History: How effectively did the USA Contain Communism? – Flashcards
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Why did America get involved in Korea?
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'Domino Theory' that other countries would become communist in the same geographical location Their international trade would be affected if the ideology of communism spread
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When was the Korean war?
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1950 - 1952
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What methods did the USA use to contain communism in Korea: Military
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Sent in many of their own troops as well as military advisors Also sent in battleships
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What methods did the USA use to contain communism in Korea: UN
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America asked the UN for their support by sending forces and troops
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What methods did the USA use to contain communism in Korea: China
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After the US had taken back South Korea general MacArthur pushed his troops further north towards china This was in order to try to supress Communism
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What problems did the USA face in Korea: Pusan
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America were cornered in the city Pusan after North Korea invaded
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What problems did the USA face in Korea: China
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After trying to take more of North Korea, China sent 200,000 troops to help defend the North driving US back (1950)
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What was the outcome of the Korean war?
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MacArthur sacked as Truman didn't want war with China June 1951 peace talks began After Stalin's death an armistice was finally signed
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How was the Korean war a success?
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Partly a success because America managed to contain communism and stopped it spreading into South Korea It also showed America's power and wealth to the USSR
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How was the Korean war a failure?
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There were many casualties on both sides The USA had begun hostilities with China
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When was the Cuban Missile Crisis?
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1959 - 1962
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What was the Cuban Revolution?
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1959 Fidel Castro led a revolution and siezed power turning it into a communist state
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How did America react to the Cuban Revolution?
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April 1961 America tried to re overthrow the Cuban gov. by sending 1,400 Cuban exiles armed into Cuba to start a revolution Were met by 20,000 Cuban soldiers and were either killed or captured, giving JFK a bad name
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Why were America worried about Cuba?
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Communist state right at their borders Bay of Pigs going wrong making JFK look bad Worried when they found pictures on October 1962 of Soviet missiles being kept in Cuba
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Why did the USSR send missiles to Cuba?
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After America started hostilities against Fidel Castro he turned to the USSR for support Allowed the USSR to place missiles on Cuba They wanted this because USA already had missiles in Turkey so wanted to balance the scale
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What methods did the USA use in Cuba: Bay of Pigs
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April 1961 America tried to re overthrow the Cuban gov. by sending 1,400 Cuban exiles armed into Cuba Met by 20,000 Cuban soldiers and were all killed or captured
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What methods did the USA use in Cuba: Blockade
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October 23 1962 America issued a blockade on Cuba in order to prevent Soviet ships bringing more missiles
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What methods did the USA use in Cuba: CIA
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1960 JFK used the CIA to attack fields and places in Cuba to try to get Fidel Castro to step down
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What problems did the USA face in Cuba: Tensions
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Many moments of high tension when it seemed the Soviets were going to fire nuclear missiles at the US
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What problems did the USA face in Cuba: ExComm
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JFK and his advisors had to make very hard decisions of how to react to USSR placing missiles on Cuba
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Outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis?
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Agreement reached was that JFK would remove missiles from Turkey if Khrushchev removed his from Cuba Telephone hotline set up in 1963 in order to avoid high tension moments again Tes ban treaty was signed in 1963 for nuclear weapons
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Who won the Cuban Missile Crisis?
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JFK looked the winner to the public as he was able to declare missiles were removed, even though the public didn't know missiles were removed from Turkey Khrushchev looked weak but ultimately had been successful as he got USA to remove missiles from Turkey
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Why was there a problem in Vietnam?
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Before WW2 it was a French colony and during the war they were occupied by Japan Vietminh led by Ho Chi Minh had been fighting for independace an in 1954 the French were defeated
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How was Vietnam divided?
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Geneva conference temporarily divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel South was Capitalist, North was Communist
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How did the division start a war?
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Ho Chi Minh set up a communist governmentt and Diem set up a democratic government Elections were meant to be held in South V in 1956 but Diem refused Communist supporters in South set up the Vietcong to fight Diem
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Who was Ho Chi Minh?
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Vietnamese communist who had studied in Moscow and was the leader of North V
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What was the Vietminh?
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Communist vietnamese group in the North
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Who was Diem?
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President of South Vietnam
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What was the Vietcong?
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Communist guerilla fighters fighting in South Vietnam
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What was Napalm?
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Fire bombs dropped by the USA
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What was the Ho Chi Minh Trail?
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Allowed supplies and communist troops to move from North to South Vietnam
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Why did America get involved in Vietnam: Soviets
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North Vietnam was larger and more populous and had support of the Soviets so was likely that the South would become Communist
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Why did America get involved in Vietnam: Domino
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'Domino theory': America's fear that countries in the geographical area of Vietnam would become communist These countries were Thailand, Cambodia and Laos
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What was the Gulf of Tonkin Incident?
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1964 North Vietnamese ships attacked a US battle ship and as a result Lyndon B Johnson passed the 'Tonkin Resolution' This was that all necesarry action would be taken to defend S V: Rolling thunder, 180,000 US soldiers
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What was Rolling Thunder?
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As a result of the Tonkin Resolution in 1965 an operation to bomb North V was set up until 1968
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Why did the USA fail to defeat the Vietcong: Strengths of the Vietcong
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Had elaborate tunnel systems to store food and ammunition and were built to withstand bombs, poison Vietcong had lots of man power Used to the jungle terrain unlike Americans Used sabotage such as booby traps and picked off Americans as a tactic Blended in with civillians making it impossible for the USA to find them Ho Chi Minh made soldiers treat locals with respect unlike Americans to gain their trust
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What was the Tet Offensive?
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January 1968 when Vietcong and assistance from the North attacked US army bases all at one time and 70,000 NV were involved Was the 1st coordinated and showed their strengths
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Why did the USA fail to defeat the Vietcong: Public Opinion
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American soldiers massacured innocent viatnamese civilians in villages making public think USA was ruthless Members of universities in 1972 protested against American involvement in Vietnam Images showed how brutal America was with their napalm bombings and tactics America tried to cover up stories, e.g My Lai but truth came out in 1969
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What was the My Lai massacre?
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A village believed to be a Vietcong stronghold March 1968 Charlie Company recieved word that VC guerillas had taken control of the village and was send to search and destroy Killed thousands of innocent civilians and found out there was no Vietcong in the village
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What was Agent Orange?
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A chemical defoliant used in order to clear forests to allow planes to see Vietcong from the sky Killed and mutilated thousands of innocent people
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Why did the USA fail to defeat the Vietcong: Questionable leadership
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'Hey, hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?' anti war chant by American protestors Many soldiers forced to join the army against their will and fight a war they didn't believe in Officers were very harsh to their soldiers, sometimes inevitably sending them to their death
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What was the Pacification programme?
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USA tried to convince Vietnamese people to help them by injecting money into the poverty Trained teams of SV and they helped to organise: building health centres, supplies, etc.
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Why did the USA fail to defeat the Vietcong: Soldiers
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1/3 American soldiers addicted to Heroin, 20% marijuana Fragging: Officers seen as not good enough would be killed by rolling a grenade into their tent, 96 fraggings in 1969 Special US soldiers called tunnel rats would crawl through tunnel systems to find enemies
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When did the Vietnam war end?
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By 1969 president Nixon decided to end US involvement This was called 'Vietnamization' by then there were 500,000 troops in Vietnam
