Cold War: Korean and Vietnam Wars

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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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Background

• 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 zone
• AMERICAN-occupied SOUTHERN zone

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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. response

• 1)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 War

• 1) Enormous FRUSTRATION in United States ? 54,000
  dead, 103,000 wounded for LIMITED results
• 2) RESISTANCE of Communist forces, containment
  WITHOUT 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

• 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

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• The American military BUILDUP in Vietnam began
  under Pres. EISENHOWER and Pres. John F. KENNEDY
• After Kennedys ASSASSINATION in 1963, the
  military buildup was INTENSIFIED under Pres.
  Lyndon JOHNSON

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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

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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
• Couldnt 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 and 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 Americans 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.
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