Examkin

Question

Difficulty: EasyOrigins of the Cold War and Containment

Source: President Harry S. Truman, statement to cabinet members during the Berlin Blockade, July 1948.

"We are in Berlin by agreement and the Soviets have no right to get us out by force, or by starving the city, or by any other means. We will stay. The Berlin airlift is our answer. If we lose Berlin, we lose Germany, and if we lose Germany, we lose Europe. We must show the world that we stand by our commitments to defend free peoples against communist pressure."

The United States response to the blockade described in the excerpt was primarily designed to achieve which of the following goals?

  1. A
    Liberating Eastern European nations that were already under Soviet control
  2. Containing the expansion of Soviet political and military influence in EuropeAnswer
  3. C
    Enforcing the Monroe Doctrine to protect democratic allies in the Western Hemisphere
  4. D
    Withdrawing military commitments to return the United States to pre-war isolationism

Answer

Containing the expansion of Soviet political and military influence in Europe
The correct answer is correct because the Berlin Airlift was a key early action of the containment policy, aimed at preventing the Soviet Union from expanding its sphere of influence into West Berlin and the rest of Western Europe.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the historical context of the stimulus.
The stimulus discusses the Berlin Blockade and Airlift in July 1948, during the early years of the Cold War.
Understanding the historical context helps identify the primary foreign policy goals of the United States during this era.
2
Identify the foreign policy doctrine associated with President Truman's response to Soviet expansion.
Truman's foreign policy was guided by the containment doctrine, which sought to halt the spread of Soviet influence.
Connecting the specific event (the Berlin Airlift) to the broader policy framework helps narrow down the correct foreign policy objective.
3
Evaluate the options against the principles of containment.
The Berlin Airlift prevented the Soviet Union from taking control of West Berlin, thereby containing Soviet expansion without attempting to roll back communism in Eastern Europe or invoking Western Hemisphere doctrines.
Comparing the options ensures the selected answer matches the containment objective and avoids common historical misconceptions.

Key Concept

Origins of the Cold War and Containment
Rate this question

Topics

Origins of the Cold War and Containment

More questions from this topic