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The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korea and South
Korea regimes, with major hostilities lasting from June 25, 1950 until the armistice
signed on July 27, 1953. The conflict arose from the attempts of the North Korean
powers to re-unify Korea under a communist government. The period immediately before
the war was marked by escalating border conflicts at the 38th Parallel and attempts to
negotiate elections for the entirety of Korea. These negotiations ended when the North
Korean Army invaded the South on June 25, 1950. The United States entered the conflict
on behalf of South Korea due to the Truman Doctrine and the policy of Containment (you
do know containment and the Truman Doctrine, right????) After rapid advances in a
South Korean counterattack, communist-allied Chinese forces intervened on behalf of
North Korea, shifting the balance of the war and ultimately leading to an armistice that
approximately restored the original boundaries between North and South Korea.
The Korean War was the first armed
confrontation of the Cold War and set the
standard for many later conflicts. It created the
idea of a proxy war, where the two superpowers
would fight in another country, forcing the
people in that nation to suffer the bulk of the
destruction and death involved in a war between
such large nations. The superpowers avoided
descending into an all-out war with one another,
as well as the mutual use of nuclear weapons. It
also expanded the Cold War, which to that point
had mostly been concerned with Europe. The war officially stopped on July 27, 1953
when the two sides signed a ceasefire agreement.
Following World War II, the relations between the United
States and the Soviet Union grew increasingly wary. The USSR did
not agree to a U.S. 'Open Skies' proposal (The US wanted to be able to
fly over Soviet Skies to check out Military bases and nuclear weapons)
in 1955 and relations continued to deteriorate. The U.S. instituted high
altitude reconnaissance (spy) flights over the Soviet Union because of
this aura of mistrust. The U-2 was the plane of choice for the spying
missions. The CIA took the lead, keeping the military out of the
picture to avoid any possibilities of open conflict. By 1960, the U.S.
had flown numerous 'successful' missions over and around the
U.S.S.R. However, a major incident was about to occur. On May 1,
1960, a U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers was brought
down near Svedlovsk, Soviet Union. This event had a lasting negative
impact on U.S. - U.S.S.R. relations. The details surrounding this event are to this day still
shrouded in mystery.
U2 Spy plane. This plane
flew at altitudes as high as
70,000 feet.
This incident set in motion a pattern of mistrust that culminated in the Cuban Missile
Crisis, a time when U.S.-U.S.S.R. relations reached an all time low. No one can predict if
the Cold War might have ended sooner had the U-2 incident not occurred.
Info on the plane:
Design. The U-2 is built much like a glider, with ultralight construction and long,
narrow wings that measure 80 ft (24 m) from tip to tip, longer than the plane itself. (The
U-2C plane, which was first flown in 1978, has a wingspan of 103 ft.) Wings of this type,
mounted at right angles to the body of an aircraft, provide high lift (i.e., upward
aerodynamic force resulting from airflow around the wing); this is necessary at 70,000 ft
because the atmosphere is so thin. The U-2's cruising altitude takes it so close to outer
space that the sky above appears black and the curvature of the Earth is visible.
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war.
The United States armed forces were at their highest state of readiness ever and
Soviet field commanders in Cuba were prepared to use battlefield nuclear
weapons to defend the island if it was invaded.
In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the arms
race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe
but U.S. missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April
1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing
intermediate-range missiles in Cuba.
Meanwhile, Fidel Castro was looking for a way to defend his island nation
from an attack by the U.S. In the summer of 1962 the Soviet Union worked
quickly and secretly to build its
missile installations in Cuba.
For the United States, the crisis
began on October 15, 1962 when
reconnaissance photographs
revealed Soviet missiles under
construction in Cuba. Early the
next day, President John Kennedy
was informed of the missile
installations. After seven days of
guarded and intense debate within
the upper echelons of government,
Kennedy concluded to impose a naval quarantine around Cuba. He wished to
prevent the arrival of more Soviet offensive weapons on the island.
Tensions finally began to ease on October 28 when Khrushchev announced that
he would dismantle the installations and return the missiles to the Soviet Union,
expressing his trust that the United States would not invade Cuba. Further
negotiations were held to implement the October 28 agreement, including a
United States demand that Soviet light bombers be removed from Cuba, and
specifying the exact form and conditions of United States assurances not to
invade Cuba.
The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War occurred in present-day Vietnam, Southeast Asia. It represented a
successful attempt on the part of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam,
DRV) and the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam (Viet Cong) to unite and
impose a communist system over the entire nation. Opposing the DRV was the Republic
of Vietnam (South Vietnam, RVN), backed by the United States. The war in Vietnam
occurred during the Cold War, and is generally viewed as an indirect conflict between the
United States and Soviet Union, with each nation and its allies supporting one side.
Causes:
The Vietnam War first began in 1959, five years after the division of the country by the
Geneva Accords. Vietnam had been split into two, with a communist government in the
north under Ho Chi Minh and a democratic government in the south under Ngo Dinh
Diem. Ho launched a guerilla campaign in South Vietnam, led by Viet Cong units, with
the goal of uniting the country under communist rule. (Again, Containment and The
Truman Doctrine should be ringing a bell right now!!!!!)
On January 27, 1974, a peace accord was signed in Paris ending the conflict. By March
of that year, American combat troops had left the country. After a brief period of peace,
North Vietnam recommenced hostilities in late 1974. Pushing through ARVN forces with
ease, they captured the Saigon on April 30, 1975, forcing South Vietnam’s surrender and
reuniting the country. The End of the Vietnam War
Casualties:
United States: 58,119 killed, 153,303 wounded, 1,948 missing in action
South Vietnam 230,000 killed and 1,169,763 wounded (estimated)
North Vietnam 1,100,000 killed in action (estimated) and an unknown number of
wounded
Key Figures:
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Ho Chi Minh – Communist leader of North Vietnam until his
death in 1969.
Vo Nguyen Giap – North Vietnamese general who planned
the Tet and Easter Offensives.
General William Westmoreland – Commander of US forces
in Vietnam, 1964-1968.
General Creighton Abrams – Commander of US forces in
Vietnam, 1968-1973.
Ho Chi Minh
Afghanistan War, 1978–92, conflict between anti-Communist Muslim Afghan guerrillas
(mujahidin) and Afghan government and Soviet forces. The conflict had its origins in the
1978 coup that overthrew Afghan president Sardar Muhammad Daud Khan, who had
come to power by ousting the king in 1973. The president was assassinated and a proSoviet Communist government under Noor Mohammed Taraki was established. In 1979
another coup, which brought Hafizullah Amin to power, provoked an invasion (Dec.,
1979) by Soviet forces and the installation of Babrak Karmal as president.
The Soviet invasion, which sparked Afghan resistance, intially involved an estimated
30,000 troops, a force that ultimately grew to 100,000. The mujahidin were supported by
aid from the United States, China, and Saudi Arabia, channeled through Pakistan, and
from Iran. Although the USSR had superior weapons and complete air control, the rebels
successfully eluded them. The conflict largely settled into a stalemate, with Soviet and
government forces controlling the urban areas, and the Afghan guerrillas operating fairly
freely in mountainous rural regions. As the war progressed, the rebels improved their
organization and tactics and began using imported and captured weapons, including U.S.
antiaircraft missiles, to neutralize the technological advantages of the USSR.
The 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan galvanized bin Laden. He supported the Afghan
resistance, which became a jihad, or holy war. Ironically, the U.S. became a major
supporter of the Afghan resistance, or mujahideen, working with Saudi Arabia and
Pakistan to set up Islamic schools in Pakistan for Afghan refugees. These schools later
evolved into virtual training centers for Islamic radicals.
By the mid-1980s, bin Laden had moved to Afghanistan, where he established an
organization, Maktab al-Khidimat (MAK), to recruit Islamic soldiers from around the
world who later form the basis of an international network. The MAK maintained
recruiting offices in Detroit and Brooklyn in the 1980s.
The Taliban, the former rulers of Afghanistan, arose from the religious schools set up
during the mujahideen's war against the Soviet invasion. After the Soviet army withdrew
in 1989, fighting erupted among mujahideen factions. In response to the chaos, the
fundamentalist Taliban was formed and within two years it captured most of the country.
The Taliban gave bin Laden sanctuary in 1996.