Cold War: Korean and Vietnam Wars

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Korean War 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

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Japan had ANNEXED the Korean peninsula before WWI; Japanese defeated in WWII

1945 Allies agreed on a TEMPORARY solution = temporary division of Korea at the 38th PARALLEL SOVIET-occupied NORTHERN zoneAMERICAN-occupied SOUTHERN zone

Background

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Soon a PRO-AMERICAN government formed in SOUTH Korea and a COMMUNIST regime was established in NORTH Korea.

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War breaks out in 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

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U.S. response1)Pres. TRUMAN

brought the issue of North Korean aggression to the UNITED NATIONS

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2)Truman ordered American AIR and NAVAL support + GROUND troops to aid the South Koreans.

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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

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UN Police Action 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

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Waging the War 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

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TRUCE signed in 1953 left Korea DIVIDED at almost the exact same place as before the war near the 38th PARALLEL

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Effects of Korean War1) Enormous FRUSTRATION in

United States 54,000 dead, 103,000 wounded for LIMITED results

2) RESISTANCE of Communist forces, containment W/OUT nuclear war.

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3) INTEGRATION of UNITS in armed forces

4) Huge INCREASE in MILITARY SPENDING

5) Development of powerful MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL complex

6) Permanent MOBILIZATION of troops

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Vietnam War American involvement in the

VIETNAM WAR also reflected the Cold War policy of CONTAINMENT of communism

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Background “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

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Increasing U.S. Involvement in SOUTH Vietnam BY FORCE

Beginning in the 1950s and continuing into the early 1960s, the COMMUNIST government of NORTH Vietnam attempted to install a communist government

The UNITED STATES helped South Vietnam RESIST

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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

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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

Gulf of Tonkin

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Fighting the War Nearly 3 MILLION Americans served

in the Vietnam War Battlefield conditions were DIFFICULT:

• Viet Cong (Communist guerillas in South Korea) were familiar with LANDSCAPE

• South Vietnamese seemed INDIFFERENT• Couldn’t TRUST anyone• Intense HEAT, jungle climate

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Ground War 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

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Air 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

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AGENT ORANGE HERBICIDE that killed leaves and undergrowth to expose Viet Cong hiding places; also killed CROPS and caused HEALTH problems

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Despite the LARGE United States presence in South Vietnam (536,000 by end of 1968), Communist forces INTENSIFIED their efforts

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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

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Massacre at My Lai March 1968: U.S. infantry company

entered MY LAI (small village that was supposedly sheltering Viet Cong)

U.S. soldiers found only WOMEN, CHILDREN, and OLD MEN in the village the U.S. soldiers massacred these civilians

More than 400 INNOCENT Vietnamese died until a U.S. HELICOPTER crew stepped in to halt the slaughter

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Political Divisions 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

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Student Activism 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

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Nixon and “Vietnamization” 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 & replacing them with South Vietnamese soldiers, while maintaining military aid to the South Vietnamese

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End of the War 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

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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

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Impact of Vietnam War More than 58,000

Americans dead 300,000 wounded More than 2,500

MIA (MISSING IN ACTION) and POWs (PRISONERS OF WAR)

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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

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Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.