Flashpoints Outside Of Europe Flashcards
Why did USA get involved in Korea?
Policy of containment and the fear of the ‘domino affect’.
China became communist and signed a treaty of friendship with USSR
North Korea invaded the capitalist south.
Why did USSR get involved in the Korean War?
In 1945 soviet forces were stationed in North Korea in preparation for an invasion of japan, allowing communism to get a foothold over the area.
Kim Il sung persuaded stalin that he could conquer the south
Kim il.
Stalin saw this as a chance to continue the Cold War at arms length.
A chance to spread communisms sphere of influence.
How and what did ussr do in Korea
Sent military advisors
Were boycotting the UN so could not veto invasion.
What did USA do in Korea?
Got a UN army led by the US General Douglas MacArthur. Landed at port of Inchon September 15 1950.
Pushed the North Koreans back to the Yalu river, near the Chinese border.
This was part of rolling back communism.
Remained in Korea until an armistice was signed in July 1953.
Why did china get involved in the Korean War?
China was concerned of a USA or a UN army being so close to China. However their treaty of friendship with the ussr got them involved.
What were China’s actions in Korea?
November 25th 1950 a Chinese force called ‘volunteers’ estimated at between 130,000 and 300,000 men attacked UN forces.
As they were called volunteers this was not a declaration of war.
What were the consequences for Korea after the war?
1.3 million dead and wounded South Korean military
520,000 North Korean military
Over 3 million civilian casualties
Much industry destroyed and agriculture ruined
A DMZ along the border
What were the consequences for the UN after the Korean War?
Gained respect by taking prompt and direct action.
Used combined force to stop aggression
17,000 causalities
May have been seen as a US puppet during war.
What were the consequences of the war in Korea for USA?
Saved South Korea from communism.
Prevented domino affect
Signed agreements with japan, Philippines, Australia and New Zealand to stop spread pf communism in east.
142,000 causalities.
Defence spending increased from $12 billion to $60 billion.
Consequences of Korean War for ussr
Achieved closer friendship with china
Forced into expensive arms race with USA.
Consequences of Korean War for china?
Achieved closer friendship with Russia
Gained respect of communist Asia
900,000 casualties
Coat of war was immense for poor country
Increased American protection for Taiwan.
What were the reasons for USA involvement in Vietnam?
Policy of containment and domino affect
Kennedy believe Vietnam was the “cornerstone of the free world in SE Asia”
South Vietnam was a useful satellite, rich in tin, rubber and tungsten.
Supported the French originally with money and weapons
Gulf of Tonkin incident
What were the actions of the US in Vietnam?
BEAST tactics:
Bombing- operation rolling thunder
Escalation- increased number of troops 1965 2 battalions deployed, 1966 a further 100,000
Air and artillery- troops sent on patrol to draw out enemy, would then get artillery support
Search and destroy- soldiers told to ‘take war to the enemy’ “ if they were Vietnamese and dead they were Vietcong”
Technology- dumped napalm a chemical that burnt skin to the bone, also used agent orange a powerful defoliant
Sent 1500 military advisors in 1961
Tonkin resolution
Vietnamisation- leaving Vietnam and giving control back to their government while “bringing our boys back home”
What were the actions of USSR and china in Vietnam?
China sent troops as well as military equipment
China also helped build roads railways and airstrips
USSR would train pilots and provide them with modern fighter planes
USSR supplied medicine food and oil
Also sent 3000 military advisors, tanks, anti-aircraft guns and surface to air missiles (SAMs)
What were key events in the Vietnam war?
Gulf of Tonkin- august 1964 north Vietnamese gun boats fired on a us destroyer the Maddox.
My Lai massacre- US soldiers completing orders of search and destroy, destruction of My Lai
Jan 1961- TET offensive, TET was a new year celebration and a 2 week holiday was observed. But not by Vietcong. A force of 70,000 attacked 100 towns
What were the consequences of the Vietnam war?
1 million communist soldiers died
58,000 US personnel died
300,000 soldiers injured
180,000 south Vietnamese soldiers died
400,000 SV civilians dead
War cost US $28 billion
Domino theory occurred; Laos and Cambodia fell to communism
USSR and Chinese relationship worsened leading to a period of detente.
Who was the leader of north Vietnam during war
Ho Chi Minh
Who was the leader of USA during Korean War?
Truman/Eisenhower
Who was president of USA during Vietnam war?
Johnson/Nixon
What was the cause of the Cuban missile crisis?
Castro overthrew government. He took control of American businesses (nationalisation) in the country as USA stopped trading with them.
Therefore Cuba began trading with the USSR. In 1961 Castro announced he was communist.
What was the bay of pigs
Jan 1961, the CIA planned to invade Cuba with the help of anti-Castro Cuban exiles. It did not go as planed as bad intelligence led the invaders to overestimate the local support for them.
This made Kennedy look inexperienced and turned Castro into a hero.
What was the USSR and Cuban response to the bay of pigs?
Castro asked ussr for help due to the invasion.
In august 1962 USSR established nuclear missile bases in Cuba.
These missiles would reach most cities in America just like the ones in turkey for USSR.
What was the USAs response to missiles in Cuba?
By October 1962 the US had photographic evidence for these bases.
They also found soviet ships o the way to Cuba with supplies. Kennedy wanted to end this threat.
What were the US options to respond to the situation in Cuba?
A committee of the national security council advised Kennedy to consider the following:
Invading Cuba
Blockading Cuba
Air attack on the missile bases
A nuclear attack on Cuba
Allowing the missile bases to be erected
What option did Kennedy pick to respond to the situation in Cuba?
Naval blockade
How did the Cuban missile crisis play out after the US announced a naval blockade?
Oct 24- blockade began, invasion plans drawn up, planes flew over Cuba, soviet ships turned away at the blockade.
Oct 26- U2 spy plane shot down over Cuba, Kennedy received a telegram from Kruschev, if American agreed to end blockade and not invade Cuba
Oct 27- 2nd telegram from Kruschev saying US also had to remove missiles from turkey for ussr to remove theirs from Cuba. Kennedy decided to ignore this.
Oct 28- kruschev agreed and began to remove missiles, however Kennedy then did secretly remove missiles from turkey.
What were the consequences of the Cuban missile crisis?
Both sides learned to avoid conflict in the future.
Telephone hotline between Washington and Moscow created.
Partial test ban treaty signed in 1963.
Why did USSR get involved in Afghanistan?
They were nervous about Afghanistan as it was a neighbouring country with gas fields which they wanted to exploit. It was also the centre of Muslim unrest, which led to an uprising in march 1979.
What were the actions of the USSR in Afghanistan?
Dec 25- invaded, by new year reached Kabul (capital city) and appointed a puppet ruler.
This invasion was condemned by the UN, USA and China.
The USSR found themselves in a similar situation to USA in Vietnam. The Mujahideen attacked supply convoys, shot down helicopters and then hid in the mountains.
In 1988 Gorbachev realised ussr couldn’t win, so by 1989 he had withdrawn all soviet forces.
What did the US do to respond to the situation in Afghanistan?
Between 1981 and 1987 Operation cyclone- supplied guns missiles and money to Mujahideen.
What were the consequences of the war in Afghanistan?
1 million Afghans died and 3 million fled as refugees to Pakistan.
Afghanistan ended up being ruled by violent warlords.
The ussr went bankrupt and people began to speak out against the soviet government.
Fundamentalist Muslim groups like the Mujahideen led to international terrorism.
What were the impact on relations due to war in Afghanistan?
New soviet communism
US president jimmy carter withdrew from arms reduction talks, stopped trade with USSR and boycotted the 1980 Moscow olympics.
US nuclear weapons placed in Europe from 1979 which resulted in protest peace groups like campaign for nuclear disarmament (CND).
Reagan’s Star Wars programme
USSR boycotted LA Olympics 1984.
