Core Content E: How Effectively did the US Contain the Spread of Communism?

Question 1

What was containment?

Answer 1

1. By the end of the 1940s, the US government had decided on what its strategy and approach would be towards communism after the war.
2. Truman settled on idea of containment. The basic idea being that the US would seek to stop the spread of communism wherever it sought to expand across the globe. This could mean anything up to and including military action.
3. Must be contrasted with rollback, which was the active attempt to actually remove communism from countries, up to and including eastern Europe and the USSR itself.

Question 2

What was the domino theory in relation to containment?

Answer 2

1. Working hand in hand with containment, was the ‘domino theory’, which stated that if one country in a region fell to communism, the countries around it would follow in a domino effect.
2. This became a source of great paranoia in Asia in particular due to the fall of China to communism in 1949. Asia would therefore be one of the earliest ‘containment’ battlegrounds for the US.

Question 3

What was the Korean War?

Answer 3

1. Korea was the first real Cold War conflict. The Berlin Blockade was the first confrontation, but the Cold War became a ‘hot war’ in Korea.
2. A huge conflict despite its lack of attention. 2-3 million dead civilians, over a million military casualties and involved 100s of thousands of US soldiers.

Question 4

Why was there conflict between North and South Korea?

Answer 4

1. Korea had been ruled by Japan until the end of the Second World War. At the end of the war, Korea was temporarily divided into two occupation zones. Soviet-occupied North and American occupied South
2. As relations between the two worsened however, unification seemed less likely. In 1948, separate independent states were setup in the North and South.
3. The two governments setup despised each other:
   A. South Korea (Republic of Korea) was setup under Syngman Rhee. Was not very democratic but was staunchly anti-Communist, enough to get US support
   B. North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic) was setup under Kim Il-Sung who was a Soviet-trained and backed communist running a 1-party state
4. Both leaders believed that they had the right to rule all of Korea and wanted the peninsula reunified.
5. Given their hostility however there was no chance at all of the two countries peacefully unifying.

Question 5

What were the Events of the Korean War?

Answer 5

1. June to Sep 1950 – Northern Communists invade South and quickly overwhelm them and occupied most of the peninsula
2. Sep to Oct 1950 – UN forces land in two locations, Pusan and Inchon and Communists driven back beyond 38th parallel within weeks
3. Oct 1950 – Despite initial containment objective being achieved, UN forces (directed by Truman and General MacArthur) pushed on into the North.
   4A. Nov 1950 – Feeling threatened by the US push, the Chinese government intervened and sent 200,000 soldiers to cross the border
   B. UN forces were pushed back into South Korea. The Chinese army was well equipped and more accustomed to the fighting conditions
   C. Truman accepted that containment and protection of South Korea was good enough and ignored advice by MacArthur to invade China
4. June 1951 – Stalemate around 38th parallel, led to peace talks and eventual armistice 2 years later

Question 6

Why did the Korean War break out?

Answer 6

1. In the summer of 1950, Kim Il-Sung made his move and decided to invade the South. He did this in order to unify Korea and eliminate, what he considered to be, the illegitimate government in the South.
2. Whilst this seems a rash move in hindsight, at the time he had good reason to believe he would be successful:
   A. He was backed by both Stalin and Mao (USSR and China) and had been heavily armed by the Soviets with tanks, artillery, planes – was stronger than South
   B. The proximity of Korea to China and the Soviets having the bomb made it seem unlikely the US would act in response
   C. Additionally Korea was far away and likely would not be a defence priority for the US

Question 7

How did the US respond to the break out of the Korean war?

Answer 7

1. Contrary to Kim’s beliefs, the US were determined to get involved and stop this the South being taken over.
2. This was because (the US) they were now committed to the policy of containment. Communism was also seen as always directed by Moscow, so this was not a faraway conflict but a Soviet plan
3. Linked to domino theory, the total fall of Korea would lead to fall of other US-backed nations, e.g new Chinese gov in Taiwan and Japan (big US trade partner post-war)
4. When the US became involved, however, it was not on their own, but instead an official intervention/action by the newly formed United Nations (UN/UNO).

Question 8

How did the UNO become involved in the Korean War?

Answer 8

1. Truman would have intervened in Korea no matter what happened, but to make things look better he wanted the UNO to get involved officially instead.
2. Truman immediately took the matter to the UN Security Council and began applying pressure to pass a resolution to call for military action.
3. Therefore even though it was clearly a US-led operation, UN voted in favour, which meant the anti-communist forces were a coalition of 15 countries.
4. Normally this should not have been possible as the USSR had a veto power on the council. However, USSR had been boycotting UN meetings over previous issue of whether to allow Communist China to join. Therefore were not available at meetings to use veto power.

Question 9

What were the outcomes of the Korean War?

Answer 9

Success for the US:

1. Achieved initial short-term aim of protecting South from Communism and halting invasion – successful ‘containment’
2. Showed the world US was willing to confront communism by force – arguably an initial trigger of North Korean action, would deter similar actions by communists elsewhere (containment had ‘bite’)

Failures for the US:

1. US failed to achieve later expanded aims of re-uniting Korea under democratic, non-communist rule, however Chinese intervention foiled this and future threat of North would remain
2. Conflict exposed major tensions between US leaders of foreign policy and the sacked MacArthur received a heroic welcome when he returned

Question 10

What was the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Answer 10

1. The most famous and significant of the Cold War ‘close calls’.
2. Tension between the US and USSR reached its most dangerous level during the 13 days of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.
3. It was the closest the sides came to an all out war and potentially apocalyptic nuclear war.

Question 11

What was America reaction to the Cuban revolution?

Answer 11

1. 1958, led by Fidel Castro Castro-claimed he wanted to merely run Cuba without American interference. However, by summer 1960 he was receiving arms from USSR
2. frosty relationship with no direct confrontation
3. Castro nationalized American assets, therefore;
4. US banned the buying of sugar July 1960
5. US ended all trade relations by Oct 1960
6. US broke off diplomacy with Cuba in January 1961.
7. Not prepared to tolerate Soviet satellite 160 km off coast of Florida.

Question 12

Changing US relationship with Cuba

Answer 12

1. After gaining independence from Spain in 1898, Cuba was under significant economic influence and control of the US.
2. The US was a key buyer of Cuba’s main raw export, Sugar and also the main source of the countries manufactured goods and imports.
3. US companies were heavily involved in Cuba and owned most major companies.
4. The country also essentially became the ‘naughty playground’ of rich US businessmen and the corrupt Cuban government was essentially a puppet.
5. The government was also a brutal dictatorship that used repression to keep control of the increasingly discontent population living in poverty.
6. In 1959 the Batista regime was forcibly overthrown by a socialist revolutionary, Fidel Castro, promising to restore power to the people and end American controlled corruption.
7. Fidel Castro began to nationalise foreign-owned companies and also redistributing agricultural land to peasants.
8. US responded by imposing economic sanctions and stopped all trade with them: a huge blow considering they were by far their largest trade partner. Castro responds by signing a trade agreement of $100 million with USSR leader Khrushchev!
9. Mar 1960, Eisenhower approved a plan to remove Castro from power by force

Question 13

What was the Bay of Pigs Incident?

Answer 13

1. On April 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion
2. 1400 anti-Castro CIA trained exiles attempt to overthrow Castro. Met by 20, 000 troops armed with tanks and modern weapons, all captured or killed.
3. Kennedy humiliated.

Question 14

What lead to the Bay of Pigs Incident?

Answer 14

1. New US president, John F Kennedy, in 1961. Inherits issues of previous government, including how to deal with Cuba.
2. Pushes ahead with plans drawn up by previous government of invading Cuba by landing US-trained Cuban exiles, supported by US air strikes painted to overthrow Castro and install a new government
3. However, to maintain plausible deniability, Kennedy had scaled back initial extent of air strikes and also chose to have the exiles land in an isolated beach known as the Bay of Pigs.

Question 15

Why was the Bay of Pigs failure embarasing?

Answer 15

1. The US failed to control the air and take out the Cuban airforce
2. The exiles were unable to land as they were immediately fired upon and were expected due to the poor secrecy of the plan
3. Troops were captured and paraded by Castro who became more popular due to his repelling of an American invasion.
4. Additionally, despite their attempts to hide involvement, it was clear the US was behind the invasion AND that they had deliberately tried to hide this.

Question 16

What was the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs incident?

Answer 16

1. Kennedy looked weak – as the youngest ever President, already had question marks over his experience and judgement, the failure hurt his image even more. Additionally, his half-hearted invasion attempt made Castro and Khrushchev believe he was weak and easy to push around
2. USSR-Cuba alliance deepens – the USSR had already been secretly supplying Cuba with weapons, but the invasion alarmed Cuba and this was massively stepped up and announced publicly! The USSR made Cuba the best equipped army in Latin America with missiles, tanks, jet bombers/fighters and more!
3. Bay of Pigs fiasco encouraged spread of communism, consolidated Castro’s power & popularity, led to Cuba being aligned with Moscow.
4. May 1962: USSR publicly announced military support for Cuba.
5. July 1962: Cuba best equipped army in Latin America.
6. On 11th Sept., US warned USSR against nuclearization of Cuba
7. On 14th Oct 1962, an American U-2 spy plane flew over Cuba and discovered nuclear missile bases, also 20 ships carrying missiles from USSR

Question 17

What was Kennedy’s options after the 14th of October?

Answer 17

1. Do nothing: would be very dangerous to overreact but did not want to show weakness
2. Surgical air attack: destroy missiles but if any were left they may be used in counter attack and
3. There may be soviet collateral damage. Attack without advance warning was immoral.
4. Invade Cuba by sea and air: would guarantee soviet response to protect Cuba or within soviet sphere of influence
5. Diplomatic pressures through UN: would avoid conflict but US would look weak
6. Blockade/quarantine: show US was serious but not an act of war, but would not get rid of existing missiles

Question 18

How did the US find out/react to the USSR was arming Cuba?

Answer 18

1. The US were alarmed by the Soviets arming Cuba, however, as long as they were only conventional weapons they would have to tolerate the situation.
2. The far greater alarm and danger came in September 1962 when report began to emerge in the US of nuclear missiles potentially being brought to Cuba.
3. On 14th October 1962, American spy planes took detailed photographs over missiles sites in Cuba which confirmed their worst fears – the USSR was building nuclear missile sites in Cuba!

Question 19

Why did Khrushchev arm Cuba?

Answer 19

1. To defend Cuba
   A. the revolution in Cuba was an unexpected gift for the USSR to have a communist nation on the US’ doorstep
   B. the US would never simply accept the situation and would always try to remove Castro, therefore drastic action was needed to preserve the government
2. Closing the ‘missile gap’
   A. the US had a much greater number of long-range ICBMs and also had missiles placed in Europe which could strike the USSR.
   B. By placing missiles in Cuba this evened the gap and made it harder for the US to threaten the USSR.
3. To bargain with the US
   A. Khrushchev wanted to extract some concessions from the US and was giving himself a bargaining chip to use, this was arguably encouraged further by Kennedy indecision and weakness with the Bay of Pigs
4. To trap the USA into nuclear war, he did not even try to hide the missiles

Question 20

Kennedys response to the Missiles?

Answer 20

He settled on a blockade of the island (or quarantine zone as he publicly called it) that would block any Soviet ships bringing weapons to the island as they would be searched by the US navy on the way.

Question 21

Explain the Blockade

Answer 21

1. The blockade was announced in a major press conference on 22nd October.
2. The main advantage of the blockade was that it would stop the Soviets from bringing further equipment to Cuba and would show a firm stance but without actually declaring war.
3. Essentially, it would force Khrushchev to make the next move and test his resolve to see if he would actually take the step of beginning a war.
4. The Soviet Union had the option of ignoring the blockade and trying to force their way through, which would be an act of war.
5. The Blockade could still cause war. Additionally this did not solve the problem of the missiles already on the island

Question 22

Events after the blockade

Answer 22

1. 23rd Oct – Khrushchev sent a letter to Kennedy saying he would not observe the blockade and US draws up plans and mobilises soldiers for invasion of Cuba
2. 24th Oct – Soviet ships continue to approach blockade zone, however, at the last minute turn back and observe the blockade
3. 25th Oct – new photos show missile base building is rapidly speeding up and US raises DEFCON level to 2 – one step before all out nuclear war!
4. 26th Oct – Khrushchev sends letter to JFK promising to remove missiles if US promised to not invade Cuba and the Crisis appears to be de-escalating
5. 27th Oct – Khrushchev sends a second letter to Kennedy, this time more threatening in tone and also revises his demands, saying he wants all US missiles removed from Turkey
6. Later that same day an American U2 spy plane is shot down over Cuba and the pilot killed. Kennedy is advised to immediately retaliate and launch an invasion of Cuba. However, he chooses to ignore the second letter and instead replies by accepting the first. He threatens to invade if the Soviets did not withdraw
7. 28th Oct – Khrushchev agrees to the terms and begins to dismantle and return the missiles to the Soviet Union, bringing the crisis to an end

Question 23

Who won the Cuban Missiles Crisis? (US and Kennedy)

Answer 23

1. Huge personal victory for him and saw his reputation and standing massively improved.
2. He had made Khrushchev back down and publicly won the crisis by achieving missile removal AND stood up to hardliners in own government and did things ‘his way’
3. However, in private, the crisis was more even with the US secretly removing the Turkey missiles as part of the agreement with Khrushchev and Cuba remained a communist country and a thorn in the side of the US
4. This would be a huge challenge for containment as Cuba would become the main promoter of communist revolutions across Latin America for decades

Question 24

Who won the Cuban Missiles Crisis? (USSR and Khrushchev)

Answer 24

1. Khrushchev was able to portray himself as the protector of Cuba and keeping them safe in the long-term was hugely valuable as Cuba would be a useful base from which to spread communism in Latin America
2. Removal of threatening Turkey missiles were strategic win (though could not be used for propaganda purposes since it was kept secret!)
3. As a result, this looked like a public defeat and humiliation for the USSR, they had clearly backed down and came away looking ‘weaker’

Question 25

Who were the Viet Minh?

Answer 25

1. During the Second World War, when France (ex-colonial ruler of Vietnam) was defeated by Germany, Japan took control of Vietnamese resources (coal, rice, rubber, railways, roads)
2. This which led to the formation of a strong anti-Japanese resistance movement called Viet Minh, led by communist Ho Chi Minh, who inspired Vietnamese peasants to flight for an independent Vietnam.
3. In 1945 they entered Hanoi and declared independence which led to war in 1946 between French and Viet Minh.
4. When communists took over in China, American paranoia grew, and they spent $500 million a year to keep up anti-Viet Minh effort and keep Vietnam non-communist.
5. the Viet Minh was made of South Vietnamese peasants

Question 26

Why was Vietnam split into two?

Answer 26

1. the French were eventually defeated by the Viet Minh at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.
2. Negotiations began immediately afterwards and in July 1954 France signed the Geneva Peace Accord with the Viet Minh which temporarily divided Vietnam into two parts, North and South. This would last until internationally supervised elections took place in 1956.
3. However, the US prevented elections from taking place as they feared the Communists would win. This formally divided Vietnam into two.

Question 27

What were the Geneva agreements of 1954?

Answer 27

1. They split up Indochina into different countries like Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand
2. Split Vietnam at 17th parallel.
3. Vietminh pulled out of south (replaced by Diem), French pulled out of north (replaced by Ho Chi Minh)
4. Free elections to take place July 1956

Question 28

Why was Ngo Dinh Diem a unpopular leader?

Answer 28

1. Diem’s regime was extremely unpopular with the Vietnamese people.
2. He was a wealthy elite, a Catholic who hated Buddhism and was very corrupt and harsh in his repression of opponents.
3. The Americans knew Diem was a problematic leader, but felt they had no choice but to back him as he was an anti-communist dictator

Question 29

Who were the Viet Cong?

Answer 29

1. The Viet Cong were made up of South Vietnamese who opposed the government as well as Communists from the North under the orders of the Viet Minh.
2. The Viet Cong dedicated significant resources to gaining the support of the peasants, either willingly, or by intimidating any reluctant peasants against opposing them.
3. The Viet Cong were very well supplied with the Ho Chi Minh trail being used to transport supplies and manpower from the North to the South through the jungles of neighbouring Laos and Cambodia.

Question 30

How did the US get involved in the Vietnamese War?

Answer 30

1. Like Korea, the Vietnam War was not a conflict started by the Americans, but a war between a divided country which they became involved in (but much more gradually in the case of Vietnam).
2. US was attacked and needed to face up to communism
3. Had been pouring in $500 million to support the French against Viet Minh communists already
4. Supported Diem’s corrupt and inefficient government who would have to give in to communists on their own.

Question 31

Who were the Viet Cong?

Answer 31

1. The Viet Cong were made up of South Vietnamese who opposed the government as well as Communists from the North under the orders of the Viet Minh.
2. The Viet Cong dedicated significant resources to gaining the support of the peasants, either willingly, or by intimidating any reluctant peasants against opposing them.
3. The Viet Cong were very well supplied with the Ho Chi Minh trail being used to transport supplies and manpower from the North to the South through the jungles of neighbouring Laos and Cambodia.

Question 32

Why did US get involved in the Vietnamese War?

Answer 32

1. The government in the South was propped up only due to the increasingly heavy backing of the US government which decided the South falling to communism would be a crucial part of the ‘Domino theory’ in action.
2. French army (AVRN) too weak, ill equipped and inefficient to defeat Viet Cong (Viet Minh) and could not cope with guerrilla warfare. South Vietnam could not win by itself.
3. US had been attacked by North Vietnamese patrol boats – USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin (August 1964); February 1965 –Vietcong had attacked US airbases, US soldiers killed
4. The US was cautious about getting too involved in the conflict. Instead they were dragged deeper and deeper into it over the course of multiple presidencies before finally withdrawing almost 20 years after first sending soldiers.

Question 33

How did US get out?

Answer 33

1. Pressure on USSR and China – they had fallen out of an alliance, USA tried to improve relations with them individually (SALT with USSR, Feb 1972 Nixon visited China) to persuade them to pressure North Vietnam to end the war
2. Peace negotiations with North Vietnam – early 1969 Henry Kissinger met with Vietnamese Le Duc Tho
3. Vietnamization of the war effort building up South Vietnamese forces and withdrawing 400, 000 US troops from April 1969 to end of 19711
4. increased bombing campaigns against North Vietnam to show USA was not weak. Also, invaded Viet Cong bases in Cambodia.
5. However, the war between the Viet Cong and South re-ignited with months of the final withdrawal.
6. This time, without the support of the US, the South was totally unable to repel the Communist forces who managed to totally defeat them by 1975.
7. The Communists therefore won and would unify Vietnam under their rule (under whom it remains today!)

Question 34

Why did the USA lose the Vietnam war?

Answer 34

The US was a vastly superior military force than the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese government yet despite putting a huge amount of effort into the war, they ultimately lost. This was mainly down to four main reasons:

1. Poor US tactics vs Strong Viet Cong tactics
2. Press and media coverage of the war
3. Anti-war protests
4. Individual events of 1968, e.g My Lai Massacre and Tet Offensive

The US was increasingly being pulled into a war which, in retrospect, they had genuinely little chance of winning.

Militarily it was impossible for the US to achieve the victory they were publicly claiming to aim for and as this became increasingly clear to the public, it was only a matter of time before the US eventually had to admit defeat in the war.

Question 35

Why did US fail to defeat the Viet Minh?

Answer 35

1. US had hi-tech tactics that used B-52 bombers, artillery and helicopters and killed innocent people demoralizing their own troops and losing local support 2. Whereas the Viet Minh used guerrilla warfare tactics, which were appropriate to the nature of the war and the relief features of Vietnam – they used booby traps, land mines, did not wear uniform and mixed with and helped the peasants which made it difficult to distinguish them and they won local support.
2. American troops were inexperienced and South Vietnamese government was inefficient and corrupt, whereas Viet Cong represented people well and had been fighting with Japan since World War 2 and later on with the French. They were determined to achieve independence and victory, whatever the cost.
3. American troops had hit rock bottom morale, it was an unpopular war – whereas Viet Cong was motivated for unification.
4. US had supplies coming from 8000 miles away whereas Viet Cong were supplied weapons by USSR and China through HO Chi Minh trail. Could not attack this trial without escalating the war.

Question 36

Why did the USA lose the Vietnam war? (Poor US tactics)

Answer 36

1. The US relied mainly on bombing between 65-72, however despite the enormous damage done, this was not enough to defeat the Communists, only slow them down
2. US found it very difficult to know who was a Viet Cong fighter and so ‘Search and destroy’ mission in villages to hunt down any Viet Cong often involved killing far more innocent civilians mistaken for Viet Cong
3. Chemical weapons, Agent Orange and Napalm, were used to destroy jungles where Viet Cong hid, however many civilians killed or injured in brutal ways as a result
4. Extremely low quality soldiers once draft began, often young, uneducated men from poor backgrounds and little motivation to fight

Question 37

Why did the USA lose the Vietnam war? (Strong Viet Cong tactics)

Answer 37

1. The VC were heavily outnumbered and less well equipped and therefore always avoided open warfare
2. Instead fought guerrilla warfare and only ever engaged in combat on their terms, they had no headquarters that could be destroyed, they laid booby traps all over the countryside and mainly relied on ambushes to attack Southern/US soldiers
3. In contrast to US search and destroy, Viet Cong dealt far better with peasants and tried to be as helpful as possible to keep them on there side
4. Soldiers were deeply committed to the cause and had unshakable morale, severity of war only hardened resolve

Question 38

Why did the USA lose the Vietnam war? (Press and media coverage of the war)

Answer 38

1. Initially positive, as it became clear the war was a disaster, the US media turned on the government
2. Media attacked the war on two fronts, both on a practical level arguing the US was losing and debunking government claims otherwise and also regularly reporting on the atrocities being committed by American soldiers
3. The war was the first time that the public was getting a close to uncensored account of what was happening e.g peasants having huts set on fire, prisoners executed, children crying from napalm burns etc
4. The public could not support what they were seeing

Question 39

Why did the USA lose the Vietnam war? (Anti-war protests)

Answer 39

1. Media coverage led to the war becoming increasingly unpopular which triggered large scale anti-war protests across the country
2. Whilst many people still continued to support the government, the anti-war movement was staunchly opposed to the war and US society became highly polarised and divided, especially due to actions of some protesters such as burning American flags at protests
3. Over 700,000 people attended a protest in Washington in November 1969.
4. The protests and social division they were creating was putting a huge strain on the government and put great pressure on them to end the war

Question 40

Why did the USA lose the Vietnam war? (Events of 1968)

Answer 40

1. Tet Offensive – media coverage was mostly positive until Tet Offensive shattered US government myth that Viet Cong were being worn down. Despite the offensive failure, it was clear that the US tactics were not working and the media lost patience with the government
2. My Lai massacre – among the worst atrocities committed by the US army, was uncovered. March 1968, a US army ‘Search and Destroy’ mission descended upon village of My Lai and murdered all 400 civilians in the village, mostly women and children – the truth of the event was revealed by an army photographer who captured evidence of the events. The event shocked the American public and support for the war massively decreased.