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How effectively did the USA contain the spread of communism? - Coggle…

- - - - After War:
        North: remained communist controlled, communist leader, one-party system (Kim Il Sung)
        South - anticommunist, not very democratic but had support of US (Syngman Rhee)
        -> bitter hostility between the two, reunification not likely
        -> divided at 38th parallel
        
        June 1950 - NK invaded SK over 38th parallel (with support of USSR (visited Moscow) + China) -> By Sept 1950, all except a small corner of south-east Korea was under communist control
  - - - Apr 1950 - receive NSC-68 -> created by Defence department,CIA etc -> stated that the US should pursue a policy to contain the spread of communism
    - - USSR wasn't able to veto since it was boycotting the Un over if communist China should be allowed to join UN -> empty-chair policy
      - Resolution 84 - UN committed itself to using its member's armies to drive NK troops out of SK (18 states provided troops/support) -> largest part of UN force was American (commander: General MacArthur)
  - - - These tensions would affect US over next decades, NK continued to trouble US after Cold War, With Chinese support, HK developed hardline communist dictatorship and eventually became a nuclear power, threatening the USA's allies Japan and SK
    - - Alliances: US created network of anti-communist alliances (SEATO, CENTO etc), gave money, advice and arms to these allies for return that leaders suppressed communist influence in their own countries
        
        USSR saw this as aggressive, accused USA of trying to encircle the communist world, 1955 set up Warsaw Pact
      - Building more powerful nuclear weapons (arms race)
        
        US developed first atomic bomb in 1945, did not share secret of their bomb with USSR, despite still being allies at time - when dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Aug 1945 70,000 people were killed instantly, clear atomic bombs were the weapons of the future - threat could help contain communism
- - - - Diem was unpopular with Vietnamese since belonged to Landlord class, treated peasants with contempt + was a christian, showed little respect to Buddhist religion (majority) + his regime was extremely corrupt
      - Provided $1.6billion, 1963 Diem was overthrown by own army leaders, but governments that followed were equally corrupt but still received US support
    - - SV gov responded by launching 'Strategic Hamlet' programme (involved moving peasant villages from VC controlled areas to areas controlled by SV gov
        
        US helped by supplying building materials, money, food, etc for villagers to build improved farms/houses
        
        Backfired, peasants resented it + corrupt officials pocketed money meant for supplies
      - USSR supplied ~$500m a year & over 320,000 Chinese troops served in Vietnam + USSR sent radars that improved effectiveness of anti-aircraft guns -> US lost +10,000 helicopters and aircraft
    - - Feb 1965 - US started operation 'Rolling Thunder' (bombing campaign against NV cities, army bases +HCM trail (continued for 3 years)
        
        Mar 1965 - 3500 US marines, combat troops came ashore Da Nang
  - - - Guerilla Warfare - hard tell apart from peasants (not in uniform), worked in small groups, attacked then hid in jungle -> aimed to wear down enemy soldiers and wreck their morale - 11% (booby traps) US casualties + 51% ambushes or hand-to-hand combat
      - Civilians - Courteous & respectful to Vietnamese peasants + helped term in the fields during busy times, BUT were prepared to kill who opposed them or co-operated with the enemy (1966-1971 - VC killed ~27,000 civilians)
      - Supplies - depended on HCM trail, US and SV planes bombed this constantly but 40,000 NV worked to keep it open whatever the cost
      - Commitment - NV + VC dead in war ~1 million (higher than US), price Ho Chi Minh was prepared to pay, replacement troops available (refused to give in)
    - - Bombing - 1965-72 bombed military, industrial and civilian targets in NV, HCM trail -> some extent worked: damaged NV's war effort and disrupted supply routes -> 1970-72, intense bombing of NV force it to negotiate for peace, BUT even after air raids on NV 1972, communists were still able to launch major assault on south + civilians casualties turned Vietnamese people against US
      - Search and destroy - policy where troops coming from heavily defended US bases near coasts would descend from helicopters on a village and 'search and destroy' any VC forces -> did kill lots of VC soldier -> BUT raids were often based on inadequate info + inexperienced often walked into traps + innocent villages were mistaken for VC strongholds (for every VC weapon captured, there was body count of 6, many innocent) + made US and SV forces unpopular with peasants, pushed them to support VC
      - Conscription+morale - from 1967: many soldiers were young who had never been in army before (average age was 19) + knew little about Vietnam/cared little about democracy or communism - contrasts with VC fighting for their own country + morale was often low so introduced 1-year term of service, backfired-as soon as they gained experience were sent home + lack of discipline (51% smoked marijuana, 28% had consumed heroin or cocaine, many became dependent on sedatives
      - Chemical weapons:
        
        Agent Orange (highly toxic 'weedkiller' sprayed from planes to destroy jungle where VC hid (used 82 million litres) -> controversial (caused cancer, birth defects, killed plants & ruined soil to this day)
        
        Napalm (destroyed jungles where guerillas might hide + burned through skin to the bone)
        -> many civilians + soldiers were also killed/harmed by these weapons
  - - - During New Year 1968, VC attacked over 100 cities + military targets, occupied US embassy in Saigon (US forces had to fight to regain control, 4500 VC tied down a much larger US & SV force in Saigon for 2 days
        
        TURNING POINT - VC hoped SV would rise up and join them, lost 10,000 experienced fights & weakened + rose questions in US:
        
        50,000 troops + spending $20b so why were communists able to launch major offensive that took US forces by surprise?
        
        exposed the hollowness of government statements on progress of the US military intervention (had spoken of the ‘inevitable’ defeat of communists)
        
        US & SV quickly retook towns captured but in process used lots of artillery & air power, many civilians killed, city of Hue destroyed, was this right?
        
        Media reaction - 1950s on 9% US homes owned TV -> 93% 1966 -> beame most important source of news for American people -> attack was seen on tv, turning support against war -> media & public opinion became more critical of war -> created pressure to leave war
  - - - Protests:
        
        1968, 100 demonstrations against V war, involving 40,000 students
        
        Nov 1969 ~700,000 antiwar protesters demonstrated in Washington DC (largest political protest in American history)
  - - - Commanding officers said 20 non-combatants were killed (accident) but rest were VC -> 12 months later US soldier who knew soldiers in massacre asked Congress to investigate -> Life magazine (influential) published massacre photos, triggered investigation -> ended with Lieutenant Calley charged with murdering 109 people (1969) + other members charged
        
        Shocked Americans, after long case surrounded by media, Calley found guilty of murder of 22 civilians, Aug 1971 sentenced to 20 years hard labour, released Nov 1974
  - - - Nov 1968, Nixon elected President, worked on ending US involvement "Peace with Honor" (reduce US casualties without humiliating defeat)
        
        Bombing: Cambodia (1969-70) to destroy VC supply routes (HCM trail) + Cambodian Incursion (1970) invasion, sparked massive US protests (Kent State shooting, 4 students dead) + Laos Incursion (1971) ARVN failure showed Vietnamisation's limits
        
        'Vietnamisation' - policy of gradually withdrawing US troops while strengthening SV military (ARVN) -> Apr 1969-71 ~400,000 US troops left Vietnam (problem - RVN remained weak, corrupt + dependent on US air support)
        
        Paris Peace Conferences - Kissinger (national security adviser) with Le Duc Tho (Vietnamese peace negotiator) -> demanded US withdrawal + communist participation in SV coalition government
        
        Christmas Bombing (1972) - after talks broke down, Nixon ordered massive B-52 bombing raids on Hanoi and Haiphong (12 days, ~20,000 tons of bombs) -> aimed to force NV back to negotiations -> controversial, criticised worldwise for heavy civilian casualties but may have pressured NV into a deal
        
        Paris Peace Accords (Jan 1973) - US agreed to full withdrawal, NV kept troops in SV, Nixon promised SV continued aid but Congress cut funding (War Powers Act 1973)
        
        Fall of Saigon (1975) - without US support, SV collapsed, communists took saigon, Nixon resigned 1974, Ford could not prevent defeat -> undermined "peace with honour"
        
        Impact on policy of containment:
        
        failed militarily: showed even US's vast military strength was not enough
        
        failed strategically: not only failed to stop SV becoming communist, but heavy bombing helped communist forces in Laos&Cambodia win support, by 1975 both had communist govs (sped up Domino effect)
        
        propaganda disaster - damaged US's reputation, seemed to be propping up a government that did not have the support of its own people
        
        Affected future policies towards communism:
        
        US tried to improve relations with China, ended their block on China's membership of UN + better relations with USSR
        
        Became cautious of involving their troops in other conflicts they could not easily win
- - - - 1960s - USA & USSR spent vast amounts of money developing bigger & more deadly weapons + spied on one another to steal tech secrets (USSR-spies, USA, U2 planes-high but detailed photos, can't be shot down)
      - USA placed short-range nuclear weapons in Turkey (CENTO ally), both sides developed ICBMs, could travel from continent to continent in half an hour
      - 1960s - both sides had enough nuclear weapons to destroy other side (US more) - MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction), nuclear deterrent, enemy would not attack because other would strike back
      - Missile Gap: myth that USSR had more weapons than USA (widely reported in American media)
        
        • Khrushchev was not going to admit it was a myth since would look foolish + aid his critics inside the USSR.
        
        • American military commanders were happy to go along with claims because helped them get funding from government to pay for development of new weapons systems
        
        • By early 1960s Eisenhower also knew it was a myth since he had an important source in Soviet military who had defected to the CIA. But contact was still in the USSR, so he could not admit he knew how many missiles the Soviets had without revealing his source.
    - - Cuba was an American ally -> American's owned most of the businesses on the island + had a huge naval base there + provided Cuban Ruler, General Batista, economic&military support (since he wasn't communist)
        
        1959: Fidel Castro overthrew Batista - was charming, ruthless (killed/arrested many political opponents, clever propagandist, vision for better Cuba, won majority of Cubans
        
        Relations between US and Cuba worsened:
        
        thousands of Cuban exiles in USA who had fled from Castro's rule -> formed powerful pressure groups demanding action against Castro
        
        Castro took over some American-owned businesses (most agricultural), took their land and distributed it to his supporters among Cuba's peasant farmer population
  - - - E.g. damaging sugar plantations + US companies in Cuba refused to co-operate with any Cuban businesses that used oil/materials from USSR + US media broadcasted criticism of Castro and his regime
        
        Castro responded that American's living in Cuba were safe + allowed US to keep naval base HOWEVER by summer 1960, had allied with USSR, Khrushchev signed a trade agreement giving Cuba $100m in economic aid + began receiving arms from USSR and US spies knew this
    - - Apr 1961 - exiles landed at Bay of Pigs, failed, met by 20,000 Cuban troops, armed with tanks + modern weapons, over 110 of the exiles were killed and hundreds were taken as prisoners of war + more casualties
        
        Impact:
        
        Showed US was unwilling to get directly involved in Cuba
        
        Invasion failed to topple Castro & simply heightened nationalist sentiment in Cuba against USA
        
        Made Kennedy look weak + led him to introduce 'Operation Mongoose' to destabilise Castro's regime in Cuba through propaganda, sabotage, violence and murder + plans to assassinate Castro
  - - - USA did not believe the USSR would send nuclear weapons to Cuba (had not done this with any of its satellite states before + US Intelligence thought they would think it too risky) -> Sep 1962, Kennedy warned USSR he would prevent by whatever means necessary Cuba becoming a military base - same day USSR said it had no intention of doing so
        
        Oct 1962, US spy plane flew over Cuba & took detailed photos of missile sites (despite USSR's reassurance -> clear it was nuclear) Experts said sites could be ready to launch missiles in just 7 days + reported 20 Soviet ships were currently on the way to Cuba carrying missiles
        
        20 Oct, Kennedy placed a blockade of Cuba + called on USSR to withdraw its missiles, first missile carrying ships turned around - missiles bases in Cuba was expanding
        
        Khrushchev sent letter saying missiles were defensive, wanted blockade to be lifted to consider destroying missile sites -> sent 2nd letter saying he would remove missiles from Cuba if US withdrew its missiles from Turkey
        
        27th Oct American U2 plane was shot down (pilot killed) - Kennedy decided to delay an attack despite being advised to do so + ignored 2nd letter but accept 1st letter's terms + if USSR did not withdraw, attack would follow -> USSR removed missile sites 28th