Containment

• What was the US response for the Cuban missile crisis?

  • In June 1960: Eisenhower sent CIA to investigate overthrowing Castro
  • Tried to disrupt the economy: damaged sugar plantations
  • Castro responded with mixed approach: assure Americans living in Cuba that they were safe and allowed US to keep naval base- wanted to run cuba without interference
  • Summer of 1960: allied with USSR, signed agreement with Krushchev giving Cuba 100 million in economic aid and received arms
• How were the US involved in the Vietnam war?

  1962- Kennedy sending military personnel, but refused to enter war- studied past successes and failures

  In 1963- Kennedy assassinated, replacement Johnson was more prepared to commit to full scale confit in vietnam
• The outbreak of the Korean War

  > Ruled by Japan until 1945

  > At the end of the War the north was liberated by soviet troops and the south was anticommunist enough to win support from the US

  > There was bitter hostility between the north’s communist leader Kim II sung and Syngman rhee (president of South Korea)

  > By 1950 all but a small corner of south east Asia was under communist control
• How did the USA respond to the Korean War?

  > Truman thought if Korea became communist then America would become communist: sent advisors, supplies, warships

  > Truman knew these actions would look better if he had support from the UN

  > The US was the biggest contributor to UN budget so he put pressure on the security council to get N. Korea to withdraw troops

  > Normally the USSR would have vetoed the call for action by the UN but they were boycotting the UN over whether China could join the UN so they were not at the meeting
• Events of the Korean War:

  > In sept 1950: UN forces advance and S.Korean troops advance from Pusan, N. Koreans driven back from original border

  -> UN forces press on beyond border despite warning from Mao Se Tung that China would enter the war

  > In Nov 1950: 200,000 Chinese troops joined

  -> N. Koreans had modern tanks and planes supplied by the Soviet Union, UN was pushed back into south Korea

  > In June 1951: peace talks begin: fighting reached a stalemate around the 38th parallel, but war continues for 2 more years
• Why was MacArther sacked in the Korean War:

  > He was sacked in April 1951

  > MacArthur wanted to carry on fighting once UN forces reached the Yalu river, he was ready to invade China and use nuclear weapons

  > Truman felt saving S. Korea was enough and was scared to bring in the USSR

  > In March, MacArthur openly threatened attack on China
• What was the Outcome of the Korean war?

  > The border remained mostly unchanged

  > In July 1953: Armistice

  > In 1952 Truman was replaced by Eisenhower

  > Stalin’s death made China and N.Korea less confident
• What were the consequences of the Korean War?

  > The cost and casualties were high (500,000 S.Korean and 780,000 N.Korean citizens)

  > Showed the US had the means and will to contain communism

  > South Korea remained out of communist hands

  > Showed limits of the policy: N.Korea remained communist

  > Highlighted tensions around US leaders

  > N. Korea developed into a dictatorship
• What were the methods of containment?

  > SEATO alliance: south east Asia

  > CENTO: Central Asia and the Middle East

  > The US gave money, advice and arms, in return these counties suppressed communist influence

  The USSR saw these alliances as agressive, accused the USA of trying to encircle the communist world
• Nuclear weapons:

  The US developed the first atomic bomb in 1945, did not share this info with the USSR even whilst they were allies

  > When the USA dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, 700,000 people were killed instantly, Japan surrendered within a week

  > Just threatening such use could contain communism

  > The result was an arms race between the USA and USSR
• What were the origins of the Cuban missile crisis?

  > The USA and USSR were in an arms race

  > They spied on eachother for technological secrets- USSR used spies, USA used U2 planes

  > The USA placed shower range nuclear weapons in Turkey (CENTO ally)

  > The nuclear deterrent meant neither side would attack first, if they did the other side would strike black before it even landed. This was MAD (mutually assured destruction)
• The Cuban Revolution:

  > The US provided the Cuban ruler Batista

  > He was a dictator and his rule was corrupt and unpopular

  > Castro overthrew Batista- he killed, arrested and exiles as many political opponents as possible

  > He took over US owned businesses in Cuba
• Bay of pigs invasion:

  > In Jan 1961: Kennedy broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba

  > Castro though US was planning to invade, he was right

  > Kennedy was no longer tolerating the Soviet sphere of influence but did not want to invade directly: supplied arms for 1400 anti-Castro exiles to invade cuba and overthrow castro

  > In April 1961: exiles landed at the bay of pigs- met by 20,000 Cuban troops armed with modern weapons: Castro killed for captured all the exiles in days

  > This strengthened Castro‘s position in Cuba
• What was the October crisis?

  In 1962: soviet announced publicly that they were supplying Cuba with arms, by July, cuba was the best equipped in latin america

  In October 1962: US spy plane took photos of missile bases in Cuba despite USSR’s reassurance that they would not do so
• Key events of the Cuban missile Crisis:

  > On Oct 22 1962: Kennedy demanded the removal of missiles from Cuba and imposed a Naval blockade

  > On Oct 25: missile carrying ships approached the 500 mile blockade radius and suddenly stop or turn around despite on going missile production

  > On Oct 27: U2 plane shot down over Cuba, pilot killed, president advised to launch attack on Cuba

  > Oct 23-28: Kennedy and Khrushchev engage in secret negotiations, ending in an agreement that Khrushchev would withdraw missiles and US agreed not to invade Cuba
• What were the key negotiations of the Cuban missile crisis?

  1: US demanded immediate removal of missiles from Cuba to eliminate threat to national security

  2: US demanded the Soviet Union not establish further offensive military presence in Cuba

  3: The Soviet Union demanded the US remove its missiles from Turkey, seen as a threat to soviet territory (done secretly)

  4: The Soviet Union sought guarantees that the US would not invade Cuba in the future
• Origins of the Vietnam War:

  Vietnam ruled by France during WW2, after, it was ruled by Japan who treated Vietnam people savagely

  Strong anti-Japanese movement, the Vietnam Minh emerged under Ho Chi Minh: in 1945 they declared Vietnam independent

  The French wanted to rule Vietnam again: lead to another 9 year war

  The Vietnam Minh controlled the north, French controlled the south

  The French pulled out of Vietnam in 1954 after the Geneva peace conference: the county was divided into North and South Vietnam until elections were held
• What was Diem’s regime?

  > In 1955: (after the french left Vietnam) The US helped Diem set up the the republic of south Vietnam because he was anti communist. Diem’s regime was unpopular and with Vietnamese people and corrupt

  > USA supported Diem’s regime wuth 1.6 billion in the 1950s. Diem was overthrown by his own army and governments that followed were equally corrupt: the US still gave massive support
• How did the Viet cong emerge?

  The Viet cong was a response to the actions of anti-communist governments

  This. increased support among peasants for the communist led National front for the Liberation of S.Vietnam, also known as the Viet cong
• Details of the Vietnam war:

  > The Viet cong started a guerilla war against the south Vietnamese government

  >They attacked in small groups dressed in ordinary clothes

  > In response to the Viet Cong attacks, S.Vietnamese government moved peasant villages from Viet cong controlled areas to S.Vietnamese areas
• The Tonkin gulf resolution

  > March 1964: US troops came assure at Da Nang, US now officially at war

  > In august 1964: North Vietnamese patrol boats open fire on US ships in the gulf of Tonkin

  > In reaction- US passed Tonkin gulf resolution, giving the president power to “take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression and achieve peace and security“
• What was operation Rolling thunder?

  A bombing campaign against north Vietnamese cities and Ho Chi Minh trial, continued for 3 years
• How were the US involved in the Vietnam war?

  In 1962: Kennedy sends military personnel but refused to enter the war

  In 1963: Kennedy assassinated, replacement Johnson was far more prepared to commit to full scale conflict in Vietnam
• Korean War Summary

  1950-53

  Truman and Syngman Rhee vs China and North Korea

  Ended in 38th parallel and armistice
• Cuban missile crisis summary:

  Kennedy, Castro and Khrushchev

  In 1961

  Castro overthrew Batista

  Asked for support from Khrushchev- gave 100 million in economic aid

  Bay of pigs: US anti communist exiles invade, Castro captured or defeated them all

  Negotiations between Khrushchev and Kennedy

  Kennedy and Khrushchev both came out looking good
• Vietnam War summary:

  Conflict between North Vietnam (supported by Soviet Union and China) and South Vietnam (supported by US and allies)

  Occurred 1955-75 with the goal of preventing the spread of communism

  Had brutal casualties on both sides

  Involved Guerilla warfare-> hit and run raids with no uniform, used by Viet cong

  Viet cong: South Vietnamese peasants who supported N.Vietnam
• What was the My Lai massacre?

  > On march 16 1968: US soldiers from Charlie company entered the village of My Lai in south Vietnam

  > They killed between 350-500 Vietnamese citizens and destroyed all houses and livestock due to the incorrect belief that everyone in the village was a threat (Viet cong) or had left for the market

  > No Viet cong were found
• What was the Tet offensive?

  >North Vietnamese and Viet cong forces launched a coordinated attack against a number of targets in S.Vietnam

  > The US and S.Vietnamese sustained heavy losses

  > It was disaster for the Viet cong-> lost 10000 fighters

  >There were nearly 500,000 troops in Vietnam and the USA were spending $2 billion yearly on the war, so why had the communists been able to launch a major offensive that took US forces by surprise

  > This raised criticism and difficult questions in the media, lost support of the US people
• What was the Warsaw pact?

  Result of the USSR feeling threatened

  Included in the USSR and all communist countries except Yugoslavia