1. 17.3 Wars in Korea and Vietnam
Main Idea
In Asia, the Cold War flared into actual wars supported mainly by the superpowers.
Why it Matters Now
Today, Vietnam is a Communist country, and Korea is split into Communist & non-Communist nations.

2. 38th Parallel
divides North & South Korea

3. Korean War (1950-1953) SOUTH KOREA NORTH KOREA
Copy Chart
Korean War ( )
SOUTH KOREA
NORTH KOREA
“Republic of Korea”
Occupied by U.S.
Gov. headed by Syngman Rhee
Based in Seoul
“Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea”
Communist
Led by Kim Sung
Based in Pyongyang
Each claimed the sole right to rule Korea
June 25, 1950: North Korea invaded South Korea

4. U.S. involvement
Alarmed by invasion
Didn’t want another communism country
NSC – 68
Classified report
written by Paul Nitze
issued by U.S. National Security Council
Called for buildup of & increase in funding for armed forces
Truman left NSC-68 unsigned for more than 6 months. When North Korea attacked South Korea, the military buildup of the Cold War began.

5. General Douglas Macarthur
Put in overall command of UN forces
Led 520,000 troops from 16 nations
90% were U.S.

6. Sept. 1950: North Koreans pushed South Koreans & UN armies all the way to Pusan in the south
RED LINES AND ARROWS SHOW THE COMMUNIST ADVANCE

7. Macarthur lands at Inchon & moves north from Pusan
Drove North Koreans out of South Korea
UN troops then push into North Korea & advance to the Yalu River
Boundary between North Korea and China
“China will not stand idly by & let U.S. come to the border” ~Zhou Enlai

8. Oct. 19, 1950: 300,000 Chinese communist troops invaded North Korea
pushed UN armies back south of the 38th parallel
PHOTOS OF CHINESE TROOPS ADVANCING INTO KOREA.

9. THE WAR IN KOREA TURNED INTO A STALEMATE RESEMBLING WORLD WAR I TRENCH WARFARE.

10. Macarthur’s plan
use atomic bombs on China
use Chiang Kai Shek’s troops to invade southern China
Truman rejects it
“An all-out conflict with china would be the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, & with the wrong enemy” ~General Omar Bradley
Macarthur tries to go over Truman’s head
Writes & speaks to republican leaders
Writes & speaks to newspaper & magazine publishers
Truman relieves Macarthur of his command
Truman is given unanimous approval of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Many Americans outraged

11. Nov. 1952: former U.S. general Dwight D. Eisenhower elected president
Pledged to go to Korea and end the war

12. 1952: UN troops gain control of South Korea
July 27, 1953: Korean War ends
Both sides sign armistice
Statistics
3 years of fighting
4 million casualties
No atomic weapons used
Korea remained 2 countries
Demilitarized zone divided North from South near the 38th parallel
The north remained communist after the war.

13. MARCH 1953: JOSEPH STALIN DIED

14. Vietnam War:

15. Origins of Vietnam War Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, & Cambodia)
France ruled from late 1800’s - WWII
took land from peasants
built large plantations, taking rice & rubber for profit
Peasant revolt
Led by Indochinese Communist Party
Leader: Ho Chi Minh
French responded by restricting freedom of speech & assembly
Ho Chi Minh (“He who Enlightens”) was condemned to death by French in 1930, but fled to USSR & China

16. 1940: Japan takes control of Indochina
1941: Ho Chi Minh returns to Vietnam
Communist
Joins with other groups to form The Vietminh
Seek independence from foreign rule
Alliance with U.S.
supplied aid to resist Japan

17. 1946: French troops gained control of south Vietnam
1945: Japan defeated
1946: French troops gained control of south Vietnam
1950: U.S. sent 2.6 billion to France to stop communism
Domino Theory: countries bordering communist countries were in danger of falling to communism
Ho Chi Minh vows to fight from north to liberate south from French control
U.S. now sees former ally as a Communist aggressor
“If ever the tiger pauses (referring to the Vietminh), the elephant (France) will impale him on his mighty tusks. But the tiger will not pause & the elephant will die of exhaustion & loss of blood.”

18. Despite aid from U.S., France can not retake Vietnam
May 1954: Vietminh drive out French at Dien Bien Phu (northwest Vietnam)

19. Geneva Accords
Geneva, Switzerland
France, UK, US, USSR, China, Laos, & Cambodia met with the Vietminh
divided Vietnam along 17th parallel
Ho Chi Minh controls North from Hanoi
Nationalists (Ngo Dinh Diem) control South from Saigon
U.S. sent military aid & training in return for a stable reform gov in south

20. 1957: Vietcong attack Diem gov communist group in the south
later called the National Liberation Front (NLF)
killed 1,000’s of south Vietnamese gov officials
Eisenhower’s military assistance group was replaced by MACV (Military Assistance Command Vietnam)
11,000 advisors with modern weapons & aircraft were sent to help the South Vietnamese gov
grows to 16,000 by Nov. 1963
Cadre is defined as the remains of a military unit that can be used to form a new unit.

21. 1961: John F. Kennedy becomes U.S. president
supported Diem
Ho Chi Minh supported the Vietcong
supplied them with arms
Ho Chi Minh Trail
network of paths along the border of Vietnam, Laos, & Cambodia

22. Vietcong (VC)
Việt Nam Cộng Sản (“Vietnamese Communist”)
used hit-and-run & ambush tactics
placed countless traps & land mines
had knowledge of jungle terrain
blended in with the population

23. Vietcong Tunnels

24. New phase of Vietnam War
Jan. 2, 1963: Battle of Ap Bac
New phase of Vietnam War
340 VC held off the combined assaults of more than South Vietnamese troops
Shot down 5 American helicopters
Withstood m113 armored personnel carriers, infantry, artillery, & close air support
VC withdrew with few casualties
Vietnam monument to the communist victors of the battle of Ap Bac
Ap Bac village with downed helicopters

25. Diem’s popularity falls
ongoing corruption
lack of land reform
The Strategic Hamlet Program
Vietnamese peasants forced to build & move into fortified villages
Purpose: prevent contact with VC
6,800 built by 1963

26. Blockhouse strong points were built to “protect” the peasants from the VC
equipped with 1,000’s of rifles and machine guns
most ended up in the hands of the VC

27. Diem (catholic) attacked Buddhist pagodas
Buddhist priests set fire to themselves in protest
U.S. decided Diem's murderous regime was too unpopular
Nov. 1, 1963: Army coup killed Diem
Nov. 22: Pres. Kennedy assassinated
Lyndon Johnson becomes U.S. president

28. Johnson believes a Communist takeover in Vietnam would be disastrous.
“If I let the Communists take over South Vietnam, then my nation would be seen as an appeaser, & we would find it impossible to accomplish anything…anywhere on the entire globe.”

29. Aug. 2, 1964: North Vietnamese patrol boat fires on the USS Maddox & misses
Aug 7, 1964: Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Granted Johnson broad military powers in Vietnam
Feb. 1965: Johnson unleashes Operation Rolling Thunder
1st sustained bombing of North Vietnam
March, 1965: U.S. troops began arriving in South Vietnam
By June: 50,000 troops were battling the VC
By the end of 1965: more than 180,000

30. Vietcong received supplies from China & USSR
VC view war as a battle for their existence
U.S. views war as military struggle
U.S. planes drop napalm (a gasoline bomb that sets fire to the jungle) & spray Agent Orange (a leaf-killing toxic chemical)
Effects of Napalm

31. U.S. public protested war
The New Left
youth movement
many young men attempted to find ways around the draft
1967: hundreds tossed draft cards in a bon fire

32. Jan 30: Tet Offensive
Villagers streamed into cities across South Vietnam to celebrate Vietnamese New Year (Tet)
Many villagers VC agents
Funerals held for war victims
Coffins contained weapons
At night, VC attacked
12 U.S. bases & 100 towns
Fighting lasted nearly a month
U.S. & South Vietnamese forces regained control

33. Tet Offensive (cont.)
Decisive battle for Vietnam
Fight for Saigon, Hue, & other cities resulted in a catastrophic defeat for the North
VC lost about 32,000 soldiers
U.S. lost about 3,000
Walter Cronkite, U.S. journalist, told his viewers: “more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate.”

34. Summer, 1969: recently elected president Richard Nixon began Vietnamization
plan to gradually withdraw troops from Vietnam
Continues war with North
Purpose: Peace with Honor or “saving face”
Aug. 1969: first 25,000 troops return home

35. March 1972: North Vietnamese launch attack on South Vietnam
Nixon orders massive bombing campaign
halted the North Vietnamese attack
Nixon tells aide that he wanted the enemy to think he was capable of anything

36. Jan. 27, 1973: U.S. signed agreement that ended the war
March 29, 1973: last U.S. troops leave Vietnam
58,000 Americans killed, 350,000 wounded
North & South Vietnamese death toll = 1.5 million
1995: Pentagon reported there are still 2,202 U.S. soldiers missing in action in Southeast Asia
March 1975: North Vietnamese
launch a full scale invasion against
the South
South surrenders to the North