The Cold War and Communism Cold War What is a Communist, a Commie, or a Red? Communism : a: Theory advocating elimination of private property b: A system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed The state runs the economy (businesses) and decides how much people get paid Everything is done for the good of the state (nation) and not for the individual The Communist Party is all-powerful 1
Russia wanted Eastern Europe for two reasons 1) To be a buffer (protection against future attacks) 2) To use their resources and industry to rebuild Russia After WWII, there were two remaining Superpowers in the world, Russia and the U.S. The competition for global supremacy and survival between those two countries became known as the Cold War The goal was to be #1 without destroying the World The Cold War The Cold War 2
MAD: Mutual Assured Destruction The Nuclear Arms Race and the Threat of Global Destruction The Cold War In 1946 Churchill declared an iron curtain has descended across the continent This is certainly not the liberated Europe we fought to build up. The Iron Curtain was a symbolic phrase to describe the separation of the communist and capitalist countries in Europe Questions What is Communism? What is Capitalism? What was the Iron Curtain? What is MAD? 3
Nuclear Weapons Testing July, 1946, the U.S. invited the world to see how powerful our country was The Bikini Islands in the Pacific was used as a nuclear weapon testing ground from 1946-1958 Think of Sponge Bob The USSR was not happy about this The U.S. decided the best way to confront the U.S.S.R. was to limit their influence Containment became the official policy of the U.S. from 1946 to the 1990s Keep it from spreading Containment The Cold War Not only will the U.S. keep Communism in a container, but the U.S. will also help countries around the world resist Communism This is known as the Truman Doctrine The U.S. gave millions of dollars to nations around the world to help stop Communism. President Truman 4
A Divided Europe And Germany Germany was divided into 4 different sectors, the U.S., England, France and Russia the city of Berlin was also divided in the same way The West decided to unify their three zones and give independence to Western Germany The Berlin Airlift Thousands of Eastern Europeans fled Communism through the city of Berlin this was very embarrassing to the Soviets Stalin decided to shut off West Berlin from all outside help no access by roads, water, or train During the next 11 months, British and American airplanes made more than 200,000 flights to deliver food, fuel, and other supplies to West Berlin in what became known as the Berlin Airlift It worked!!! N.A.T.O. and the Warsaw Pact N.A.T.O. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created to deter a Russian attack on Western Europe The U.S., Canada, and Western European nations pledged to help defend each other if they were attacked still around today The Warsaw Pact (1955) was the same thing except for the U.S.S.R. and Eastern Europe 5
Communism begins to Spread 1949 Russia gets the bomb!!! 1949 The Chinese Civil War Communists take over China Commies make up more than a billion people and 10% of the land in the world U.S. worries about the Domino Effect Questions What is Containment? What was the Truman Doctrine? What was the Berlin Airlift? What is NATO? What is the Warsaw Pact? Korean War 1950-1953 6
Post World War II The end of WWII found Korea occupied by the USSR in the north and the US in the south. The United Nations divided Korea into two separate countries: North Korea and South Korea. The two countries were divided along the 38 th Parallel (Latitude) United Nations Believing the US did not intend to protect South Korea, the USSR allowed the North Koreans to invade the south in 1950 As a member of the UN Security Council, the Soviet Union could have vetoed UN involvement in the war, but instead Moscow was boycotting the Security Council. In the absence of the USSR, the UN passed a resolution sending a military force to South Korea The force was predominately American with Douglas MacArthur as the Supreme Commander Korean War 1950-1953 North Korea invades South Korea in June, 1950. First war of containment policy to stop communism Police Action not a declared war President Truman leads United Nations. General Douglas MacArthur commands US and UN troops. Called forgotten war. 7
Stalemate 1951-1953 Late in 1950, China enters the war to help North Korea. For the next three years, each side won and lost land without much success. By 1953, a stalemate had been reached at the 38 th parallel. Finally on July 27, 1953 the armistice was signed Questions What exactly was the Korean War? Was it a real war or a police action? What happened as a result of the war? The Cuban Missile Crisis 8
The Cuban Missile Crisis 1961, CIA tried invasion of Cuba, the Bay of Pigs incident. It failed. In October 1962, Kennedy learned that the Soviet Union had build several launch sites for missiles in Cuba. Fidel Castro, leader of Cuba (1959), cooperated with the Soviet Union, formed a communist government, and allowed the Soviets to build missile launch sites. The Aerial Photos Aerial Photos of the missile sites on Cuba The range of missiles on Cuba The American Response Kennedy and Congress had already passed a resolution stating the placement of nuclear weapons in Cuba would no be tolerated They realized they had to act quickly before the missiles were active They had a number of choices at their disposal This has become known as the Escalation Ladder 9
The Escalation Ladder 1. Do Nothing 2. Go to the United Nations 3. Naval Blockade 4. Strategic Air strike 5. Full Invasion of Cuba Escalation Ladder Do Nothing 1.The Truman Doctrine prevented it 2.The weapons were too dangerous to American safety 3.Kennedy would be perceived as weak by the Soviets This could empower them to make another move on Berlin or another contentious European location 4.Kennedy would be committing political suicide at home Escalation Ladder Go to the UN PROS Using the United Nations for diplomacy which is good Validates the United Nation s role in global politics CONS Takes too long Could appear indecisive Too many interest groups Russia and the United States both have veto powers on the Security Council hard to reach a consensus DECISION: Good option in conjunction with another choice 10
Escalation Ladder Naval Blockade PROS Its not war and it is a show of strength without missiles A Naval quarantine is an effective way of turning away missiles CONS Puts the United States in direct confrontation with the USSR Sinking a soviet ship is an act of war DECISION: Safer than an air strike or full invasion Escalation Ladder Air Strike PROS Will effectively knock out Soviet missiles Good show of American strength CONS When Soviet missiles are destroyed it is likely that Soviet soldiers will die as well this is an act of war DECISION: Option number two but would prefer not to use it Escalation Ladder Invasion of Cuba PROS The United States secures Cuba and ensures nuclear safety from the country The United States sends a clear message to the Soviets to stay out of the west CONS A full invasion would surely kill Soviet soldiers which would be considered an act of war The nuclear consequences could be disastrous DECISION: Too risky, can only be used as a last resort 11
The Results After long negotiations, the Soviet Union agreed to stop sending missiles to Cuba and to remove all the missiles that were already there. The United States agreed to end the naval blockade. The crisis lasted 13 days and almost caused WWIII. The Hot Line was installed between Washington, D.C. and Moscow to prevent any further issues. Questions Why did the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. almost go to war? Did the threat of war end after the missile crisis? 12
A War of Colonial Independence Vietnam had been a French colony under the name of French Indochina (along with Cambodia and Laos) Vietnam began to fight for its independence from France during WW II ( when France was preoccupied with European conflict) This colonial war raged from 1946-54, culminating in the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, French leave The decision was to partition Vietnam into a communist North and a democratic South Vietnam AMERICAN ESCALATION AND MILITARY INVOLVEMENT On August 2, 1964, three North Vietnamese PT boats allegedly fire torpedoes at a U.S. destroyer located in the international waters of the Tonkin Gulf and became known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution is approved by Congress and authorizes President Lyndon Johnson to wage all out war against North Vietnam without ever securing a formal Declaration of War from Congress. Questions Why did America get involved in Vietnam? What was the Gulf of Tonkin Incident? 13
AMERICAN ESCALATION AND MILITARY INVOLVEMENT The first U.S. combat troops arrive in 1965 but, the U.S.experienced a lack of success against both the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Vietnamese guerrilla forces in South Vietnam (Vietcong). By 1968, the war reached its climax. In January 1968, the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong launched the massive Tet Offensive. Tet shook the confidence of the American people and media who had thought the war was going well. Tet Offensive Tet Offensive Attack Sites 14
The Television War The T.V. War This is the first war in American history that is seen around the world on a daily basis. The images shock the nation and it begins to oppose the war. 1968 - A Watershed Year Westmoreland Requests 206,000 More Troops Highest level at 536,100 soldiers LBJ Announces He Won't Run Paris Peace Talks Begin Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy Assassinated Upheaval at Democratic Convention in Chicago My Lai Massacre Richard Nixon Elected President 15
1969-1973 1969 Nixon Begins Secret Bombing of Cambodia 1969 Policy of "Vietnamization" Announced 1969 Massive Antiwar Demonstrations begin 1970 Kent State Incident 1972 Secret Peace Talks Revealed 1972 B-52s Bomb Hanoi and Haiphong 1973 Cease-fire Signed in Paris 1973 End of Draft Announced 1973 Last American Troops Leave Vietnam Protests Against the War Protests For the War 1975 The Fall of Saigon South Vietnam President unconditionally surrenders to the Communists April 30, 1975. As the few remaining Americans evacuate Saigon, the last two US servicemen to die in Vietnam are killed when their helicopter crashes. 16
Questions Why did America lose the Vietnam War? What happened to Vietnam after the U.S. left? The Legacy of the War Casualties: United States: 58,119 killed, 153,303 wounded South Vietnam 230,000 killed and 1,169,763 wounded (estimated) North Vietnam 1,100,000 killed in action (estimated) and an unknown number of wounded Total Americans Prisoners of War (POW) and Missing in Action (MIA) 2,583 POW John McCain being welcomed home by President Nixon after 5 ½ years in captivity. 17
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial The Wall All 58,195 who died in the Vietnam War, from 1959 to 1975, are listed on the Memorial. The War Powers Act At the close of the Vietnam War Era the US Congress overrode President Nixon s Veto and passed the War Powers Act in order to: Limit future US Involvement in foreign conflicts Restore checks and balances to US foreign policy decision making Questions What did the Vietnam War mean to America? What was the War Powers Act? Was it effective? 18