During the period 1945-1989, what was the importance of US foreign policy of one or more of the following: Berlin, Korea, Cuba?
#625Lab – History, marked 70/100, detailed feedback at the very bottom. You may also like: Leaving Cert History Guide (€).
From 1945 to 1989 the US’ foreign policy revolved mainly around Berlin, Cuba and Korea. However, at the same time, America’s main objective was to contain communism and maintain a strong barrier to its spreading. This was in keeping to the policy of containment, which was very prevalent at the time.
After world war two Germany was divided between east and west, given to the Soviets and the allies respectively. Berlin was also divided between east and West Berlin. The Americans built up West Berlin turning it into a rather prosperous sector. Russia wanted to unite East and West Berlin under Soviet control. Truman refused and in retaliation, Stalin set up the Berlin Blockade in 1948.
The blockade lasted over a year and throughout this time Americans flew supplies and commodities into West Berlin. They were determined to not let the Soviets get West Berlin, as this would be disastrous for the policy of containment. As Truman said, “we are here to stay, period.” After over a year the Soviets had to give in and the blockade was lifted.
This was a massive success for Truman’s government. It has relevance to America’s foreign policy as it highlighted America’s immense strength and resilience in terms of foreign policy. The Berlin also led to the formation of NATO, between The US, Canada and eleven other countries. This peacetime pact ensured support if the war was to come about, an attack on one would be an attack on all. It also brought an end to America’s policy of isolationism.
Berlin continued to be a centre of conflict during the cold war. In 1960 Krushev (Khrushchev) put pressure on Kennedy to give West Berlin to the Soviets. Krushev though JFK a weak and indecisive leader and thought he would be easily persuaded. Kennedy’s response was to increase government spending on defence and the Ussr constructed the Berlin wall, almost overnight.
The Berlin wall was effective in stopping the flow of immigrants from east to west and thus eased some tensions. However, Kennedy and the world now pointed to East Berlin as a prison for its people. Kennedys handling of the crisis showed his strength and is important to the US’ foreign policy.
The Korean War also had massive prevalence over America’s foreign policy. When China became communist in 1949 it was seen as a failure for the policy of containment. After world war two Korea had been divided between an American backed south and Soviet-backed north. In 1950 when the north attacked the south it was seen as a test for the policy of containment. Through a UN council vote, Truman got permission to send troops into South Vietnam. The army, under general Macarthur, invaded at Inchon and easily pushed the Koreans back past the 38th parallel. However, they continued through North Vietnam and into China. The Chinese retaliated with an invasion of 200000 soldiers and pushed the US army back to Seoul. A further two years of fighting ensued and eventually in 1953 when Truman and Stalin had been replaced by Eisenhower and Khrushchev the border was eventually re-established at the 38th parallel.
The Korean War had many varied effects and was very important to America’s foreign policy at the time. America’s actions in Korea were in keeping with the policy of containment. It led to America wanting to strengthen their policy in South East Asia. This led to the signing of the ANZAC pact and SEATO. This was in keeping with the domino theory; if one country fell to communism, so too would its surrounding neighbours. It also led to America’s decision that they must strengthen Germany as a barrier to communism. They launched a proposal to allow Germany to enter NATO. During the Korean War Macarthur, the army general campaigned for the use of atomic bomb in Korea and was dismissed. This shows that America and Truman had changed policies since 1945, and were more reluctant to rely on nuclear weaponry.
The Cuban Missile crisis in 1961 was a severe test for America’s foreign policy. Cuba became communist under Fidel Castro and the Ussr took the opportunity to construct missile sites there in 1961. This was picked up by US spy planes and panic ensued. People thought they were on the brink of world war three. JFK set up a panel of advisors to deal with the crisis. There were conflicting views on the panel. Some thought air strikes should be launched at Cuba, while on the other side of the spectrum the opinion was they should not invade Cuba and that they should dismantle US missile sites in Eastern Europe as a compromise. JFK opted to set up a blockade and search incoming Russian boats. His plan to worked and he and Khrushchev came to an agreement about Cuba.
Publicly JFK agreed to lift the blockade and not to invade Cuba. Privately he agreed to dismantle missile sites in Turkey. Krushev agreed to dismantle the missile sites in Cuba. Some criticized Kennedy for his soft approach but most applauded his careful handling of the situation. The importance of the effects of the Cuban missile crisis on foreign policy can be clearly seen. Cuba resulted in the test ban treaty where nuclear testing could not take place underwater or in space. A hotline was also set up between the Kremlin and Washington to avoid future conflicts. This was a major step forward for US foreign policy.
Events in Berlin, Korea and Cuba all shaped American foreign policy for the ensuing years and the cold war in general. The American presidents always proceeded in keeping with the policy of containment and the domino theory. The US’ strength was highlighted in their dealings with the various crises. Their policies also showed their abilities to strive for peace, such as with the hotline between Washinton (Washington) and the Kremlin, and the various peacetime pacts.
Feedback: This essay answers the question and shows that you know the material as all of your information is relevant and correct. Your conclusion is good as it sums up your argument but also adds something to the essay but your introduction is weak – it needs to answer the question clearly and lay out the essay as well as provide some context. For this essay, the intro should really include a sentence something like “During the Cold War, events abroad such as the Berlin Blockade, the Korean War and the Cuban Missile Crisis had long-lasting effects on US foreign policy.” You also should try to link the three parts better, as it currently reads like one short essay on the Berlin Blockade, and one on Korea and Cuba. Watch out for spelling mistakes too – you need to be particularly careful with Russian names like Khrushchev.
Cumulative Mark: For your cumulative mark, this would probably achieve around 50 out of 60 – include more paragraphs if you want to bring this mark up.
Overall Evaluation: For OE, this would get about 22 out of 40, as it is a good standard treatment of the question, but the introduction initially makes the intention of the essay a bit unclear.
Total: 72/100
Which president was more successful in his handling of US Foreign Policy, Harry Truman or Lyndon Johnson? Argue your case referring to both. 2013.
#625Lab – History, marked 65/100, detailed feedback at the very bottom. You may also like: Leaving Cert History Guide (€).
Lyndon B. John displayed strengths and weakness within is Foreign Policies throughout his presidency of the United States of America. When he came into power America was already involved in the Vietnam war. He had to deal with such Foreign Issues such as the control of communism in Asia. Overall Johnson’s strengths were clearly in Domestic affairs. Harry S. Truman on the other hand was far more successful dealing with foreign policies. He had to deal with foreign issues such as ending world war 2, containing communism within Europe and the Berlin wall.
Truman ended up (don’t use “ended up” in a history essay) obtaining presidency over the United States when his predecessor F.D. Roosevelt passed away. Shortly after obtaining presidency Truman met up with his wartime ally Joseph Stalin and Clement Attlee at a post war conference in Potsdam outside Berlin to discuss their Enemy Japan. At this conference Truman demanded the unconditional surrender from the Japanese. Japan refused and on the 6th of August 1945 Truman order the dropping of the atomic Bomb on Hiroshima. Truman believed this would bring the war to a swift end and would save many American lives at the cost of Japanese lives. Truman was in fact correct about this as on the 10th of August the Japanese government signed the surrender terms of the United States. Thus, ending world war 2 (World War Two – make sure to capitalise and spell out numbers under 100) once and for all. This was a big foreign success for Truman.
Johnsons biggest weakness as a leader was the fact he was lacking presidential skills. Alike, Truman Due to his predecessor J.F.K being assassinated he abruptly entered presidency in 1963. (This sentence doesn’t make sense – you can’t use “alike” like this and it rambles on) He came into power in 1963 (when) the Vietnam (War) was worsening. Johnson believed in the domino theory and that if one country fell to communism they all would. Johnson didn’t want to be the first president to lose a war, but at the same time he didn’t want a war. Johnson planned for a contained war in Vietnam but ended up to becoming a full-blown war. This made the American become increasingly uneasy about Johnson as president. The war went on for years and neither side appeared to be winning although Johnson was telling the American public that they were in fact winning. When The public discovered that Johnson had been telling them lies he became even more unpopular with the American Public. The Vietnam war was without a doubt one of the biggest downfalls for Johnson.
After World war 2, It was clear that Stalin’s intentions were to turn Eastern Europe and the occupied part of Germany into a Soviet-controlled satellite states. This resulted in hostility between the two sides. This begun which was known as the “Cold War”. Truman believed in “Communist containment”. In effect this meant that America would oppose Communist expansion in Europe and around the world. For the remaining of the Cold war this was the policy that America took. To contain Communism, he supported the Marshall plan which was giving cast sums of money to countries who needed funds, the aim of this plan to help rebuild Western Europe after the war. Along with this plan Truman also wrote up the “Truman Doctrine” which stated that America would help any country that was under Communist attack from groups inside or outside the country. This was another big foreign success for Truman as he helped contain communism within Europe and managed to avoid any physical warfare during the Cold war.
During the Vietnam war Johnson introduced conscription. This meant that it was mandatory for boys of age to join the army. Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali and Norman Mailer were famously opposed of the war. In fact, Muhammad Ali was opposed to it so much that when he refused to go to war due to his religion they stripped him of all his boxing titles and sent him to jail. This caused an uproar from the American public. Opposition of the Vietnam war started in Universities and spread from there. Johnson noticed the American public increasingly become against the war, as he noticed this he attempted to make peace, both sides attempted to negotiate but no truce was agreed to. Truman (Johnson?) was too far into the war to just leave. Due to his stubbornness he secretly invested more and more money into the war without informing the public. Johnson became overly invested in the war and couldn’t fix it.
When the war in Europe ended in 1945, The allies divided Germany into four zones of occupation. The US, Britain and France occupied the western areas of Germany while Soviet Russia occupied the eastern part. The Capital of Germany was also divided. Berlin was situated in the Russia side of Germany. The Allies occupied the West side of Berlin and Russia occupied the East side. In February 1948 Communists in Czechoslovakia backed by Soviet troops, staged a “coup d’état”. This heightened tensions between the Allies and Soviet Russia. The allies at a conference in London planned to merge their three zones and establish a federal government for west Germany. When the plan was announced, it provoked an angry reaction from Moscow. Stalin knew this development would end the hopes of keeping Germany divided, neutral and weak, On June 1948, Stalin cut off all road, rail and water routes between west and east Berlin. Thus, starting the Berlin Blockade. Truman handled the end of world war 2 very well as he controlled communism and prevented Soviet Russia obtaining full control over Germany. (This paragraph doesn’t have much to do with Truman – you need to make his involvement clear throughout)
Overall Johnsons Foreign policies failed him as a president. His Great Society plan is not what he is remember for as he messed up (you can’t use “messed up” in a history essay) the Vietnam war badly. He became decreasing (increasingly) unpopular within the American republic due to the war and overall sent millions of American soldiers to their deaths. His foreign polices overall were a failure. Truman’s foreign polices however were a great success. He dealt with the control of communism very well, prevent (prevented) Soviet Russia obtaining full control over Germany and prevent (prevented) any physical warfare during the Cold war. Overall Truman was far more superior (far superior) to Johnson when it came to foreign policies and Truman will forever go down in history as one of the greatest presidents of the United States.
Feedback: This essay includes plenty of relevant historical facts. It answers the question and the way in which you compare the two presidents is good. However, the essay is a bit short at only 7 paragraphs long and could be more detailed, especially in relation to the Vietnam War, which is a case study and a major aspect of Johnson’s presidency. Your introduction and conclusion are good. Try to include some quotations from historians and historical figures to improve the essay. There are also some paragraphs that don’t directly deal with the question, and are only tied in to the question with one sentence at the end. There are quite a few grammatical and syntactical errors which break the flow of the essay and your writing style is a little bit clunky sometimes.
Cumulative Mark: Your total cumulative mark would come to about 40 out of 60 for this essay. The best way to bring this up is to add relevant paragraphs.
Overall Evaluation Mark: For Overall Evaluation, I’d give this about a 25 out of 40. Language errors and occasional breaks in the flow bring this mark down.
Total Mark: 65 out of 100
The development of US Foreign Policy towards the Soviet Union and how effective it was in relation to one major Cold War crisis
#625Lab – History, marked 50/100, detailed feedback at the very bottom. You may also like: Leaving Cert History Guide (€).
At the end of the Second World War, many of the European Powers that had been dominant before the War had suffered much destruction in the fighting and had suffered major economic losses. This meant that the democratic USA, who had vast amounts of wealth and were economically stable, and the communist USSR, who had the world’s largest army, emerged as the ‘Superpowers’ of World Politics. As relations cooled between the two nations after World War II, the two countries became engaged in a ‘Cold War’. This Cold War, and the prevention of the spread of communism, known as ‘containment’, would dominate US Foreign Policy for 50 years succeeding World War II.
In July 1945, Harry Truman, Josef Stalin and Winston Churchill met at Potsdam to draw up a post-war peace treaty. During the conference, Stalin promised to allow the Eastern European countries the Red Army had liberated from The Nazis to hold their own elections and establish their own governments. He later went back on this promise and communist governments controlled from Moscow were installed in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Albania and Romania. Stalin hoped the ‘buffer zone’ he had created would help prevent any further attempts to invade Russia through Europe as Hitler had done. Stalin’s fear of another German invasion was also reflected in his take on German affairs after the war.
As the fear of the spread of Communism grew in the US, Truman knew a major act of political power was needed to reinforce the idea that their democratic government was much stronger than that of the communists in Russia. He introduced the Truman Doctrine to “support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by armed forces”. The idea behind this doctrine was to support countries that were in danger of turning to communism that were in danger of turning to communism by providing monetary aid to their governments. In 1947, Congress approved $400 million in military aid for Greece and Turkey as part of the Marshall Plan. The Greek government defeated a communist rebellion in the country, making use of the military aid.
The American government that an economically prosperous Europe would be better able to resist the spread of communism, and would provide a large market for American goods. On June 5 1947, US Secretary of State George Marshall announced the induction of the Marshall Plan. This plan would provide massive economic aid to Europe in order to help it recover from damage caused by the war. Marshall Aid was also offered to the satellite states in Eastern Europe, but Stalin ordered the countries not to accept as he saw the aid as an attempt to gain allies close to the Soviet Union.
In June 1948, as part of the Marshall Plan, a new currency, the Deutschmark, was set to be introduced into West Germany. Stalin made his opposition to this move clear, and when the Allies ignored his warnings, he acted. On 27 June, Stalin ordered a blockade of all rail, road and waterway entries to the city of Berlin. The inhabitants of the city faced starvation, as all food that was transported into the city was now cut off. The only access to the city was through a narrow air corridor, which was to prove vital to the American response. Truman was adamant that Berlin could not be allowed to fall into Russian hands. On 28 June, he authorized Operation Vittles, a plan to fly tonnes of food and other supplies into the city to provide for the citizens of Berlin for the duration of the Blockade. The operation was overlooked by General Lucius Clay, and lasted 320 days. At its peak, planes were taking off every 90 seconds carrying supplies for the city. In May 1949, Stalin finally conceded and the blockade was lifted, liberating people of Berlin.
President Truman later wrote of the event, “We demonstrated to the people of Europe that with their cooperation we would act, and act resolutely, when their freedom was threatened. Politically it brought the people of Western Europe closer to us”. The blockade and airlift served as a huge propaganda victory for the US and for democracy as it showed that they could withstand even the greatest display of defiance that Moscow could produce. The zones of West Germany controlled by the allies were united into Trizonia, and the Deutschmark was officially introduced. The actions of the USA were in stark contrast with those of the USSR, who had shown communism in its true form. The blockade solidified the rivalry between the Superpowers, and the possibility of a dispute, and an eventual war, loomed, with disastrous consequences for the human race. In the aftermath of the crisis, NATO was established by the US, Canada and other Western states, with the aim of coordinating the Western defence against Russia.
In conclusion, the USA’s strong political stance against the Soviet Union and communism was extremely effective in relation to the crisis of the Berlin Blockade.
Feedback: This is a good essay that answers the question well by tracing the development of US-Soviet relations, but it is far too short in terms of the number of paragraphs. As there are no time parameters provided by the question, you can continue your answer right up to 1989 in order to expand the essay. When dealing with the second part of the question, you should expand on it further by breaking the US response to the crisis into several short paragraphs. If you feel you can’t do this by using the Berlin Blockade, choose a different crisis like the Cuban Missile Crisis, which has more content to write about. Your conclusion is far too short and adds nothing to the essay, and would earn minimal cumulative marks. Otherwise, this essay uses good factual information to answer the question at hand, you mention plenty of key personalities and terms, and make good use of quotation – it just needs to be fleshed out a bit!
Cumulative Mark: At its current length, this essay would score about 30 out of 60 for its cumulative mark. Increase your number of paragraphs by expanding your time parameters to bring this mark up.
Overall Evaluation: For your overall evaluation mark, I’d give this answer about 20 out of 40, as you handle the question well, but your treatment of the two parts of the question is not very even.
Total Mark: 50/100
