Transcript Hot Conflicts of the Cold War

The Cold War…
It’s getting hot in here!!!
The Korean War
• Although it lacked the glory of WWII an the
turmoil of the Vietnam War, the Korean
conflict had important effects on the United
States.
• While the attention of most Americans
focused on Communism in Europe, events
were unfolding in Asia that would cause the
Cold War to flare up into a “hot” military
confrontation.
“Temporarily” Dividing Korea
• Japan had annexed the Korean peninsula during
WWII.
• The Koreans had hoped their country would be
restored after the defeat of Japan.
• The war ended before careful plans for an
independent Korea could be finalized.
• The U.S. and the Soviets basically split it up into
occupied zones.
• The Soviets occupied north of the 38th parallel
and the U.S. occupied south of the 38th parallel.
Google Earth Rules!
The Korean War Begins
• The Government in the north was communist
and the Government in the south was proAmerican.
• Koreans on both sides of the 38th parallel
wanted to unify their nation.
• The Korean War started when North Korean
troops streamed across the 38th parallel.
• The attack took the United States by surprise.
The U.N. Police Action
• President Truman thought the Soviet Union
was behind the attack (he was wrong).
• He would not let this aggression stand: “If this
(invasion of South Korea) was allowed to go
unchallenged, it would mean a third world
war, just as similar incidents brought on the
second world war.”
• Technically, the U.S. never declared war on
North Korea, instead they were 80% of the
U.N. Police Action to protect South Korea.
Douglas MacArthur is in Charge
• Douglas MacArthur was an American hero.
• He was a very successful General with one
problem: He had a bad attitude toward
anyone with authority over him.
• MacArthur was put in charge of the U.N.
police action to defend South Korea.
• He successfully pushed back the North
Koreans towards the Chinese border.
MacArthur and Truman Disagree
• Once the North Koreans had been pushed
back towards China, the Chinese sent troops
in to help them because they did not want a
democracy close to their border.
• MacArthur thought it would be a good idea to
ask the Chinese Nationalists living on the
island of Taiwan to come back and fight the
communists.
• Truman disagreed with MacArthur because he
“did not want to start World War Three.”
MacArthur Gets Fired!
• MacArthur was mad at Truman and he sent a
letter to the Secretary of State complaining
about Truman’s decision.
• The Secretary of State made the letter public
and Truman decided to fire MacArthur for
insubordination.
• The two sides in the conflict fought to a
stalemate and a truce was signed in 1953,
leaving Korea divided almost exactly as it was
at the beginning of the war.
Americans Get Angry
• The war caused enormous frustration in the
United States.
• Why had 34,000 soldiers been killed and
103,000 injured for such limited results?
• They wondered if the U.S. Government had
the guts to stop communism.
• The silver lining was that the Communists
were pushed back past the 38th parallel and
were contained.
Historical Significance of the
Korean War:
• The Korean War was the first war in which
white Americans and African Americans
served in the same unit.
• The United States began to accept permanent
mobilization to be ready to fight communism
anytime and anywhere, which led to a huge
increase in military spending.
• This created the military-industrial complex
that employed 3.5 million Americans by 1960.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
• On October 16, 1962, photographs taken from
an American spy plane revealed that the
Soviets were building missile bases on Cubaonly 90 miles from the Florida coast.
• As a result, the U.S. and the Soviet Union
came
this close to a nuclear
war.
Soviets Flex Their Muscles
• The missiles did not actually make the U.S. any
less safe because the Soviets had long range
missiles that could be launched from there.
• It was instead an effort to intimidate the
United States and their young president.
• Kennedy knew this aggression should not
stand so he decided to respond.
Krushchev Vs. Kennedy
Kennedy’s Options
1) Engage in further negotiations with the
Soviets:
• This option, although peaceful, would give the
Soviets more time to finish building the
missile bases.
• It also might make Kennedy look like a wimp
in the face of the bold Soviet move.
Kennedy’s Options
2) Invade Cuba:
• This would eliminate the missile threat and
achieve the additional goal of ousting Fidel
Castro.
• A Cuban invasion had failed before (Bay of
Pigs), and this plan risked all-out nuclear war
with the Soviets.
Kennedy’s Options
3) Blockade Cuba:
• This action would prevent Soviet ships from
making further missile deliveries.
• It would force the Soviets to either back off or
take aggressive action against U.S. warships.
• No one knew how the Soviets would react to
this step.
Kennedy’s Options
• Bomb the missile sites:
• A series of air strikes could quickly knock out
the missiles.
• Would the Soviets launch a counterstrike? If
so, where?
Kennedy Weighs his Options
• There were differing opinions on what
Kennedy should do and he was under a lot of
pressure!
• He got the armed forces ready for an all out
attack on Cuba and then he weighed his
options alone.
• This was one of the most dangerous and
agonizing decisions any President had to
make.
Kennedy Decides
• Kennedy decided on a naval “quarantine”
around Cuba to block Soviet ships.
• He did not use the word “blockade” because
that would have been an act of war.
• Kennedy did not back down: “The path we
have chosen for the present is full of
hazards…The cost of freedom is always highand Americans have always paid it. And one
path we shall never choose, and that is the
path of surrender or submission.” October 22,
The World Waits
• As a dozen Soviet cargo ships approached the
quarantine, the world held its breath.
• To everyone’s great relief, the Soviet ships
suddenly reversed direction, the Soviet leader
Krushchev had called them back.
• In return for taking the missiles out of Cuba,
the Soviet Union wanted the United States to
lift the naval blockade, stay out of Cuba’s
business, and remove their missiles from
Turkey.
So, so close
• The Cuban Missile crisis brought the world
closer than ever to Nuclear war.
• Such a war would have caused unimaginable
destruction.
• Secretary of State Dean Rusk said to Kennedy:
“We have won a considerable victory. You and
I are still alive.”
The Aftereffects
• They opened up a “hot line” between their two
nations to allow the Soviet and American leaders
to communicate quickly in the event of a future
crisis.
• The U.S. and the Soviet Union agreed to the
Limited Test Ban Treaty in which both countries
agreed to not test nuclear weapons above
ground.
• Testing underground still happened, but this
limited the amount of radioactivity released into
the atmosphere.
If you want to explore further…
• Cuban Missle Crisis Info!
• http://cruof5.com/default.aspx
The Vietnam War
• As part of the U.S. policy of containment,
President Dwight D. Eisenhower described
what he called the Domino Theory.
• “You have a row of dominoes set up, you
knock over the first one, and what will happen
to the last one is the certainty that it will go
over very quickly.”
• The fear was that if communism took over
Vietnam than it would spread to the rest of
Southeast Asia.
An image of the Domino Theory
The Geneva Accords
• Vietnam had been a French colony. They were
eventually defeated and left.
• The Geneva Accords were the peace talks
between various leaders including the U.S., Soviet
Union, and Great Britain after the French had
been driven out of Vietnam.
• Vietnam was divided into two parts: The north,
led by Ho Chi Minh, was communist and the
south, led by Ngo Dinh Diem, was anticommunist.
• Didn’t anyone learn from Korea?
U.S. Involvement
• President Eisenhower continued the policy set
forth by the Truman Doctrine and he pledged
support of South Vietnam.
• He sent 675 United States military advisors to
assist in South Vietnam’s struggle against the
north.
• The United States had become involved in the
Vietnam War…
President Johnson Commits to
Containment
• “The Communists’ desire to dominate the
world is just like the lawyer’s desire to be the
ultimate judge on the Supreme Court…You
see, the Communists want to rule the world,
and if we don’t stand up to them, they will do
it. And we’ll be slaves. Now, I’m not one of
those folks seeing Communists under every
bed. But I do know about the principles of
power, and when one side is weak, the other
steps in.”
Johnson Didn’t Want a Bad
Reputation
• Johnson saw how the country blamed
President Truman for allowing China to fall to
the Communists.
• He was determined to not let Southeast Asia
fall to the Communists as well.
• He was afraid he would be blamed for the
Southeast Asian “dominoes” being set in
motion by the fall of Vietnam.
Expanding Presidential Powers
• In 1964, Johnson made a dramatic
announcement: North Vietnamese torpedo
boats had attacked United States warships in
the Gulf of Tonkin!
• Although the details were sketchy, and many
thought it might not have happened at all,
Johnson used the incident to increase
American involvement in Vietnam.
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
• President Johnson asked Congress for a
resolution giving him authority to “take all
necessary measures to repel any armed attack
against the forces of the United States and to
prevent further aggression.”
• Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution and the President now had nearly
complete control over what the United States
did in Vietnam, even if Congress never
declared war…which they didn’t!
“Hot Conflict” Summaries
• For each “Hot Conflict”, write a paragraph
summary of what happened (What started the
conflict? How did it end? Did we “contain”
communism?)
– Korean War
– Cuban Missile Crisis
– Vietnam War
• 3 paragraphs total!!!