Page 151 - NS-2 Textbook

144 MARITIME HISTORY

the last twenty years. State whether you think it should
continue to be supported by the United States. Justify
YOtH conclusion.
2. Research the probable consequences that might have
occurred if General Douglas MacArthur's request to
carry the Korean War into China in 1951 had been
granted by President Truman.
3. There were many similarities between the way the Viet-
nam War was conducted throughout the late 1960s and
the Korean War a decade earlie" Research the reasons
for the prohibition against direct attacks against North
Vietnam by U.S. forces throughout most of that war.

Following the demise of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin of the Rus~
sian Federation emerged as the most powerful of all the leaders of
the former Soviet states.
Chronology
1945 World War II ends
for urging Gorbachev to proceed more quickly with the
1946 Churchill "Iron Curtain" speech
liberalization program.
1947 Unification of U.S. forces
Things came to a head in August 1991, when the re-
1947 Trwnan Doctrine and Marshall Plan
maining old-line Communists in the Politburo attempted
1949 NATO created
to stage a coup. They arrested Gorbachev and detained
1950-53 Korean War
hinl and his family for three days at his vacation home
1955 Warsaw Pact created; Nautilus launched
on the Crimean Peninsula on the Black Sea. TIle Soviet
1958 China attacks Quemoy
Army, however, declined to support the coup and re-
1962 Cuban Inissile quarantine
fused to attack the Russian parliament building in
1964-73 Vietnam War
Moscow, from which Yeltsin was leading the opposition
1968 Pueblo incident
to the coup. TIle overwhelming support for both Yeltsin
1975 Mayaguez incident
and Gorbachev from the people of Moscow, and indeed
1980-88 Iran-Iraq War
the whole Soviet Union, proved decisive. Within days
1982 Falklands War
the situation ,vas fully resolved. Gorbachev was returned
1983 Granada invasion
to Moscow, and the coup leaders were thelnselves ar-
1986 Attack on Libyan terrorists
rested.
1989 Panama invasion
Yeltsin had now become the most powerful leader in
1991 Cold War ends; USSR disbanded
the disintegrating Soviet Union. In early December he
made the dissolution official by proclaiming the exis-
tence of a new Commonwealth of Independent States
made up of the former Soviet republics. On Christmas
Day 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the Soviet Union
was formally dissolved. The red, white, and blue pre- Study Guide Questions
revolutionary Russian flag ,vas raised over the Kremlin. 1. What happened to the U.s. armed forces after World
TIle cold "var ,"vas over. The Western democracies, War II ended?
led by the United States, had successfully prevailed 2. What were the only two possible American response
against almost fifty years of challenge from Soviet com- options to Soviet takeovers of Eastern European na-
munism. III tions following World War II?
3. What term was originated in 1946 by Winston
Churchill to describe the conflict of interests be-
tween the West and the Soviet Union?
4. What was the objective of posh-var "unification" of
CRITICAL THINKING
the u.s. armed services?
1. The United Nations was established following World 5. What was the final result of congressional delibera-
Will' II to try to prevent a third wor1d ·war from ever tions on armed forces unification?
occurring. Research the United Nations and the role 6. What events caused the beguming of the U.S. Sixth
that it has played in the major milltmy conflicts over Fleet deployments to the Mediterranean?