Korea, Vietnam, Cuba

SSUSH20 The student will analyze the domestic and international

impact of the Cold War on the United States.
b. Explain the impact of the new communist regime in China and the outbreak of
the Korean War.
c. Describe the Cuban Revolution, the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban missile crisis.
d. Describe the Vietnam War, the Tet Offensive, and growing opposition to the
war.
e. Explain the role of geography on the U.S. containment policy, the Korean War,
the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban missile crisis, and the Vietnam War.

I. Korean “The Forgotten War” (1950-53)

A. Causes
1. Mao Zedong’s (communist) overthrow of Chian Kai
Shek’s (democratic) Chinese gov’t (1949). Kai Shek fled
to Taiwan.
2. Division of Korea (38th Parallel)- N. Korea
(communist) vs. S. Korea (democratic) after WWII.
3. Leaders
• N. Korea- Kim Il Sung
• S. Korea- Syngman Rhee
B. Events of the War
1. N. Korea attacks S. Korea (June 1950).
2. U.N. condemns attack; forces led by Gen. Douglas
McArthur (mostly American) go to S. Korea to defend it.
1. N. Korea attacks, pushes S.Korean forces south 2. McArthur
counterattacks
3. S. Korean/U.N forces approach Chinese border 4. China enters
the war

5. McArthur removed, stalemate called (1953)

C. Results
1. 54,000 U.S. troops died, Stalin dies, Korea remains
divided at 38th Parallel.
2. Truman’s “containment” policy worked, but
Eisenhower wins 1952 election.

II. Vietnam (1964-75)

A. Causes
1. French imperialism after WWII- lost attempt to
regain Indochina to Vietminh (led by Ho Chi Minh).
Geneva conference in 1954 divides Vietnam at 17th
Parallel (N= communist, S= democratic).
 2. Eisenhower gives $1 billion aid to S. under
“Domino Theory.”
3. SEATO formed to protect S. Vietnam, Laos,
Cambodia
4. Leaders
• N. Vietnam- Ho Chi Minh
• S. Vietnam- Ngo Dinh Diem
B. Events of the War
1. Gulf of Tonkin Incident (1964)- Pres. Johnson (LBJ)
persuades Congress to give him a “blank check” to send
U.S. forces into combat, after N. Vietnamese gunboats
fire on U.S. warships in the Gulf of Tonkin.
 2. Intense Fighting Ensues- U.S. wages ‘search and
destroy missions” between 1965-67, alienating
Vietnamese peasants.
3. Hawks vs. Doves- Hawks supported the war
against communism, Doves criticized it as an internal civil
war (too much U.S. spending, draft issues)
4. Tet Offensive (1968)- Vietcong launches surprise
attack on S. Vietnam on holiday. Vietcong loses many
troops, but U.S. damaged politically (effect of T.V.)
6. Mai Lai Massacre- U.S. troops kill 250 women,
children, and old men. Protests escalate in the U.S.
5. Nixon invades Cambodia (1970)- Student
protesters killed at Kent State, Jackson State.
5. Johnson refuses to run again, Nixon wins
presidency, announces gradual U.S. troop withdraw, more
$, training, weapons for S. Vietnam (“Vietnamization”).

C. Results
1. Nixon bombs N. Vietnam until they agree to a
truce (Paris Accords, January 1973)
2. Remaining U.S. troops leave S. Vietnam in 1973.
Communists overthrow Saigon (S. Vietnam’s capital).
3. 58,000 U.S. troops died, U.S. enters inflation cycle
(caused by $118 billion war debt)
4. Khmer Rouge (led by communist leader Pol Pot)
begins killing 1.5 million Cambodians for being
“westernized” in 1975. Many refugees from Cambodia &
S. Vietnam flee to the U.S.

III. Cuba (1959-1962)

A. Events
1. Cuban gov’t overthrown- Fidel Castro’s communist
guerilla forces oust Fulgencia Batista’s democratic gov’t
(1959)
 2. John F. Kennedy (JFK) wins 1960 election over
Nixon
3. Bay of Pigs Invasion (April, 1961)- Kennedy
authorizes a Cuban attack by Cuban exiles. It failed,
Castro extorts $53 million from Kennedy for prisoners,
and the Soviet Union increased aid to Castro.
4. Cuban Missile Crisis (October, 1962)- Soviets send
missiles to Cuba, Kennedy orders naval quarantine. After
intense negotiations and threats (through telegrams),
Khrushchev concedes, and withdraws missiles from Cuba.

B. Results
1. U.S.-Soviet Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed (1963)
2. Kennedy adapts “flexible response” (non-nuclear)
policy in Africa and Southeastern Asia to combat growing
communist threat.

The End!