Transcript Cold War Conflict Scenarios

BERLIN- 1948
 In 1948, a crisis developed in Berlin, Germany’s largest city.
After the war, the Allies had divided Germany into four zones.
American, British, French, and Soviet troops each occupied a
zone. Berlin, too, was divided among the four Allies, even
though it lay inside the Soviet zone.
 By 1948, the United States, Britain, and France wanted to
reunite their zones. Stalin opposed that plan. A reunited
Germany, he felt, would again be a threat to the Soviet Union.
To show his determination to prevent a united Western
Germany, Stalin closed all roads, railway lines, and river
routes connecting Berlin with West Germany. The blockade cut
of f West Berlin from the rest of the world. If the United States
or other Allied powers tried to force their way through Eastern
Germany to get to Berlin, the Soviet Union would have
declared war.
BERLIN AIRLIFT
 Instead, President Truman approved a huge airlift.
During the Berlin Airlift, hundreds of American and
British planes carried tons of food, fuel, and other
supplies to the two million West Berliners every day.
 The airlift lasted for almost a year. Stalin finally saw
that the West would not abandon West Berlin. In May
1949, he lifted the blockade. After the blockade, the
United States, Great Britain, and France merged their
zones into the Federal Republic of Germany, or West
Germany.
KOREA- 1950
 Korea is a peninsula in East Asia. Russia and China border it
to the north and the west. Japan lies across the Sea of Japan
to the east. In the past, these powerful neighbors often
competed to control Korea.
 As World War II ended, the United States and the Soviet Union
agreed to a temporary division of Korea at the 38 th parallel (a
line of latitude). Both nations agreed that Korea would soon
be reunited.
 As the Cold War deepened, however, Korea remained divided.
The United States backed a noncommunist government in
South Korea. The Soviet Union supported the communist
government of North Korea. There was no agreement on when,
or how, to reunite Korea.
KOREAN WAR
 In June 1950, North Korean troops swept across the 38 th
parallel into South Korea. The South Korean army was quickly
overwhelmed. Within days, North Korean forces occupied
Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
 President Truman responded forcefully to the attack. He
asked the United Nations to send a military force to Korea.
Sixteen countries joined the UN action in Korea, but most of
the troops were American.
 The UN forces pushed the invading army back into North
Korea to try and reunite the country, but then the Chinese
entered the war to help the North Koreans. The fighting turned
into a bloody deadlock, with neither side winning. After three
years, a peace agreement was signed that kept Korea divided
at the 38 th parallel—where it had been before the war!
CUBA- 1962
 In 1959, Fidel Castro led a revolution that set up a communist
government in Cuba. The Soviet Union began supplying Cuba
with large amounts of aid. The growing ties between the
Soviet Union and Castro’s Cuba worried American of ficials.
Cuba lies just 90 miles of f the coast of Florida.
 In 1961 , President John F. Kennedy approved a plan for Cuban
exiles (people who have been forced to leave their own
country) to overthrow Castro. This invasion was badly planned,
and its failure only made Castro stronger.
 Afterwards, the Soviet Union gave Cuba more weapons. In
October 1962, President Kennedy learned that the Soviets
were secretly building missile bases on Cuba. If the bases
were completed, atomic missiles could reach American cities
within minutes.
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
 Kennedy announced that American warships would stop any
Soviet ship carrying missiles. The world waited tensely as
Soviet ships steamed toward Cuba. At the last minute, the
Soviet ships turned back. “We’re eyeball to eyeball,” said
Secretary of State Dean Rusk, “and I think the other fellow
just blinked.”
 Kennedy’s strong stand led the Soviets to compromise. The
Soviets agreed to remove their missiles from Cuba. In return,
the US promised not to invade the island. In all the years of
the Cold War, the world never came closer to a full -scale
nuclear war.
VIETNAM- 196?
 Vietnam is a narrow country that stretches about 1 ,000 miles
along the South China Sea. In 1954, Vietnam won its
independence from France and was divided into communist
North Vietnam and democratic South Vietnam. But many
people in South Vietnam felt that their leader was corrupt, so
they began to join the Vietcong, a group of guerrilla fighters
who supported communism (guerrilla fighters use hit -and-run
attacks on the enemy and don’t wear uniforms).
 Vietcong influence quickly spread throughout South Vietnam,
especially in villages, and this worried American leaders.
VIETNAM WAR
 In August 1964, President Johnson announced that North
Vietnamese torpedo boats had attacked an American ship of f
the coast of North Vietnam. Because of this, the US began to
actively fight in Vietnam. Fighting in Vietnam was dif ficult,
because the guerrilla fighters could disappear into the jungle
or into villages. In January 1968, the Vietcong launched
surprise attacks on cities across South Vietnam, including the
American embassy. As the war dragged on, public support for
the war faded. Under pressure from the American people,
President Nixon began to withdraw troops from Vietnam. In
1973, a cease-fire agreement was reached and all American
troops left Vietnam. However, in April 1975, North Vietnamese
troops captured South Vietnam’s capital city. Soon after,
Vietnam was united under a communist government.