Monday 27th -
Korean Conflict: The Forgotten War 1950 - 1953
Origins: Korea was invaded and ruled by Japan from 1910 - 1945
After WW2, Korea was split into two North (USSR) and South (US) at the 38th parallel
An election was going to be held to eventually unify the country, Korea
The United Nations held an election in 1948
The Soviet Union refused the North to participate in the election
Instead, they handed their power over to the North Korean Communist Party under Kim-IL-Sung
The South elected the nationalist exile Syngman Rhee
It was a back and forth war
Why didn't the USSR and/or China veto this proposal?
China was actually Taiwan, and Soviet Union was boycotting, so they didn't vote
The demilitarized zone (DMZ) established around it, still defended today by North Korean troops on one side and South Korean/American troops on the other
Total deaths about 2 million, US has 54,000
South Korea is about 2x North Korea's size
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Tuesday 28th -
North Korean Leaders - Kim IL Sung
Ruled 1948 - 1994
He was the founder of communist Korea
Kim Jong IL Ruled 1994 - 2011
Things seemed to get worse
Kim Jong - un took office in 2011 after his father Kim Jong IL died. Nuclear aggressiveness - he said there was going to be a deadly nuclear catastrophe between the US and Korea, he killed his uncle in December 2013 because he couldn't trust him - could be coming after him
Nuclear time-line
1993 - North Korea dropped out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
1994 - US and North Korea sign deal where US would help build 2 nuclear power reactors (plants not to develop nuclear weapons) in North Korea
2002 - president Bush charges that North Korea, Iraq, and Iran are an "Axis of Evil" - shortly after 9/11
2002 - North Korea admits to having a nuclear weapons program and nullifies 1994 deal
2003 - Six Party talk - group of six countries - come together to talk about dismantling North Korean program diplomatically
2005 - North Korea agrees to halt nuclear weapon program in exchange for security and economic and trade benefits - shortly after, they back out of the deal
2006 - detonate their 1st atomic bomb (underground)
2006 - North Korea agrees to resume talks with the Six Party Talk
2007 - a new deal is reached, North Korea would halt production of nuclear weapons in exchange of $400 million of fuel and aid
2008 - North Korea destroys it's biggest nuclear weapons plant
2008 - North Korea complains that Bush still hadn't removed NK from a list of "states that support terrorism"
2009 - North Korea launches a rocket which North Korea says is for testing space satellite technology - most countries don't buy explanations
2009 - North Korea conducted it's 2nd nuclear test (underground)
2009 - UN put tougher economic sanctions on North Korea
2013 - North Korea conducted it's 3rd nuclear test (underground)
2013 - UN put tougher sanctions on North Korea
2014 - the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights published a report on widespread human rights abuses in North Korea
Kim Jing-Un went missing - didn't
2014 - FBI says it has concluded the North Korean government is responsible for a cyber attack on Sony Pictures
2015 China says North Korea is expanding nuclear weapons arsenal (20 - 40 in the next year)
Vietnam Conflict - 1950 - 1975
It was very hard to get out of it
Goals for US: to contain communism
Goals for Vietnam: Get independence for Vietnam
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Wednesday 29th -
Key Terms:
Geneva Conference 1954 -
Ho Chi Minh -
Escalation - How we got involved, escalated, more and more
Viet Cong - Viet Communists in the south
Guerrilla Warfare - Come out of jungle, attack, then return to jungle (war tactics)
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution - Congress gave president Johnson power to wage war
President Lyndon Johnson - He lied or deceived the American People
General William Westmoreland - Major General in charge of Vietnam
Tet Offensive -
Pentagon Papers - Information that was top-secret, Government was giving false info about the Vietnam war for years
Operation Rolling Thunder -
Ho Chi Minh Trail -
Napalm - Sticky oily substances that are flammable
Agent Orange - It is a herbicide that kills leaves on the trees
My Lai Massacre - US Soldiers killed 504 Vietnamese people - very young or very old, women raped and bodies mutilated
Kent St. University Protest/Massacre - After Nixon expanded war, a lot of protest, people concerned, 5 students were shot and killed
Paris Peace Accords - 1973 -
Vietnamization - US policy of removing troops and transferring
War Powers Act - 1973 - Limits the power of the President of the US to wage war without the approval of the Congress
People:
Vietnam War Protesters -
President Richard Nixon - Pulled troops out of war to train them,
French Connection:
France had gained control of Indochina in a series of colonial wars in the mid-late 1800's
During WW2, Vichy France worked with Japanese forces in controlling Indochina during WW2
After the Japanese surrender, the French fought to retain control of their former colony against the Viet Minh independence movement, led by the Communist Party leader Ho Chi Minh
After the Viet Minh defeated the French colonial army at the Battle of Dien Bein Phu in 1954, the French withdrew, and the colony was granted independence
Geneva Conference - 1954
Vietnam was portioned temporarily into a Northern and a Southern zone of Vietnam at the 17th parallel
The North was to be ruled by Ho Chi Minh while the South would be under the control of Emperor Bao Dai
In 1955, Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem became President of a new South Vietnamese republic
It set up elections to unify the country by July, 1956
Such elections were never held because neither side wanted to lose
Who Fought?
The United States Armed Forces
The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN - the South Vietnamese Army)
vs.
The NLF, a group of South Vietnamese Guerrilla fighters (Vietcong)
The People's Army of Viet Nam (PAVN - the North Vietnamese Army, pronounced Pahvin)
Escalation - Truman through Johnson
-President Truman began US involvement by sending money to help the French
-President Eisenhower continued US support by sending military advisors to give temporary support to Diem's government in the South
-President Kennedy continued sending advisors as well as special operation forces (green berets)
-President Johnson sent more and more combat forces
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
-Several US ships were supposedly attacked by North Vietnamese torpedoes in the Gulf of Tonkin
-Most experts today don't think the ships were attacked
-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 [and] to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assists any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom"
-Only two people in Congress voted against it.
-During Johnson's 1964 presidential campaign promised that "We are not about to send American boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves."
-Johnson easily defeated Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election
President Johnson and General William Westmoreland
-kept saying that with more troops, we will win the war
-Most Americans tended to believe this at first
-The American public's faith was shattered, on Jan. 30, 1968 when the enemy supposedly on the verge of collapse, unleashed the Tet Offensive in which nearly every major city in South Vietnam was attacked
-Although we crushed the enemy military, the huge offensive attack from an enemy that was supposedly almost defeat convinced many Americans that victory was impossible and that the government had been lying to them
General William Westmoreland and President Johnson
-There was an increasing sense among many people that the government was misleading the American people about a war
-When General Westmoreland called for more troops to be sent to Vietnam after the Tet Offensive, more and more people started protesting
-The support of the government and war effort suffered even more when the NY times published the Pentagon Papers
---It was a top-secret historical study about the war, 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 by the US
-It's purpose was to destroy the will of the North Vietnamese to fight, destroy industrial bases and air defenses and to stop the flow of men and supplies down the Ho Chi Minh Trail
-It was not successful
Anti - War
Why were so many people against the war?
1. Tet Offensive - US Government lied to people
2. Pentagon Papers distrusted US Government
3. Injuring / Killing innocent people (My Lai Massacre)
4. Supporting a bad Government in the South
5. The power of the press
6. Questioned why we were over there
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Thursday 30th -
My Lai Massacre - March 1968
US soldiers killed 504 Vietnamese civilians
Dead civilians included 50 age 3 or younger, 69 between 4 and 7, and 27 in their 70's and 80's
Women were raped and bodies mutilated
How did people get out of serving (Deferment)
1. Went to Canada or other countries
2. Went to college (student deferment)
3. Got married
4. Medically unfit for service
5. Joined the National Guard, Coast Guard, or Peace Corps
6. Claimed to be homosexual
7. Got into legal trouble
8. Being rich
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Friday 1st -
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 protestants (Kent St.)
On Jan. 15, 1973, President Nixon announced the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam
The Paris Peace Accords were later signed on Jan. 27th, 1973, which officially ended the US involvement in the Vietnam conflict
1. Fighting stopped
2. US would pull out of Vietnam
3. North and South Vietnam would recognize each other's independence
Peace??
The Peace agreement did not last
In March 1975, the North invaded the South
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
Vietnam Deaths:
US - 58,202
ARVN - 223,748
NVA/VC - 1,100,000
War Powers Act - 1973
Limits the power of the President of the US to wage war without the approval of the Congress
It required the President to consult with Congress prior to and during any hostilities as well until US armed forces are no longer needed
President must remove US armed forces from hostilities if Congress has not declared war or passed a resolution authorizing the use of force within 60 days
Vietnam Remembered
Vets were not treated well upon their return to the US
The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial (The Wall) was built as a remembrance to those that died in the Vietnam War
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