Cold War EventsBerlin, Korea, Vietnam & Cuba

Troy High School

World Studies

Partition of Germany• Suggested at Potsdam and ratified at

Yalta

• Four Zones

1. Russia

2. Britain

3. US

4. France

• Berlin would also be sliced up into four parts with Western access across the Russian zone.

Germany Cont…

• Economy directed to agriculture and peaceful industries

• Was to be thoroughly disarmed

• Schools were set up to encourage democratic ideas

• Denazification

Berlin Blockade• Stalin wanted

Western forces out of Berlin

• He blocked all surface routes

• Only way he could prevent the airlift was by shooting the aircraft down– Stalin feared all-out

war and eventually gave up on the blockade

Berlin Wall

• Construction began on Sunday, August 13, 1961

• Became the bold symbol of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain

Korea 1945

• Japanese colony since 1910

• Then in 1945 it was divided at the 38th parallel– Russia in the North & America in the South

• Russia defied the UN attempt to hold free elections

• North = Communist Kim Il-Sung

• South = Anti-Communist Syngman Rhee

Aggression in Korea

• June 1950 North Korean Communist forces crossed the 38th parallel

• UN reacted with American and South Korean forces – Gen. Douglas MacArthur

Major Points of the War• June 28th Seoul

captured• Pusan Perimeter• Inchon Landing• Back to Seoul• Back across the 38th

to the Yalu River• Chinese assistance

back across the 38th to Seoul yet again

• Then back the 38th for a stalemate

Korea Since the War• Still divided today• US interest and

troops remain to this day

• 1993 Korea withdraws from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

• 1972 & 2000 talks of unification failed

Vietnam

Vietnam Background

• Mid 1800’s became a French colony• During WWII Japan occupied the region

and after the war and the Japanese withdraw the French tried to regain their territory and failed

• The Geneva Conference of 1954 divided Vietnam at the 17th Parallel pending monitored elections to unite the nation by 1956

Vietnam Cont…

• Communist North led by Ho Chi Minh began to increase military strength, eliminate free enterprise, and receive aid from Soviets and China

• Anti-Communist South rejected plans for a unified nation

• In response the North began guerrilla warfare throughout the South

Vietnam Cont…

• Saigon requests American aid so the US begins to send military advisors in 1954 fearing that other nations would fall to Communism. (Domino Theory)

US Military Advisors

Escalation of US Troops

’65-25,000

’68-536,000

Vietnam Cont…

• Paris Peace Agreement (1973)– US withdraws troops & receives POW’s– All foreign troops withdrawn form Laos and

Cambodia– Reunification of Vietnam by peaceful means

Current Day Vietnam

• Officially united as a communist state on July 2, 1976

• Vietnam has experienced very little economic growth

• Headed by Tran Duc Luong

• Buddhism, Christianity (Mainly Roman Catholic)

Cuba

Background

• Spanish colony until 1898 then the US occupied Cuba

• Independence was granted to Cuba in 1902 but limited due to the Platt Amendment

The Overthrow

• The 26th of July Movement in 1959 Fidel Castro overthrew the corrupt dictator Fulgencio Batista

• Once in power Fidel forbade elections, civil liberties, cut relations with the US and made agreements with Communist nations

Major Events

• Bay of Pigs (1961) – The US trained Cuban exiles to launch an invasion into Cuba to overthrow Castro– Was modeled after a

similar event in Guatemala

Major Events Cont…

• Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) – Pres. Kennedy revealed that the Soviets were installing missile and bomber bases in Cuba– Kennedy issued quarantine

and demanded the Soviets to withdraw missiles

– After and few days of tension Khrushchev removed the missiles

Cuba Today

• Cuba’s economy was hurt in the 80’s due to the fall of Communism. The country relied on aid from the Soviet Union

• Cuba was worsened when the US imposed further trade sanctions in 1992 and again in 1996

• To this day civil liberties are suppressed in Cuba

THE END!!!