COLD WAR IN CRISIS (60s, 70s, & THE END) THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS VIETNAM 1. HISTORY 2. KENNEDY & JOHNSON 3. ANTI-WAR PROTEST 4. NIXON 5. A DIFFERENT (UNIQUE) WAR C. THE END OF THE COLD WAR

A. CUBAN MISSLE CRISIS IN 1959, A COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT WAS ESTABLISHED IN CUBA. WE FEARED COMMUNISM WOULD SPREAD THROUGHOUT LATIN AMERICA. WHEN WE DISCOVERED SOVIETS SECRETLY BUILDING BASES FOR NUCLEAR MISSILES IN CUBA (AIMED AT THE U.S.) WE FREAKED OUT.

PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY IMPOSED A NAVAL BLOCKADE AROUND CUBA PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY IMPOSED A NAVAL BLOCKADE AROUND CUBA. AFTER SEVERAL TENSE DAYS AND WIDE-SPREAD PANIC OVER IMPENDING NUCLEAR WAR, SOVIET LEADER NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV WITHDREW THE MISSLES (WE PROMISED NEVER TO INVADE CUBA & REMOVED SOME MISSILES FROM GREECE AND TURKEY).

B. THE VIETNAM WAR WHEN THE KOREAN WAR ENDED, THE U.S. WAS ALREADY IN VIETNAM. WE BECAME INVOLVED BECAUSE THE FRENCH WANTED TO REGAIN CONTROL OF THEIR COLONY AFTER WORLD WAR II. WE HELPED BECAUSE WE WANTED THEM TO JOIN NATO.

WE BECAME INVOLVED TO GET THE FRENCH TO JOIN NATO. (B) 1. HISTORY OF VIETNAM NATIONALISTS HAD STARTED A GUERILLA WAR TO KEEP THE FRENCH FROM REGAINING CONTROL OF THEIR COLONY AFTER WW2. THEY WERE LED BY HO CHI MINH, A COMMUNIST WHO UNITED THE NATIONALISTS INTO AN ARMY KNOWN AS THE VIET MINH. WE BECAME INVOLVED TO GET THE FRENCH TO JOIN NATO.

THE FRENCH LEFT AFTER A DEFEAT IN THE BATTLE OF DIENBIEN PHU (MAY 1954). WE STAYED BECAUSE OF THE DOMINO THEORY. IF ONE NATION FALLS TO COMMUNISM, THEY ALL FALL… THE AREA KNOWN AS INDOCHINA WAS DIVIDED INTO LAOS, CAMBODIA, AND VIETNAM IN THE 1954 GENEVA ACCORDS.

(B) 2. KENNEDY AND JOHNSON WE GAVE OUR ASSISTANCE TO SOUTH VIETNAM UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF NGO DINH DIEM AND GRADUALLY INCREASED OUR SUPPORT OVER THE YEARS. 1960= 900 ADVISERS 1961= 3,200 1962= 11,000 THEY WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO FIGHT!

IN SOUTH VIETNAM, GUERILLAS KNOWN AS VIET CONG WERE SUPPORTED BY HO CHI MINH. VIET CONG = VC OR CHARLIE BY 1963, DIEM WAS OVERTHROWN BY S. VIETNAMESE LEADERS AND THE V.C. WERE GAINING GROUND. PRESIDENT KENNEDY INDICATED HOPE OF WITHDRAWING OUR TROOPS, BUT HE WAS ASSASSINATED IN NOVEMBER OF 1963…

LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ) BECAME PRESIDENT (AND HE COULD NEVER ACCEPT A LOSS TO “COMMIES”). HE NEEDED AN ALL OUT WAR, AND IN 1964 THE GULF OF TONKIN RESOLUTION GAVE HIM A “BLANK CHECK” TO “TAKE ALL NECESSARY MEASURES” TO PROTECT AMERICAN LIVES AND INTERESTS. THE NORTH VIETNAMESE HIT 2 AMERICAN DESTROYERS WITH THEIR TORPEDO BOATS. (AMERICANS DID NOT KNOW THAT THEY HAD ). VIOLATED NORTH VIETNAMESE TERRITORIAL WATERS

JOHNSON WAS RE-ELECTED AND WE CONTINUED TO SEND IN GROUND TROOPS (NOW WE ARE FIGHTING)!! WE TOOK OVER FROM ARVN (ARMY OF REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM), THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE ARMY. 1964=23,000 1965=184,000 1966=485,000 1967=536,000

IT WAS A PSYCHOLOGICAL VICTORY FOR THE NORTH AND THE VC. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TURNING POINT OF THE WAR CAME IN 1968 WITH THE TET OFFENSIVE. TET WAS THE VIETNAMESE NEW YEAR AND TRADITIONALLY FIGHTING STOPPED FOR THIS CELEBRATION. THEY SHOCKED US BY LAUNCHING SIMULTANEOUS ATTACKS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY (AMERICAN EMBASSY SAIGON, AMERICAN MILITARY HQ, TAN SON NHUT AIRBASE. IT WAS A PSYCHOLOGICAL VICTORY FOR THE NORTH AND THE VC.

AMERICANS LEARNED OF INCIDENTS LIKE THE 1968 MY LAI MASSACRE. (B)3. ANTI-WAR PROTEST AS JOHNSON’S POPULARITY FELL, ANTI-WAR PROTEST SEEMED TO BE ON THE RISE… IN 1965, AS MANY AS 80% OF AMERICANS SUPPORTED THE WAR, BUT THINGS CHANGED AS TIME WENT ON… COLLEGE CAMPUSES WERE THE CENTER OF PROTEST GROUPS LIKE SDS (STUDENTS FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY) STAGED DEMONSTRATIONS. AMERICANS LEARNED OF INCIDENTS LIKE THE 1968 MY LAI MASSACRE.

(B) 4. NIXON THE WAR POWERS ACT PASSED OVER NIXON’S VETO IN NOVEMBER 1973 REDUCED THE PRESIDENT’S ABILITY TO INVOLVE THE U.S. IN AN UNDECLARED WAR! REQUIRES PRES TO REPORT TO CONGRESS WITHIN 48 HOURS AFTER COMMITTING AMERICAN TROOPS TO FOREIGN CONFLICT. WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL THE PRES HAS 60 DAYS TO BEGIN WITHDRAWING THE TROOPS.

NIXON BEGAN THE PROCESS OF “VIETNAMIZATION” WHICH MEANT TURNING THE WAR BACK OVER TO SOUTH VIETNAMESE TROOPS. HE BEGAN BRINGING OUR TROOPS HOME. HE WAS LOOKING FOR “PEACE WITH HONOR.” THE DRAFT ENDED IN 1973 IN MARCH OF ’73 THE LAST U.S. FORCES LEFT VIETNAM IN 1975 SOUTH VIETNAM FELL TO THE NORTH (COMMUNISM)

HOW WAS THIS WAR DIFFERENT? (B) 5. A DIFFERENT WAR!! HOW WAS THIS WAR DIFFERENT? AVERAGE AGE OF SOLDIER WAS 19-20 DAILY NEWS COVERAGE (TELEVISION) MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY (SOLDIERS SURVIVED WOUNDS) NO FRONT LINES/ COULDN’T IDENTIFY ENEMY NO DEBRIEFING (DOWNTIME) 365 DAY TOUR OF DUTY

C. END OF THE COLD WAR THE COLD WAR LASTED ANOTHER 15 YEARS. IT ENDED WHEN MIKHAIL GORBACHEV (SOVIET UNION) INTRODUCED REFORMS INTO SOVIET SOCIETY. HE LIFTED THE IRON CURTAIN IN 1989 AND THE BERLIN WALL WAS TAKEN DOWN. EASTERN EUROPEAN NATIONS ELECTED DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENTS. IN THE SOVIET UNION, THE COMMUNIST PARTY LOST ITS MONOPOLY ON POWER. IN 1991, THE SOVIET UNION SPLIT INTO SEPARATE STATES.