Berlin Blockade and Airlift
Bay of Pigs,
Cuban Missile crisis.
Red Scare McCarthyism. McCarthy Tried to rid all Americans that he thought was a communist.
- McCarthy Tried to rid all Americans that he thought was a communist.
The Berlin Wall
- The Berlin Wall came down on November 9, 1989
Korean War
- Korea was invaded and ruled by Japan from 1910 until 1945
- After WWII, Korea was split into two- North (USSR) and South (US) and the 38th parallel
- An election was going to be held to eventually unify Korea
- The United Nations held an election in 1948
- The Soviet Union refused to allow participation in the election in their occupied zone.
- Instead, they handed over power to he North Korean Communist Party under Kim Il-Sung.
- The south elected the nationalist exile Syngman Rhee.
Vietnam War
- The French lost against the Viet Minh at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1945 and Vietnam gained independence.
- Ho Chi Minh - Leader of Vietnam
- He was trained in USSR to start a communist revolution in their country in 1955
- Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem became president of the South Vietnam Republic.
- He was assassinated
- Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
- Several US ships were supposedly attacked by North Vietnamese torpedoes in the Gulf of Tonkin
- Most experts today do not think the ships were attack.
- This was Johnson's ploy to get more involved in Vietnam.
- On August 7, 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving President Johnson the power 'to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.
- Only two people in Congress voted against it.
- Tet Offensive
- The American public's faith was shattered, on January 30, 1968, when the enemy, supposedly on the verge of collapse, mounted the Tet Offensive in which nearly every major city in South Vietnam was attacked
- This was named after the lunar new year festival which is the most important Vietnamese holiday in South Vietnam.
- Although we crushed the enemy militarily, the surprising huge offensive attack from an enemy that was supposedly almost defeated convinced many Americans that war was over.
- Pentagon Papers
- The support of the government and war effort suffered even more when the New York Times published the Pentagon Papers.
- It was a top-secret historical study about the wear, that showed how the government was misleading the US public in all stages of the war.
- Operation Rolling Thunder
- code name for the non-stop bombing raids in North Vietnam conducted by the US armed forces.
- Was not successful
- Why were people against the war?
- Tet Offensive
- Pentagon Papers
- Injuring/Killing innocent people (My Lai Massacre)
- Supporting a bad government in the South
- The power of the press
- Kent St. Massacre
- Students were protesting the Vietnam war and the National Guard was sent. The National Guard was trapped in the football field and started firing.
- My Lai Massacre
- March 1968
- US soldiers killed 504 Vietnamese civilians.
- The dead civilians included fifty age 3 or younger, 69 between 4 and 7, and 27 in their 70's or 80's.
- Women were raped and bodies mutilated.
- Nixon and Vietnam
- Nixon called for the "vietnamization" of the war.
- "Peace with Honor"
- Gradually pull US troops out and train the ARVN to take our place in fighting the North
- Expanded the war into Laos and Cambodia leading to college protests (Kent State)
- On January 15, 1973, President Nixon announced the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam
- The Paris Peace Accords were later signed on January 27, 1973 which officially ended US involvement in the Vietnam conflict.
- Fighting stopped
- US would pull out of Vietnam
- North and South Vietnam would recognize each other's independence.
- The peace agreement did not last
- In March, 1975, the North invaded the South.
- The South was not strong enough and fell quickly.
- Saigon, the South's capital fell on April 30, 1975. US did not live up to it's promise to come to their aid if the North Attacked.
- North Vietnam united both North and South Vietnam on July 2, 1976 to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
- Saigon was re-named Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the former president of North Vietnam.
- Vietnam is still communist today.
The End of the Cold War
- Why did the US win?
- We had close ties with our Allies and the Soviets didn't
- USSR didn't have very strong allies.
- China started siding with us after 1972
- The Soviet economy was in shambles whereas the US's was flourishing.
- Huge deficit
- High inflation
- Corruption
- Social problems
- Shortage of basic needs (food, housing)
- The strong anti-communist presidency of Reagan.
- Gorbachev's willingness for change and reform.
- Glasnost and perestroika
- Glasnots - Wanted to be more open to government
- Perestroika - Change of the Soviet economy and government
- Admitted Soviet mistakes
- Took blame for the Cold War
- Communist system had failed
- **Allowed Eastern Europe to do what they wanted**
- Glasnost and perestroika
- Arms Reduction Talks
- SALT, ING, Reagan-Gorbachev meetings.
- Soviet Mistakes
- Invasion of Afghanistan
- Ignoring social concerns
- Spent everything on military
Post-Cold War
- In the 1990's, the world seemed to be a much more peaceful place
- President Clinton closed down numerous military bases around the country reducing the size of the US military.
- 9-11 caught the US off guard.
We got our topics for out next project. I'm working with Cati and we have Ronald Reagan. :)
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