1. Henry Kissinger Diplomacy
Chapter 17
The Beginning of the Cold War

2. 1. How were Roosevelt’s and Truman’s personalities different?

3. 2. What were some challenges faced by Truman when he assumed the presidency?

4. 3. How does Kissinger summarize Truman’s foreign policy accomplishments?
                                           

5. 4. What is the significance of Truman’s answer to the question, “…for which foreign policy decision he most wanted to be remembered”?

6. 5. How did Truman differ from Roosevelt in his regards for the Soviet Union?

7. 6. To what did Truman attribute Soviet belligerence
6. To what did Truman attribute Soviet belligerence? What do you suppose the consequences of such an assumption would be?

8. Realpolitik: foreign policy based on calculations of power and the national interest
7. Which country’s foreign policy was based on realpolitik?
What guided the other?

9. 8. Give evidence of each super power misunderstanding the foreign policies of other nations.

10.  9. Discuss the significance of the following events prior to the Potsdam Conference:
a.      Travel itinerary of Truman
b.      Appointment of Harry Hopkins as envoy to Moscow
c.      Appointment of Joseph Davies as envoy to London
d.      Withdraw of US forces in the Soviet sector of Germany

11. 10. What are spheres of influence, and why would they be perceived as a future cause of conflict?

12.  11. Summarize the agenda of the Potsdam Conference? How did it change?

13. 12. Why did Stalin have the upper hand in negotiating the subject of Poland at the Potsdam Conference?

14. 13. What was accomplished at Potsdam? What was left unanswered?

15. 1.  14. Why can the Potsdam Conference be called the beginning of the Cold War?

16. 15. What was the Berlin Airlift
15. What was the Berlin Airlift? According to Gromyko, why did Stalin risk such a confrontation so soon after WW II?

17. 16. Explain the meaning of the following statement, “Paradoxically, the drift towards the Cold War was accelerated by Stalin’s knowledge of how weak his country was.”

18. 17. Assess Kissinger’s assertion (p
17. Assess Kissinger’s assertion (p. 441) that Stalin never meant to establish satellite nations.

19. 18. What are the consequences of believing that the atom bomb did not significantly alter the conduct of war or international relations?

20. 19. Who wrote the “Long Telegram”? What was its main idea?