Transcript The Cold War

The Cold War: Space Race, Arms Race,
and Armed Conflicts
Topic: The Cold War (1945-1991)
The United States and the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics (USSR) emerged as the two
strongest powers in international affairs.
Ideologically opposed, they challenged one
another in a series of confrontations known as
the Cold War. The costs of this prolonged
contest weakened the USSR so that it collapsed
due to internal upheavals as well as American
pressure. The Cold War had social and political
implications in the United States.
Content Statement:
The Cold War and conflicts in Korea and
Vietnam influenced domestic and
international politics.
Expectations for Learning:
Analyze how the Cold War and conflicts in
Korea and Vietnam influenced domestic
and international politics between the end
of World War II and 1991.
Space Race
• U.S. and Soviet Union
have a space race
– Another part of
Cold War
• Sputnik launched by Soviet Union
– Oct. 4, 1957
– First man-made satellite
– Spent 3 months in orbit
Space Race
• Sputnik II
–November, 1957
–Carried a dog to
outer space
–First ever living animal in space
U.S. Reaction to Sputnik
• Vanguard rocket
–Dec 6, 1957
–Disaster
Exploded seconds after launch
–Millions watched on TV
• Explorer II
–February, 1958
–First successful American satellite
U.S. Reaction to Sputnik
• U.S. was afraid
• Felt schools weren’t good enough
–Changed to put more emphasis on math
and science in schools
• National Defense Education Act of 1958
–$1 billion for more scientists
U.S. Reaction to Sputnik
• National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) was formed
–The federal agency that institutes and
administers the civilian programs of the
U.S. government that deal with
aeronautical research and the
development of launch vehicles and
spacecraft
–$4 billion to start
Men in Space
• Soviet Union was first
–April 12, 1961
–Yuri Gagarin
First person in space
–Circled globe one time
Men in Space
• United States
–May 5, 1961
Alan Shepard
oFlight lasted 15 minutes
–Feb. 20, 1962
John Glenn becomes the first
American to orbit the Earth
Moon Landing
• JFK challenges nation in 1961
–Put man on moon by 1970
• Apollo 11
–Space flight to the moon
–July, 1969
–Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and
Michael Collins
–Armstrong: “That’s one small step for
man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Korean War
• After WWII, Korea was split
–North: controlled by the
Soviet Union
Communist
No free elections
–South: controlled by the
United States
Elect own government
• U.S. and Soviets left Korea
in 1949
Korean War
• North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950
–The United Nations Security Council
unanimously condemned the North
Korean invasion of the Republic of
Korea
Korean War
The Soviet Union had boycotted the
Council meetings since January 1950,
protesting that the Republic of
China (Taiwan), not the People's
Republic of China, held a permanent
seat in the United Nations Security
Council
Korean War
– The Security Council recommended that
member states provide military assistance
to the Republic of Korea
– On June 27 President Truman ordered U.S.
air and sea forces to help the South Korean
regime
– On July 4 the Soviet Deputy Foreign
Minister accused the U.S. of starting
armed intervention on behalf of South
Korea
Korean War
• The Korean War lasted three years
–The Korean War also fed into the
communist hysteria of the late 1940’s
and 1950’s
• The U.S. was the main country that
helped South Korea
• Goal: drive North Koreans back out of
South Korea
General Douglas MacArthur
• Supreme Commander of U.N. Forces
Korean War
• North Korea had driven the U.S. and its
allies almost out of Korea
• MacArthur then counterattacks the rear of
the North Korean army
• The U.S. and its allies begin to win, and
North Korea was near defeat
and then . . .
China Enters the War
• China said that if the U.S.
invaded North Korea, they
would join the war on the
side of North Korea
• MacArthur did not believe that China
would enter the war
• The U.S. invaded North Korea
China Enters the War
• MacArthur was
wrong
–China entered the
war
–300,000 Chinese
attacked the U.S.
troops in 1950
• U.S. troops were pushed back into South
Korea
The ‘see-saw’ of the Korean War
• The war was fought
back and forth across the
38th Parallel
Truman and MacArthur
• General MacArthur asks Truman for
permission to bomb China
• Truman feared this would bring the
Soviet Union into the war
–He said “no”
• MacArthur then asked Congress for
permission
• This angers Truman, so he fires
MacArthur in 1951
End of the War
• Peace talks began in July of 1951
–Disagreement
The United Nations wanted prisoners
to be able to choose which Korea
they wanted to live in
The Communists wanted all
prisoners to return to their homeland
End of the War
• Negotiations lasted two years
• Agreement reached July of 1953
–Prisoners could go where they choose
• Two different countries formed
–North Korea
–South Korea
Aftermath of the Korean War
• A two and one-half mile neutral zone
formed between North and South Korea
–Called the Demilitarized Zone
• U.S. troops are still in South Korea to
help protect them
• Still two separate countries
North Korea
• Kim Jong Il led an
impoverished and
backward country where
his people were starving
and freezing to death
−His son, Kim Jong-un
still does the same
today
What is this?
Peace Agreement
• President Eisenhower promised to end
the Korea War
• Panmunjom—peace negotiations
–Neither side gained much
–Border put back near 38th parallel
–35,000 U.S. soldiers killed
–Threat of nuclear war ends
Cuban Missile Crisis
• October, 1962
• A 13-day confrontation between the
Soviet Union and Cuba on one side and
the U.S. on the other side
• The crisis is generally regarded as the
moment in which the Cold War came
closest to turning into a nuclear conflict
Cuban Missile Crisis
• The first documented instance of mutual
assured destruction (MAD) being
discussed as a determining factor in a
major international arms agreement
• October 14 – an Air Force aircraft
secured clear photographic evidence of
missiles on the ground in Cuba
Cuban Missile Crisis
• The U.S. announced that it would not
permit offensive weapons to be delivered
to Cuba
• The U.S. also demanded the
dismantlement and return of Soviet
weapons back to the USSR
• The U.S. imposed a naval blockade of
Cuba to prevent future shipments from
the USSR
Cuban Missile Crisis
• Ended on October 28, 1962
• The Soviets dismantled their offensive
weapons in Cuba and returned them to
the Soviet Union
Cuban Missile Crisis
• Publicly, the U.S. agreed to never invade
Cuba without provocation
• Secretly, the U.S. withdrew all of its
nuclear missiles from Turkey
• Hotline is established between Moscow
and Washington, D.C.
History of Vietnam
• For much of Vietnam’s 2,000-year
existence, it was dominated by foreign
powers such as China, France, and Japan
War for Independence
• In the 20thcentury, a
Vietnamese nationalist
named Ho Chi Minh
formed a Communist
party dedicated to
Vietnamese
independence
• From 1945 to 1954, his
forces fought the French
Ho Chi Minh
Geneva Accords
• In 1954, Ho’s
forces defeated
the French
• The peace
agreement was
called the Geneva
Accords
• Temporarily divided Vietnam along the
17th parallel
Vietnam Divided
• Ho Chi Minh and the
Communists
controlled the north
• The anti-communists
and their leader, Ngo
Dinh Diem,
controlled the south
Domino Theory
• To justify his support for South Vietnam,
President Dwight Eisenhower and VicePresident Richard Nixon put forward the
“domino theory”
–It was argued that if the first domino is
knocked over then the rest topple in
turn
USS Maddox
• August 2, 1964 - U.S. destroyer Maddox
exchanged shots with North Vietnamese
torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin
• Two days later, the Maddox and another
destroyer reported coming under fire again
– It has since been concluded that the second
of those attacks never actually occurred
– However, it served as the pretext for an
immediate ramp-up of the Vietnam War
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
• President Johnson announced the Tonkin Gulf
Resolution
– Gave the president power to take “all
necessary measures to repel any armed attack
against the forces of the U.S. and to prevent
further aggression”
• By the end of the day, President Johnson had
ordered retaliatory air strikes
• By late 1965 around 180,000 American troops
were on the ground, with more on the way
Vietcong
• The U.S. superiority in weaponry was
negated by the enemies mastery of the
jungle terrain and guerrilla war tactics
–Moving secretly in and out of the
general population, the Vietcong (South
Vietnamese supporters of communism)
used ambush tactics to help turn the
war into a frustrating
• Led to a stalemate
1960’s The Vietnam War Summary
• Eisenhower: military weapons and
economic help to South Vietnam
• Kennedy: sent military advisors
• Johnson: Sent only non-combat troops
• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
–Johnson used it to increase troops
–By 1966, there were 400,000 troops
there
–U.S. starts aerial bombs
• Congress never declared war
1968 Meeting in Paris
• By 1968 it was obvious the war was
lasting too long and we might not win
–Johnson stops bombing North Vietnam
–Sets up meeting in Paris, France
North Vietnam
South Vietnam
The United States
• Meeting did little to end the war
Tet Offensive - 1968
• Tet is the Vietnamese New Year
• Vietcong and the North Vietnamese army
launched surprise attacks on numerous
cities
• The simultaneous strikes, while ending in
military defeat for the communists,
stunned the American public
• Many people with moderate views began
to turn against the war
1970’s: The Politics of Protest
• People wondered why we were in
Vietnam
• T.V. brought home the horrors of war
• Anti-war movement became more vocal
• People were starting to believe that the
U.S. government spent too much on war
and not enough on domestic problems
• There were many protests
The Draft
• Under the Selective Service System, or
draft, all males between the ages of 18
and 26 could be called into military
service
• As Americans’ doubts about the war
grew, thousands of men attempted to find
ways around the draft
Johnson Doesn’t Seek Re-election
• The Vietnam War and
the divisiveness it
caused took its toll on
President Johnson
• In March, 1968, Johnson announced he
would not seek re-election
Vietnamization
• Part of Nixon’s end-the-war plan was
called Vietnamization
–Turn over the fighting to the South
Vietnamese
–U.S. troops would gradually be pulled
out
• Nixon said this would bring “peace with
honour”
• Nixon hoped to maintain U.S. dignity in
the face of its withdrawal from war
Peace With Honour
Leaving Vietnam
• January 27, 1973
–Cease-fire between
North Vietnam and U.S.
–U.S. agreed to take all
troops out of South
Vietnam
–North Vietnam agreed to
release all prisoners of
war
Leaving Vietnam
• “Vietnamization” did not work
–South Vietnam was too weak
–They could not stand alone
–Army fell apart
–Communist North Vietnam took over
South Vietnam in April of 1975
Summary of the Vietnam War
• Longest war in U.S. history up to that
point
–Only the “War on Terror” has been
longer
• 58,000 Americans killed and 365,000
were wounded
• Total cost was $150 billion
• The war lessened U.S citizens’ respect for
their government
Summary of the Vietnam War
• The war caused confusion about the
nation’s role in world affairs
• War Powers Act passed
–Requires the President to explain to
Congress within 48 hours whenever
American troops were to be sent into a
foreign country
Cold War and the U.S. Policies Summary
• The Cold War dominated international
politics and impacted domestic politics in the
U.S. for almost 45 years
• The intense rivalry between the U.S. and the
Soviet Union led to
– The creation of alliances
– An arms race
– Conflicts in Korea and Vietnam
– Brought the world close to nuclear war
with the Cuban Missile Crisis
Cold War and the U.S. Policies Summary
• The Cold War affected international
politics in the Middle East and Latin
America
• Also affected domestic politics
–Led to the Second Red Scare
–Led to the rise of McCarthyism
–A space race forced the U.S. to
increase spending on science education
The Cold War in Korea
• The Korean War fed into the communist
hysteria of the late 1940’s and 1950’s
• The United States was able to secure
support from the United Nations for the
defense of South Korea while the Soviet
Union was boycotting the Security
Council
The Cold War in Vietnam
• The Vietnam War divided
the country and sparked
massive protests
• Spending for the war
came at the expense of the
domestic programs
launched by President
Johnson
–This led to urban unrest
in the 1960’s
The Cold War in Vietnam
• The Vietnam War was a dominant issue in
the presidential campaigns of 1968 and
1972
• The difficulties and eventual withdrawal
from Vietnam led to concerted efforts on
part of the U.S. to find allies in future
conflicts
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