Key topic 5: How effectively did the USA contain the spread of communism Flashcards
Korean war start and end date
25th June 1950-23 july 1953
Between Soviet union and china for the north Vs USA and UN for the south
Domino theory
refers to the domino affect that can be brought about by the spread of communism to nation-states
Head of North Korea
Kim il- sung
served until 1994
Communist guerilla
in 1998, labelled the ‘eternal president of the republic
Head of south Korea
Syngman Rhee
served until 1960
When was the Creation of the 38th paralell
August 1945
US and Soviets agreed to split Korea into two occupation zones
What is containment?
A US policy to stop the spread of communism to nation states
Reason the north invaded the south in 1950
- Kim il- sung believed that the south Korean army was weaker than the Korean peoples army
US and UN response 1950
- In July 1950, Truman ordered naval and aerial forces to support south Korea
- Went an achieved support for UN troops from United Nations security council
- Had the USSR been there request would have been vetoed
- UN supported claim because USSR was absent due to upset over Taiwan being admitted as a delegate
Why were Americans worried and why did they intervene? Korea 1950-53
They were worried about Kim il-sung uniting Korea under communism and the domino theory.
-US officials thought a firm response was the best way to fight communist aggression
- Assumed the North Korean invasion was a soviet plan
What methods did Americans use to contain communism?Korea
Taking UN forces and pushing North Koreans back to the 38th Parallel
What problems did they face?Korea
- chinese joined the war
- General Mcarthur started to puch for more than containment
What was the outcome?Korea
General Macarthur was removed for ‘insubordination’ and replaced by general Omar bradley
- UN forces were able to push back the North Koreans to the 38th parallel where they stayed
Success or failure? Korea
The Korean War was a success for the US policy of containment because…
- South Korea did not become communist
- It proved the effectiveness of the UN, the successor to the LoN
BUT:
- The UN failed to achieve its objective of a unified, democratic Korea
- The Korean War was scarred by major misjudgements and substantial damage to property and life
- The US had used the UN to pursue its foreign policy - the USSR complained that the UN had been used as a capitalist tool against communism
Resolution 84 and when was it passed?
Passed 7th July 1950
UN SAID FOR MEMBERS TO GIVE AMERICA TROOPS
What happened in the Korean war?
June 1950
Kim il Sung invades South Korea
Korea Background
- 1949 Soviets tested their first nuclear weapon RSD-1
-1949 Communists won the Chinese civil war - The US prevented communist China joining the UN
Cuba Background
- Cuba wins independence supported by the US but are under quasi- imperial American rule
- Fidel Castro leads communist uprising and US backs Batista
- Fidel Castro takes power in 1959
- In response, America set up embargo to severely damage Cubas economy
- Cuba turn to USSR for help
quasi imperial american rule
This gave US
- right to intervene in Cuban affairs
- Guantanomo bay
-To control Cuba’s foreign policy
Why was Korea divided?
1945
- Between 1910-1945 Korea was controlled by Japan
-In 1945, Japanese soldiers surrendered to USSR troops in the north and the USA in the south
What happened in the Korean war?
September 1950
The UN forces advance
- UN stormed Incheon
-Other UN forces and South Korean forces advance from Pusan
-The North Koreans were then driven back beyond their original border
What happened in the Korean war?
October 1950
- MacArthur achieved original UN aim
-Americans continued into North Korea - Mao Zedong warned against it and said they would join the war if the US continued
-The UN approved plan to advance into North Korea and by October the US had reached Yalu river
-US wanted more than containment and saw this as an oppurtunity
What happened in the Korean war?
November 1950
200k chines peoples volunteers (chinese army) joined the fight in October.
- worst conditions American soldiers had known as the Chinese knew landscape better and had a more profound cause than americans
What happened in the Korean war?
April 1951
MacArthur is sacked
- MacArthur was ready to invade China and even use nuclear weapons
-Truman felt they had done enough.
- Risk of starting a war with USSR too great
- returned to policy of containment
What happened in the Korean war?
June 1951
-Peace talks begin
- middle 1951 the fighting reached a stale mate at the 38th parallel
- peace talks began between North Korea and South Korea. Fighting continued 2 more years
Why did the USA became involved in vietnam
-The cold war,containment & domino theory
-US domestic colonies
-The government of South Vietnam
-The Quagmire
Prior to 1940 vietnam was part of which colony?
Vietnam was part of the french colony of Indochina before being invaded by Japan
Vietnam Background
- Durin WW1 communist Viet Minh assisted Americans in defeating the Japanese that had invaded Vietnam
- received supplies from Mao zedong to help them in their war against France
Why did Ho chi Minh help the Americans fight the Japanese?
Hoped that this would ensure America support for Vietnamese independence
What did the Americans do after the world war to Vietnam?
Didn’t support Vietnamese independence and gave it back to France starting the First Indochina war
First Indochina war
1946-1954
- US worried about increasing popularity of communism in Asia
- USA was paying for 80% of frances war w/ Ho chi Minh
Who became the communist leader of china after the Chinese civil war?
Mao zedong
Turning point in first Indo china war
1954
France was losing war despite recieving aid from US. When significant amount of the french force was trapped in Dien Bien Phu the french were finally forced to accept defeat
How was vietnam divided after the french left?
In half via the 17th parallel
North Vietnam was led by
Ho Chi Minh who wanted to unite the country under communist rule
South vietnam was led by
Ngo Dinh Diem a catholic with USA support. He was deeply unpopular amongst the Buddhists
What happened in 1955 in vietnam?
Viet Cong tried to Over throw Ngo Dinh Diem and unite Vietnam under Ho chi Minh. Minh sent soldiers and supplies to the Viet cong via the Ho chi Minh trail
1963 Vietnam
Diem was ovethrown by own generals - viet cong didn’t stop operations against the ARVN- South Vietnamese army
American government concern over vietnam
by 1964 feared Vietnam would succumb to communist rule unless the viet cong and North Vietnam were defeated
Why did America send troops in 1963?
Worried that if vietnam became communist other countries would ‘fall like dominoes. Significantly grew US military presence from 1965-1968
1954 Geneva accords
dismantled Indochina and split it into four countries: North Vietnam,south vietnam, The kingdom of Cambodia and the Kingdom of Laos
- said there would be elections by july 1956 to create unified vietnamese state which the US blocked for fear of the spread of communism
Why didnt elections happen in Vietnam by 1956?
America decided that South Vietnam could never come under communist rule but that if an election happened it would
Eisenhower & Diem
1955-1960
- supported Ngo Dinh Diem
- sent $2bn in aid + military advisors for ARVN
-Diem was unreliable and ignored American advice
-1960 violence was increasing and US were now aware Diem was not in control
Kennedy & Diem
1960-1963
1960- People’s liberation army was created
-Pressure was growing in Washington for greater commitment to vietnam
- Kennedy decided against sending in troops
-launched operation beefup
- Diems regime launched the strategic hamlet program
- reports to Washington were positive but in reality, weren’t : Viet Cong was growing
-protests against Diems regime in 1963
Operation beefup
USA
- doubled funds for Vietnam
- tripled number of advisors
- sent helicopters,tanks,aircraft ,patrol boats and armoured cards
-authorised use of Napalm and Agent orange
Strategic Hamlet program w/ advantages+disadvantages
resetteling rural peasants in “well defended” villages that the ARVN could protect (and control)
A: stops viet cong gaining more soldiers
D:many ppl didn’t want to move so made US+gov unliked
ARVN
South Vietnamese army
1963 Protests vietnam
a buddhist monk Thich quang duc set him self on fire turning point for jfk
Johnson & the Gulf of Tonkin
1963-1968
- All news from Vietnam was bad
- Violence was increasing and the Viet cong were getting stronger thanks to arms from China
-40% of the south vietnamese countryside was under viet cong control
- Johnson warned that in 2 or 3 months south vietnam would be lost
-Johnson supported new leader General Khan and increased advisors from 16k to 23k by end 1964
Operation rolling thunder w/ advantages+disadvantages
1965-1968
Systematic bombardment of North Vietnam by America
3 years= 750k bombs dropped
Advantages:affected transport of weapons
Disadvantage: Often hit hospitals
When was America truly in the vietnam war
8th March 1965
under orders of president Johnson 3.5k marines landed in Da Nang
USS Maddox attack
2nd august 1964
USS Maddox was attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats to the surprise of Ho chi Minh . Reason president johnson decided to go all in
1964 Tonkin Gulf resolution
Empowered president Johnson to send troops to Vietnam
The cold war,containment and domino theory
That the USA got involved in Vietnam to stop Asia falling to communism
- Truman only increased US involvement in first Indochina war after Mao won china
-US preventer election by jul 1956 because they were scared communism would win
-US involvement in Korea (1950-53) showed them that Containment was possible
- Eisenhower & Kennedy supported Diem despite his problems because they believed he was the lesser of two evils- the other evil being communism
US domestic policies
US presidents were scared they would lose popularity if seen as soft by country for letting communism grow on their watch
- Kennedy felt pressure to get a foreign policy victory after the bay of pigs failure- reason he upped US involvement in Vietnam
-The military industrial complex needs war to survive - war= profit
The South Vietnam Government
Was weak and the US felt it needed support
- Ho chi Minh was more popular than Ngo Dinh Diem
- It was Diem’s failure to control country that led to pressure at home for Kennedy and the increase in troops
- The ARVN’s strategic hamlet program was a let down and not as successful as the US were led to believe
The quagmire theory
That the situation just snowballed.Even though america thought them just needed one more step
- Revolving door of south vietnamese leaders Diem the General Khan
-Project beefup not working leading to the step up by Johnson of added troops
Nixon
1969-1973
Nixon and his security advisor work to end US involvement in Vietnam
- Had to find balance between withdrawal + containment
Methods Nixon used to end US involvement in Vietnam
- Improved relations with USSR and China
-Vietnamisation of war+ handing the was back to S vietnamese - Continued coming
-1973 Paris peace accords, peace w vietnam
-In 1973 Communist overan saigon (Ho chi Minh city)
Tactics of Vietnam war: US
- Aerial bombing
-Operation rolling thunder
-Search and destroy - Chemical weapons
-escalation
-strategic hamlets
Advantages + disadvantages of Aerial Bombing
e.g Ho chi Minh trail and N vietnam
advantage: Damaged N vietnam war effort + disrupted supply routes
Disadvantage:Led to civilian casualties helping to turn vietnamese against the US
Advantages + disadvantages of Search and destroy
setting up heavily armed US bases and deploying when given information on VC
A: Killed Viet cong soldiers
D: often traps- villagers often lied or weren’t given sufficient info and killed innocent ppl
Advantages + disadvantages of Chemical weapons
Napalm + agent orange
a: destroyed Jungle were VC hid and lived
D:many civilians were killed + chem burned through skin and bone making them v unpopular
Advantages + disadvantages of Conscription and morale
a: gained more sodiers
D: soldiers were inexperienced and had low morale.Knew very little abt vietnam and didn’t care abt the spread of communism
Tactics of vietnam war: The viet cong
-Guerilla warfare
- Respect
- Supplies
- commitment
- tunnels
Advantages + disadvantages of Guerilla warfare
Avoiding big battles and using hit and run raids
a: wore down enemy morale and energy
D:difficult+ high casualties
Advantages + disadvantages of commitment
A: refused to give up which made them formidable enemies and very different to the americans that didn’t want to be there
d:high losses
Advantages + disadvantages of tunnels
A:could hide from American bombs
Advantages + disadvantages of strong supply chain
A:Got supplies from north Vietnam via the Ho chi Minh trail
d: Constantly bombed
Advantages + disadvantages of respect from civillians
A:had the population on side for support and to help fight
d: killed 27k peasants not v nice
Tet offensive 1968
-They took the US embassy in Saigon.
-The USA—under General Westmoreland—soon regrouped and inflicted heavy casualties on the North Vietnamese. Estimates vary from 10 000-37 000 were killed.
- President Johnson began scaling back troop involvement as a result.
Why was the Tet offensive not a complete victory for the viet cong?
- Lost 10,000 experienced soldiers
- Were badly weakened and the people didn’t rally too them
In what ways was the Tet offensive a turning point for the US?
- Played a large part in Johnson not running for re election
-American people started to question the morality of the US in vietnam
Why americans were against the Vietnam war?
- Noone liked the draft by 1967 the US death rate was 160 per week
- Americans didn’t understand why America was involved in the war and happened at the same time as the rise of the hippy movement
-Politicans wanted peace. Richard Nixon ran under the premise of ending US involvement in Vietnam
-Many of those drafted were African Americans (30%) who were more interested in gaining freedom than fighting for America - The youth were against it in the first half of 1968 there were 100 demonstrations against it
-It was expensive
My lai Massacre 1968
- March 1968
- the charlie company killed 300-400 my Lai villagers under the assumption they were Vietcong (despite no weapons found).
- Reported as a success and that only 20 ‘non-combatants were killed’.
- American soldier revealed the truth and lieutenant William Calley charged with murdering 109 ppl along w/ 10 others. Only did 3 years hard labour instead of 20 years
Cuban revolution
1959
US backed Fulgencio Batista’s Cuba
- key industries controlled by USA (railway and telephone)
-2/3 of farming land owned by foreign companies
-segregation and growing gap between rich and the poor
-20% of cuban population were illiterate and 61% of rural kids couldn’t go to school
-64% of all cubas doctors worked in Havana where all the rich ppl lived
-Batista embezzled, controlled the press and gov was heavily involved in drug trade
Communist revolutionary Fidel Castro’s Cuba
- Key industries (railway+telephone) nationalised and made cheap
-land was redistributed amongst farmers
-segregation abolished + socialist policies in place to reduce inequality - adopted “If you don’t know, learn.If you know,teach.” made education available to all
-Ordered redistribution of doctors, half left and then built 3 new training schools. more doctors in cuba than us per head
-Mafia forced to leave and American businesses closed down
-didnt hold elections
-arrested ‘deviants’ and ppl who disagreed - negotiates agreement w/USSR to export sugar and import technology and weapons
-US placed an embargo on cuba
John F kennedy pressures
USA
- preventing nuclear war
- Proving his ‘toughness’ and ability to run the country
Nikita Kruschev pressures
USSR
- wanted to appear tough in global affairs
-not to be taken advantage of
Fidel Castro pressures
Cuba
- develop countries
- protect revolution
- surviving US assassination attempts
Credibility
Being able to convince the enemy that you could and would use a nuclear weapon if needed to in turn dissuade the enemy from using their nuclear weapons
The bay of pigs invasion pt1
15 April 1961
- US dispatch three planes from nicruaga disguised as cuban planes (they are American) to attack Cuba and help overthrow Castro
-Planes miss, JFK embarrassed cancels 2nd strike and everyone knows they are American
Bay of pigs pt2 (after airstrikes)
April 17th 1961
- Brigade 2506 land in the ‘bay of pigs’ (beaches on a stretch of coast) with US backing to overthrow Castro
-US air support withdrawal has put them in trouble
-their ammunition reserves are insufficient and immediately came under fire of 20k cuban soldiers (no cubans joined their cause) - Word of the plan had spread thru the exiled cuban community in Florida. Cuban agents caught wind of plan and Castro had already prepared a military response
- 1.2k of the exiles surrendered and were held ransom for $53million worth of baby food and medicine
- ## great PR for Cuba and embarrassment for US
Why did the bay of pigs invasion fail?
- Castro knew about the plan so could plan ahead of time
-US air support was withdrawn
-Insufficient ammunition - Outnumbered and few if any Cuban supporters
After the bay of pigs
- soviet arms flooded into Cuba
-May 1962 soviets publicly announced it was supplying cuba w/ military equipment
-July 1962 Cuba had the best equipped army in Latin America
-By September it had thousands of soviet missiles + patrolbpats,tanks,radar vans w/ 5k soviet technicians to help maintenance of weapons
-11th sep Kennedy announced he would stop cuba becoming a military base by ‘any means neccesary’
-14th oct an American U2 plane took detailed photos of military sites
Why did the soviet union place missiles in Cuba?
-To close the missile gap
-To strengthen his own position in the USSR
Mon 15th Oct 1962
CIA spot indication that USSR are building missiles capable of reaching US in Cuba
Tuesday 16th Oct 1962
- Kennedy is made aware if missile build up
-Excomm is formed to discuss how to deal w/ threat
-sec of defence Robert McNamara gives Kenedy 3 options: diplomacy w/castro and Krushchev, a naval blockade of Cuba or precision airstrikes to destroy missile sites
Sat 20th Oct 1962
Kennedy decides on a naval blockade of Cuba . calls it quarantine because blockade is considered an act of war
Mon 22nd of October 1962
JFK reveals to americans the evidence of missiles in Cuba and the ‘quarantine’ of cuba
Tues 23rd Oct 1962
Kruschev writes to JFK denying missiles in Cuba
Wed 24th October 1962
Us naval ‘quarantine’ of Cuba begins
the first missile carrying ships hit 800m suddenly 20 sovietg ships turn around
Thur 25th Oct 1962
Soviet oil tanker - Bucharest approaches blockade.JFK lets it thru after determining it has no contra band on it. work on missile sites continues
Fri 26 Oct 1962
Castro urges Kruschev to nuke US. instead Krushev admits in a letter the presence of nukes and askes for JFK’s help to de escalate the situation
Sat 27th Oct 1962(am)
A US U2 spy plane is shot down.Kennedy concludes Kruschev did not make the order. Same day Kruschev demands the removal of missiles from turkey. US advisors suggest he has been overthrown
Sat 27th Oct 1962 (pm)
Kennedy decides not to attack but stops reconnaissance flights just in case.Kennedy ignores 2nd letter from Kruschev and rights he agrees to demands made in the 1st. JFK’s brother meets in secret to remove missiles from turkey but explains that it could not be done publicly in exchange for removing their missiles form Cuba
Events of the north korean invasion of the south
- March 1949, sought approval from Stalin to invade which was denied
- In April 1950 approved it on the condition that the Chinese would eventually help
- On the 25th June 1950 the KPA crossed the 38th parallel armed with heavy artillery
- By the 27th June Syngman Rhee fled Seoul
- South Korean army responded by blowing up Hangang bridge to stop KPA advancing. Thousands of refugees were on the bridge
Harry truman domino theory quote
‘If we let korea down, the soviets will keep right on going and swallow up one place after another’. - Harry Truman
What happened in the korean war?
sep 1950
UN forces advances
What happened in the korean war?
October 1950
the UN forces press on past the 38th parallel
What hapened in the Korean war?
Nov 1950
The UN ambushed by the Chinese and had to retreat
What happened in the Korean war?
April 1951
Macarthur sacked
What happened in the korean war?
June 1951
Peace talks begin
why was korea divided?
1947
-In 1947, The UN called fo free nationwide elections to elect a government for the whole of Korea
why was korea divided?
1948
- In 1948, elections supervised by the UN in the south elected Syngman Rhee and the soviets established Democratic republic of Korea under Kim il-Sung with its capital in Pyongyang
- Both sides claimed to be legitimate government of the whole of Korea
Strategic hamlet programme
It was a programme that set up secure villages for vietnamese people to live in in south vietnam for protection from the viet cong. However, it didn’t work because not many people whated to live in the villages and many ended up leaving. Those who did stay in them didnt recieve much security and got attacked by the viet cong.
proof that UN was manipulated by usa in Korea?
- 90% of all army personnel, 93% of all air power and 86% of all naval power was from the USA
· $12bn from USA alone · - There was no reason for the UNO to get involved in N.Korea
2nd august 1964
2nd august 1964 USS Maddox came under attack by N vietnamese torpedos
-US congress passed 1964 Tonking gulf resolution
March 1965
started operation rolling thunder. 3.5K marines landed at Da Nang by December it would be 200,000
