Cold War: Korean and Vietnam Wars
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Transcript of Cold War: Korean and Vietnam Wars
Cold War: Korean and Vietnam Wars
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Korean War 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”
War lasted 1950-1953
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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 zoneAMERICAN-occupied SOUTHERN zone
Background
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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 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. response1)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 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 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 War1) 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 MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL complex
6) Permanent MOBILIZATION of troops
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Vietnam War American involvement in the
VIETNAM WAR also reflected the Cold War policy of CONTAINMENT of communism
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Background “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 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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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
Gulf of Tonkin
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Fighting the War 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 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 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 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 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” 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 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 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.