Cold War Battlefronts

1. Cold War Battlefronts Unit 9

2. The Korean War begins After 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.

4. 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.

6. Ending the Korean War 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.

7. ‘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

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

10. 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.

13. Sounds of the 1960’s 1964 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.

14. Background of Vietnam Vietnam covers 130,000 square miles of hills and dense forest, with a tropical climate. China had twice unsuccessfully attempted to invade Vietnam most recently in 1428. During a wave of Imperialism in the late 1800’s, Vietnam became a colony of France. Vietnam would be occupied for a short time by the Japanese during WWII. America saw Vietnam as a key piece of the Domino Theory—the idea that each country that fell to communism in Asia would lead to the next country falling in turn (like a row of dominos)

17. Part of a jungle in Vietnam. Thick vegetation, snakes, and a very humid climate are common.

18. Vietminh and French go to War After WWII Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh led the League for the Independence of Vietnam or Vietminh to declare Independence. The French saw Vietnam as a French colony and in 1946 began a war for control of Vietnam The US feared that Communism would take over Vietnam if they gained independence, so the US backed the French in the War. The Vietminh were also being aided by China, and on May7, 1954, the French surrendered.

19. Ho Chi Minh

20. The Geneva Conference Just one day after the French surrender, leaders from the US, France, China, Vietnam and England met in Geneva, Switzerland A ceasefire was agreed upon and Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel. Vietminh led by Ho Chi Minh in the North and the Republic of Vietnam led by Ngo Dinh Diem in the South. Diem was backed by the US and France but lacked popularity from his own people, by 1959 armed resistance to Diem had begun.

22. US Involvement and Diem’s Assassination In the early 1960’s, attacks on Diem’s forces by armed rebels, called VC or Vietcong grew. President Kennedy authorized US forces in Vietnam to directly engage the VC. Diem also began to feel pressure as his Christian views made him a target for Buddhist leaders. Diem had hundreds of Buddhists arrested. The US also became frustrated with Diem and began to plot his overthrow. In November of 1963 Diem and his brother were assassinated.

23. A Buddhist monk protests the Christian leadership of South Vietnam by setting himself ablaze.

24. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution • As American presence in Vietnam grew, several conflicts erupted between American and North Vietnamese ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. • Attacks on American ships bolstered support for more US involvement in Vietnam • Following the attacks, Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution which authorized President Johnson to use all necessary measures. • Soon after the resolution, Johnson called for an escalation of military forces in Vietnam.

25. American Troops • More than 2,000,000 American served in Vietnam. Many were drafted and the average soldier was younger, poorer and less educated than American soldiers in WWII and Korea. • In 1965 black soldiers accounted for 24% of American deaths and some 10,000 servicewomen filled non-combat positions, mostly as nurses. • Opposition to the draft was more pronounced during Vietnam and some major figures such as Mohammad Ali were convicted of draft evasion. • General William Westmorland was commander in charge of US forces in Vietnam

27. All All gave some…some gave ALL!

28. The Air War • President Johnson was convinced that superior US air power would lead to a quick victory • In March of 1965 Operation Rolling Thunder bombed military targets in North Vietnam • A key target of the air war was the Ho Chi Minh Trail which supplied the Vietcong with weapons and supplies. • By 1967, American planes were dropping a daily average of 800 tons of bombs. We were never able to bring the collapse of North Vietnam.

29. American planes dropped an average of 800 tons (1,600,000 pounds) per day on North Vietnam.

30. The Ground War • By 1967, almost 500,000 American soldiers were on the ground in Vietnam. • Forces on the ground fought mostly South Vietnamese VC (Vietcong) who were supplied by North Vietnam. • Ground fighting was extremely difficult as the Vietcong blended in with peasants and were adept at using the jungle. • Progress in the war was usually shown in the number of Vietnamese killed in a day.

31. What is the American GI thinking? Friendly or VC? Armed or Unarmed? Did he just set a mine or booby trap?

32. The War and the Media • The Vietnam War was the first war to be viewed by Americans on television. • TV news programs showed gruesome images of terrified Vietnamese and dead American soldiers. • Television accounts and official government reports often painted a very different picture than what was actually happening in the conflict. • More Americans, both for and against the war, became critical of President Johnson’s handling of the war.

33. ‘In the field’ reporters brought the war ‘home’ to Americans via television.

34. The Anti-War Movement • As the Vietnam War dragged on, an increasing number of anti-war demonstrations took place. • Groups like the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) organized anti-war marches and rallies. • Distrust over the handling of the Vietnam war and information relayed to the public by Johnson and later Nixon became known as the “credibility gap” • Despite their high visibility, antiwar protesters made up a small percentage of the population; President Nixon would later call the larger number of American who supported the war the “silent majority”.

35. The Tet Offensive • During the Vietnam War, fighting had always stopped for the Vietnamese New Year. (Tet). On January 30, 1968, however, the Vietcong simultaneously attacked over 100 cities and twelve US military bases. • North Vietnamese felt that the attacks would spark a revolution in South Vietnam ,but after almost a month of fighting 40,000 Vietcong had been killed. During the same period, the US had 1,100 casualties. • The Tet Offensive hurt the US as the American people realized that no part of Vietnam was safe from Vietcong attacks.

38. The Election of 1968 • In March of 1968 President Johnson announced that he would not run for re-election. Robert Kennedy (JFK’s brother) became the leading candidate for the Democratic Party nomination. • SirhanSirhan assassinated Kennedy before he could be nominated. Vice-President, Hubert Humphrey accepted the Democratic nomination. • Richard Nixon ran for the Republicans and promised a secret plan to get us out of the war. • Nixon defeated Humphrey in the 68’ election.

40. Vietnamization and Cambodia • Nixon and his closest advisor ,Henry Kissinger had developed a plan called Vietnamization which included a slow withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam and increased training for South Vietnamese soldiers. • As Nixon began to withdraw troops from Vietnam, he increased attacks on N. Vietnamese troops in Cambodia, just west of Vietnam. • American offensives in Cambodia forced N. Vietnamese to come out of hiding.

42. Kent State Killings and the Pentagon Papers • Antiwar protest grew more violent as the war dragged on; in May of 1970, four students were killed at Kent State (OH) University during an antiwar protest. • The National Guard which had been called to Kent State after an ROTC building had been burned, fired into a crowd of protesters killing the students. • The anti-war movement also made headlines in 1971 when secret government documents dubbed the Pentagon Papers revealed that the government had frequently misled the American people about the course of the war.

44. Kent State (OH) University

45. A Cease-fire at Last • From 1969 to 1972, the US’s, Henry Kissinger and North Vietnam’s, Le DucTho, had met secretly to find a way to end the war. • In January of 1973, the two sides agreed to a peace plan which called for a cease-fire and a pullout of all foreign troops from Vietnam • Two years after US forces withdrew, North Vietnamese troops attacked South Vietnam. The US evacuated 120,000 Americans and South Vietnamese before South Vietnam and its capital city of Saigon fell to the Communist in April of 1975. • 248 Americans would be awarded the Medal of Honor for service in Vietnam including Texan, Roy Benavidez

46. Lasting Effects of Vietnam on the US • Tinker vs Des Moines 1969; the US Supreme Court upheld the rights of students freedom of speech at school; students were suspended for wearing black armbands to school as a symbol of protesting the Vietnam War. • In 1971 the 26th Constitutional Amendment changed the voting age from 21 to 18 in response to the sacrifice of American teenagers in Vietnam. • The War Powers Act of 1973 stated that the President can send armed forces into action abroad only by authorization of Congress or if the U.S. is already under serious threat. • Post traumatic stress disorder is common among Vietnam veterans, many have struggled to readjust to civilian life.

47. YOU ARE!