The Korean War

Korean War

A conflict that occurred from 1950 to 1953 when North Korea invaded South Korea, leading to UN intervention and ultimately resulting in an armistice.

General MacArthur

Led the UN forces during the Korean War, initially successful in pushing back North Korean forces but later dismissed by President Truman for insubordination.

Armistice

A formal agreement to stop fighting, signed in July 1953 to end the Korean War, establishing the border between North and South Korea.

UN Intervention

The UN army, primarily composed of American forces, intervened in the Korean War under the guise of maintaining world peace, but faced criticism for being a cover for US anti-communist actions.

Outcomes for the United Nations

The UN's involvement in the Korean War showcased its power compared to the League of Nations, with military sanctions proving effective against North Korea and China.

Misjudgments

General MacArthur's assurances and miscalculations by the UN led to substantial damages, loss of life, and displacement of millions during the Korean War.

US Influence

The UN heavily relied on the US for military action during the Korean War, with Japan's support and Soviet claims of the UN being an anti-communist tool influencing the conflict.

June 1950

North Korea suddenly cross the 38th Parallel

July 1950

a UN Security Council agreed that a UN army (led by General MacArthur) would be sent to North Korea.

November 1950

MacArthur’s attack goes too far → reach Chinese border, and 200,000 troops join the North Korean side.

March 1951

MacArthur openly announces nuclear war on China

April 1951

Truman fires MacArthur

November 1952

Eisenhower replaces Truman and Eisenhower’s mission is to end the war

July 1953

an armistice is finally signed. the border is essentially the same

was the Korean War a success for the US?

No → North Korea = still communist, UN viewed as an All-American anti-communist tool → there were many disagreements = General MacArthur wanted to go beyond just containment and destroy communism → lives were lost pointlessly

how many Koreans died as a result of the Korean war?

4 million

when did American put their troops in Japan?

1945

Cuba gains independence from Spain

1898

3 things that the US owned in Cuba

2/3 of farming land

railways

tobacco plantations

where was the US naval base in Cuba?

Guantanamo Bay

Castro becomes leader of Cuba

1959

percentage of Cubans that supported Castro

90% → however Castro promised to give Cubans free elections but he didn’t

businesses that Castro nationalised

telephone

good things that castro did:

• made education free to all

• reduced low wage earners’ rent by 50%

• stopped racial segregation (swimming pools, hotels, beaches etc.)

• built 3 new training schools for doctors

• free healthcare for all

  • by 1970 there were more doctors per head than in the US

an american U2 spy plane is shot down over the USSR

1960 → weather observation

what percentage of the GDP were the USSR spending on the arms race

40%

the US have their own inter-continental ballistic missiles

1959 - Atlas and Minuteman → then developed the Polaris Missiles shortly after

USA invade Cuba

April 1961

how many Cuban exiles did JFK send to the BOP?

1400

JFK’s Bay of Pigs plan:

Air Strikes x 2

Bay

Of

Pigs → 1,400 Cuban exiles at night → 1st air strike

Paratroopers in Central Cuba

East Coast → Smaller force to cause distraction

Distraction!

Support from people in Havana

Why did JFK’s plan fail? 3 S’s

Secrecy → photos of American planes became public → Cuban intelligence alerted Castro of the attack

Skies → air attacks missed many key targets

Support → people loved Castro!

3 consequences of BOP

1. humiliation for the US

2. increase in Castro’s popularity

3. Castro and Khrushchev grew closer

Kennedy is informed of a missile build-up in Cuba

Tuesday 16th October 1962

Kennedy’s administration decides on a Naval Blockade

Saturday 20th October 1962

Kennedy announces the Naval Blockade

21st October 1962

Khrushchev sends the first letter, claiming that he will not observe the naval blockade

23rd October 1962

The Naval Blockade begins → the first soviet ships approach the 500-mile blockade zone. → at 10:32 the closest 20 ships turn around

24th October 1962

Intensive aerial photography reveals that work on the missiles in Cuba is rapidly proceeding

25th October 1962

Kennedy receives Krushchev’s 2nd letter → missiles are only in Cuba for defence.

26th October 1962

Khrushchev sends Kennedy a 3rd letter → he will only remove his Cuban missiles if Kennedy removes his from Turkey. The President is advised to launch a hard attack on Cuba

27th October 1962

Kennedy delays attack. He ignores Khrushchev’s second letter, but agrees to the terms of the 3rd letter. He says that if the USSR do not withdraw, then JFK will send an attack

27th October 1962

Khrushchev replies to Kennedy and says that he will remove the missiles from Cuba

28th October 1962

what the did the US agree to do but was kept secret?

remove missiles from Turkey → didn’t tell public for 25 years

when did China go communist

October 1949

Nine-year war between France and Vietnam

1946-1954

Peace Conference in Geneva

1954 → Country divided into North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam = run by Ho Chi Minh and South Vietnam which was run by a pro-west government

Battle of Dien Bien Phu

1954 → French defeated

Elections are promised by the South Vietnamse

1956 → never given, because the South knew they would lose → US helped prevent these

The US became involved because the French were defeated → Communism was winning and the US wouldn’t allow this.

Domino Theory

If one country falls to communism, then the surrounding countries will too. the US relied heavily on this theory with their increasing involvement

communist North Vietnamese ships opened fire on US boats in the Gulf of Tonkin

August 1964 → trigger event for war!

→ the US were stirring the point by loitering in Vietnamese waters

→ Johnson used this as an excuse to launch ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’ → Air attacks in February 1965

Operation Rolling Thunder

February 1965

Was President Eisenhower heavily involved in the Vietnam War?

YES!

1953 = Eisenhower is advised not to intervene in the French and Vietnamese conflict.

He ignores this advice, and sends aid to the French cause.

After this failed, Eisenhower supports the south. He sent military advisors to South Vietnam.

Was JFK heavily involved in the Vietnam War?

YES!

• Strategic Hamlet Plan → he went into villages and relocated poor people from one village into a different village against their wishes. this is because they would support communism and JFK wanted them out of the way.

how many helicopters did JFK supply to the Vietnam war?

300

how many advisors did JFK send to Vietnam? How many were there before?

1,000 → 12,000

The Vietcong:

• A Communist party based in South Vietnam

• formed in 1960.

• the Vietcong started a guerrilla war against the South Vietnamese army government and American air force and supply bases

• the Vietminh and North Vietnam were allies.

• the Vietminh used the Ho Chi Minh trail to supply the Vietcong with weapons, supplies, and large numbers of fighters.

• the route went from North Vietnam into Laos and Cambodia, before entering back into South Vietnam

• the Vietcong were well supported by the peasants in the South.

• They promised the Peasants land. Peasants that didn’t support them were subjected to violence.

• the Vietcong hid in villages in South Vietnam, and the US couldn’t tell the peasants from the Vietcong.

• this meant that the US destroyed a lot of Vietnamese villages unnecessarily.

• The Vietcong were fighting for freedom → they had higher morale than the US

• The Vietcong made underground tunnels

why were the Vietcong so successful?

• built underground tunnels

• didn’t destroy villages in South Vietnam → more popular

• more morale → fighting for freedom

• bouncing betty bombs that would explode next to Americans

• ambushing → no uniform so they blended in. they ‘hung onto American belts’ and stayed close to the US → American heavy machinery became useless against them.

• American unity was destroyed by racial unity → and having to fight a different culture

• the Vietcong had some powerful allies → China and the USSR

so why did the US lose the Vietnam war?

1. the US weren’t prepared to actually have to fight

2. the Vietcong had very unpredictable tactics

3. if it was an open battle, the US would have had a better chance → they didn’t know how to fight in a jungle

4. the US morale was totally destroyed.

5. the Vietcong were hard to identify

Operation Rolling Thunder

7th February 1965 - 1972

• extensive bombing raids on military and industrial targets in North Vietnam

• targets were both in North and South Vietnam → included sites on the Ho Chi Minh trial in Laos and Cambodia

• US air power couldn’t defeat communist forces, only slow them down

Chemical weapons used by the US in the Vietnam war:

Agent Orange → destroyed the jungle because the Vietcong hid there

Napalm → greasy oil that set fire when grounded → burned skin to the bone → many civilians and soldiers were killed

Search and Destroy missions:

• bombing couldn’t defeat guerrilla armies → search and destroy missions established

  • US and South Vietnamese forces launches search-and-destroy raids → they would descend on a village and destroy and Vietcong forces they found → Soldiers had to send back reports of body counts

problems with Search and Destroy missions

1. Raids were often based on inadequate information

2. Inexperienced US troops walked into traps

3. Innocent villages were often mistaken for Vietcong strongholds

4. Civilian casualties were extremely high in these raids → for every Vietcong weapon captured, there was a body count of six.

   1. made the US and South Vietnamese army VERY unpopular with civilians, pushing the civilians to support the Vietcong

Why did American withdraw from Vietnam in 1973?

1. Failed US military tactics → turned local population against the US, chemical weapons, search-and-destroy missions, mass bombing and they still didn’t defeat the Vietcong

2. Effective Vietcong tactics → lowered morale of US troops and kept the support of the Vietnamese peasants.

3. inexperience of US soldiers → and the experience of the Vietcong → not well-trained or motivated, and there was a lot of racism in the US military. Many people of colour didn’t want to fight against the Vietcong → there was conscription but privileged people could avoid it.

4. Peace movement in the USA → from 1968, increasing protests

5. role of media

Kent State University Peace protest

1970 → 4 people shot by national guard

Washington DC March

November 1969 → 700,000 people → showed that people genuinely cared → Hey! Hey! LBJ! How many kids have you killed today? → pointed out racial inequality of the war → 30% African American compared to 17% of White Americans

why did public opinion become hostile in 1967?

1. TV was more popular and could show a raw violence

2. In 1965, CBS showed footage of US marines setting fire to Vietnamese villager’s homes

   1. Walter Cronkite, a TR reporter, stated that the war was unwinnable

My Lai Massacre date

March 1968

My Lai Massacre events:

1. a unit of young american soldiers called the Charlie Company started a search and destroy mission in the Quang Ngai region of South Vietnam.

2. They were told that there were Viet Cong headquarters and 200 Viet Cong guerrillas in My Lai

3. they were ordered to destroy all homes, and also thought that no-one would be home because it was Market day.

4. most soldiers were under the impression that they were to destroy everything

5. on the early morning of the 16th of March 1968, the Charlie Company arrived in My Lai.

6. In the next 4 hours, between 300 and 400 innocent civilians were killed

7. they were mostly women, children, and old men

8. many were killed with machine guns and herded into the irrigation ditch

9. no Viet Cong were found, and only 3 weapons were recovered

10. at the time the army treated it as a success

11. however, 12 months later, a letter arrived in the offices of 30 leading politicians and government officials in Washington.

12. Written by Ronald Ridenhour, he said that “something dark and bloody” had happened

13. not long after, Life magazine published photos from the massacre.

Publications of the My Lai Massacre:

1. Life Magazine

2. showed photos of the massacre

3. a lot of media attention on the court case of Lt. Calley

4. didn’t look good for Nixon → Nixon got Calley out of his sentence

Tet Offensive:

Beginning of 1968

Vietcong attacked 100s of villages across South Vietnam (unusual!) and tried to capture the US embassy.

It didn’t work. They lost 10,000

However, they got into the embassy → they had entered American territory.

this was to try and unsettle the US.

They wanted to show everyone that the US was losing the war.

1. Viet Cong launch a major attack

2. got into the US embassy

3. rattled US confidence

4. US responded with violence against civilians, making them even more unpopular

5. American citizens thought that too many people were dying and it was too expensive.