Download The Korean War

Objective: To examine the
causes of the Cold War.
Big Three:
•Yalta Conference
•Potsdam
Conference
•Division of
Germany, war time
trials, reparations?
• http://www.mrallsophistory.com/fire.html
Cold War Historiography
• Orthodox School
– Blamed Soviets
• Revisionists
– US the aggressor
• Realist
– Less moralistic; pragmatic politics
WWII and Cold War
• Pre-War Relations
• Second Front
• Yalta Conference (Feb
1945)
– US needs Russian
help in Japan
– Eastern Europe’s
fate left unclear
• Truman and the Bomb
– Potsdam Conf. (July
1945)
– Unconditional
surrender
– Timing and message
to Soviets
Cold War Heats Up
•
•
•
•
Future of Germany
Atomic Diplomacy
Iron Curtain Speech
Kennan’s Telegram
(1946)
– Birth of Containment
Policy
Differing World Visions
Cause of Cold War
• United States
– Saw stable and
secure world by
spreading American
ideas and values
– Must be
internationally active
• Soviets shaped by
invasions
– WWII losses
– Seek secure border
– Demand buffer zone
Battle of
Stalingrad
Cause of Cold War
Soviet
Expansion:
· The Soviet
Union
occupied most
of Eastern
Europe by the
end of World
War II
•Power Rivalry
After World War 2, many
government and economic systems
changed!
• Many countries became communist after
World War 2 including:
- Czechoslovakia (1948)
- Poland (1947)
- Hungary (1947)
- China (1949)
Free Elections as promised?
- Cuba (1959)
- North Korea (1945)
• In 1946,
Winston
Churchill
correctly
warned that
the Soviets
were creating
an “iron
curtain” in
Eastern
Europe.
Winston Churchill giving the “Iron Curtain”
address at Westminster College on March 5, 1946
IRON CURTAIN
Peep under the
Iron curtain
March 6, 1946
• USSR wanted to spread its ideology of
communism worldwide; US wanted to
spread its ideology worldwide.
• Question of who controlled atomic bombs.
• Both countries feared an attack from each
other.
• Division of Europe – Eastern Europe
became Communist.. due to free
elections?
• Truman did not personally like Josef
Stalin.
• USSR “reparations” policy in the part of
Germany it had occupied.
Focus on Berlin
• Germany divided
into four zones French, British,
American, and
Soviet troops.
Occupation zones after
1945. Berlin is the
multinational area
within the Soviet zone.
Soviet blockade:
East Berlin
West Berlin
West
Germany
East
Germany
·June of 1948 - French,
British and American
zones joined to become
West Germany after the
Soviets refused to end
their occupation of
Germany.
· In response, the
Soviets cut off West
Berlin from the rest of
the world with a
blockade.
Eventual site of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Airlift:
· President Truman
decided to avoid the
blockade by flying in
food and other supplies to
the needy people of West
Berlin.
· At times, over 5,000
tons of supplies arrived
daily.
Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift
Germany remains divided:
· In May of 1949, Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union ended the
blockade.
· The Soviet
zone of
Germany,
including
East Berlin,
became
known as the
nation of East
Germany.
October, 1949
· By 1948, every Eastern European country was under
communist control.
American Response:
· Truman Doctrine – statement of President Truman that
promised military and economic support to nations
threatened by communism
• In 1947, the U.S. gave $400 million to Greece and Turkey in
order to help them put down communist revolts.
The domino effect
• USSR influence on other communist
countries.
• US worried about USSR power.
• Domino effect (one country becomes
communist, then another, then another
etc)
Cold War Heats Up
• Truman Doctrine
(1947)
– Implements
containment policy
• Marshall Plan (1947)
– Helps US economy
– Undermines
conditions for
communism
• NSC-68
Aid for Europe:
· Secretary of State George Marshall toured Western Europe
and witnessed widespread homelessness and famine.
Children
in a
London
suburb,
waiting
outside the
wreckage
of what
was their
home.
September
1940.
German bombers set the whole inner city of Rotterdam
ablaze, killing 800-900 of its inhabitants.” * Aerial view of
the ruins of Rotterdam.
Jewish children in
the Warsaw Ghetto
in 1942
· Weak countries in ruins
were considered easy
prey for Communist.
To prevent, US would
send aid to rebuild
economy in what became
known as the Marshall
Plan.
Nuremberg, Germany,
April 20, 1945
* The U.S. gave over $12 billion in aid to European countries
between 1948 and 1952, helping to improve their economies
and lessen the chance of communist revolutions.
Mao’s Revolution: 1949
Who lost China? – A 2nd
Power!
Communist
NSC-68 policy
WHY?
•
•
•
•
Soviets explode their first atomic bomb
China goes Communist
Conflict is unavoidable
Cannot trust Soviets
WHAT?
• Expanded military expenses from $13 b to
$50 b per year
The Bipolarization of Europe
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1949)
Mutual defense alliance
 United States
 Luxemburg
 Belgium
 Netherlands
 Britain
 Norway
 Canada
 Portugal
 Denmark
 1952: Greece &
Turkey
 France
 Iceland
 Italy
 1955: West Germany
 1983: Spain
OAS – Organization of American
States
• US in theory gives up policeman role in
Western Hemisphere to the OAS
Warsaw Pact (1955)
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U. S. S. R.
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East Germany
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Albania
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Hungary
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Bulgaria
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Poland
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Czechoslovakia
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Rumania
• United States of America and the Soviet
Union built up huge arsenals of atomic
weapons and ballistic missiles….arms
race.
• The military blocs - NATO and The
Warsaw Pact
• Destructive conflicts like the Korean
and Vietnam Conflicts.
• Point Four Program – 3rd world
countries
• Huge spy programs
• Education expansion in the
United States
• Space Race
Sputnik I (1957)
The Russians have beaten America in
space—they have the technological edge!
Politics, Cold War, and Science Fiction Space Exploration
The Korean War
1950-1953
The Korean War: A “Police Action” (19501953)
Korea divided at the
end of WW II at the
38th parallel
Kim Il-Sung
Syngman Rhee
“Domino Theory”
Fighting in Korea:
• Korea was divided at the 38th parallel of latitude.
• North Korea was communist and supported by the Soviets,
and South Korea was democratic and supported by the U.S.
• In June of 1950, North Korea
invaded South Korea.
Korean War
• Origins of Divided Korea
– First “Hot” War
• North Korea Invasion
– Kim Il Sung
• “Korea is the Greece of
the Far East”
– UN Police Action
• China and MacArthur
• Stalemate
– 38th Parallel
• The U.N. sent an international force to Korea in order to
push the North Koreans out of South Korea.
United
Nations
forces in
Seoul,
South
Korea.
• U.S. General Douglas MacArthur led the U.N. force,
approximately 80% of which were U.S. soldiers.
Americans pushed to the Pusan Perimeter
…the North Koreans had pushed the
U.N. forces to the southeast corner of
the peninsula, where they dug in
around the port of Pusan…
Inchon
MacArthur completely changed the course of
the war overnight by ordering an amphibious
invasion at the port of Inchon, near Seoul.
The Americans quickly gained control of
Inchon, recaptured Seoul within days, and cut
the North Korean supply lines.
American and ROK forces broke out of the
Pusan Perimeter and chased the retreating
enemy north into North Korea.
Approaching
the Yalu
•The Chinese army massed north of the
Yalu River, with 850,000 troops – warned
MacArthur to retreat to the 38th
•MacArthur did not believe - Chinese
struck with considerable force.
•U.N. forces stabilized their lines and the
Chinese withdraw northward as quickly as
they had struck.
•MacArthur pressed Washington to invade
China.
An Entirely New War
•Chinese struck again with roughly
300,000 Chinese troops
•Overwhelmed the U.N. forces.
•MacArthur.. "We face an entirely new
war."
•MacArthur pushed back down the
peninsula.
•Seoul changed hands yet again on January
5.
Stalemate
Beginning January 15, 1952, Gen. Ridgway
led the U.N. in a slow advance northward.
Inflicting heavy casualties on the Chinese
and North Koreans, the U.N. re-recaptured
Seoul (the fourth and final time it changed
hands!) on March 15, and had patrols
crossing the 38th parallel on March 31. A
stalemate ensued, which lasting for another
two years. Not until nearly two million
more had died did the Korean War end,
when an armistice was signed on July 27,
1953.
Ending the War:
• U.N. troops regained South Korea by March of 1951.
• Gen. MacArthur wanted to attack China with support
of Chinese nationalists.
• President Truman disagreed with MacArthur about
attacking China.
“the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the
wrong time”
• In July of 1953, the
Korean War ended, in
which over 54,000
Americans died.
•Armistice signed
which returned Korea
to the status quo
Why US settled for this solution
and results?
• Waning public enthusiasm for
the war
• Full consumer production war
• US lost face in Russian eyes –
Russians doubted the
commitment of the US
• US emerges largely undamaged
Eisenhower and the Cold War
• Wanted relaxation of tensions with USSR
• Concerned about defense budget - $50
billion under Truman
• “new look” for American defense
• Cut back on army and navy
• Relied on Air Force and nuclear striking
power
• -$40 billion
John Foster Dulles – Sec of State
• Massive retaliation – use of nuclear
weapons to halt communist aggression
that threatened vital US interests
anywhere in world
The Eisenhower Doctrine
Buildup of nuclear capacity to serve as a deterrent
Why massive retaliation failed?
• Proves to be more costly – defense consumes
50% of national budget
• Eisenhower warns country of the power of a
“military-industrial complex”
• Reduced our ability to fight limited wars
• Lacked credibility – did we ever use it?
- Hungarian revolt of 1956 – no US response
- Polish uprising of 1956 – “
- Middle East – Suez Crisis and Lebanaon – “
- Southeast Asia – “
Eisenhower’s plan for regional
collective security
• SEATO – 1954
• CENTO - 1959
The Vietnam War
c.1963-1975
Indochina crisis
• US aid to France in war
against communist guerrillas
led by Ho Chi Minh
• Chinese assistance to
Vietminh who surrounded
French at Dien Bien Phu
• Ike refused help – would have
compromised American
“tradition of anti-colonialism”
• Dien Bien Phu fell and
Indochina divided at 17th
parallel – communist in North
and French in south
US took over for French
New government
headed by Ngo Dinh
Diem, Vietnamese
nationalist and
Catholic
“Domino theory”
The Suez Crisis: 1956-1957
Egyptian
leader
Nasser
seized the
canal
British and
French
invaded to
regain control
The Hungarian Uprising: 1956
Imre Nagy, Hungarian
Prime Minister
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Promised free
elections.
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This could lead to the
end of communist rule
in Hungary.
Nixon-Khrushchev
“Kitchen Debate”
(1959)
Cold War --->
Tensions
<--- Technology
& Affluence
U-2 Spy Incident (1960)
Col. Francis Gary
Powers’ plane was
shot down over Soviet
airspace.
Paris, 1961
Khrushchev & JFK meet to discuss Berlin and
nuclear proliferation. Khrushchev thinks that
JFK is young, inexperienced, and can be rolled.
The Berlin Wall 1961
Ich bin ein Berliner!
(1963)
President Kennedy
tells Berliners
that the West is
with them!
Khruschev Embraces Castro,
1961
Bay of Pigs Debacle (1961)
The Cuban Missile Crisis
1962
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Vietnam War: 1965-1973
The Vietnam War
c.1963-1975