Cold War Heats Up

Chinese Communist Revolution In China, there had been a long battle for control between the Nationalists and the Communists. During WWII, they both fought against the Japanese. After the war, there struggle renewed, and they fought a civil war from 1946-1949. The U.S. provided aid to the Nationalists, and the U.S.S.R. provided aid to the Communists. The Nationalists were led by Chiang Kai-shek and the Communists were led by Mao Zedong. The Communists won the war and the Nationalists fled to Taiwan.

The Korean War Korea had been a part of the Japanese empire since 1905. After WWII, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. agreed to divide the country at the 38th parallel. Two separate governments formed, and the North became communist, and the South became a free society. In June of 1950, Stalin gave permission to North Korea to invade the South, and President Truman, with the support of the U.N. sent troops to defend the South. After the North’s initial surge into South Korea, American troops pushed the North all the way back into China with the idea of unifying the country, however, the Chinese sent in troops to push the Americans back. The war ended with an armistice in 1953, and the 38th parallel remains the border today.

Cuban Missile Crisis Cuba became a communist country when Fidel Castro overthrew the dictator Fulgencio Batista. Cuba had close ties to the U.S.S.R. The U.S. tried to remove Castro from power, but failed during the Bay of Pigs invasion. In order to help prevent future aggression by the U.S. and in response to U.S. weapons in Turkey, the Soviets built missile launch sites in Cuba. President Kennedy was unwilling to allow the Soviets to place nuclear weapons so close to U.S. soil, and he blockaded Cuba to prevent more weapons from being brought to the island. The crisis ended with an agreement by the Soviets to remove their missiles if the U.S. agreed not to invade Cuba again.

Vietnam War Ho Chi Minh led the communist Vietminh to defeat the French after WWII. After the French surrendered, the country was divided at the 17th parallel with a non-communist government in the South. The North invaded and fought to unify the country. The U.S. supported the South and fought to contain communism. The North received support from both U.S.S.R. and the Chinese and ended up taking over the South after the U.S. left.