Transcript Korean and Vietnam Wars

Cold War: Korean
and Vietnam Wars

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
Korean War
Background
Japanese lost Korea after World
War II
1945  Allies agreed on a
TEMPORARY solution = division of
Korea at the 38th PARALLEL
SOVIET-occupied NORTHERN
zone
AMERICAN-occupied SOUTHERN
zone



Soon a PRO-AMERICAN government
formed in SOUTH Korea and a
COMMUNIST regime was established in
NORTH 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

War breaks out in Korea
1)Pres. TRUMAN
brought the issue of
North Korean
aggression to the
UNITED NATIONS
U.S. response
2)Truman ordered American AIR and NAVAL
support + GROUND troops to aid the
South Koreans.
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
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
UN Police Action
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

Waging the War

TRUCE signed in 1953 left Korea DIVIDED
at almost the exact same place as before
the war  near the 38th PARALLEL
1) Enormous FRUSTRATION in United
States  54,000 dead, 103,000
wounded for LIMITED results
2) RESISTANCE of Communist forces,
containment WITHOUT nuclear war
Effects of Korean War
3) Huge INCREASE in MILITARY SPENDING
4) Development of powerful MILITARYINDUSTRIAL complex
5) Permanent MOBILIZATION of troops
around the world

American involvement in the VIETNAM
WAR also reflected the Cold War policy of
CONTAINMENT of communism
Vietnam War
“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

Background
Beginning in the 1950s and continuing
into the early 1960s, the COMMUNIST
government of NORTH Vietnam attempted
to install a communist government in
SOUTH Vietnam BY FORCE
 The UNITED STATES helped South
Vietnam RESIST

Increasing U.S. Involvement
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

Gulf of Tonkin
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

Fighting the War
Nearly 3 MILLION Americans served in the
Vietnam War
 Battlefield conditions were DIFFICULT:

◦ Viet Cong (Communist guerillas) were familiar
with LANDSCAPE
◦ South Vietnamese seemed INDIFFERENT
◦ Intense HEAT, jungle climate

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
Ground 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
Air War
AGENT ORANGE  HERBICIDE that
killed leaves and undergrowth to expose
Viet Cong hiding places; also killed
CROPS and caused HEALTH problems

Forrest Gump in Vietnam

Despite the LARGE United States presence
in South Vietnam (536,000 by end of
1968), Communist forces INTENSIFIED
their efforts

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
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

Political Divisions
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
Student Activism
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 and replacing them with
South Vietnamese soldiers, while
maintaining military aid to the South
Vietnamese

Nixon and “Vietnamization”
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
End of the War
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

More than 58,000
Americans dead
 300,000 Americans
wounded
 More than 2,500
MIA (MISSING IN
ACTION) and POWs
(PRISONERS OF
WAR)

Impact of Vietnam War
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

Vietnam War Memorial in
Washington, D.C.