1. The Cold War Turns Hot
China enters a civil war in the 1920’s. This war is between the Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek and the Communists led by Mao Zedong.
They suspended the civil war to fight the Japanese in WW2. After the war they resumed and Mao and the communists won.
Chiang left in defeat and took over the Island of Taiwan

2. The Korean War Begins
Japan ruled Korea until its defeat in Korea was divided along the 38th parallel.
North Korea- was communist and supported/occupied by the USSR and later China- their Korean leader was Kim Il Sung
South Korea- was under the control of the US
The US and the USSR both pulled their troops out by 1949
On June 25, 1950 the North Koreans swept across the border and attacked South Korea

3. Bitter Fighting
With UN approval, President Truman ordered Douglas MacArthur to lead US and South Korean forces.
At first the US getting crushed and were backed into a corner of Korea in the port city of Pusan
In one of the of the most brilliant military maneuvers in history MacArthur landed at Inchon Harbor at cut off the supply routes
North Korean troops surrendered by the thousands and the US troops pushed the North Koreans past the Yalu River- China’s border with Korea

4. The Tide Turns Against the US
The Chinese felt they were being threatened and sent some 300,000 troops into the fray.
This turned the tide and the US retreated and built a defensive line along the original border
MacArthur called for an expansion that would involve taking over China.
President Truman didn’t want another world war (Russia) and told MacArthur
MacArthur publicly criticized Truman and demanded North Korea’s unconditional surrender
Truman fired MacArthur- MacArthur was very popular- spoke before Congress..”An old soldier…”

5. The Election of 1952
Truman was mired in problems and didn’t seek re-election; the republican party hadn’t been in power in 20 years and chose Eisenhower to run and Richard Nixon as his running mate.
Ike ended the war. He increased bombing and hinted about using nuclear weapons.
The armistice (still no peace agreement) was almost exactly where it had started

6. Fighting Communism Abroad
Eisenhower’s Administration:
Viewed nuclear arms and technology as crucial to ending the expansion of communism
Secretary of State John Dulles- called for the liberation of all nations that had fallen to communism after no backing down
Brinkmanship was our official policy- being willing to push to the edge of war- massive retaliation
The reality was less directly confrontational, instead “covert” means were more often used

7. CIA- Covert Warfare Examples
Iran: In 1951 Mosaddeq became the Iranian premier and “Nationalized” British owned oilfields. Ike had the CIA organize a coup and put a US friendly leader Reza Pahlavi (The Shah of Iran) in charge. This created strong anti US sentiment in Iran
Guatemala: In 1954 Arbenz Guzman was democratically elected president in Guatemala. He redistributed uncultivated land among the rural poor. The US thought he was sympathetic to communism and the CIA gathered up a small army that installed a US friendly gov’t. Latin America was not happy- Roosevelt Corralary

8. Suez Crisis
In 1955 the US backed out of a deal to finance a large dam in Egypt. Egyptian leader Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. This was bad for the US because it could upset our oil trade and they refused ships going to Israel. Israel attacked the Egyptian end of the canal and GB and France seized the Mediterranean end and the USSR threatened war if the three didn’t withdraw.

9. Diplomatic Solution
Eisenhower supported a UN resolution for the three countries to withdraw.
Result
The Suez Canal was open again
The USSR gained better relationships with Arab nations- bargaining chip
Eisenhower issued the Eisenhower Doctrine which said that we would offer military aid to any Middle Eastern country seeking help in resisting communism

10. Uprising in Eastern Europe
Nikita Khrushchev- The new Soviet leader stunned the world by admitting that Stalin had committed many ruthless crimes. Some people hoped this meant that the USSR would engage in reforms.
Reality
Poland protested for greater political freedom and soon after Hungary took to the streets and “moderates” took control of the gov’t. The USSR crushed the “revolt” and the US eased immigration restrictions and 40,000 Hungarians made their way to the US.
The US encouraged the revolt and then didn’t help- we were more talk than action

11. A Brief Thaw in the Cold War
In 1959 VP Richard Nixon visited the USSR to help try and improve relations. Premier Khrushchev then came to the US and his charm won over Americans
The U-2 Incident
The USSR didn’t like the fact that we were flying high altitude reconnaissance flights over the Soviet Union.
Francis Gary Powers was shot down over Russia in a U-2 spy plane
The result: We didn’t apologize but promised not to do it again. The Cold War was Cold again