KQ5 Flashcards
(41 cards)
1
Q
What was the significance of the Korean War
A
- first hotspot of the Cold War
- first real test for the new United Nations: determined to show itself stronger than the league
- first time that the Cold War had spread outside of Europe. Previous conflicts in Eastern Europe and Berlin
2
Q
What was the 38th parallel in relation to the Korean War
A
- it is line (of latitude) that separates North Korea and South Korea
- chosen as the frontier between the American and soviet sectors of Korea in 1945. Intended as a temporary dividing line (it was the crossing of this boundary which resulted in UN action)
3
Q
Why did North Korea invade South Korea
A
- south: democratic/ Syngman Rhee
- north: communist/ Kim II Sung
- 1949: us/USSR pull out troops, creates instability
- 1949: China falls to communists under Mao Zedong
- Kim II Sung wanted Korea to unite under communist rule. He thought this was possible because he had support of fellow communist leaders, Stalin and Mao Zedong, and Kim thought it was unlikely that the USA would respond
- North Korea thought it was the legitimate government of Korea
- North Korea’s armed forces were stronger than South Korea’s forces
- 1950: Syngman Rhee threatens North Korea. North invades south
4
Q
Why did UN become involved in the Korean War
A
- the UN had becem involved in the establishment of the new ani-communist government of South Korea
- both the communist North Korea and anti-communist South Korea governments claimed to be the legitimate government of the whole of Korea
- Kim II Sung wanted to unite Korea under communist rule. If the UN had failed to oppose the action of North Korea, the Americans would have
- us president truman put enormous pressure on the UN Security Council to condemn the North Korean actions a and call for withdrawal
- when the resolution was passed, the USSR was not represented at the meeting to use its veto. The UN committed itself to using member’s armies
5
Q
What was the response of the UN to events in Korea in June 1950
A
- a meeting of the security council was organised immediately. The UN Security Council decided that the North Koreans had broken world peace. They passed a resolution calling on North Korea to withdraw their armed forces
- the UN called on North Korea to withdraw to the 38th parallel
- a second resolution in June asked UN member to help South Korea. The USA was asked to take command of the UN operation. The UN organised troops from the USA and 15 other countries
6
Q
Why did the USA oppose the North Korean invasion of South Korea
A
- the us believed that a successful conquest of South Korea would encourage a Chinese attack on Formosa. If south Korea and Formosa both fell to the communists, then japan could be threatened which could cause a major power shift between the communist and capitalist world
- president truman was interested in the far east. Scared of domino effect in east and if Korea fell then japan would be next
- undermine communism
- Cold War: Truman realised that the USA was in competition for world domination with the USSR. By supporting South Korea, America was able to fight communism without directly attacking Russia
7
Q
How was the USSR involved in Korean War
A
- Kim II Sung visited Stalin
- in 1949, e persuaded Stalin that he could conquer South Korea. Stalin did not think that America would dare to get involved, so he gave his agreement
- Stalin saw this as a chance to continue the Cold War and discomfort America, but ‘at arms length’ - without directly confronting the Americans. Kim II Sung also went to see Mao Zedong, to get his agreement
8
Q
What was the trigger for the Korean War
A
- in 1950, Syngman Rhee boasted he as going to attack North Korea
- it was a good enough excuse - the North Koreans invaded South Korea
9
Q
Why did the us provide most of the forces that resisted North Korea’s invasion of the south
A
- the USA followed a policy of containment and wanted to stop any further communist expansion. Fear of domino theory
- the USA had been closely involved in the establishment of the Republic of Korea. The invasion was viewed as a challenge to the USA’s internationally accepted position as South Korea’s protector
- as the USA had appealed to the UN to use military force to stop North Korea they felt they should provide large numbers of forces to help
10
Q
How did Korean War unfold
A
- June-sept 1950: North Koreans attacked. They were very successful. The North Korean people’s army (NKPA) easily defeated the republic of Korea’s army (ROKs). They captured most of South Korea. The Americans were alarmed. They persuaded UN to pass a resolution supporting South Korea and Americans sent troops to Korea to reinforce South Korean army at Pusan
- sept - nov 1950: general MacArthur led UN landing at Inchon behind NKPA and NKPA had to retreat. The Americans drove them back and recaptured South Korea. 125,000 NKPA prisoners were taken. MacArthur invaded North Korea and advanced as far as Chinese border and boasted
- Nov 1950-feb 1951: now the chinese were alarmed so 200,000 Chinese troops attacked MacArthur. They had advanced weapons and hated the Americans and drove them back and recaptured North Korea
- Feb - march 1951: the americans landed more troops and used bombers. Americans drove Chinese back to 38th parallel
- march 1951-1953: Truman told MacArthur to stop/ MacArthur was publicly sacked after criticising Truman’s order. In 1953, Eisenhower became American president and threatened to use atomic bomb if china did not stop fighting. The Chinese agreed to a truce, which as signed on 27 July 1953
11
Q
Why did the Korean War end in stalemate
A
- the fighting in the war had been fierce. MacArthur was shocked at the strength of Chinese forces. If USA was unwilling to use the atomic bomb, there was likely to be very heavy casualties to deafest North Koreans and china
- the UN had shown it could reverse an act of aggression but it was concerned that by the time of the ceasefire, 4 million Koreans were dead and 5 millions were homeless and it was time to end the fighting
12
Q
Success of containment in Korea
A
- when a communist government tried to take over South Korea in 1950 the USA won the support of the UN and committed troops to prevent a communist takeover
- the USA was able to convince the UN in the USSRs absence to take action
- the result of the Korean War was a stalemate and Korea continued to be divided at the 38th parallel - communism had been contained
- after landing at Inchon under MacArthurs leadership, the USA led coalition had a successful military campaign to repel the north
13
Q
Failure of containment in Korea
A
- the americas did not simply stop at removing North Korea from south. They pressed on to the Chinese border, going beyond their limit
- the USA provoked china and possibly expanded the Cold War and the threat of communism as china now actively supported North Korea
- the USA was forced into a humiliating retreat back to the 38th parallel and suffered casualties in difficult conditions which included swamps, mountains and frosted ravines
- in march 1951 general MacArthur was sacked from demanding the right to invade china and use nuclear missiles if necessary - clearly going beyond the scope of containment
14
Q
Did the events in Korea demonstrate that the UN was effective in peacekeeping
A
- the UN took decisive action to stop the attack on South Korea by communists from the north. After bitter fighting, the UN was able to preserve the frontier between the two
- but the UN’s policy was that Korea should become one country with free elections supervised by the UN. The war didn’t achieve this as Korea remained divided. Peace was acheived but both sides remain hostile towards each other
15
Q
A
16
Q
Background to the Cuban missile crisis
A
- Cuba USA large island close to Florida
- Cuba had been an ally of USA for a long time
- Americans owned most Cuban businesses
- the USA had a huge naval base at Guantanamo bay, Cuba
- before 1959, Cuba was governed by president Batista - a American-backed dictator
- but in 1959, after a 3-year guerrilla campaign, fidel Castro overthrew Batista and set up a pro-communist government
17
Q
How successful was USA containment of Cuba 1959-1961
A
- 1959-1961 - a frosty relationship, but no direct confrontation; Castro nationalised USA businesses, but allowed the USA to keep its naval base and assured Americans living in Cuba that they were safe
- BUT Cuba was importing arms from theUSR - and American spies knew this
- January 1961 - the USA broke off diplomatic relationships with Cuba, a signal that was not going to tolerate a soviet satellite in the USA sphere of influence
- April 1961 - the bay of pigs
18
Q
Bay of pigs
A
- April 1961
- Kennedy supplied arms, equipment and transport for 1400 Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro
- the invasion was a disaster: the rebels were outnumbered, Castro was popular and so no one rose up with them
- Castro and Khrushchev were scornful of kennedy’s pathetic attempt to remove communism from Cuba
- they took the bay of pigs as evidence that the USA would not get involved directly in Cuba
19
Q
What interest did the USSR take in Cuba after the bay of pigs
A
- soviet arms flooded into Cuba after the bay of pigs of pigs
- in may 1962 the USSR announced publicly that this was going on
- by July 1962 Cuba had the best equipped army in Latin America
- by September 1962 the Cubans had soviet missiles,patrol, tanks, radar vans, jet bombers and fighters, and the help of 5000 soviet technicians
20
Q
How did the USA respond to soviet military assistance for Cuba
A
- they were alarmed - especially Bob the possibility of soviet nuclear weapons on Cuba
- September 1962 - the CIA told Kennedy that the USSR would not send nuclear weapons to Cuba - i was too risky and they had not done this with any other satellite states
- Kennedy warned the USSR that he would prevent ‘by whatever means necessary’ Cuba’s becoming an offensive military base - evryone knew he meant a nuclear missile base
- the USSR assured the USA that they would not put nuclear misfiles on Cuba
21
Q
What did the U-2 photographs show in October 1962
A
- a u-2 spy plane photographed Cuban missile bases, which showed that the USSR was building nuclear missile sites
- one sites were nearly finished, others were being built
- some sites already had missiles, other were awaiting delivery
- experts said the most developed sites could be ready to launch missiles in 7 days
- USA spy planes also showed that 20 soviet ships were on the way to Cuba with missiles
- Kennedy was informed on 16 October. He formed a special team of advisers called ex. Comm
22
Q
Why did the USSR place nuclear missiles on Cuba
A
Various suggestions on what Khrushchev was trying to do:
- bargain with USA? Khrushchev could agree to remove them in return for concessions from the USA
- test the USA? Khrushchev wanted to see how determined the Americans were - would Kennedy back down or face up to the USSR
- trap the USA ? Khrushchev wanted the USA to find them and get drawn into a nuclear war
- get the upper hand in the arms race? Khrushchev wanted to close the missile gap between the USA and USSR. Missiles on Cuba would make it unlikely the USA would launch a first strike on Cuba
- defend Cuba? The missiles were genuinely there to defend Cuba
23
Q
How was the Cuban missile resolved
A
- 22 October 1962: Kennedy announced the blockade and called on the USSR to withdraw its missiles
- 23 October 1962: Khrushchev sent Kennedy a letter, saying he did not admit to the presence of nuclear missiles on Cuba and would not observe the blockade
- 24 October 1962: the first soviet ships approached the blockade but turned back
- 25 October: but work on the Cuban missile base continued rapidly
- 26 October: Khrushchev sent another letter to Kennedy, saying the misled bases were purely defensive (the first time he admitted them), but that if the USA could assure the ussr they would not attack Cuba and could lift the blockade, then it might be possible to remove or destroy the missiles
- 27 October: Khrushchev sent another letter with revised proposals, saying that the ussr would withdraw its missiles if the USA withdrew its missiles from turkey. Kennedy did not accept this proposal
- 27 October: a USA pilot was killed when his U-2 spy plane was shot down over Cuba. Kennedy was advised to launch an immediate attack on Cuba, but delayed. He told Khrushchev that he would accept s original terms, but that if the USSR did not withdraw, an attack would soon follow
- 28 October: Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles
24
Q
Successes of Cuba
A
- Kennedy successfully negotiated the withdrawal of the missiles
- Kennedy enhanced his reputation: he ha made Khrushchev back down
- propaganda victory for USA in Cold War (removed turkey missiles in secret)
- tactic of blockade proved successful
25
Failure of Cuba
- bay of pigs was a disaster
- Cuba remained communist (Truman doctrine not upheld)
- los strategic advantage of having missiles close to USSR in turkey
26
What were Kennedy’s options in october 1962
- do nothing: M.A.D if Soviets struck ten USA could strike as well. Bu t made Kennedy look weak
- surgical air strike to destroy missile bases: get rid of them before they were ready but destruction of all sites couldn’t be guaranteed and if one wasn’t destroyed then they could counter attack
- invade Cuba by land and sea: could be rid of Castro as well as the missiles but Soviets would probably respond and take equivalent action in Eastern Europe
- apply diplomatic pressures: get UN to intervene, would avoid conflict but would make USA look weak
- impose a naval blockade of Cuba: stop supplies coming in and made America look serious but didn’t solve problem that there were already missiles Cuba
27
What are the origins of the Vietnamese war
- Vietnam had been ruled by France since 19th century
- taken over by Japanese in ww2
- after ww2, the viet minh, led by Ho Chi Minh, who was in control of north Vietnam, declared Vietnamese independence and aimed to take the whole country, resulting in a war with France
- after 194 communist china gave assistance to the viet minh
- the USA saw the viet Minh as puppets of communist china, and feared Chinese domination of south east Asia so poured $500 millions a year into helping the french
- the french set up a non-communist government in south Vietnam
- the war lasted until 1954, but the french were unable to deal with the viet minhs guerilla tactics
28
What happened at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 and what was its significance?
- a large force of french paratroopers was defeated - 3000 died in battle and 8000 in captivity
- a small Asian state had defeated a rich European country by means of leadership, tactics and determination
- the french decided to pull out of Vietnam
- at a 1954 peace conference in Geneva it was decided to divide the country into north and south Vietnam until elections could decide its future at 17th parallel
29
Why was USA coming increasingly involved in Vietnam
- domino theory: Eisenhower and Secretary of State thought that if Vietnam fell to communism then Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and maybe even India would as well
30
How did USA become increasingly involved in Vietnam
- in 1955 the USA helped Ngo Dinh Diem set up the republic of south Vietnam and supplied his corrupt regime with $1.6. After his overthrow other corrupt regimes continued t receive American aid
- this led to an increase in public support for the communist Viet Cong
- the Viet Cong attacked south Vietnamese government forces, officials and buildings, making the countryside unsafe for government forces and also attacked USA bases
- by 1962 president kennedy was sending military advisors to fight the Viet Cong
- as tension between north snd south increased in 1963 and 1964 so did the number of USA soldiers - 11,500 in 1962/ 23,000 in1964
- after JFK’s assassination in 1963 president Lyndon Johnson was more prepared to commit the USA to full-scale conflict in Vietnam to prevent the spread of communism
- in august 1964 north Vietnamese boats fired on us ships in the gulf of Tonkin - as a result the us congress passed the Tonkin gulf resolution which gave Johnson the green light to take the USA into a full scale war (this was most likely false claim as an excuse to start the war)
31
Viet Cong tactics
The USA and south Vietnamese had more men and better equipment but the Viet Cong used guerrilla tactics which they saw be used effectively by Mao Zedong in china
- guerrilla tactics: retreat when the enemy attacks, raid when enemy camps, attack when the enemy tires, pursue when the enemy retreats, wear down morale
- ruthless: a campaign of terror against employees of the south Vietnamese government
- they were undermined and persistent: they wouldn’t give in, kept rebuilding Ho Chi Minh trail despite losing far more me than the USA
- the USA found it difficult to distinguish Viet Cong from local peasants, difficult to catch them when they disappeared into the jungle, constant fear of ambushes and booby traps
32
USA tactics
- bombing: the USA dropped moe bombs on Vietnam than they did in the whole of ww2
- chemical weapons: agent orange, a toxic weed killer to destroy the jungle where the Viet Cong hid
- search and destroy: heavily defended bases in south Vietnam, from which searched destroy helicopter raids were launched. But this resulted in the destruction of innocent villages and high civilian casualties causing many south Vietnamese peasants to support the Viet Cong
33
What was the Tet Offensive of 1968 and what was its significance
- a major communist offensive on over 100 cities and other targets, including capital Saigon, which ultimately failed
- the Viet Cong lost 10,000 fighters and were severely weakened
- they hoped the south Vietnamese people would rise up and join the - but they didn’t
- the offensive raised difficult questions for the USA - why had USA forces been taken by surprise? Was it worth the great loss of life that was sustained in retaking the towns
34
What did people think of the tet offensive
- if USA couldn’t even defend embassy, how would they win war (Americans had thought they were winning)
- USA generals didn’t actually know when the war would end
- Johnson resigned out of guilt
35
What did Americans think of Vietnam war
- public opinion was already turning against the war before 1968, but this increased after the tet offensive
- many Americans were disturbed by TV, radio and newspaper reports - including pictures of torture and executions and children being burned by napalm
- there were anti-war protest all over the USA
- thousands of young men dodged the draft
- hundreds of demonstrations in USA universities
36
37
What was the My Lai massacre
- a massacre of 300-400 innocent civilians by USA troops in the south Vietnamese village of My Lai
- details leaked out and the USA congress was asked to investigate
- lieutenant william calley was used by the army as their scapegoat - he was blamed and said to be exceeding his orders. He was found guilty band sentenced to 20 years hard labour
- life magazine published pictures of the massacre which the USA public found shocking
- 700,000 anti war protestors demonstrated in Washington DC in November 1969 - the largest political protest in USA history
38
President Nixon’s contribution to the Vietnam war
- elected president in 1968
- peace negotiations: national security adviser Henry Kissinger had regular meetings with the north Vietnamese chief peace negotiator, Le Duc Tho
- vietnamisation of war effort: south Vietnamese forces were built up and us troops were withdrawn
- bombing: nevertheless Nixon increased bombing campaigns to show the north Vietnamese he was not soft about communism
- Cambodia: Nixon ordered a USA invasion of Viet Cong bases in Cambodia causing outrage across the world and in the USA
- pressure on the USSR: Nixon asked Moscow to encourage north Vietnam to need the war
- pressure on china: as USA relations with China improved, Nixon visited china in 1972 and asked the Chinese to put pressure on north Vietnam to need the war before
- the withdrawal of USA forces: after the failure of another north Vietnamese offensive in 1972, a peace agreement was signed between north and south, allowing Nixon to pull out USA troops, which had been completed by march 1973
39
Why did south Vietnam fall to communists after 1973
- the north Vietnamese renewed their offensive and captured the capital of south Vietnam, Saigon, in April 1975
- without USA military aid, the south Vietnamese government could not resist
- Nixon had promised to continue financial aid and military support, but congress would not allow this because they thought the south Vietnamese government was corrupt and did not have the support of the majority of the population
40
How did Vietnam war affect the policy of containment
- the a severely damaged the idea of containment - the USA had failed to stop the spread of communism in Vietnam
- USA involvement actually assisted the spread of communism, because it increased support for communists in Laos and Cambodia, which both had communist governments by 1975
- the war was a propaganda disaster for the USA - atrocities committed by the USA forces, chemical weapons, and propping up a corrupt regime
- the USA entered into a period of greater understanding with both the USSR and China
41
Consequences of Vietnam war
- on Vietnamese citizens: poisoned by dioxins from chemical warfare, continuing injuries from unexplored mines and bombs, disfigurement caused by napalm
- on Vietnamese society: about 5 million made homeless, thousands became boat people and tried to sail to Malaysia and Hong Kong, many moved to the west, thousands driven to shanty towns near USA bases and resorted t prostitution and drug abuse
- on the environment: chemical warfare damaged crops, leading to food shortages, 5.4 millions acres of forest were destroyed, streams and rivers wee poisoned
- on USA troops: many became drug addicts, veterans weren’t welcomed back as heroes and many found it hard to adjust to civilian life, PTSD, some who handled agent orange contracted cancer
