Europe because Russia would be too weak to defend herself o 2a after the war Russians needed money to rebuild The US had the money but would not lend it without strings attached Free Elections in Eastern Europe Trade concessions inside Russia o 2b Russia refused to agree to the conditions and was forced to rebuild without American help o 3 The US had the Atomic bomb and refused to share it with Russia or the United Nations Post Revisionist Interpretation began in the late 1960s early 1970s It holds that both sides were responsible for the Cold War The US did not utilize her advantages toward Russia effectively While at the same time Russia could have been less stubborn more responsive to Americans suggestion about the world conditions Limited War A war conducted with less than a nation s total resources and restricted in aim to less than total defeat of the enemy Containment o Measures used to prevent the spread of communism abroad o Involved military and political dimensions o Policy derived from the ideas expressed in Kennan s Long Telegram and his Soviet Sources of Conduct article o Became one of the bedrock principles of the US foreign policy in the post WWII era Truman Doctrine would provide political military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces The Truman Doctrine effectively reoriented U S foreign policy away from its usual stance of withdrawal from regional conflicts not directly involving the United States to one of possible intervention in faraway conflicts o One way of life is based upon the will of the majority and is distinguished by free institutions representative government free elections guarantee of individual liberty freedom of speech and religion and freedom from political oppression o 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 o I believe that it must be the policy of the US to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by