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THE COLD WAR • The Cold war got its name because both sides were afraid of fighting each other directly. In such a "hot war," nuclear weapons might destroy everything. So, instead, they fought each other indirectly. They played havoc with conflicts in different parts of the world. They also used words as weapons. They threatened and denounced each other. Or they tried to make each other look foolish.
Improve your knowledge • The nuclear bomb gave America a lead which was expected to last at least 5 years. The rapid Russian development of nuclear technology, helped by the work of the “atom spies” was a shock.Significantly, Russia hurriedly declared war against Japan at the beginning of August 1945 and rushed to advance into Asia to stake out a position for the post-war settlement. This helped make both the Korean and Vietnamese conflicts more likely.
Hot wars • Armed, open conflict between nations or factions. THERE WERE TWO MAJOR HOT WARS DURING THE COLD WAR • Korea • Vietnam
The Chronology and Narrative • Major point: The USSR lost around 20 million people in WW2 • Stalin was determined to make the USSR secure in the future • By contrast Great Britain lost around 370,000 and the USA lost 297,000 people. KEEP THIS IN MIND
The rise of the superpowers • Before WW2 there were a number of countries which could have claimed to be superpowers – USA, USSR,GB, France, Japan, Germany. • The damage caused by the war to these countries left only two countries with the military strength and resources to be called superpowers…………. USA and USSR.
What they believed • Don’t forget USA was capitalist and USSR was communism • They were complete opposites • They had allied against Fascism ….. Now the common enemy had been defeated the reason for co-operation was gone • Differences soon emerged
Europe at the end of WW2 • After the war who would lead the countries and form new governments • The USSR favoured the communist groups, the USA favoured the non-communists • Examples would be Greece and Yugoslavia • This was one cause of tension between the superpowers
The Truman Doctrine(US President) • Truman thought that the spread of communism should be stopped. As poor countries would probably be tempted by communism, then the USA should help them.
War in Southeast Asia • At the end of WWII Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh (the Vietnamese nationalist force) took over the capital of Hanoi and declared Vietnam independent
Ho Chi minh • Ho Chi Minh was a communist!
•The French were unwilling to give up their claims in Indochina because of the valuable resources like tin, rubber, and rice •The Vietminh did not want foreign rule – wanted independence •War broke out in November 1946 when a French ship shelled Haiphong •Vietminh practiced guerrilla warfare
U.S. Support for the French • 1950 – Truman agreed to send $20 million to the French • •Practices the policy of containment – opposing communism wherever it appeared in an effort to “contain” its spread • •Over the next 4 years, the U.S. gave more than $2.6 billion to the French
FIRST INDO-CHINA WAR • The Vietminh, lead by Ho Chi Minh wanted doc lap, independence. • The defeat of the French occurred at the famous battle Dien Bien Phu. • Historian Martin Windrow wrote that Dien Bien Phu was ‘the first time that a non-European colonial independence movement had evolved through all the stages from guerrilla bands to conventionally organised and equipped army able to defeat a modern Western occupier in pitched battle’.
Geneva CONFERENCE • At the Geneva Conference it was decided that Vietnam would be divided at the 17th Parallel for one year with the north being communist and the south being democratic. After a period of one year, elections would take place to unify Vietnam under one rule.
DOMINO THEORY • President Dwight Eisenhower coins one of the most famous Cold War phrases when he suggests the fall of French Indochina to the communists could create a "domino" effect in Southeast Asia. The so-called "domino theory" dominated U.S. thinking about Vietnam for the next decade. • " Eisenhower expanded on this thought, explaining, "You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is a certainty that it will go over very quickly.“
Ngo Dinh Diem • Diem was not popular with his people. He was a Catholic and repressed and persecuted other religions (only 10% of the population were Catholics). • On May 8, 1963, Buddhists assembled in Hue to celebrate the 2527th birthday of the Buddha. Attempts were made by the police to disperse the crowds by opening fire on them. One woman and eight children were killed in their attempts to flee from the police. • The Buddhists were furious and began a series of demonstrations against the Diem government. In an attempt to let the world know how strongly they felt about the South Vietnamese government, it was decided to ask for volunteers to commit suicide.
Diem • The North Vietnamese government reminded Diem that a General Election for the whole of the country was due in July, 1956. Diem refused to accept this and instead began arresting his opponents. In a short period of time, approximately 100,000 people were put in prison camps. Communists and socialists were his main targets but journalists, trade-unionists and leaders of religious groups were also arrested. Even children found writing anti-Diem messages on walls were put in prison. • When it became clear that Diem had no intention of holding elections for a united Vietnam, his political opponents began to consider alternative ways of obtaining their objectives. Some came to the conclusion that violence was the only way to persuade Diem to agree to the terms of the 1954 Geneva Conference. The year following the cancelled elections saw a large increase in the number of people leaving their homes to form armed groups in the forests of Vietnam.
diem • These events convinced President John F. Kennedy that Diem would never be able to unite the South Vietnamese against communism. Several attempts had already been made to overthrow Diem but Kennedy had always instructed the CIA and the US military forces in Vietnam to protect him. In order to obtain a more popular leader of South Vietnam, Kennedy agreed that the role of the CIA should change. Lucien Conein, a CIA operative, provided a group of South Vietnamese generals with $40,000 to carry out the coup with the promise that US forces would make no attempt to protect Diem.
Second indo-china war • The U.S. government viewed involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and part of their wider strategy of containment. • The North Vietnamese government viewed the war as a colonial war, fought initially against France, backed by the U.S., and later against South Vietnam, which it regarded as a U.S. puppet state.
US INVOLVEMENT INCREASES • Gulf of Tonkin Incident – was it made up? • Lyndon B. Johnson expands the war, 1963–1969 • Ho Chi Minh warned that if the Americans "want to make war for twenty years then we shall make war for twenty years. If they want to make peace, we shall make peace and invite them to afternoon tea."
WAR • The communists used guerrilla methods that were very effective. They used the jungle and it’s resources for weapons, booby traps and hiding places. • The US used chemical warfare including Napalm and Agent Orange.
Us lose support • TET OFFENSIVE • MY LAI • News of the Tet Offensive made everyone believe that America could not win this war. • News of the atrocities at My Lai fuelled the anti- war feelings of many Americans. • People began questioning why their country was fighting in Vietnam. • Increasing number of demonstrations calling to end the war. • The soldiers were being called “BABY KILLERS” by Americans”
ANTI WAR PROTESTS • High-profile opposition to the Vietnam War turned to street protests in an effort to turn U.S. political opinion. • On 15 October 1969, the Vietnam Moratorium attracted millions of Americans. The fatal shooting of four anti-war protesters at Kent State University led to nation-wide university protests. • Riots broke out after explosive news reports of American military abuses, such as the 1968 My Lai Massacre. • Anti-war protests ended with the final withdrawal of troops after the Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973. South Vietnam was left to defend itself alone when the fighting resumed. Many South Vietnamese subsequently fled to the United States.
end • Withdrawal from Vietnam • Despite their superior technology, it did not seem the Americans would be able to achieve an outright victory.
NIXON - VIETNAMISATION • Severe communist losses during the Tet Offensive allowed U.S. President Richard Nixon to begin troop withdrawals. His plan, called the Nixon Doctrine, was to build up the ARVN, so that they could take over the defence of South Vietnam. The policy became known as "Vietnamisation". Vietnamisation had much in common with the policies of the Kennedy administration. One important difference, however, remained. While Kennedy insisted that the South Vietnamese fight the war themselves, he attempted to limit the scope of the conflict.
END OF US INVOLVEMENT • On 15 January 1973, Nixon announced the suspension of offensive action against North Vietnam. The Paris Peace Accords on "Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam" were signed on 27 January 1973, officially ending direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. A cease-fire was declared across North and South Vietnam. U.S. POWs were released.
Standing Alone, South Vietnam Falls • South Vietnam surrendered on April 30, 1975, following the fall of its capital. After thirty years of conflict, Ho Chi Minh’s vision of a united, communist Vietnam had been realised.
Australia’s involvement • SEATO • ANZUS • SUPPORTING THE US – A POWERFUL ALLIANCE
CONSCRIPTION • If the birth date of a twenty-year-old man was drawn in the ballot, he was liable to do two years continuous full-time service in the regular army, followed by three years part-time service in the Army Reserve. The full-time service could include combat duties in Vietnam.
moratorium • The first Vietnam Moratorium took place on 8 and 9 May 1970 and over 200 000 people across Australia took part. In Melbourne, an estimated 100 000 marched. It was a peaceful demonstration with no arrests made. It was also a defining moment for many Australians who had never openly declared their support for the peace groups. It was a very sensitive and divisive issue, many people went against their families' and friends' beliefs to march in the moratoriums - some people even disguised themselves so as not to be recognised
veterans • After the war was over and the Australian troops came home, they were angry and confused by the reaction they met. They were not welcomed home as they had expected they would be. Many veterans felt like they were being blamed for the war - instead of the government. Soldiers did not receive an official 'Welcome Home' parade until 1987 - nearly 20 years after the last soldiers left Vietnam. Not surprisingly, many veterans felt their service to their country went unrecognised and un-thanked.
veterans • many Vietnam veterans were excluded from marching in ANZAC Day parades during the 1970s because some soldiers of earlier wars saw the Vietnam veterans as unworthy heirs to the ANZAC title and tradition, a view which hurt many Vietnam veterans and resulted in continued resentment towards the RSL. Regardless, in 1972 the RSL decided that Vietnam veterans should lead the march, which attracted large crowds throughout the country.
Psychological effects • The Vietnam War was unlike any other war Australian soldiers had fought in that no one really knew how to deal with the after effects of it. Vietnam was not a war fought on open fronts, with areas of safety to which soldiers could retreat. Soldiers were constantly on alert for the enemy. Soldiers did not always know who the enemy was. The enemy could be the women and children soldiers thought they were protecting. The result was that many Vietnam veterans suffered psychological damage in the form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Agent orange • By the late 1970s many soldiers believed they had also been poisoned while fighting in Vietnam. Between 1962 and 1971 over 17 million gallons of herbicide and insecticide were used in Vietnam to clear vegetation so the Viet Cong had nowhere to hide. • In 1978 a report appeared linking Agent Orange with cancers of the soft tissues and blood, birth defects in children born to those exposed to the herbicide and toxic brain dysfunction
Agent orange • A royal commission was finally set up in 1982 to investigate the claims made by the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia. It reported in 1985 and said that Australian exposure to chemicals had been very small, and that it had not affected the soldiers adversely. The commission's report said the chemicals had prevented health problems 'which may have otherwise been a problem in the Vietnam environment'. • The Vietnam Veterans Association rejected the royal commission report and fought to have the findings overturned. It was not until 1994 that the Labor Government acknowledged Agent Orange was responsible for the cancers and other illnesses suffered by Australian veterans of the Vietnam War.
I was only 19 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urtiyp-G6jY
How about Cambodia • Cambodia was neutral • Ho Chi Minh Trail • Secret bombings – Nixon • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu8PJBRa60s
