Cold War Conflicts

Korea - Vietnam

Korea

• First war that grew from Cold War ideologies– 1950 – Communist North

Korea crossed the 38th parallel and attacked Democratic South Korea

– Douglas MacArthur• Led America to victory

– Fired by Truman for being insubordinate

– Wanted to use A-bomb against China

– 38th parallel kept as a result

Bay of Pigs Invasion

• CIA trained Cubans to overthrow Communist Fidel Castro– Plan was a disaster– Air attacks failed– Cubans could not make

it ashore– The U.S. was humiliated

and had to accept defeat– Embarrassed Kennedy

administration

Berlin

• The Soviets took a strong hold in East Berlin

• They continued to seek a blockade of people flowing from east to west

• The Soviets built a wall, the Berlin Wall, to stop the flow and avoid a showdown with the U.S. in Germany

Cuban Missile Crisis• A U-2 spy plane took pictures

of Soviets building missile site in Cuba, 1962

• Kennedy prepared the Armed Forces, the U.S. went to Defense Condition (DEFCON) 2: DEFCON 1 means war.

• The U.S. navy formed a “Quarantine” of Cuba (not a “blockade”)

• The world waited as the Soviets drew near

• Khrushchev called his ships back and demanded that the U.S. stay out of Cuba and remove its missiles from Turkey

• Limited Test Ban Treaty• Banned nuclear testing

above ground• Eliminated radioactive

fallout

Vietnam

• Vietnam’s Past– France became a colonial

power in Vietnam in the 1800s

– After WWII, Communist Ho Chi Minh lead a Vietnamese Independence Movement

– Vietnam Battled France at Dien Bien Phu

– July, 1954• Vietnam divided into 2 nations –

17th parallel• South Vietnam lead by U.S.

backed Ngo Dinh Diem

• 1954-63– Eisenhower sent 675

military “advisors” in 1960

– By the end of 1963, Kennedy had sent 16,000

– Both men were determined to “contain” Communism

• Assassinations– Ngo Dinh Diem

• Unpopular leader• Overthrown and killed,

1963

– JFK killed, 1963• Gulf of Tonkin Incident

– Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked a U.S. destroyer

– Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution (1965)

– Gave the President the power to “prevent further aggression”

– U.S. involvement ESCALATED (Johnson)

• Viet Cong (VCs)– Communist Guerrillas

spread throughout South Vietnam (Charlie)

– Passed supplies along the “HO CHI MINH TRAIL”

• Involvement grows– Johnson ordered the

bombing of North Vietnam after Americans were killed in an attack

– America sent in more troops• Start of 1965 – 25,000• End of 1965 – 184,000• End of 1966 – 385,000• End of 1967 – 485,000• End of 1968 – 536,000

• Tet Offensive, 1968– Vietnamese launched

offensive on Vietnamese New Year

– Viet Cong attacked towns, military bases and the U.S. Embassy

– Psychological victory for Vietnam

• U.S. Offensive– U.S. continued to bomb

with saturation or “carpet” bombing

– Agent Orange– Defoliant – kills leaves– Caused health problems

in U.S. soldiers– Napalm - Burning jelly– My Lai Massacre – U.S.

soldiers killed 175 innocent Vietnamese

Vietnam and Nixon• Because of growing discontent with America’s involvement in

Vietnam, LBJ lost to Nixon in 1968• Nixon removed troops – 1968 to 1972 – from 543,000 to

39,000• Cambodia

– Nixon secretly (to avoid public outcry) bombed Cambodia– Protests result when revealed

• Jackson State• KENT STATE – 4 students shot and killed (1970)

• 1973 – U.S. signed the Treaty of Paris, promising to remove forces

• 1975– America removed final personnel– South Vietnam fell to the Communists