Unit 9

Cold War Battlefronts

The Korean War beginsAfter defeating Japan, the US and Russia split Korea into two zones, Russia occupied the North and US forces the South;

America was committed to the Containment Policy, which meant Communism must not expand into South Korea.

The US and Russia trained and supplied the armies of North and South Korea but then pulled troops out of the area; in June of 1950 North Korea attacked South Korea prompting the US to send troops.

American troops and UN forces invaded North Korea, but were pushed back as China decided to send troops to aid North Korea.

MacArthur and Korean War Pres. Truman ordered MacArthur to

intervene in the civil war and command the United Nation forces.

MacArthur was a man of great determination, he advised US and United Nation forces that they would no longer retreat and within two days MacArthur was able to change the whole complexion of the war.

The U.S., during a lull in the fighting, announced that negotiations might be possible with both sides separated by the 38th parallel. MacArthur disagreed with negotiated settlement publicly.

Truman dismissed MacArthur for his insubordination.

As Chinese forces moved into North Korea, UN and American forces retreated and established a line near the 38th parallel.

The war settled into a stalemate. As American casualties rose Truman lost popularity. Republican Dwight Eisenhower won the 1952 election and stepped up bombing in N. Korea

Although a ceasefire was called in 1953, peace treaties were never signed. There was always mixed US feeling as to our involvement in the conflict.

Ending the Korean War

‘Freedom Village,’ is North Korea’s propaganda city made to impress capitalists of the joys of Communism. Though filled with buildings, no one actually lives in Freedom Village; it’s merely part of an elaborate display, complete with loudspeakers blaring Pro-North messages and the world’s tallest flagpole.

Watch1st

Watch2nd

The border between North and South Korea is one of the most heavily fortified in the world.

Korea Today

This undated photo shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, with a senior military officer at an undisclosed location

“The work of Dr. Salk is of highest tradition of

selfless and dedicated research” James Hagerty

(Secretary to the President) April 22, 1955

- Jonas Salk created the vaccination to Polio in

1955

- Polio was a feared disease during the 1950s.

- Complications can lead to lack of movement,

lung problems, shock, and paralysis

- President Roosevelt contracted Polio in 1921

(not putting on timeline)

Dr. Jonas Salk

Hippies and The Counterculture The 1960’s and early 1970’s a new

group of American’s known as ‘Hippies’ emerged. Hippies chose to reject everything connected with mainstream America or ‘the Establishment’.

Many Hippies chose to ‘drop out’ of society by joining thousands of new rural communes.

Many hippies experimented with mind-altering drugs such as LSD, smoked weed and ‘shrooms’.

Hippies adopted a unique and colorful style of dress including tie-dyes, beads, bell-bottom jeans, and headbands.

Sounds of the 1960’s1964 became known as the year of British

invasion and included groups like the Beatles (John, Paul, George, and Ringo)

During the 1960’s , folk music gained popularity with artist such as Bob Dylan.

Motown (based in Detroit, MI, the ‘motor city’) Music also gained popularity in the 1970’s earning $50 million in 1975.

The height of 60’s rock music came in 1969 when some 400,000 young people descended on a rural New York farm for a three day festival known as Woodstock.

Notes #2

The Vietnam Conflict 1954-1973

The Vietnam War: The United States involvement in the Vietnam War was a direct response to the Truman Doctrine and the resistance and the military commitment of the United States to slow the global spread of Communism (US8D). It was a 15 year long conflict which cost tens of thousands of American lives and pitted war protestors against police and government officials (US2B).

The “decade of change”Vietnam had once been a French colony in

IndochinaIn 1954, Vietnamese nationalists led by Ho Chi

Minh, defeated their French rulersAt the Geneva Conference that followed, Vietnam

was divided into two states: Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese Communists in the north and pro-Western established in the south

After the Geneva Conference, the U.S. replaced France as South Vietnam’s principal supporter

Ho Chi Minh = Communist

US Support South

The War under JFK (1960-1963)According to the Domino Theory: if Vietnam fell to

Communism, Southeast Asian countries would also fall

Kennedy sent aid and US military advisers to assist S. Vietnam in fighting the Vietcong

Kennedy also felt that a strong democracy in S. Vietnam might serve as a model for other developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America

The “Climate” of South VietnamSouth Vietnam included Communists

(Vietcong) that supported N. VietnamThey began a guerilla war against the

government of S. VietnamThey would be the ones to overthrow the

government and assassinate the president in 1963

President Diem (1955-1963)Ho Chi Minh control N. Vietnam, the US installs a

Catholic president in a Buddhist country in S. Vietnam

Very unpopular, especially with Buddhist monksDiem was assassinated on November 2, 1963

(same month and year as JFK)LBJ inherits the war, “We are not going to send

American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves”

President Ngo Diem

The War under Johnson (1963-1968)

Under LBJ, the US became even more deeply involved in Vietnam

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: 1964, N. Vietnamese attacked US ships in international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin

Congress gave Johnson “full military powers” to stop N. Vietnamese aggression

Years later, it was revealed that US ships were actually in N. Vietnamese waters in cooperation with S. Vietnamese warships that were bombing N. Vietnam

Johnson Escalates the WarAlthough Congress hadn’t officially declared

war, Johnson used the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution to “escalate” the war

He ordered massive bombing raids over N. Vietnam

He sent more combat troops to S. Vietnam (by 1968; half a million US soldiers)

New weapons like napalm (sticky gasoline-based jelly that burns) inflicted great damage to Vietnamese

Also herbicides like Agent Orange destroyed the jungle cover used by the Vietcong to hide

Agent Orange

The Tet Offensive (1968)The Vietcong launched a massive offensive

throughout S. Vietnam seizing many major cities including Saigon (the capital)

The offensive marked a turning point in the warIt showed that victory was far away and disproved

the rhetoric of the American government – the government said the Vietcong were weak, under-supplied, disorganized, and low on morale

Notes #3

Roy Benavidez (1935-1998)In May 1968, facing constant

enemy fire, he carried wounded members of his platoon to rescue-helicopters.Although critically wounded,

he saved eight menAwarded the Distinguished

Service Cross and the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Reagan in 1981

Benavidez died in San Antonio in 1998

Increasing DifficultiesBy the end of 1968, the US

dropped more bombs on Vietnam than all of WWII

The war cost $25 billion a yearDespite efforts, the US was

unable to win for three reasons:

1) Popularity of the Nationalist Cause

2) The difficulties of guerilla warfare

3) Growing discontent: the anti-war movement

Casualty Category Number of Records

Accident 9,107

Declared Dead 1,201

Died of Wounds 5,299

Homicide 236

Illness 938

Killed in Action 40,934

Presumed Dead (Body Remains Recovered) 32

Presumed Dead (Body Remains Not Recovered)

91

Self-Inflicted 382

Total Records 58,220

Casualty Category as of April 2008

Popularity of the Nationalist CauseN. Vietnamese and many S.

Vietnamese saw Ho Chi Minh as the “father” of Vietnam

Corruption was widespreadAfter 1967, S. Vietnam was ruled

by a military dictator

The Difficulties of Guerilla WarfareAmerican soldiers were unfamiliar with the

language, people, or physical environmentThey couldn’t tell the “friendly” from the

enemyVietnam provided ideal cover for guerilla

warfare and secret enemy movementsVietnam’s location made it easy for

Communists to send a steady flow of supplies to neighboring countries

My Lai MassacreMarch 16, 1968 “This is what you’ve been waiting for - - search

and destroy - - and you’ve got it”The massacre of 300 apparently unarmed

civilians including women, children, and the elderly

An error in the chain of command results in some being shot in the back of the head, others rounded up and shot in ditches, and at least one rape and murder

The DraftIn response to an increase of US military

presence in Southeast Asia, the draft was reinstituted during the war

26th amendment: reduced the voting age from 21 to 18 – this gave young men being drafted a way to influence policies

The Anti-War MovementThe media had a great influence in shaping public

opinionPresident Johnson told Americans they were

winning, but journalists reported otherwise = the credibility gap

Many Americans lost faith in the governmentMass anti-war movements occurred throughout the

country American “doves” wanted the US to withdrawThe “hawks” supported the war

Draft Card BurningsMarch on Pentagon

Rallies & Demonstrations

Muhammad Ali jailed

Notes #4

The War under Nixon (1969-1973)Division about the war, the assassination of

Robert Kennedy, and violent at the Democratic N.C. in 1968 led to the election of Republican Richard Nixon

He claimed “peace and honor” in VietnamHowever, the war dragged on for five more

years under Nixon

“Vietnamization”During Nixon’s presidency, Henry Kissinger

adopted a complex approach to Vietnam consisting of “Vietnamization” (increasing bombing and diplomacy)

Anti-war protestors were shocked by his escalation of the war with the bombing of Cambodia

Kent State University, OhioIn 1969, national guardsmen shot at

and killed four student demonstrators at Kent State University

College campuses across the nation closed down due to student demonstrations and sit-ins

Students engaged in mass marches in Washington, D.C. and other major cities

In December 1965, a group of students in Des Moines planned a public showing of their support for a truce in the Vietnam war.

Students wore black armbands throughout the holiday season and to fast on December 16 and New Year’s Eve.

The principals created a policy that stated that any student wearing an armband would be asked to remove it, with refusal to do so resulting in suspension.

On December 16, Mary Beth Tinker and Christopher Eckhardt wore their armbands to school ….

Tinker vs. Des Moines

The Silent MajorityPresident Nixon insisted that most Americans

supported the warThey referred to their supporters as the “silent

majority”Leaked government papers known as the

Pentagon Papers, were published in 1971The government tried to stop the publication,

they showed that several presidents before Nixon lied to the American people about Vietnam

None wanted the disgrace of defeat of the Vietnam War

The Fall of Saigon: End of the War

After Nixon introduced “Vietnamization”, forces were gradually reduced

Nixon agreed to pull out remaining troops and N. Vietnam agreed to release American POWs

After the US withdrawal, fighting still continuedBy 1975, what remained of the S. Vietnamese

Army was incapable of preventionIn April 1975, the fall of Saigon (today Saigon is

called Ho Chi Minh city)Government officials, military officers, and

soldiers faced “re-education camps” or torture, disease and malnutrition

Formerly Saigon

The Legacy of the Vietnam War

Death and Destruction: 58,000 Americans died, over a million Vietnamese killed

Impact: End of the Great Society, government is affected by public opinion, crisis of American self-confidence, made aware of limits of US power

Limits on Presidential Power: War Powers Resolution (1973) set limits on presidential power during conflict – after 60 days must have Congressional approval

Post-War Literature, Art, and Music

The Beat Generation (1950s) rebelled against conformity, founded by Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac

Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 (1961) and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) challenged mainstream thinking by exposing the absurdity of armed conflict

Philip Roth’s American Pastoral (1997) and Portnoy’s Compliant (1969) dealt with human consciousness, sexuality, and middle class radicalism in the 1960s

Visual ArtsPerhaps more than literature and popular music,

the visual arts went in diverse directions“Action painters” like Jackson Pollock and Mark

Rothko expressed feeling with movement of color and texture

Andy Warhol created “Pop Art” by using symbols from mass-produced consumer culture

Jasper Johns and Roy Lichtenstein were also pop artists

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Vietnam Memorialhttp://www.history.com/interactives/vietnam-veterans-memorial

“The Wall”1. be reflective and contemplative in character; 2. harmonize with its surroundings; 3. contain the names of those who had died in the conflict or who were still missing; 4. make no political statement about the war.