Events in Asia & Superpower Relations Flashcards
All 13 cards in this deck
What was the Communist revolution in China in 1949?
Mao Tse-tung's communists won the civil war and set up the communist People's Republic of China, which the USSR supported and allied with.
Why was China becoming communist in 1949 significant for superpower relations?
It significantly altered the balance of power: the world's most populous country allied itself with the USSR, making the US policy of containment much harder.
What was the 'Domino Theory'?
The American belief that if one country became communist, other Asian countries would fall under communist control one after another, like dominoes.
Why did the Korean War (1950–53) increase Cold War tension?
It was a proxy war that showed Cold War rivalry had spread beyond Europe into Asia, and it carried the risk of nuclear weapons being used.
Why did the USA send military support to South Vietnam?
To contain communism: after the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu (1954) Vietnam was divided, and the USA backed South Vietnam against the communist North and the Vietcong, fearing other Asian countries would fall like dominoes.
True or false? Soviet troops fought openly against American troops in Korea.
False. The USSR supplied weapons to North Korea and China, and some Soviet pilots flew in secret, but it never openly entered the war, so Korea stayed a proxy war.
What did the USSR and communist China agree in February 1950?
The Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship: a 30-year alliance in which each promised to help defend the other, and the USSR lent China $300 million.
How did the Korean War begin in June 1950?
Communist North Korea, led by Kim Il-sung and armed with Stalin's backing, invaded non-communist South Korea.
Why was the USSR unable to veto UN action in Korea in 1950?
It was boycotting the Security Council, in protest that communist China had not been given China's seat, so it was absent when the USA proposed that the UN help South Korea.
Who was Douglas MacArthur?
The US general who commanded the UN forces in Korea; Truman sacked him in 1951 after he publicly pushed to widen the war into China, including the use of atomic weapons.
How did the Korean War end?
With an armistice in July 1953 after two years of stalemate; Korea stayed divided into a communist North and a non-communist South.
Who were the Vietcong?
Communist guerrillas in South Vietnam, backed by North Vietnam, who fought the US-supported government of the South.
What was NSC-68 (1950)?
A US security report, written after China fell to communism and the USSR tested an atom bomb, which urged a large build-up of US armed forces to resist communism worldwide.