Transcript Cold War: Korean and Vietnam Wars

Cold War: Korean
and Vietnam Wars
Korean War
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American involvement in the
KOREAN WAR in the early 1950s
reflected the American policy of
CONTAINMENT of COMMUNISM
• Containment  “American policy of
RESISTING the EXPANSION of
communism around the world”
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War lasted 1950-1953
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Background
Japan had ANNEXED the Korean
peninsula before WWI; Japanese
defeated in WWII
1945  Allies agreed on a
TEMPORARY solution =
temporary division of Korea at
the 38th PARALLEL
SOVIET-occupied NORTHERN
zone
AMERICAN-occupied SOUTHERN
zone
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Soon a PRO-AMERICAN
government formed in SOUTH
Korea and a COMMUNIST regime
was established in NORTH Korea.
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War breaks out in Korea
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Koreans on BOTH sides of the
dividing line wanted to UNIFY
their nation
JUNE 1950: the Korean War broke
out when NORTH KOREAN troops
INVADED South Korea over the
38th parallel border  they were
determined to reunite Korea BY
FORCE
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U.S. response
1)Pres. TRUMAN
brought the issue of
North Korean
aggression to the
UNITED NATIONS
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2)Truman ordered American AIR and
NAVAL support + GROUND troops to
aid the South Koreans.
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4) Truman did NOT go to CONGRESS
for an official declaration of war (as
required by the CONSTITUTION)
- Article 1, Section 8: Congress
maintains the power to DECLARE
WAR
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UN Police Action
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The U.S. chose Gen.
Douglas MACARTHUR to
be the COMMANDER of
the UN forces
Americans made up
roughly 80% of POLICE
ACTION in Korea
• Police action: a
LOCALIZED military
action without
declaration of war
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Waging the War
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American military forces led a United
Nations COUNTERATTACK that drove
deep into NORTH KOREA itself.
Communist CHINESE forces came
into the war on the side of North
Korea to PUSH BACK UN forces
STALEMATE developed between
the two sides
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TRUCE signed in 1953 left Korea
DIVIDED at almost the exact same
place as before the war  near the
38th PARALLEL
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Effects of Korean War
1) Enormous FRUSTRATION in
United States  54,000 dead,
103,000 wounded for LIMITED
results
2) RESISTANCE of
Communist forces,
containment W/OUT
nuclear war.
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3) INTEGRATION of UNITS in armed
forces
4) Huge INCREASE in MILITARY
SPENDING
5) Development of powerful MILITARYINDUSTRIAL complex
6) Permanent MOBILIZATION of troops
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Vietnam War
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American involvement in the
VIETNAM WAR also reflected the
Cold War policy of
CONTAINMENT of communism
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Background
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“DOMINO theory”: refers to the
fear that if one SOUTHEAST
ASIAN nation fell to the
Communists, the others would
also fall
Because of its GEOGRAPHIC location,
a Communist TAKEOVER of Vietnam
posed a THREAT to Cambodia, Laos,
Myanmar, and Thailand
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Increasing U.S. Involvement
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in SOUTH Vietnam BY FORCE
Beginning in the 1950s and
continuing into the early 1960s, the
COMMUNIST government of NORTH
Vietnam attempted to install a
communist government
The UNITED STATES helped
South Vietnam RESIST
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The American military BUILDUP in
Vietnam began under Pres.
EISENHOWER and Pres. John F.
KENNEDY
After Kennedy’s ASSASSINATION in
1963, the military buildup was
INTENSIFIED under Pres. Lyndon
JOHNSON
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Gulf of Tonkin
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August 1964: Johnson
announced that North
Vietnamese TORPEDOES had
attacked U.S. destroyers in
the GULF of TONKIN
(INTERNATIONAL waters)
Johnson asked CONGRESS for
authority to take ACTION
against North Vietnam 
Congress passed the Gulf of
Tonkin RESOLUTION
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Fighting the War
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Nearly 3 MILLION Americans served
in the Vietnam War
Battlefield conditions were
DIFFICULT:
• Viet Cong (Communist guerillas in South
Korea) were familiar with LANDSCAPE
• South Vietnamese seemed
INDIFFERENT
• Couldn’t TRUST anyone
• Intense HEAT, jungle climate
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Ground War
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Viet Cong lacked sophisticated
equipment, so they used GUERILLA
warfare tactics
• Worked in small groups to launch
SNEAK attacks
• Hid in elaborate underground TUNNELS
• Set BOOBY traps like camouflaged PITS
and LAND MINES
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Air War
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SATURATION bombing: huge B-52
American bombers dropped
thousands of tons of EXPLOSIVES
over large areas
Chemical weapons:
• NAPALM: a destructive CHEMICAL,
splattered and burned uncontrollably
when dropped from airplanes, including
on human FLESH
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AGENT ORANGE  HERBICIDE that
killed leaves and undergrowth to
expose Viet Cong hiding places; also
killed CROPS and caused HEALTH
problems
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Despite the LARGE United States
presence in South Vietnam (536,000
by end of 1968), Communist forces
INTENSIFIED their efforts
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Tet Offensive
• Major offensive
launched by VIET
CONG and NORTH
Vietnamese on
January 30, 1968
• Communists were
extremely BRUTAL,
killing anyone they
labeled an enemy
• Viet Cong won
PSYCHOLOGICAL
victory
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Massacre at My Lai
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March 1968: U.S. infantry company
entered MY LAI (small village that was
supposedly sheltering Viet Cong)
U.S. soldiers found only WOMEN,
CHILDREN, and OLD MEN in the village 
the U.S. soldiers massacred these civilians
More than 400 INNOCENT Vietnamese
died until a U.S. HELICOPTER crew
stepped in to halt the slaughter
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Political Divisions
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The country became BITTERLY
DIVIDED over the Vietnam War.
Some Americans SUPPORTED the
American military and the war effort,
hoped for military victory
Other Americans believed the
war was MORALLY WRONG,
urged immediate withdrawal
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Student Activism
Active opposition to the war
occurred especially on COLLEGE
campuses
 Students were among the first to
speak out against the
Vietnam War:
• “TEACH-INS”
• DRAFT RESISTANCE
• PROTESTS
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Nixon and “Vietnamization”
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After Johnson declined to seek re-election,
President NIXON was elected on his
pledge to bring the war to an HONORABLE
END.
He instituted the policy of
“VIETNAMIZATION”  WITHDRAWING
American troops & replacing them with
South Vietnamese soldiers, while
maintaining military aid to the South
Vietnamese
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End of the War
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January 1973: U.S., South Vietnam,
North Vietnam, and Viet Cong signed
FORMAL PEACE AGREEMENTS
Nixon FORCED out of office by the
WATERGATE scandal (1972-1974)
• Break-in at Democratic National
Convention headquarters
• Nixon part of illegal cover-up
• Nixon impeached, then resigned
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Ultimately “Vietnamization”
FAILED when South Vietnamese
troops were UNABLE to resist
INVASION by the Soviet-supplied
North Vietnamese Army
April 30, 1975  North Vietnam
completed its CONQUEST of South
Vietnam
North and South Vietnam MERGED
under communist control
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Impact of Vietnam War
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More than 58,000
Americans dead
300,000 wounded
More than 2,500
MIA (MISSING IN
ACTION) and
POWs
(PRISONERS OF
WAR)
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LONGEST and LEAST successful
war in American history
United States spent at least $150
billion on the Vietnam War
MORE bombs dropped on Vietnam
than on all the Axis powers in WWII
DIVIDED the nation more than
any other war besides the Civil
War
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Vietnam War Memorial in
Washington, D.C.
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