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Today we did presentations on the Cold War.
Berlin Blockade
- Berlin Blockade was the Soviets surrounded Berlin and wasn't allowing supplies in
- Neither US or Soviets wanted war
- US didn't want to fight through the blockade to give supplies, so they dropped supplies in
- Russia didn't want war so they didn't shoot down our planes
- Russia eventually backed down
Bay of Pigs
Our topic
Cuban Missile Crisis
- A spy plane found took a picture of missiles in Cuba
- The missiles could reach any country in the US
- We blockaded Cuba so they couldn't get more missiles
- The plan was to airstrike the Cubans so they destroy the missiles then invade
- Military higher ups wanted to invade and get rid of Castro which would start nuclear war
- The compromise was soviets withdraw missiles from Cuba, We promise not to invade Cuba, and 6 months later we would take our missiles out of Turkey
Korean War: "The Forgotten War", not in the press very much. US never declared war on Korea, but was told to wage war there by the UN.
Origins: Korea was invaded and ruled by Japan from 1910 to 1945; After Japan was defeated, Korea was split in two (USSR leading the North, US leading the South) along the 38th parallel; UN set an election for the unification of Korea, but the USSR ignored the election and gave the North to Kim IL Sung; Syngman Rhee was elected to rule the South
Invasion: Both sides wanted to unite Korea, but under their own influence (North: communism, South: Democracy); Sung decided to invade the South, but only after Stalin and Mao gave him backing; June 25, 1950, Sung invaded the South; was successful until US got involved
End: After 2 years of fighting along the 38th, an armistice was signed to end fighting; DMZ was made to serve as the new boarder for Korea; Korean War made the Cold War heat up
Vietnam War: US goal: stop the spread of communism,North Vietnamese goal: get independence (from France)
Origins: After WWII, Vietnam thought that that they would gain independence from the weakened France, but they didn't; Fought French troops in 1954 to gain independence; Ho Chi Minh, wise and wealthy man, plead for Vietnamese independence during the Treaty of Versailles, didn't get it. After fighting the French away, he thought they had earned independence. France didn't allow it, though, and split Vietnam into North (led by Ho Chi Minh) and South.
War: US wasn't allowed to invade North Vietnam (fear of Soviet involvement).
Escalation: 1957-1975, sent military advisers at first, then commando troops, then regular troops for defense, then for offense.
2. US Involvement: Escalation- Started by sending money (1950's), then Military advisers, then special ops (Green Berets), then troops for defense, then troops for offense, then more and more troops (1964-69) until De-escalation
3. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: US ships were supposedly torpedoed by North Vietnamese, resolution made soon after gave president Johnson the power to wage war
4. Tet Offensive: North Vietnamese troops attacked every Southern Vietnamese city on January 30, 1968; Big US victory, but it was seen badly by the public
5. Unpopular War: Started with the Tet Offensive; Johnson and General William kept saying that with more troops, we would win the war; public believed them until the supposedly defeated enemy mounted the huge offensive; People started to distrust what the government told them; US troops Injuring/killing innocent people (My Lai Massacre); US supported a bad government (Diem)
6. De-escalation & "Peace with Honor": Richard Nixon called for the end of the war. Wanted to get out of the war without looking like we lost. Wanted to train Vietnam soldiers to take our place so we could leave. Nixon started bombing two other countries trying to cut supply lines to the north.
7. The End: North and south were supposed to recognize each other as separate countries. Eventually North overtook the south. Richard Nixon was becoming unpopular water gate scandal. We promised South that if north Invaded we would help. They invaded and we didn't help.
4. How did the Cold War come to an end?
We won because of our allies. Russia had pretty much no allies. Reagan was a strong anticommunist president. Gorbachev was the soviet leader that really helped change Russia. He was willing to change Russia, this made him loved by the world hated by his people. Gorbachev said Russia would stop interfering with eastern Europe. Ronald Regan was very anti communism. Russians shouldn't have invaded Afghanistan or ignored their countries social concerns, or spent all there money on military.
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