“Second Cold War Front [would be] in Asia.”

The Cold War: Hot Wars

What is a Hot War?

How is it different from a “Cold War?”

Why are Hot Wars important to remember in the Cold War Unit?

Hot War?

Background:Girl and Boy fall madly in love. They are separated,

Girl thinks the Boy is dead. Girl is betrothed to a Prince, and she is captured in order to cause a war between the Prince’s nation and a neighboring nation… Her capture is fighting a mind game with a Masked Man….

Speaking of Wars…. Where wouldn’t you want to fight a war?Anywhere particularly in the World?

Certain terrains? Locals?

Listen VERY closely to the little man. What does he say that connects to the Cold War???

Princess Bride clip

Hot Wars: Korea

Annexed by Japan 1910USSR invaded Manchuria, going straight into

Korea (beginning August 1945)

After WWII, it was decided that the 38th Parallel (an arbitrary point) would divide North (USSR) from South (US)….

Korea- Brief History

First American soldiers: 1945, September

Japanese were used to help govern Korea—not Koreans

After Japan Surrenders in WWII

Economic chaos and hardshipInflationPovertyCivil Disturbances!

Ultimate Goal: Re-unification of N & SAs time continued, it was moved farther from

possible, yet there was still a continued expressed desire to reunite

Reconstruction after WWII

Middle class, US DoctorateAppealed to US; Koreans gave little supportPositives (US POV):

Anti-CommunistPerfect EnglishNot present during Japanese Occupation

Syngman Rhee

Became Corrupt and RuthlessNo interest in popular democracyNo interest in personal freedoms

Yet, was still considered the best option that the US had to rule in South Korea….

Rhee Con’t

Feb 1947 – People’s Assembly of North KoreaKim II Sung:

Elected chairmanStrongly opposed Japanese occupation1945 lead Korean Unit in Red ArmyLand reform (tenant farmers given own land)Viciously put down all Anti-Communist

opposition

USSR & N Korea

UN demanded elections take placeUSSR refusedSouth participated

Communists in south boycottedRepression of Communists((Were the results true??))1949, Aug – Rhee becomes President

Jan 1949

“major excursions” across 38th

Tensions increaseN= Propaganda predicted invasionS= Communist arrested and imprisoned

By June 1949, both Soviet and US forces had withdrawn from Korea

Interactions B/W N and S

Wanted to invade SouthStalin would not back him

Honoring WWII treaties

Kim’s Intentions…

Stalin consented when:Detonated first USSR A-bomb ( Aug 1949)Communism Takes over China

Thought US would be hesitant to enter a war so far away, even with the threat of the spread of communism

Why did Stalin Consent finally?

Stalin pledged military and technical assistance

BUT dictated day of Invasion (June 25th, 1950)WHY?

To pull out Soviet AdvisorsWHY?!?!?

Stalin and Kim

North invaded on pretext of Southern launching an “armed” incursion

Was a total SurpriseRhee outnumbered and outmatchedWithin hours, South was retreating

US State Department agreed that this aggressive action would not be tolerated

June 25th, 1950

Condemned Invasion38th Parallel withdrawalJune 27th- Military assistance from UN

membersTruman – “Police action”Ultimately: UN providing Multinational

support for Rhee’s weak and corrupt gov’tUSSR in UN??

UN Involvement

Previous predictions ((fears?)) of Soviet aggression were coming true!

Seen as Soviet Plot to overthrow Asian democracies ((Communist Conspiracy?!))Reality: Stalin was complying with an over

ambitious ally and utilizing a perceived weakness in US

Beginning of US Involvement

War HeroPreviously declared that Asia would be where

Democracy would fight against the spread of Communism

General MacArthur

South: Weak military and Gov’tArmy fled, like civilians didS army blew up bridges—killing civilians– to

prevent the N from followingWhile pursuing, N executed Rhee

sympathizers

Korean War

Not Prepared, No Battle Plan Flown in from Japan

First US-Communist Confrontation resulted in a miserable US defeat, time and time again. Missing anti-tank artilleryUS winning only in the skies

Truman: “Aggression must be met firmly”July 7th> MacArthur is titled “Supreme

Commander of the UN Force”

US Troops

Expanded Presidential PowersExpanded Draft

Recalled previous duty soldiers (WWII)Increases Military Expenditures by 5 times

US Congress

They quickly become over extendedMoved too quickly to form stable and secure

supply linesUS “dug in” at Pusan, creating the Pusan

Perimeter

Communist Forces Go South

Korea & Pusan Perimeter

“Complete mobilization of the Korean People”Meaning?

Without trainingCivilian Men rounded upThrown to front lines

South Korea Finally Responds

MacArthur formulates and launches a beach attack 150 miles behind enemy lines“it will not fail”

Capital recaptured (Sep 25th)50,00 civilians died

UN Force Responds, too

Move North/ Northeast, to recapture South Korea

North Army beginning to dissolve

UN and US meet

Withdraws military advisorsTells Kim to start planning for evacuation

Stalin?

UN forces reach the 38th ParallelInvade North? Or be happy to have South?

MacArthur & RheeThey hadn’t gone this far to stop where the

tensions beganRe-unification and Re-habilitation of Korea

What to do now…? (US version)

Stalin was more disappointed with Kim, and completely withdraws aid

China (who was also frustrated with Kim) was told to aid KoreaAdvised Korea to use guerilla tactics to fightDropped international hints to their intentions

of aiding Korea

What to do now..? (USSR version)

China hints that any farther and they would use troops

US believed it was a bluffMid-October- Chinese Army volunters

fighting with Koreans and meet UN and US troops

MacArthur pushes troops northward…

US and China

Upon getting closer to the boarder, China attacked.

Despite heavy casualties, China won.Full-scale war with China?!?!China pressed southward, recapturing

North’s capitalSeoul (capital S) falls into Chinese control

again (Jan 4th, 1951)

US/UN clash with China

February – UN troops reinvigoratedMarch – Seoul recaptured

MacArthur advocates Chinese invasionHe is shortly replacedWhy:

US regarded Korea as limited operation and didn’t want to start a direct confrontation with Soviet Union

Turning of Tides

April 1951 – Stalemate was reached, at the 38th

Armistice talks began July 1951, but flounder after 6 weeks of no agreements

End in sight…

Troops have dug in, fighting resumesLike trench warfare from WWI, with modern

technologyMiG-15 Soviet fighters used, even flown by

RussiansAmericans ignored this, fearing open fight with

Russia

Fall 1951

600,000 tons of bombs dropped Industry moves undergroundWorkers encouraged to increase production

Nationalism, proud of standing up to US

North Korea, fall 1951

Despite continuous requests for military aid, Stalin reuses a majorityFear of causing war with US

China was given hardware, but had to pay for it

Stalin, China and Kim

Armistice talks begin October 1951Lasts 18 months

Atrocities on POWsDwight D. Eisenhower elected 1952Stalin dies March 1953

New leadership decided in 2 weeks that Korea had to end

Mao (China) decided the same…

The end….

Increased fighting June 1953Eisenhower

Bombs dams, threatens Nuclear bombs against China

Rhee opens POW gates (South)Churchill cables US saying Rhee needs to

leave office

Rhee causing Problems

US: 54,000 dead, 100,000 injuredUN forces: 3,000 dead, 12,000 injuredNorth: 1 million deathsChinese: 112,000 (maybe double?)5 million homeless civilians in SouthMajor cities flattenedJapan’s economy boomed during; S Korea’s

boomed a generation later

Results:

Hot Wars: Vietnam

Mid-1800s – French occupation BeganMay 1954 – France could no longer hold out

against Vietnamese nationalistsAfter WWII defeat, returned to Indochina to

retain colonial powers

Vietnam Beginnings: The Dirty War

Leader of the League for the Independence of Vietnam (Viet Minh)

Dedicated North Vietnamese CommunistDeclared Vietnam’s independence after

Japan’s surrender (WWII)USSR and China supplied heavy weapons and

ammunition

Ho Chi Minh

Indochina labeled as being declared devoid of decisive military objectives

Eisenhower: “row of dominoes”“The possible consequences of the loss are just

incalculable to the free world.”Included: Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand, IndiaCommunist ConspiracyStrengthening of the Communist bloc

US Decision for Involvement

Ho Chi MinhLand reform, education, health care

Broadened popular support

More extreme Communist take over:Private land confiscatedPilloried, labor camps, or executed

A million refugees flee Communist North for the South

North Vietnam

Ngo Dinh Diem took over: Republic of VietnamCatholic, Confucian, Anti-communistReligiously intolerant

He ruled like an Emperor

After France Left

Arrest detains opponents (mainly Communists sympathizers) Within a few years Viet Minh were eliminated

from South VietnamIgnored and abolished elections (1956)

He would appoint officialsHe was fearful of communists winning the

elections

Ngo Dinh Diem

US funded his gov’t….As our commitment intensified to keep

Communism contained, our aid increasedYet, he listened to family more so than the US

“We knew no one better”

December 1960National Front for the Liberation of South

VietnamNational Liberation Front

Wanted to overthrown Diem

Viet Cong Formed

Eisenhower to Kennedy“pay any price”“Bear any burden”

Domino Theory & Kennedy

Sent in military advisorsTo train S Vietnamese in counterinsurgency1961 3000 military professionals1962 – Undeclared war, 11,500 personnel

Diem came under scrutiny Religious intolerance (raiding, destroying

Buddhist Shrines, pagodas, arresting monks etc)

Monks –Self-immolationBurning themselves to death

US response

A cable was sent, telling military personnel to look for new leader of Vietnam, should it be necessary to replace Diem.

It was interpreted as an order for a coup…The CIA was involved

“We are launched on a course from which there is no respectable turning back.”

Misinterpretation

Nov 1963 – Diem agreed to step down, when S Vietnamese rebel generals surrounded the presidential palace, and taking over facilities

Diem and second in command (brother) fled, but were captured.

They were murdered, once picked up en route to the rebel military headquarters…

Diem’s Overthrown

Convinced of Soviet and Chinese involvement in Vietnam

Give priority to Vietnam over social concerns…

President Johnson

August 1964, in the Gulf of Tonkin

US ships conducting surveillance the area

Claimed it was international waters??

Gulf Tonkin Incident

These ships came under fire2 days later there was reports of more

attacks Although these were false

Johnson seized the chanceClaiming unprovoked aggressionLaunched attack at Northern bases

Gulf Tonkin Escalates

President can use “all necessary measures,” defending American or allied troops, and to “prevent further aggression.”

President decides when “peace and security” has been met…

Resolution “covered everything”Johnson could approach and take care of

Vietnam in any manner he saw fit toPassed 88-2 (senate), 416-0 (HoR)

Gulf Tonkin Resolution

Chinese saw themselves as defending countries against imperialism, desiring to help N Vietnam through aid

Russians wanted a peaceful coexistence with the US, and tried to persuade Minh to initiate peace talks with the US. Despite not following their persuasion, Minh was still given Soviet aid

China and Soviet Policy

1965 – roughly 170,000 men and women.Full Metal Jacket: “ Half of these… [prostitutes]

are serving officers in the Viet Cong…”Could at attack at any time

Attacked US basesUsed car bombs8 died, 100+ wounded

Viet Cong with Foreign Aid

These guerrilla tactics prompt Johnson to begin bombing North VietnamFor eight yearsIt did not succeed to getting the N Vietnamese

to start peace talks

Viet Cong Attacks

Napalm, high explosives and other bombs were not seen as effective means for fighting against an undeveloped country.

Yet, to ease up these attacks would make the US possibly appear weak in the international community and to the Viet Cong

Errors in the Beginning of Vietnam?

18 million gallons of herbicides dumped on Vietnam

Agent Orange (defoliant)Cancer causing

Chemicals

US had dropped more tons of explosives on Vietnam than all that were dropped in WWII

“We destroyed the town in order to save it.”

1965, March 8th

3500 MarinesIn full battle gearSeek and kill

Troops sent in….

You will need more and more men to complete an unrealistic, unattainable goal….

Johnson: it was a black and white issue: either full-scale war or humiliating retreat

By the end of 1965 – 183,000 troops

“Quagmire” Vietnam

US brings technology to the undeveloped country

Creates roadways, bridges, new radio and communication towers, airfields, floating piers

US and S Vietnam

Forced from the Agent Orange, Napalm and other bombings, peasants flee to the cities, and build “towns” (shanties) on the outskirts…

This decimates their traditional culture/lifestyle, destroying families (through forcing them to abandon their farms)

An “Underworld” appeared around the soldiers, providing them with prostitutes, massage parlors, nightclubs

Vietnamese Peasants

Nightly TVDestruction and carnage

TV networks, rather than military reporters

((Would this change public opinion against or for the war effort?))

Vietnam: The war on film

Attempted to befriend Villages, looking for Viet Cong and CommunistsPacificationPolicy of “Shoot first ask questions later”

((Why would you want the peasants supporting your side of the war effort?))

((How can you tell who is and who is not a Viet Cong?))

Search and Destroy

Cuba, Communists and the US

1961Cuban Exiles “secretly”

assisted by the CIAInvade Cuba (through Bay of

Pigs)Exiles landed, US was

supposed to provide air support, but we pulled out, leaving the exiles to be recaptured

Bay of Pigs

Was supposed to cause a popular uprising amongst the people (didn’t)

Supposed to have air support (didn’t)People versus tanks…

Of the 1500 exiles, 14 rescued by the US, 100+ were dead. The rest surrendered

Bay of Pigs?

US has bases in Turkey with missiles that can hit targets within the USSR…. Yet, the USSR did not have a site like this…. Until Cuba

After negotiations with Cuba, USSR sent Soviet ships with the missiles , July 1962

October 14th, 1962, a U-2 Spy plane photographs the missiles

Cuban Missile Crisis (CMC)

Cuba 90 miles from USWithin a 1100 range, Washington and 40% of

the Strategic Air Command would be vulnerable.

Within 2200, Most cities, except Seattle could be targeted, wiping out all Strategic Air Command bases

Missiles had 1 mill tons of TNT power (Hiroshima was only 13000)

Why Cuba?

Kennedy originally backing a strategic and precise air attack

He decided to follow a naval blockadeLess aggressive than an attackYet, keeping the Soviets away from CubaCalled it a “Quarantine”

Naval Blockade

Khrushchev: “If the US insists on war, we’ll all meet together in hell.”

He tells the US that the blockade is illegal and Russian submarines will sink American ships

Russian response?

The first ships to meet:Russian ship promises that it only has oil, and

the US ship allows it through

“I don’t want to push him [ Khrushchev] in a corner from which he cannot escape.”

Interactions?

((What won’t the blockade do?))

Blockade issues?

Amidst talks (initiated by a KGB operative, through his own initiative), quid pro quo is raisedIf Russia takes down the Cuban missiles, US

has to take down Turkey missilesThey agree to take down the Cuban missiles,

providing the US does not invade Cuba, and that the US gradually take out the Turkey missiles

Talks and Agreements