Download Korean and Vietnam Wars

Cold War: Korean
and Vietnam Wars
Korean War
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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”
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War lasted 1950-1953
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.
War breaks out in Korea
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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
U.S. response
1)Pres. TRUMAN
brought the issue of
North Korean
aggression to the
UNITED NATIONS
2)Truman ordered American AIR and
NAVAL support + GROUND troops to
aid the South Koreans.
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
UN Police Action
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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
Waging the War
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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

TRUCE signed in 1953 left Korea
DIVIDED at almost the exact same
place as before the war  near the
38th PARALLEL
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
3) INTEGRATION of UNITS in armed
forces
4) Huge INCREASE in MILITARY
SPENDING
5) Development of powerful MILITARYINDUSTRIAL complex
6) Permanent MOBILIZATION of troops
Vietnam War

American involvement in the
VIETNAM WAR also reflected the Cold
War policy of CONTAINMENT of
communism
Background
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“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
Increasing U.S. Involvement
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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 Kennedy’s ASSASSINATION in
1963, the military buildup was
INTENSIFIED under Pres. Lyndon
JOHNSON
Gulf of Tonkin
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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
Fighting the War
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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
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
Air War
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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
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
Massacre at My Lai
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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
Political Divisions
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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
Student Activism
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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
Nixon and “Vietnamization”
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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
End of the War
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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
Impact of Vietnam War
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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
Vietnam War Memorial in
Washington, D.C.