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How effective was the policy of containment? - Coggle Diagram
How effective was the policy of containment?
The Korean War
McCarthysim and a global communist conspiracy
McCarthy heightened anxiety by saying that USSR had a conspiracy to get communist sympathisers into key positions in American life.
McCarthy said that Communist had infiltrated American society. He claimed he had discovered 57 communists in the State Department alone.
1950-1954 - he led a 'witch hunt' to find these communist sympathisers.
Gov was suspicious of McCarthy, but didn't want to appear to be resisting him in this very anti-Communist period, so for 4 years McCarthy had lots of power in USA
Background to the conflict: Korea up to 1950
Korea ruled by Japan until 1945
At end of WW2 Northern half of Korea was liberated by Soviet troops, southern half by Americans
North remained communist controlled, w/ a Communist leader who had been trained in USSR, + w/ Soviet style one-party system
South was anti-Communist - not very democratic BUT since it was anti-Communist it won support of the USA
Bitter hostility between Kim Il Sung (North Korea's Communist leader), and Syngman Rhee (president of South Korea)
How did superpowers respond?
Truman immediately sent advisers, supplies, warships to the waters around Korea
He also put lots of pressure on UN Security Council to condemn the actions of North Koreans + call on them to withdraw troops
Each superpower denounced + opposed any action by the other Normally in a situation like this the USSR would've use its right of veto to block the call for action by the UN, but USSR was boycotting the UN at this time
When China became communist in 1949, USA had blocked its entry into UN
it thought the Nationalists (Chiang Kai-Shek + his followers) were the rightful gov of China
USSR had walked out of UN in protest
thus, when resolution was passed, USSR wasn't at the meeting to use its veto
USA was the single biggest contributor to the UN budget + was thus in a powerful position to influence UN decision
UN actions here were basically just the USA in disguise of an international effort, but Britain + other European countries were also involved
What happened in Korea?
1.
Despite warnings from Mao Tse-Tung (China's leader) that continuing would mean China's joining the war, the UN approved a plan to advance into North Korea
By Oct - US forces had reached the Yalu river + the border w/ China
nature of the war had changed - it was clear Truman + MacArthur were striving for a bigger prize - to remove communism from Korea entirely
Sept 1950 - US forces stormed Inchon led by General MacArthur whilst other UN forces + South Korean troops advanced from Pusan
North Koreans were driven back beyond their original border (the 38th parallel) within weeks
MacArthur quickly removed North Korean troops from South Korea - achieving the UN goal - but Americans did not stop there
Truman VS MacArthur
MacArthur underestimated the power of the Chinese
Late Oct 1950 - 200,000 Chinese troops (called People's volunteers) joined the North Koreans
People's Volunteers had soldiers who were strongly committed to communism + were taught by their leader to hate Americans
they had modern tanks + planes supplied by USSR
UN forces were thus pushed back into South Korea
UN troops then recovered + fighting finally reached a stalemate around the 38th parallel
Falling Out
Truman + MacArthur fell out
MacArthur wanted to carry on w/ the war, invading China, even using nuclear weapons if necessary
Truman felt saving South Korea was good enough
Truman's allies in the UN convinced him that the risks of attacking China + of starting a war that may bring in the USSr were too great
Thus an attack on China was ruled out
March 1951 - MacArthur blatantly ignored UN instruction + openly threatened an attack on China
April – Truman removed MacArthur from his position as commander + brought him back home
He rejected MacArthur's aggressive policy towards communism
containment was underlined as the American policy
June 1951 - North + South Korea peace talks began but fighting continued until 1952 when Truman was replaced by Eisenhower who wanted to end the war
March 1953 - Stalin died - made North Koreans + Chinese less confident
July 1953 - an armistice was signed
Was Containment the right policy?
some favoured MacArthur's more aggressive policy
they felt containment was not enough
they thought the president had been weak in not going for outright victory in Korea
they wanted the USA to take the fight to the communists
even those who didn't want war w/ USSR still wanted to push back the frontiers of communism
USSR + USA and arms/weapons
The U-2 Crisis 1960
1956 - the flights began again w/ agreement of President Eisenhower
this time they used new plane called U-2
It flew so high it couldn't be shot down by Soviet fighters/anti-aircraft missiles
It carried sophisticated listening devices + powerful cameras so it could read a newspaper on the ground from 23,000 meters high
U2 spying flights kept the Americans fully informed about Soviet weapons technology throughout late 1950s
Soviet missiles improved
May 1961- one of the new missiles shot down a U-2 piloted by Gary Powers
He parachuted to safety but was arrested by Soviet soldiers
USSR paraded powers on television + accused USA of spying
USA at first denied that Powers was on a spy mission but later admitted he was
However President Eisenhower refused to apologise or promise that there would be no more flights
Incident caused calls dramatic downturn in US-Soviet relations
Gary Powers was sentenced to 10 years in a Soviet prison
Feb 1961 - Gary Powers was exchanged for a captured Soviet spy (Rudolph Abel)
1950 - w/o permission from President Truman, US Strategic Air Command began spy flights over the USSR
When Truman found out, he banned them because they violated Soviet air space
The Arms Race
The arms race developed into a propaganda + intelligence war as well as a forum for technological rivalry
Each side wanted to prove + show to the other that they were the one building all the bombs that own
Their bombs were purely for protection - thus need for propaganda
USSR tended to use human spies to see what USA was up to e.g. Rudolph Abel (he worked in New York until he was arrested in 1957)
USA preferred high-tech spying using equipment like the U-2
Deterrence + Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)
By 1961 both sides has had hundreds of missiles
USA had more than USSR but it didn't matter since both sides had more than enough to destroy each other many times over
Each side wouldn't attack since it knew if it did it would be suicidal as it would suffer 'assured destruction' that
Having nuclear weapons deterred the other side from attacking first
This policy was known as MAD
Did people feel safe?
an American B-47 bomber crashed in Norfolk, England, in 1957
the resulting fire came within minutes of setting of 2 nuclear bombs that would've devastated all of East Anglia
1962 - a US radar station mistook one of its one satellites for an incoming soviet missile + was about to trigger a full nuclear 'response' attack on USSR
Govs didn't tell their people about these incidents
both Soviet + US leaders were very secretive about their weapons
but nuclear arms race had raised the stakes so high that a suicidal leader, poor decision, or mistake could trigger a catastrophe that could destroy Europe, USA, USSR in minutes
fear of 'the bomb' was a common feature of life in the 1950s + 1960s in USA
Arms race was a topic of everyday conversation
some protested against the arms race
Robert Oppenheimer, the man who led the team which developed the atom bomb, opposed the H bomb
He felt it was wrong to develop a more powerful bomb in peace time
others protested at the vast amounts being spent on weapons
most common feelings were helplessness+ fear
people wondered whether this was the end
The Cuban Missile Crisis October 1962
Background to America's Relationship w/ Cuba
Cuba was very near Florida in Southern USA
Had been an American ally
Americans owned most of the businesses on the island + they had a huge naval base there
1959 - after a three-year guerrilla campaign, Fidel Castro overthrew the American-backed dictator Batista
Now Cuba was a new pro-communist state in an area of the world which the USA considered its own 'sphere of influence'
potential threat to policy of containment
The Bay of Pigs
Lead Up
1959-1961
USA + Cuba maintained a frosty relationship but w/o confrontation
Castro took over American-owned businesses in Cuba, but he let USA keep its naval base
Castro assured Americans living in Cuba that they were safe, said he just wanted to run Cuba w/o interference
but, from summer of 1960 he was receiving arms from USSR + US spies knew this
Jan 1961
USA broke off all diplomatic relations w/ Cuba + banned all trade w/ Cuba
Castro thought USA was preparing to invade
USA didn't, or not directly, but it was clear they were no longer prepared to tolerate a Soviet satellite in their own 'sphere of influence'
April 1961
President Kennedy supplies arms, equipment, transport for 1400 anti-Castro exiles to invade Cuba + overthrow him
exiles landed at Bay of Pigs
they were met by 20,000 Cuban troops armed w/ tanks + modern weapons
invasion massively failed
Castro captured/killed them all within days
Consequences
To Cuba + USSR the failed invasion suggested USA was unwilling to get directly involved in Cuba
USSR leader Khrushchev was scornful of Kennedy's pathetic attempt to oust Communism from Cuba
In retrospect, President Kennedy said he thought that US policy in Cuba - backing the hated dictator Batista - was responsible for the strength of communism in the first place
Historians argue that the Bay of Pigs fiasco further encouraged the spread of communism
Bay of Pigs suggested to USSR that Kennedy was weak
Made Castro + Khrushchev very suspicious of US policy
What was USSR doing in Cuba?
May 1962 - USSR announced publicly for the first time that it was supplying Cuba w/ arms
By July 1962 - Cuba had best equipped army in Latin America
by Sept - Cuba had 1000s of Soviet missiles + patrol boats, tanks, radar vans, missile erectors, jet bombers, jet fighters, + 5000 Soviet technicians to help maintain the weapons
America was alarmed but seemed ready to tolerate conventional arms being supplied to Cuba
Sept - Kennedy's own intelligence department said it did not believe the USSR would send nuclear weapons to Cuba
11 Sept - Kennedy warned USSR that he would prevent Cuba's becoming an offensive military base - everyone knew he meant a nuclear missile base
11 Sept - USSR assured USA it had no need to put nuclear missiles on Cuba + had no intention of doing so
The October Crisis
Sunday 14th Oct 1962 - American U-2 spy plane flew over Cuba
it took detailed photos of missile sites in Cuba
to military experts it was obvious that these were nuclear missiles being built by the USSR
over next 2 days more photos came confirming that some sites were nearly finished but others were still being built
some were already supplied w/ missiles, others awaiting them
experts said most of the developed sites could be ready to launch missiles in just a week
American spy planes reported that 20 soviet ships were on the way to Cuba carrying missiles
Kennedy's options
Do nothing
For
American still had a vastly greater nuclear power than USSR
USA could still destroy USSR so USSR would never use these missiles
Biggest danger to world peace would be to overreact to this discovery
Against
USSR had already lied about Cuban missiles
Kennedy had already issued his solemn warning to USSR
To do nothing would be another sign of weakness
Surgical Air Attack
= an immediate selected air attack to destroy the nuclear bases themselves
For
It would destroy the missiles before they were ready to use
Against
Destruction of all sites couldn't be guaranteed - even one left undamaged could launch a counter-attack against USA
The attack would inevitably kill Soviet soldiers - USSR might retaliate at once
To attack w/o advance warning was seen as immoral
Invasion
= all out invasion of Cuba by air + sea
For
Would get rid of missiles + Castro at once
American forces were already trained + available to do it
Against
It would almost certainly guarantee an equivalent Soviet response, either to protect Cuba, or within the Soviet 'sphere of influence' e.g.takeover of Berlin
Diplomatic Pressures = to get UN or other body to intervene + negotiate
For
Avoid conflict
Against
If USA was forced to back down, it would be a sign of weakness
Blockade
= a ban on USSR bringing in any more military supplies to Cuba, enforced by US navy who would stop + search Soviet ships. + a call for USSR to withdraw what was already there
For
Show USA was serious but wouldn't be direct act of war
Would put burden on Khrushchev to decide what to do next
USA had strong navy + could still take other options if this one did not work
Against
Wouldn't solve the main problem – missiles were already on Cuba
They could be used within one week
USSR might retaliate by blockading Berlin as they did in 1948
What happened next?
Tue 16 Oct - Kennedy informed of missile build up. Ex comm informed
Sat 20 Oct - Kennedy decides on a blockade of Cuba
Mon 22 Oct - Kennedy announces blockade + calls on USSR to withdraw its missiles
23 Oct - Kennedy receives letter from Khrushchev saying Soviet ships will not observe the blockade. Khrushchev doesn't admit the presence of nuclear missiles on Cuba
Wed 24 Oct - Blockade begins
the first missile carrying ships + soviet submarine approach the blockade zone
10:32am - the ships closest to the zone stop + turn around (20 of them)
25 Oct - aerial photography shows work on missile bases in Cuba is proceeding rapidly
26 Oct - Kennedy receives a letter from Khrushchev stating that the missiles on Cuba were purely defensive but admits the presence of missiles for the first time + says if USA assures they won't attack + remove the blockade, he will remove the missiles
27 Oct - Khrushchev sends another letter saying his conditions for removing the missiles from Cuba are:
USA withdraws its missiles from Turkey
Kennedy cannot accept this
U-2 plane shot down over Cuba - pilot is killed.
Kennedy is advised to launch an immediate reprisal attack on Cuba but decides to delay the attack + ignore Khrushchev's second letter, but he accepts the terms on Oct 26. He says if USSR doesn't withdraw they will attack
Sun 28 Oct - Khrushchev replies to Kennedy saying they will dismantle the arms + return them to USSR
Why did USSR place missiles in Cuba?
To bargain w/ USA
Khrushchev wanted missiles as a bargaining counter
If they had missiles in Cuba, he could agree to remove them in return for some American concessions
To trap USA
The missiles were trap
Khrushchev wanted the Americans to find them + be drawn into nuclear war – he didn't even try to hide them
To test out the USA
See how strong Americans really were
Would they back-off or face-up?
USSR wanted to test out Kennedy
To defend Cuba
missiles were genuinely meant to defend Cuba
The Outcome
Cuba stayed communist + highly armed
but nuclear missiles were withdrawn under UN supervision
Kennedy came out w/ great reputation in USA + the West
he stood up to Khrushchev + made him back down
Khrushchev gained Cuba as an ally
the fact Khrushchev was forced to back down was quickly forgotten in Soviet circles
instead his role as a responsible peacemaker, willing to compromise was highlighted
historians agree that the crisis helped thaw Cold War relations
both leaders saw how they almost caused nuclear war
so were more committed to prevent it
a permanent 'hotline' phone link direct from the White House to the Kremlin was set up
1963 - they signed a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
didn't stop development of weapons but it limited tests + was an important step forward
critics of containment had wanted USA to invade Cuba – to eradicate communism
but Cuban crisis highlighted the weakness of their case
such intervention was not worth the high-risk
a communist Cuba was an inconvenience to the USA but a nuclear war would be the end of civilisation
thus in USA it had an effect on anti-Communist opinion
Vietnam war
Origins of the conflict
1945- French wanted to rule Vietnam again
Viet Minh emerged under the leadership of communist Ho Chi Minh who was remarkable. They were anti-Japanese and a resistance movement had emerged. He had lived in USA, Britain and France and had studied communism in USSR. In 1930, he found the indochinese communist party and inspired Vietnamese to fight for independence. They entered northern region and in 1945 entered Hanoi, declaring Vietnamese independence
had been ruled by france since 19th century and was commonly known as indochina. the rule was unchallenged except for a rebellion in 1930 however in 1940, france was defeated by germany in ww2 and Japan (Germany's ally) took control of the resources (coal rice rubber railways, roads)
1946 war broke out between them. Ho Chi Minh kept his communist ideas quiet therefore he got help from USA- seen as a fight against the colonial rule of France
1949- Communists took over China and helped Ho Chi Minh and Americans saw Viet Minh as puppets of Mao Tse Tung and the chinese communists. They poured $500 million into war effort fearing a communist take over and helped the french to set up a non communist gov in south Vietnam
continued from 1946-1954 and french controlled towns, Viet Minh the countryside.
Viet Minh strong: Their guerrilla tactics were impossible to beat them. They tied 190,000 french troops in hit and run raids causing 90,000 french casualties and since french invaded peasant villages support for viet minhs grew.
1954: At Dien Bien Phu a large well-armed french army were defeated.
French lost 3000 dead in battle and 8000 died in captivity
Viet Minhs defeated french in open battle w help of weapons from USSR and China
Asian state had defeated a rich european state through effective tactics, leadership, determination
-equipment of 40000 viet minhs were carried by peasants
1954 peace conference held in geneva- north and south vietnam were divided until further elections
USA's role
elections were to be held within two years
USA had once criticised Stalin for not holding elections in soviet controlled eastern europe
However in 1954, they prevented from elections happening as it feared communists would win
policy was a mix of determination and ignorance
Eisenhower and his secretary of state JF Dulles were convinced that China and USSR were trying to spread Communism throughout Asia- DOMINO THEORY. Laos, Burma Thailand and Cambodia would all be affected. Their methods showed ignorance towards Vietnamese people and region
1955- Americans helped Ngo Dinh Diem to set up Republic of South Vietnam- anti communist + prepared to imprison/ exile communists. He belonged to landlord class, treating peasants w contempt. Regime was corrupt + was christian and showed little respect for Buddhists
he appointed members of family/ supporters and refused to hold elections
Americans were concerned + frustrated however Dulles said " We knew of no one better". they supported diem's regime by pouring $1.6 billion in 1950s. However he was thrown by his own army leaders in November 1963 but gov that followed were also corrupt however USA helped them
actions increased support of peasants for the communist led national front for the liberation of South Vietnam - set up in december 1960- referred to as VIET CONG
It included South Vietnamese opponents of the government + large numbers of Communist North Vietnamese taking orders from Ho Chi Minh+ peasants who did not support the Viet cong faced intimidation and violence
Started a guerrilla war Against South Vietnamese government
Using the Ho Chi Minh Trail Vietcong sent reinforcements and ferried supplies to guerilla fighters
they attacked south Vietnamese government forces officials and buildings gradually making the countryside unsafe for gov forced
attacked American air force + supply bases
1962 Kennedy was sending military personnel (advisers) to fight Viet cong
1963 + 1964 tension between north and south Vietnam increased and so did American involvement
11,500 troops by the end of 1962; 23,000 by the end of 1964
Kennedy said he was determined that USA would not “blunder into war unclear about aims or how to get out again”
Kennedy was assassinated in 1963
his successor Lyndon Johnson was prepared to commit USA to a full-scale conflict in Vietnam preventing spread of communism
1964 August North Vietnamese patrol boats opened fire on US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. US Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf resolution giving Lyndon Johnson the power to take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression and achieve peace and security - had power to take USA into a full scale war
8 March 1965 3500 US Marines combat troops rather than advisers came ashore at Da Nang and America + Vietnam were at war
Although American technology + firepower were superior it became clear that USA need more than technology to win
BOMBING
On 7th February 1965 US launched operation rolling thunder involving extensive bombing raids of military and industrial targets in North Vietnam
lasted until 1972
expanded to towns and cities in North and South Vietnam and included sites in Laos and Cambodia along with Ho Chi Minh Trail
more bombs were dropped on North Vietnam than dropped in the whole second world war on Germany and Japan
Damaged North Vietnam’s war effort and disrupted supply routes
enabled the USA to strike at Communist forces even when it was reducing US ground forced in Vietnam after 1969
In 1970 to 1972 intense bombing campaigns against Hanoi North Vietnam’s capital and the port Haiphong forced North Vietnamese to negotiating table
however US Air Power couldn’t defeat Communists
Vietcong continue to operate it supply line
even after raids in 1972 Communist were able to launch a major assault on the south
Expensive- Communists shot down 14,000 US and South Vietnamese aircraft
In 1967-American life magazine calculated it cost $400,000 to kill one Viet Cong fighter A figure that included 75 bombs and 400 artillery shells
CHEMICAL WEAPONS
US developed agent Orange- a highly toxic weedkiller used to destroy jungle where Viet Cong hid
Napalm was another weapon destroying jungles where guerrillas hid
Burned through skin to bone
many civilians were killed
82 million litres of agent Orange were used to spray thousands of square kilometres of jungle
SEARCH AND DESTROY
US commander General Westmoreland developed a policy of search and destroy establishing secure and heavily defended US bases in south of country and near to the coasts US and South Vietnamese forces launched search and destroy raids from helicopters descending on villages and destroying any Viet Cong forces they found they had to report back body counts
-the raids were often based on inadequate information
-Inexperienced US troops often walked into traps
-Innocent villages were mistaken for Viet Cong strongholds
-Civilian casualties were extremely high in these raids For every Vietcong captured there was a body count of six many of these were innocent civilians
This made US and South Vietnamese forces very unpopular with peasants and pushed them towards supporting the Viet Cong
Viet Cong and Guerilla attacks
Early 1965 Vietcong had about 170,000 soldiers
well supplied with weapons and equipment from China and USSR however they were heavily outnumbered and outgunned by South Vietnamese forces + US allies
Communist forces were no match for US and South Vietnamese forces in an open warfare
November 1965 in La Dreng Valley US forces killed 2000 Viet Congs for loss of 300 troops however Ho Chi Minh didn’t get scared he believed that superior forces could be defeated by guerrilla tactics
He had been in China and seen Mao Tse-tung use guerrilla warfare achieving communist victory. He had used guerrilla tactics himself against Japanese and French
PRINCIPLES: retreat when enemy attacks, raid when enemy camps, attack when enemy tires, pursue when enemy retreats
US army found it a nightmare
Guerrillas wore no uniform + had no known base camps/headquarters; Worked in small groups with limited weapons; Hard to tell apart from peasants; They attacked and disappeared into jungle, into villages or into tunnels; Aim: it was to wear down the enemy soldiers and wreck their morale it was very effective and US soldiers lived in constant fear
Ho knew it was important to keep the population on their side
Viet Cong fighters were courteous and respectful to peasants they helped them during busy periods however they could be ruthless and they were prepared to kill peasants who oppose them or cooperated with the enemies. They conducted a campaign of terror against police tax collectors teachers and other employees of the South Vietnamese government
In 1966 and 1971 Viet Cong killed 27,000 civilians
The fighters refused to given in. they were dependent on supplies from North Vietnam that came along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.US and South Vietnamese planes bombed this constantly but 40000 Vietnamese worked to keep it open. 1 million Viet cong and North Vietnamese died. far higher than US losses however there were replacement troops available
MY LAI MASSACRE
March 1968 American soldiers called Charlie Company started a search and destroy mission in Quang Ngai south Vietnam
Told that in the My Lai area there was a Vietcong headquarters and 200 Viet Cong guerrillas. Soldiers had been ordered to destroy all houses, dwellings, livestock as people had left for markets on Saturday
Many were under the impression that they had been ordered to kill everyone
Early in the morning of 16th March Charlie Company had arrived in my Lai and in the next four hours between 300 and 400 civilians were killed- women, children, old men and ppl that were working were mowed down by machine gunfire as they were headed into an irrigation ditch (for safety); others were shot
no Viet Congs were found in the village
only three weapons were recovered
At the time army treated it as a success 20 noncombatants had been killed by accident but the rest were Vietcong; officers and men were praised
A year later a letter arrived in the offices of 30 leading politicians and government officials in Washington- written by Ronald Ridenhour, American soldier
September 1969 he was charged with murdering 109 people; 10 others were also charged but they placed all responsibility on Calley and denied that Calley was acting under orders
in March 1971 Calley was found guilty of the murder of 22 civilians and in August he was sentenced to 20 years of hard labour
in November 1974 he was released
This shocked American public
November 1969, 700,000 anti-war protesters demonstrated in Washington DC - largest political protest in American history
“Of something rather dark and bloody” as he phrased it occured in My Lai or pinkville. Life magazine published photographs of the massacre triggering an investigation that ended in trial for mass murder of Lieutenant William Calley- he was an officer in Charlie Company and shot many of the people in the irrigation ditch
peace movements
It was a media war- it was on photos, televisions, radios and newspaper reports which showed the prisoners being tortured and executed/ watching in horror while their house was set on fire and 900,000 were being drafted
Instead of it being a symbol of US crusade against communism, it was a symbol of defeat and confusion and anti-war protests were occurring
Students taunted President Lyndon B. Johnson hey hey LBJ how many kids did you kill today
Support of public was decreasing and the war was becoming very unpopular even before the Tet offensive
thousands began to draft Dodge refusing to serve in Vietnam and National Guard broke up demonstrations killing people
public was horrified and made USA unstable
Ending war
After the Tet Offensive Preston Johnson said that war could not be won militarily
He reduced the bombing campaign against North Vietnam and instructed his officials to begin negotiating for peace with Communists
March 1968 a peace conference began in Paris
he announced that he would not be seeking re-election as president-failure
in the election campaign both Republican and Democrat candidates campaigned to end US involvement in Vietnam
the anti-Vietnam feeling was so strong that their if they had supported to continue the war they would have had no chance of being elected
November 1968 Richard Nixon was elected president
from 1969 to 1973, he and his national security adviser Henry Kissinger worked to end US involvement Vietnam
STRATEGIES USED
peace negotiations with north Vietnam- From early 1969 Kissinger had meeting with the chief Vietnamese peace negotiator Le Duc Tho
VIETNAMISATION- Nixon began the Vietnamisation of the war effort, building up South Vietnamese forcing and withdrawing US troops. Between April 1969 and the end of 1971 almost 400,000 US troops left
BOMBING- Nixon increased bombing campaigns against North Vietnam to show he was not weak. Invaded Viet Cong bases in Cambodia, causing outrage across the world and even in USA
PRESSURE ON USSR + CHINA in 1969 USSR and China fell out and could have a war in 1969- both tried to improve relations with the USA + in 1970 Nixon began strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) w USSR limiting nuclear weapons. Asked Moscow to encourage North Vietnam to end the war. In February 1972 Nixon was invited to China and asked them to pressure North Vietnam to end war
In 1972 the North Vietnamese launched a major offensive but were unable to conquer South Vietnam + In Paris in January 1973, Le Duc Tho, Nixon and the South Vietnamese President Thieu signed a peace agreement and Nixon described the agreement as “peace with honour” + By 29th March 1973 the last American forces had left Vietnam
fall of south vietnam
Within two years the peace agreement was meaningless and South Vietnam had fallen to the communists. Nixon had promised continuing financial aid and military support to Vietnam but congress refused it as they didn’t want to waste money
The evidence was that the South Vietnamese region was corrupt and lacked the support of majority of the population
Nixon himself was in big political trouble with the Watergate scandal
1974 Nixon was forced to resign over a Watergate
the new President Gerald Ford also failed to get the backing of Congress over Vietnam
without US air power or military back up and without the support of the population South Vietnamese government could not survive
December 1974 the North Vietnamese launched a major military offensive in South Vietnam
the capital Saigon fell to Communist forces in April 1975
There are many images of the Vietnamese men, women, children trying to clamber aboard American helicopters taking off from US Embassy- bleakest symbols of American failure
Communist forces swarmed through Saigon and after 30 years of conflict, Communists won
policy of containment
The American policy of containment was in tatters failed militarily the war showed that even the USA’s vast military strength couldn’t stop spread of communism
Failed politically - not only did the USA fail to stop South Vietnam going Communist it had heavily bombed Vietnam’s neighbours Laos and Cambodia which helped the communist forces to win support
by 1975 both Laos and Cambodia had Communist governments + the domino effect sped up
It was also a propaganda disaster
Americans had always presented their campaign against communism as a moral crusade
both atrocities committed by American soldiers and chemical weapons ruined USA‘s reputation + the campaign was flawed + gov didn’t have any support
Americans tried to improve their relations with China until on China gained membership of the UN+ president made visits to China
They got on better with USSR and China than they did w each other
Americans became very suspicious of involving the troops in any other conflict
this was an attitude that continued to affect American foreign policy in the 21st-century
consequences of vietnam war
Effects on the environment - chemical warfare damaged crops- food shortages + destroyed 5.4 million acres of forest areas and animals and plants living there + poisoned streams and rivers
Effect on Vietnamese citizens - chemical warfare meant that the South Vietnamese citizens had levels of dioxin three times as high as US citizens + large numbers of unexploded mines and bombs caused death and injury to adults and children for years to come + Napalm caused horrific burns which killed or disfigured victims
Effect on US troops - drug addiction as hard drugs were easily and cheaply available from neighbouring Laos and Cambodia in Vietnam -heroin use increased by 30%
confusion + bitterness- US forces were not welcome in the same was ww2 troops + hard to adjust to civilian life
Many had PTSD+ Many got Cancer from Agent Orange
Effects on Vietnamese society
morals - fighting drove thousands of peasants into shanty towns near US bases- poverty, prostitution, drug abuse were common+ US forces were supplied with vast amounts of luxuries as well as military supplies- created a huge black market with corrupt South Vietnamese government officials + Buddhist priests protested about the effects of American presence in Vietnam in 1960s
refugees - around 5 million South Vietnamese were displaced from their homes Towns and villages in North and South Vietnam were devastated by bombing and ground fighting+ Vietnam took more than 20 years to start recovering from war+ poverty, Communist policies and the hope of a better life led people to become “boat people” in the late 1970s they tried to sail in makeshift boats + around 1 million refugees escaped to the west + at least 50,000 were drowned or murdered by pirates + in mid-1990s the USA finally ended its trade ban with Vietnam and the World Bank was allowed to invest in the country
TET OFFENSIVE TURNING POINT 1968
Communists launched it during the Tet new year holiday
Viet Cog fighters attacked more than 100 cities and targets and tried to capture the US embassy in Saigon
US forces had to fight to regain control
Around 4500 fighters tied down more US and South Vietnamese force in Saigon for 2 days
Disaster for communists and hoped people in South Vietnam would join them but they didn’t and they lost 10000 fighters and were weakened
There were 500000 troops in Vietnam and US was spending 20 billion dollars a year so why were the Communsits able to launch a surprise attack
US and South Vietnamese troops took the towns they captured but used artillery and air power killing many civilians and Hue was destroyed-was this ethical?