Notes: Berlin to Vietnam

While we watched a lot of documentaries this quarter, Mr. Stewart gave some nice presentations as well. Here's a recap:

Sources of tension in the early cold war

• Capitalism vs communism
• Perception of motives for each side
• Sphere of influence? Elections? 
• Disagreement at Tehran ‘43, Yalta ‘45, and Potsdam ’45

Europe

• East bloc is in direct control of the Soviet Union in 1948
• Yugoslavia is actually communist, but doesn't like stalin
• Greece is in a civil war revolving around communism
• Western Europe is in economic shambles
• Could lead to communism…

Asia

• Japan is occupied by the US since September 1945
• Korea is split into two halves- North (Soviet) and South (US)
• Chinese civil war —> communist vs. anti-communist (Soviets support the communist side…)
• Imperialist powers move back into their former colonies—> uprisings and rebellions and independence movements start

Middle East

• Iran —> The British leave, but the soviets don't
• Turkey allows Soviet naval bases and access to the Mediterranean 
• Greece is fighting a civil war with the British funding the anti-communist side

The United Nations

• Membership was originally any nation who declared war against the axis powers
• Security Council and the General Assembly
• Promote peace, security, humanitarian assistance, economic development

Global Situation 

• US—> Cooperate with the UN
• USSR —> focused on a security zone
• Asia—> is in shambles…
• Many nations begin to resist 
• western imperialism 

Mr. X and the Long Telegram

• Control and contain the Soviet Union, because they are a rapidly expanding force

The Marshall Plan (June of 1947)

• Massive aid program to Western Europe
• Influence them so they reject communism and trade with the western world
• Make sure they kept faith n democracy and capitalism
• Emotional: demonstrate would stand by its allies in Western Europe

Truman Doctrine 

• Aggressive and expansive form of containment 
• Becomes the guiding force of American foreign policy for the next 25 years
• Out of fear that Greece and Turkey would be lost to the Soviet cause
• Yugoslavia had already been lost

The Berlin Airlift

• Stalin blockades Berlin to cut off the West 
• Cuts coal, electricity, food, etc. 
• The allies then fly in supplies and airdrop it in for a year (plane taking off/landing every 13 seconds)

Formation of Nato

• April 1949
• Mutual defense alliance
• “Keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down”
• Originally 12 nations, 26 today
• Representative of America’s commitment to Europe

The Atomic Arms Race

• August 29th, 1949 the Soviet Union successfully detonated an atomic bomb
• Ended the American atomic monopoly 
• US still dominates an advantage in numbers and delivery systems

The Spread of Communism

• 1948 the Eastern Bloc is under soviet control 
• 1949 the Chinese Communists defeated the Chinese Nationalist 
• Mao Zedong becomes the communist leader

CIA/National Security Council Memorandum-68

• Designed to combat communism and to fight covert operations
• Recommended that the American Military be put into a wartime state (even though they were at war)
• Called for the American people to be more informed about the Soviet threat 
• Considered the blueprint for American foreign policy until the 1970’s

The Korean War (June 1950-1953)

• North Korea (communist) invades South Korea (Not communist)
• Condemned by the UN
• Lead by the US and almost wins, until China comes in (all in 1950)
• US decides against wider war, conflict ends

The Hydrogen Bomb

• Thermonuclear fission-fusion device
• Test detonation on Eniwetok Atoll— the island disappears 
• “Mike” H-bomb = 10.4 mega-tons (“Little Boy” was 20 kilotons)

Changes in the Cold War

• Eisenhower ends the Korean war
• Change US policies in the Cold War
• Stalin dies and is succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev in 1955

Fast forward to Kennedy

American Changes

• Kennedy
• Aggressive foreign policy, hawkish
• Attempt to distance himself from Eisenhower 

Berlin Wall

• During the 1950’s, 2 million East germans had fled to the West through West Berlin
• Soviets constructed a wall to prevent the migration of East Germans
• US did not challenge as it did not interfere with West Berlin 

Cuban Missile Crisis

• Fidel Castro tis brought to power after a US imposed leader in overthrown
• He nationalizes American industry
• Declared a Communist revolution and allies with the USSR
• The Bay of Pigs- US backed Cuban exiles try to overthrow Castro…it’s a fiasco
• Khrushchev sent military aid to Cuba (medium range nuclear missiles
• US wants the missiles out! (potential first strike capability)
• US “Quarantines” Cuba
• USSR denied the existence of the missiles
• U-2 spy planes had already taken photos of the missiles
• Question- How to get the missiles out before they are operational 
• USA Options: Military action (airstrikes, invasion) or Diplomacy
• USSR Options: Don’t back down because it will make the USSR look weak
• Khrushchev decides to back down and remove the missiles from Cuba
• Soviet leaders base their decision on American nuclear superiority 
• Khrushchev is replaced in 1964

Mad and the Arms Race

• SALT limited delivery systems, but not MERV’s
• Both sides have to deter the other side and convince them that their first strike wouldn’t work 
• $50 million/day spent on the arms race
• Strategic Triad (Submarines, Missiles, and Bombers)

Detente

• “Relaxation”
• Both sides were tired of the arms race and constant tension
• Proposal to have a “thaw” in the Cold War
• USA, China, and the USSR
• Ultimate Result: SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty)

SALT

• Called for a limitation on nuclear delivery systems (mainly missiles, but also submarines and bombers)
• ABM treaty: Limits the amount of antiballistic missiles (would upset MAD)

Other Events

• Iran (1953)
• Guatamala (1954)
• China-Taiwan Conflict (1965)
• Dominican Republic (1965)
• Six Day War (1967) Israel vs. Arab Nations 
• Yom Kippur war (1973) Israel vs. Arab Nations
• Chile (1973)

VIETNAM!

Eisenhower 

• Dien Bien Phu
• Geneva peace conference 
• Elections will be held
• US stops elections in fear that a communist leader will come to power
• Rise of Diem and SEATO
• US sends in advisers 
• The Domino effect (communists will take as much as they can)

Kennedy 

• Shifts policy from “mass retaliation” to “flexible response”
• Use of american troops, counter insurgency 
• America could win the cold war by getting third world nations to buy into the American View
• Increases advisers sent to South Vietnam (16,000 by 1963)
• Coup of Diem’s government in 1963

Vietnam- Johnson

• Continued Kennedy’s policies, but wanted to be hard on communism (election coming up)
• The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
• Rolling Thunder- bombing the hell out of north Vietnam 
• Pacification: “Search and Destroy”
• Body counts = attrition = favorable kill ratios
• Limited War = attrition

Vietnam- Nixon

• “Peace with Honor”
• Vietnamization and withdrawal of major US combat forces 
• Cambodia and Laos
• Mining of Haipong Harbor
• Intensified bombing campaign (ex. Christmas Bombing)
• Paris Peace Accords (January 1973)
• Enables the US to withdraw and the South Vietnamese to be ‘safe’
• The peace accords failed, but allowed the US to withdraw

Vietnam- Legacy

• Pais accords failed —> South Vietnam in complete disarray and defeated by the North in April
• Southeast Asia is unstable (Cambodia: Khmer Rouge)
• War between Vietnam and Cambodia, skirmished with China
• In retrospect the Soviet leaders admitted after the Cold War that it sent a message about American commitment to containment
• Caused America to be more suspicious not only to their government but also to committing troops abroad