Transcript The Cold War - Reading Community Schools

THE COLD WAR
VIETNAM WAR
Q.O.D. #4 3/26/10
 Q:
How did the U.S. lead a U.N. force in South
Korea after the invasion by North Korea in
1950?
Q.O.D. #4 3/26/10
 Q:
How did the U.S. lead a U.N. force in South
Korea after the invasion by North Korea in
1950?
 Domino

Prevent countries from falling to communism
 Truman

U.N. representative
Taiwanese government represented China until 1971
 Soviet

Doctrine
Policy of containment
 China’s

Theory
boycott of U.N.
Disagreement over which government represented China
“PROXY WAR”

What is a “proxy war”?
A
proxy war is a war that results when opposing
powers use third parties as substitutes for fighting
each other directly.
 Proxy wars were common in the Cold War because
the USSR and USA did not want to fight each other
directly (MAD).
 Proxies
were used in conflicts in Afghanistan, Africa,
Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East and Latin America
VIETNAM
Formerly
French
Indochina
 Nearly 30
years of
conflict

 1946-54:
War with
French
 1955-1975:
Cold War
VIETNAM
Indochina was conquered by French in
1800s, but Japan took over the region in
WWII
 Following WWII the French tried to regain
control
 First Indochina War

 Vietnamese
led by Ho Chi Minh, communist and
nationalist
 1954: Victory at Dienbienphu
 French
left
VIETNAM DIVIDED

1954: Western and communist
countries agreed to division of
Vietnam



North: ruled by Ho Chi Minh’s
communists
South: ruled by Ngo Dinh Diem,
supported by U.S.
Elections supposed to be held to
choose government of reunited
Vietnam, never were


Some South Vietnamese preferred Ho
Chi Minh
Some North Vietnamese against
communist rule fled to South
DOMINO THEORY - VIETNAM

U.S. supported Ngo Dinh Diem’s government
 Ngo
was a dictator: corrupt and brutal practices
 BUT:
 Fear

of communist threat from North
If one land in a region became communist,
then the surrounding countries would follow.

A change will cause a similar change nearby, which then will
cause another similar change, and so on like a row of falling
dominoes.
U.S. ENTERS THE WAR

Ho Chi Minh was determined to unite Vietnam

Supported National Liberation Front, aka Viet Cong
At first, U.S. sent only supplies and “advisors”
aka Green Berets, later sent large numbers of
combat troops
 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution



Aug. 1, 1964: U.S. destroyer Maddox attacked by Viet Cong
who mistakenly believed it had aided South Vietnamese
troops’ raid in Gulf
Three days later, Maddox believed it had been attacked a
2nd time, but equipment likely malfunctioned
GULF OF TONKIN RESOLUTION

President Lyndon Johnson reported Viet Cong
attacks to Congress


Did not mention South Vietnamese raids or the doubts
about the second attack on the Maddox
August 7, 1964: Congress authorized the
President to take all necessary measures to
prevent aggression in Southeast Asia
 U.S.
began bombing targets in North Vietnam
 More than 500,000 troops committed to war

Guerilla warfare



The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army avoided large
scale battles using hit and run tactics, ambushes, booby
traps, tunnels, and other methods to frustrate the American
and South Vietnamese Soldiers.
There were no battle lines, as the communists used the
jungle for cover, and extensive tunnel systems to evade US
forces. To combat this the U.S. used helicopters to rush
troops to an area where communists were active, to conduct
Search and Destroy missions.
The communists also blended into the population, making it
extremely difficult for the Americans to determine who the
enemy was. Many VC lived peacefully in villages by day, and
engaged in guerrilla tactics at night. Some civilians
supported the US, but many others supported the VC and
aided and sheltered them.
Ho Chi Minh Trail
Ho Chi Mihn Trail
North
Vietnam supplied the VC
and NVA in South Vietnam
through a long series
of jungle trails located in
Laos and Cambodia, where
American soldiers could not
attack.
When defeated in battle, the
communists would often just
flee to the safety of these
neighboring countries, coming
back to fight another day.
Images of the the Vietnam War
Air Mobile
TET OFFENSIVE

1968 – North Vietnamese guerillas attacked
American and South Vietnamese during Tet the Vietnamese New Year.
 North
suffered huge casualties, but this turned the
tide for North Vietnam.
 Despite U.S. and ARVN victories, American public
support was falling because the government always
said the war was going well, but Tet proved the
communists were far from defeated.
 Johnson
announced he would not run for re-election
AMERICAN OPPOSITION TO WAR
Growing anti-war
opposition in U.S.
 Bitter divisions between
supporters and
protesters

 Many
did not want to see
images of the war and
bodies of Americans being
returned, but also did not
want to lose a war
WITHDRAW
Americans decided they had to get out of the
war
 President Nixon signed Paris Peace Accord in
January 1973

 Established
 U.S.
cease-fire
withdrew troops, North Vietnamese would not send
more into South
 The United States loses around 58,000 service men and
women in Vietnam, with thousands more physically
disabled, or psychologically scarred.
NORTH VIETNAM
WINS



Two years after American withdraw, North Vietnam
conquered South Vietnam
 Saigon (capital of South) renamed Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi
(capital of North) became capital of Vietnam
Communists imposed harsh rule on the south
 Hundreds of thousands fled
Cambodia and Laos became communist, dominated by
communist Vietnam. In Cambodia the communist Khmer
Rouge under Pol Pot kill nearly one million people
VIETNAM TODAY

Communist, with president elected every 5
years by National Assembly
 Current
president won 94% of vote in 2006
 Thriving tourism
industry
REVIEW

Truman Doctrine: American policy of
containment- limiting the spread of
communism
 U.S.

would actively resist Soviet expansion
Marshall Plan: massive aid package offered by
the United States to European countries to
strengthen democratic governments
 U.S.
gave food and economic aid to Europe to help
countries rebuild after World War 2


Berlin Blockade and Airlift
 June 1948: Stalin tried to
force the Western
democracies out of Berlin,
closed every road and
railroad into the Western
sections of Berlin.
 West replied with a massive
airlift of supplies
 Operation Little Vittles
Berlin Wall



Berlin divided into East Berlin
and West Berlin
Both located within East
Germany
East Germany built wall
around West Berlin
East Berlin
West Berlin
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(1949)
 United States
 Luxemburg
 Belgium
 Netherlands
 Britain
 Norway
 Canada
 Portugal
 Denmark
 1952: Greece &
Turkey
 France
 Iceland
 Italy
 1955: West Germany
 1983: Spain
Warsaw Pact (1955)
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U. S. S. R.
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East Germany
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Albania
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Hungary
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Bulgaria
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Poland
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Czechoslovakia
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Romania