Transcript The Cold War Turns Hot

The Cold War Turns Hot
China enters a civil war in the 1920’s. This war is
between the Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek and
the Communists led by Mao Zedong.
•They suspended the civil war to fight the Japanese in
WW2. After the war they resumed and Mao and the
communists won.
•Chiang left in defeat and took over the Island of
Taiwan
The Korean War Begins
Japan ruled Korea until its defeat in 1945.
Korea was divided along the 38th parallel.
• North Korea- was communist and
supported/occupied by the USSR and later
China- their Korean leader was Kim Il Sung
• South Korea- was under the control of the US
• The US and the USSR both pulled their troops
out by 1949
• On June 25, 1950 the North Koreans swept
across the border and attacked South Korea
Bitter Fighting
With UN approval, President Truman ordered Douglas
MacArthur to lead US and South Korean forces.
• At first the US getting crushed and were backed into
a corner of Korea in the port city of Pusan
• In one of the of the most brilliant military
maneuvers in history MacArthur landed at Inchon
Harbor at cut off the supply routes
• North Korean troops surrendered by the thousands
and the US troops pushed the North Koreans past
the Yalu River- China’s border with Korea
The Tide Turns Against the US
The Chinese felt they were being threatened and sent
some 300,000 troops into the fray.
• This turned the tide and the US retreated and built a
defensive line along the original border
• MacArthur called for an expansion that would
involve taking over China.
• President Truman didn’t want another world war
(Russia) and told MacArthur
• MacArthur publicly criticized Truman and demanded
North Korea’s unconditional surrender
• Truman fired MacArthur- MacArthur was very
popular- spoke before Congress..”An old soldier…”
The Election of 1952
Truman was mired in problems and didn’t seek
re-election; the republican party hadn’t been
in power in 20 years and chose Eisenhower to
run and Richard Nixon as his running mate.
• Ike ended the war. He increased bombing and
hinted about using nuclear weapons.
• The armistice (still no peace agreement) was
almost exactly where it had started
Fighting Communism Abroad
Eisenhower’s Administration:
• Viewed nuclear arms and technology as crucial to
ending the expansion of communism
• Secretary of State John Dulles- called for the
liberation of all nations that had fallen to
communism after 1945- no backing down
• Brinkmanship was our official policy- being willing
to push to the edge of war- massive retaliation
• The reality was less directly confrontational, instead
“covert” means were more often used
CIA- Covert Warfare
Examples
Iran: In 1951 Mosaddeq became the Iranian premier and
“Nationalized” British owned oilfields. Ike had the CIA
organize a coup and put a US friendly leader Reza
Pahlavi (The Shah of Iran) in charge. This created strong
anti US sentiment in Iran
Guatemala: In 1954 Arbenz Guzman was democratically
elected president in Guatemala. He redistributed
uncultivated land among the rural poor. The US thought
he was sympathetic to communism and the CIA
gathered up a small army that installed a US friendly
gov’t. Latin America was not happy- Roosevelt Corralary
Suez Crisis
In 1955 the US backed out of a deal to finance a large
dam in Egypt. Egyptian leader Nasser nationalized
the Suez Canal.
This was bad for the US because it could upset our oil
trade and they refused ships going to Israel.
Israel attacked the Egyptian end of the canal and GB
and France seized the Mediterranean end and the
USSR threatened war if the three didn’t withdraw.
Diplomatic Solution
Eisenhower supported a UN resolution for the
three countries to withdraw.
Result
• The Suez Canal was open again
• The USSR gained better relationships with Arab
nations- bargaining chip
• Eisenhower issued the Eisenhower Doctrine which
said that we would offer military aid to any Middle
Eastern country seeking help in resisting
communism
Uprising in Eastern Europe
Nikita Khrushchev- The new Soviet leader stunned the
world by admitting that Stalin had committed many
ruthless crimes. Some people hoped this meant that the
USSR would engage in reforms.
Reality
Poland protested for greater political freedom and soon
after Hungary took to the streets and “moderates” took
control of the gov’t. The USSR crushed the “revolt” and
the US eased immigration restrictions and 40,000
Hungarians made their way to the US.
The US encouraged the revolt and then didn’t help- we
were more talk than action
A Brief Thaw in the Cold War
In 1959 VP Richard Nixon visited the USSR to help try
and improve relations. Premier Khrushchev then
came to the US and his charm won over Americans
The U-2 Incident
The USSR didn’t like the fact that we were flying high
altitude reconnaissance flights over the Soviet Union.
Francis Gary Powers was shot down over Russia in a
U-2 spy plane
The result: We didn’t apologize but promised not to do
it again. The Cold War was Cold again