Anything and Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about The COLD WAR

I. Background
A. What were the causes of the Cold War?
1. Long Term
a) The strained relationship between the United States and Russia was a result of their differing
ideologies which began in November 1917 which the Bolshevik Revolution
b) The only reason that Britain and the United States allied with Russia was to fight Germany
2. Short Term
a) The United States and Russia could not agree on the post war world; Poland and Eastern Europe
II. The Cold War, 1945-59
A. East-West friction over Europe, 1945-49
1. Could not agree on borders and future government of Poland, US was suspicious of Russia in eastern Europe
a) Russia had 11 million troops in Eastern Europe
b) Establishment of Cominform (Communist Information Bureau) in 1947
2. Potsdam Treaty divided Germany in four zones of occupation (the big 4),
a) Stalin was afraid that a unified Germany would ally with the west
(1) Stalin blockaded West Berlin in 1948-49 to force out the West but the US and GB air dropped
all the supplies
(a) This led to the creation of two separate Germanys
(i) West Capitalist
(ii) East Communist
(b) During the crisis NATO was formed; 9 European countries
(c) Truman announced plan of containment in 1947
3. At the end of WWII the USSR felt vulnerable and was scared of the United States attacking
(1) They lost a large number of troops and civilians
(2) The Americans had an atomic bomb
b) He wanted Eastern Europe as a buffer zone
(1) Saw the Marshall Plan as an aggressive attempt to spread US influence throughout Europe
B. The Cold War in the Far East, 1949-53
1. US became increasingly worried about communist spread into the Far East (oil)
2. 1946 Civil War in China between Chiang Kaishek’s (Jiang Jieshi) Nationalists (Guomindang) and Mao
Zedong’s Chinese Communist party
a) US provided some funding to GMD but realized that they were corrupt
b) Zedong won in 1949 and signed a Friendship Treaty with the USSR in 1950
(1) USA refused to recognize the People’s Republic until 1979 although it gained admission to
the UN in 1971
3. At the end of WWII Soviet troops occupied North Korea while American troops occupied South Korea
a) They set up rival governments
(1) Syngman Rhee led the Republic of Korea in the south
(2) Kim II- Sung led the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the North
b) Both regimes were repressive but Kim introduced land reform in the north
c) In 1949 Soviet troops and American troops left Korea
d) In June 1950 North Korea invaded South Korea
(1) US saw this as a test of containment and got the UN to send troops to Korea
(2) At the end of 1950 the US was able to change UN policy to fully liberating all of Korea from
communism
(3) Intervention of 200,000 Chinese troops halted progress.
(4) In 1953 Eisenhower visited Korea and formed armistice which left Korea divided at 38th
parallel.
C. The Thaw of the mid 1950’s
1. Soviet American relations improved slightly following Stalin’s death and the end of the Korean War in 1953
a) 1955 Geneva Summit was the first meeting of the heads of state between the big 4 since 1945
b) Nikiti Khrushchev’s Secret Speech to the 20th Communist Party congress spoke of the need for
peaceful coexistence
(1) He denounced Stalin’s crimes (his purges and handling of Yugoslavio)
(a) Eastern Europe expected reform and more freedom
(b) Disturbances in Poland led to limited reform
(c) A full scale revolution in Hungary against Communism led the Russian army to
brutally crushing it in November 1956
2. The thaw did not mean that confrontations ceased to exist.
a) There was a growing nuclear arms race in the 1950s
 (1) 1952 the USA tested the H-bomb followed by USSR in 1953
(2) 1957 USSR built first inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) followed by US a few months
later
(3) 1957 USSR launched Sputnik
3. 1955 West Germany joined NATO and gained full independence
a) Russia countered by forming Warsaw Pact in the same month (Seven Eastern European communist
countries)
III. Peaceful coexistence: challenges and détente
A. Peaceful co-existence
1. Khrushchev wanted peaceful coexistence but didn’t believe that the competition should between communism
and capitalism should end, he thought that communism would prevail in the end but did not want to use nuclear
means
2. Peaceful confrontation gave way to confrontation during 1958-62, first over Berlin then over Cuba; this was
followed by détente in the 1970s
B. Challenges to peaceful co-existent:
1. Challenge 1: Renewed crisis over Berlin, 1958-61
a) Causes
(1) Berlin Blockade and Airlift of 1948-49 did not settle any problems
(a) The Federal Republic (capitalist West) and Democratic Republic (communist East),
US and USSR did not see other one as legitimate
(2) USSR was worried about growing military strength of west Germany who had joined NATO
in 1955
(3) In the late 1950s about 200,000 Eastern Germans defected to West Germany
(a) East Germany economy was stagnating while West was booming
(b) Many of those leaving were young and skilled
(4) Khrushchev was facing opposition within Russian Communist party and was looking for a
foreign policy triumph to deflect criticism from his failed economic plans
b) The events
(1) Khrushchev’s first Berlin ultimatum, November 1958
(a) Khrushchev demanded that US, GB and France sign a peace treaty withdrawing from
Berlin and Berlin becoming an international city
(b) If they did not agree Khrushchev would hand over access roads to West Berlin to
East Germans???
(c) He gave the West 6 months to agree but suspended the deadline in March 1959
(2) Khrushchev’s visit to the USA, September 1959
(a) Eisenhower invited Khrushchev to Camp David they agreed to continue discussions
over Berlin at the Paris Summit to be held in May 1960
(3) The Paris Summit and U-2 Incident, May 1960
(a) President Eisenhower confirmed that the shot down U-2 was on a spying mission but
failed to apologize, at first claiming that it was gathering weather data (pilot Gary
Powers).
(b) Khrushchev ended the meeting by walking out
(i) He was facing criticism from the People’s Republic of China about his
policy of peaceful coexistence and took this opportunity to show that he was not
soft on the west
(4) The Vienna Summit and Khrushchev’s second Berlin ultimatum, June 1961
(a) Khrushchev tried to bully new President Kennedy with another ultimatum with a 6
month deadline
(b) Kennedy refused and asked for $3.25 billion increase in the defense budget and
supported his commitment to West Berlin
(5) The building of the Berlin Wall, August 1961
(a) East German police put up a barbed wire fence along the 54km border between East
and West Berlin which was replaced by a concrete wall
(i) Its purpose was to decrease the number of defects which it did
(ii) The West protested the Wall but took no further action
(b) Khrushchev and Walter Ulbricht (Easter German leader) were happy; the Wall
helped stabilize Eat Germany’s economy
(c) Kennedy visited in June 1963 saying “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner”
(d) The wall was a physical barrior and a symbol of the Cold War until in fell in
November 1989s
2. Challenge 2: Kennedy feuels the arms race, 1961-63
a) Kennedy and the “flexible response”
 (1) Dean Rusk, Secretary of State, and Kennedy agreed on flexible response by building up
nuclear arsenal and armed forces
(a) This was a response to Eisenhower reducing defense spending by cutting armed
forces but continuing nuclear build up
(b) Between 1961-63 budget defense rose $6 billion (13%)
3. Challenge 3: The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
4. Challenge 4: The Soviet invasion of Czechoslavakia, 1968
a) Antonin Novotny, leader of the Czech Communist Party, introduced economic reforms
(1) These reforms decentralized management of the economy and increased consumer good
production
(2) However these reforms were very limited
b) In January 1968 Communist Party Chairman Alexander Dubcek replaced Novotny
(1) He was more committed to reform
(a) Censorship was relaxed
(b) Did not intend to introduce multi-party democracy but wanted to make party more
open to Czech people
(2) Czech Communist party published an “Action Program” in April 168
(a) This proposed reforms and encouraged debate over them
(b) In June censorship was relaxed which released bitter criticism of the USSR and
Czech Com party before “Prague Spring” (Dubcek’s reforms)
(3) Soviet leadership was alarmed and thought that that the Czech Communist party would lose
control over events as in Hungary in 1956
(a) July 1968 meeting was held with East Germany, Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary
(i) Published the Warsaw Letter warning the Czech Communist party that they
were undermining international socialism
(ii) Dubcek responded by announcing that reform would continue and that they
would continue to by loyal to the USSR and socialism
(4) In August 1968 the same leaders met with Czech leaders in Bratislava, the Slovak capital, and
agreed to the Bratislava Declaration
(a) They all committed themselves to working together for the advancement of socialism
(5) Three weeks later troops from the countries who had signed the Warsaw Letter invaded
Czechoslovakia.
(a) Unlike in Hungary there was little resistance from the Czech people
(b) Ulbricht of East Germany and Gomulka of Poland urged Brezhnev to use force
c) Dubcek and several other Czech leaders were arrested and taken to Moscow
(1) After agreeing to end political reform he was allowed to return to Czechoslovakia where he
remained in power
(2) In April 1969 he was replaced by Gustav Husak, who was less of a reformist
(a) Dubcek was expelled from the Communist party in 1970 amidst an extensive purge
of the party
(3) The USA condemned Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia bust as in Hungary in 1956 didn’t do
anything because they were tied up in Vietnam
C. The Brezhnev Doctrine
1. November 1968 at a congress of the Polish Communist Party Brezhnev issued justification of Soviet invasion of
Czechoslavakia, known as the Brezhnev Constitution
a) Argued that the USSR and other socialist states had the right and duty to intervene in a country where
socialism was threatened.
D. Détente
1. After confrontations over Berlin and Cuba in the early 1960s the relationship between the USSR and US
dramatically improved by the end of the 1960s
a) 1970s was considered a period of détente
b) During this time there were 5 face to face meetings with summit meetings
(1) They agreed to slow down the nuclear arms race
c) By the end of the 1970s relationships went sour again in what is known as the “Second Cold War” in
the 1980s until ‘86
(1) Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost help to improve relations and bring about the end of the Cold
War
E. Why did the superpowers pursue détente in the late 1960s and 70s?
1. Soviet Motives
a) The USSR was afraid of a nuclear war and wanted to reduce the cost of its weapon program
 (1) Prior to 1970 they did not want to freeze missile stocks because they were behind the US but
by 1970 they had 1300 ICBMS while the US had 1054
b) The Soviet economy was stagnating and Leonid Brezhnev wanted to focus more spending on the
economy rather than defense
c) The USSR realized the need for East-West trade and more emphasis on consumer goods
d) USSR was worried about deteriorating relations with China and improvement in Sino-American
relations in 1971
2. American Motives
a) To reduce the risk of nuclear war
b) President Nixon (1969-74) and Henry Kissinger (National Security Adviser 1969-73 and Secretary ,
1973-77) pursed policy of linkage
(1) Sought to deter USSR from expansionist policy by providing economic aid
c) Nixon wanted Soviet and Chinese help in achieving an acceptable settlement to the Vietnam War
d) Nixon worried about the cost of the arms race and Vietnam War on the economy. There was a
recession in 1973
F. A prelude to détente: Willy Brandt’s Ostpolitik, 1969-74
1. Willy Brandt, Chancellor of West Germany, did much to improve East-West relations
a) August 1970
(1) Soviet-West German Non-Aggression Pact which formally ended WWII between USSR and
Germany
b) December 1970
(1) West German-Polish Treaty where W. Germany formally recognized Poland’s western
border. Poland had been given part of Eastern Germany to compensate for the failure to regain
part of eastern Poland taken by USSR
c) December 1972
(1) Stopped short of full diplomatic recognition
G. Major Exemples of East West détente, 1968-76
1. July 1968 The Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty
a) Signed by Britain, US and USSR; it banned the transfer of nuclear weapons technology to other
countries
b) France and China refused to sign
c) Seen as the start of détente but relations soured when USSR invaded Czechoslavakia
2. November 1969 SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks)
a) Negotiations between USA and USSR began in Helsinki
3. April 1971 Peace Program
a) Published by Leonid Brezhnev; he called for an end to conflict in the Middle East and Vietnam, for
collective security, the mutual recognition of European frontiers and reduction in weapons levels
4. September 1971 US-Soviet Nuclear Accidents Agreement
a) Promised to increase safeguards against accidental firing and agreed on procedure for immediate
notification if it should occur
5. September 1971 Four Power Agreement on Berlin
a) France, GB, USA and USSR agreed to keep Berlin dived into East and West
6. April 1972 Biological Weapons Convention
a) Signed by 126 countries; it banned production of biological weapons but lacked verification
mechanisms
7. May 1972 SALT 1
a) Signed by Nixon and Brezhnev; contained 2 treaties
(1) Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty
(a) The number of ABM defense systems was limited to two each
(i) An effective means of defense against nuclear attack might encourage a
nation use nuclear weapons
(2) Interim Agreement on Offensive Arms
(a) USA and USSR agreed to cap the number of ICBM’s in their stock
(b) Agreed to a 5 year freeze on levels of ICBMs and SLBMs (Submarine Launched
ballistic missiles)
(c) Did not place limits on long range bombers, development of MIRVs (multiple
independently targetable re-entry vehicles  ICBMs with multiple war heads)
8. May 1972 The Basic Principles of Relations Between the USSR and the USA
a) Committed themselves to peaceful co-existence
b) Brezhnev saw this as significant while Nixon and Kissinger valued it less
9. October 1972 Soviet US Trade Agreement
 a) USSR wanted détente in order to trade with west and get technology
(1) Nixon was ready to give them that in return for a peace settlement in North Vietnam
b) Trade agreement was ended with US Senate passing the Jackson-Vanik amendment which made the
development of US-Soviet trade dependent on the USSR allowing Soviet Jews to emigrate which the
Soviets flat out denied
10. June 1973 The Prevention of Nuclear War Agreement
a) This provided consultation between the superpowers in times of crisis
11. August 1975 The Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE)
a) Signed in Helsinki the conference started in 1973.
b) All European governments (except Albania) and the US and Canada participated
c) Signed by 35 governments it covered 3 broad issues, “baskets”
(1) Security, Co-operation and Human Rights
(a) Notification of any military exercises involving more than 25,000 troops
(b) USSR was not happy with Human Rights
(i) Thought it represented western interference in internal affairs and failed to
implement this part
12. June 1979 SALT II
a) It limited ICBMs and SLBMs to 2400 each and had a cap on MIRVs.
(1) It was never formally recognized by the US because it was ratified by the US senate
(a) Growing concern about détente due to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December
1979
(2) Both sides kept to the agreement until 1986
13. US-Soviet summits
a) Helped develop greater trust
(1) Moscow 1972 Brezhnev-Nixon
(2) Washington 1973 Brezhnev- Nixon
(3) Moscow 1974 Brezhnev-Nixon
(4) Vladivostok 1974 Brezhnev Ford
(5) Vienna 1979 B32rezhnev- Carter
H. Challenges to Détente
1. Cyrus Vance (Secretary of State) supported détente while Zbigniew Brzezinski (National Security Advisor) was
skeptical about détente
a) Present Carter linked détente and human rights concessions by the USSR
(1) This angered the Soviets
b) Camp David Agreement of 1978and Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty of 1979 undermined détente
because it broke the promise that the USSR would be a part of Middle East peace negotiations
I. Challenge to détente 1: The Yom Kippur War, 1973
1. Arab-Israeli conflict
a) Syria and Egypt launched a surprise attack on Israel in October 1973
b) US gave equipment to the Israelis who were able to surround the Egyptians
(1) Brezhnev proposed that a joint US-Soviet force be sent in to impose a ceasefire and
threatened to send Soviet troops if the US did not agree
(2) Nixon reacted strongly by rejecting the proposal but the USSR accepted the proposal of a UN
peace keeping force
(a) In late November the UN imposed a ceasefire which the Israelis reluctantly accepted
J. Challenge to détente 2: Soviet intervention in Africa
1. Soviet leadership did not think that détente should restrain the USSR from extending its influence
a) Wanted to make allies with countries who would give them Navy bases because they could not keep
their ships out at sea as long as the US and NATO despite having a bigger Navy
(1) 1967-72 USSR was granted naval facilities inn Egypt due to aid given to Egypt in the Six
Days War (1967)
(a) President Sadat of Egypt expelled the Soviet advisor and refused Russian access to
ports
2. USSR tried to exploit opportunities of intervention in Africa in the mid 1970s
a) Angola
(1) In 1974 a military coup overthrew Portuguese dictator Marcello Caetano
(2) Congress refused to send more aid after hearing President Ford sent unauthorized money
(a) Russia sent money and Cuba sent in 17,000 troops
(b) By 1976 MPLA controlled most of Angola
b) Ethiopia
(1) USSR helped Ethiopia in their war against Somalia in 1977-78
 (a) Ethiopia won the war and got access to their ports
K. Challenge to détente 3: The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, 1979
1. USSR thought it would be a quick war but they were there for 9 years and lost 15,000 soldiers
2. The PDPA (People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan) led a successful coup in April 1978 against General
Muhammed Daoud’s regime
a) The PDPA signed a Friendship Treaty in December 1978 with the USSR
3. The PDPA led by Muhamed Tarakki introduced radical reforms
a) Including emancipating women which offend Islamic fundamentalists resulting in a civil war
(1) The rebel group got help from Pakistan, Iran and supposedly the CIA
4. There was internal feuding between the Khalq and Parcham factions
a) USSR sent in 85,000 troops in December 1979 and installed a new President Babrak Karmal, leader of
the Parcham faction
5. USSR was afraid of fundamentalist revolution in Afghanistan which would incite unrest in the millions of
Muslims who were Soviet citizens
L. Consequences for the US-Soviet Relations
1. President Carter placed an embargo on certain US exports to the USSR including grain, banned American
involvement in the Moscow Olympics and promised to increase defense spending 5% each year over the next 5
years
M. Challenges to détente 4: The deployment of SS-20s and Cruise missiles
1. The SS-20 was moveable from one launch site to another and had a longer range
a) In response the US deployed the Cruise and Pershing II
2. December 1979 NATO announced that 108 Pershing II missiles and 464 Tomahawk missiles would be placed
in western Europe
N. Challenge to détente 5: The rise of the “New Right” in US politics
1. New Right was an alliance of Republicans and conservative Democrats who favored increases in defense
spending to deter Soviet expansion and end economic recession
a) They thought that détente was flawed and USSR was exploiting it
2. Ronald Reagan represented the New Right and fueled a Second Cold War which lasted until 1986
IV. Nuclear disarmament and arms control: SALT (Strategic arms limitation talks)
A. Background
1. By the 1980s the US and USSR both had over 10,000 nuclear warheads
2. In 1959 the Antarctic Treaty was signed by 40 countries banning military use of Antarctica
B. The McCloy-Zorin Agreement, September 1961
1. Issued by superpowers in 1961
2. UN then set up the Eighteen Nation Disarmament Committee (ENDC) which failed to produce any agreement
C. Arms control and détente
1. 1960s and 70s saw successful arms control agreements because the USSR had caught up to the US
V. Developments in Latin America, especially Cuba
A. Background
1. OAS, Organization of American States, was set up in 1948 to prevent spread of communism
B. Guatemala
1. 1950-54 Jacobo Arbenz Guzman was the leader of Guatemala
a) Instituted land reforms which nationalized land
b) In 1954 the CIA supported a coup by Castillo Armas which overthrew Arbenz
(1) Armas led a brutal military dictatorship
C. Cuba
1. The US was allowed to keep a naval base at Guantanamo Bay and controlled much of the economy
2. 1953-58 Fidel Castro led a left wing guerilla movement against Batista
a) December 31 1958 Batista fled to the Dominican Republic
b) Castro introduced socialist reform; at this time he did not appear to be Marxist
(1) President Eisenhower placed an embargo on Cuba
(a) This resulted in Cuba increasing relations with the USSR, USSR agreed to buy 50%
of Cuba’s sugar
(2) President Eisenhower cut off diplomatic relations in late 1961
D. Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs Invasion, April 1961
1. 1,400 Cuban exiles tried to take over Cuba but it was a miserable defeat
a) There was supposed to be air support but Kennedy did not want there to be known US involvement
2. December 1961 Castro declared himself Marxist and in May 1962 USSR announced they were giving weapons
to Cuba
E. The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962
1. August 1962 USSR had begun to secretly ship Cuba components for nuclear missiles
 F. Why did Khrushchev decide to site nuclear missiles on Cuba
1. To reduce “missile gap” with US
2. May have been looking for a deal to get US missiles out of Turkey
3. Would help preserve Cuba as communist state
G. Kennedy’s response
1. Set up a small group of civilian and military officials to advise him, called Excom
a) McNamara, the Defense Secretary, suggest that they do nothing because the USSR ahd already
possessed the ability to destroy the US without Cuba
b) Excom was divided into the Fast Track and the Slow Track
(1) Fast—Advocated bombing missile sites with possibility of invasion
(2) Slow—Favored by Robert Kennedy who suggested a naval blockade
2. President Kennedy Chose the Blockade option
H. What were the results of the crisis?
1. Kennedy emerged with an enhanced reputation, he avoided war and avoided humiliating Khrushchev
2. The CCP ridiculed Khrushchev; in 1964 Khrushchev was forced to step down, one reason being the failure in
Cuba
3. US-Cuban relations became more hostile
4. The US quietly withdrew its Jupiter missiles from Turkey in 1963
a) They were out-dated and they had decided to remove them before the crisis
5. US deployed Polaris (nuclear) submarines in the Mediterranean
6. In 1963 two measures were agreed upon to reduce dangers of future confrontations
a) A hotline between the Kremlin and the White House was set up in order to facilitate communications
between the two governments in the event of a crisis
b) US, USSR and Britain signed Partial Test Ban Treaty which banned above ground testing of nuclear
devices
I. US intervention in the Dominican Republic, 1965
1. Juan Bosch was democratically elected in 1961
a) He was overthrown by a military coup and Reid Cabral took power
b) April 1965 a rebellion was staged which tried to restore Bosch
(1) President Johnson thought that this was communist inspired and sent in 33,000 troops to crush
the uprising.
VI. The Vietnam War
A. Background
1. Vietnam was part of French Indo-China (also Laos and Cambodia) from 1860 until 1940 when the Japanese
took over
B. The French at war in Vietnam, 1946-54
1. 1940-45 the Vietminh (Vietnamese guerillas) fought against the Japanese
a) 1945 Japan surrendered and Ho Chi Minh proclaimed Vietnam independent
(1) Ho Chi Minh set up the Indo-Chinese Communist party in 1930
2. French decided to reoccupy Indo-China in 1946 and an 8 year war broke out
a) 92,000 French were killed
3. America decided to support the French once China went Communist in 1949 and the Chinese supplied the
Vietminh
a) After the outbreak of the Korean War (1950) USA provided money ($3-4 billion total) and troops
(1) USSR and Chinese aid to Ho Chi Minh was 1/10 of American aid to French
4. 1954 French surrendered at Dien Bien Phu
C. The Geneva Agreements, 1954
1. July 1954 an international conference, US, USSR, China, France and Britain drew up Geneva Agreements
a) Provided an independent Laos and Cambodia while dividing Vietnam at the 17th parallel
b) Elections in 1956 would determine if Vietnam would reunite
(1) The US and South Vietnam did not sign because a united Vietnam would be Communist and
it would mean the US would recognize the Chinese government
(2) North Vietnam agreed because they were confident that they would be reunited in two year
D. Why did the USA decide to support South Vietnam?
1. Domino Theory (Eisenhower Administration 1955) said that if one country in South East Asia went Communist
all the others might follow; leaving the Middle East vulnerable
2. Ngo Dinh Diem made himself president in 1955 of the Republic of Vietnam
a) Favored big landowners and was corrupt
3. In 1957 Ho Chi Minh ordered South Vietnamese guerillas to organize new units called Vietcog
a) 1959 North Vietnam authorized limited Vietcong attack on Diem’s regime
b) 1960 National Liberation Front, uniting anti-Diem groups, was formed
E. Kennedy and Indo-China
 1. Laos
a) Geneva Agreement was officially singed in 1962 but was granted independence in 1954 by the Geneva
Agreement
(1) Ever since 1954 there was a civil war between pro-West forces funded by USA and Pathet
Lao, Communist forces funded by USSR, PRC and North Vietnam
(2) US and USSR agreed to set up a coalition government which was to be neutral
(a) Coalition government broke up in 1961 resulting in civil war due to the countries
continuing to interfere
2. Escalation of US involvement, stage one: massive increase in US military advisors in South Vietnam, 1961-63
a) Kennedy believed that communists would take over if the US left South Vietnam
(1) He increased the number of military advisors from 1000 in 1961 to 16,000 by November 1963
(2) Kennedy unofficially sent the Green Berets on search and destroy missions
b) In 1961 Kennedy rejected the recommendation that 200,000 troops be sent to Vietnam
(1) Recommendation based on report by General Maxwell Taylor and Walt Rostow (State
Departmnet officials)
c) Kennedy realized that US military aid would work against the Vietcong without reforms from Diem
(1) By 1963 there were growing protests in South Vietnam from Buddhists
(a) Diem and his brother Nhu were Roman Catholics
(b) In June 1963 Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist priest, in Saigon burned himself to death
(2) August 1963 Henry Cabot Lodge became US ambassador to South Vietnam and said that
Diem had to go
(a) Kennedy agreed and set up a coup d’état led by Viatnamese generals
(i) Diem and Nhu were butchered in November 1963
(3) Kennedy’s speech writer Theodore Sorenson claimed that Kennedy talked about withdrawing
military support from Vietnam before his death
3. Escalation, stage two: Lyndon Johnson take the USA into the Vietnam War, 1964-65
a) 1964 about 170,000 Vietcong in addition to the NVA
(1) Even as Vice-President under Kennedy, Johnson was promoting escalation
(a) With upcoming elections in November 1964 he didn’t want to escalate yet
b) In August 1964 the USS Maddox fought with North Vietnamese patrol boats in the Gulf of Tonkin
(1) Johnson ordered retaliating bombing missions
(a) Gulf of Tonkin was fabricated
(2) Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave the president the authority to take all necessary measures to
repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression
(a) Johnson did not escalate until 6 months into his elected presidency.
c) February 1965 Vietcong attacked Pleiku, US base in SV
(1) Johnson used this for further escalation and Operation Rolling Thunder
(a) Bombing of the NV for the next three years
(2) 1965 3,500 American troops
(a) 500,000 1969
F. Why did Johnson decide to escalate the war?
1. Desertion rates of ARVN were high and feared that unless US played a major role SV would collapse
2. Motived by desire to contain spread of communism, not defend democracy (SV was authoritarian)
G. What was the nature of US military involvement in Vietnam?
1. Sent on covert search and destroy missions before official start of the war
2. Strategic Hamlet was a program that moved SV peasants from their ancestral homeland to villages patrolled by
SV forces.
3. VC got aid from villagers who hated the authoritarian military regime which favored large land owners
4. Failed to win the “hearts and minds” of SV
a) Agent Orange was used to wipe out jungles and damaged crops as well as civilians
(1) 4 million SV became refugees by 1967, nearly ¼ of the population
b) March 1968 at My Lai, Lt William Calley’s unit massacred 400 civilians
H. The Tet Offensive, January 1968
1. NV and VC launched major offensive on Vietnamese New Year, 100 towns were attacked and US embassy in
Saigon was briefly captured
I. Why was Tet a turning point?
1. General Westmoreland, US commander in SV, saw Tet as communist desperation but public began to lose
confidence in our ability to win the war
2. 1968 war was costing $28 billion per year and about 300 lives were being lost each week
3. Protests increased and Johnson’s advisors began to doubt the war
a) Robert McNamara resigned as Defense Secretary in February 1968
 b) The Cilfford Report said that war could not be won except at a cost disproportionate to what might be
gained
4. End of March 1968 Johnson announced he would not run for re-election and would stop bombing NV
a) May 1968 US began peace negotiations with NV in Paris but there was little progress made
b) October 1968 bombing stopped in NV
J. Nixon and Vietnamization, 1969-73
K. What was the new administration’s strategy?
1. Republican Richard Nixon won elecetion in November 1968
a) Campaigned on “peace with honor”
(1) Bombing the shit out of Vietnam and then leaving
b) Vietnamization—decrease US troops in Vietnam but replacing them with South Vietnamese
2. Nixon decided to bomb Cambodia to put more pressure on Vietnam to end the war
a) This was intended to cut off supplies to SV using the Ho Chi Minh trail which went through
Cambodia.
b) Prince Sihanouk, ruler of Cambodia, was not pro-Communist but he did allow pro-communist bases
(1) Bombing went on until 1973
(2) There was a civil war going on and the bombing actually helped the communist side
3. Nixon Doctrine was announced in July 1969
a) Stated the US was willing to help its allies but could not do all the fighting
b) April 1970 Nixon said that 150,000 troops would be withdrawn from Vietnam
(1) He also said that the US would intervene in Cambodia to destroy communist bases
(a) Many Cambodians became refugees due to bombing and support for Khmer Rouge
(Cambodia Communist leader) increased
4. April 1971 US made public decision to intervene in Laos
a) ARVN troops were sent in with US air support to attack communist bases
(1) Was protested by Laotian government
5. Widening of war into Laos and Cambodia revived anti-war movement
a) May 1970 four students were killed by the National Guard at Kent University
(1) Killings provoked general strike by students with over 400 colleges closing down
6. Morale of the troops dropped dramatically
a) 89,000 cases of desertion in 1971
b) 222 incidents of fragging (troops attacking officers with grenades) in 1971
c) About 100,000 people went abroad to avoid draft
L. US withdrawal from Vietnam
1. By 1972 only 70,000 troops left SV and few were ground troops
a) ARVN was built up to 1 million
2. Negotiations continued to stall due to two things
a) The US’s insistence on the withdrawal of NV troops from SV
b) NV’s demand that President Thieu’s government be replaced by a coalition
3. March 1972 NV and VC launched major offensive in SV
a) It was more successful than Tet but by June the communists had been halted having suffered heavy
cassaulties
4. As a result of the offensive US and NV became more serious about peace negotiations
a) In October 1972 it seemed that Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho had seemed to reach an agreement
b) However it was rejected by President Thieu
(1) Nixon responded by renewed bombing of NV, the most intensive of the war.
M. The Paris Agreement, January 1973
1. January 1973 US and NV signed peace agreement at Paris
N. What were its terms?
1. US promised to withdraw all troops from SV
2. NV agreed to hand over all POW’s
3. USA was allowed to continue to provide limited supplies to SV but only on replacemtn basis
4. Agreed that a National Council for Reconciliation in SV, including Communists, be set up to organize new
elections in SV
5. President Thieu accepted because Nixon rushed $2 billion worth of military supplies in SV and said that US
would react harshly if deal was not accepted
O. The collapse of South Vietnam, 1975
1. Neither SV or NV kept to the agreement
a) NV increased supplies to communists in the South
b) President Thieu ignored the clause about the National Council
c) He launched a major offensive against the VC
d) He was unable to control soaring inflation (70%)
 e) January 1975 NVA launched major offensive in SV
2. US government did nothing to help Thieu’s regime
a) August 1974 Congress signed War Powers Act which forbade the President to carry out any military
action in Indo-China withouth Congress’ approval
(1) Reversed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
3. NVA captured Saigon in April 1975
a) 1976 SV and NV were reunited into a single communist republic
P. What were the results of the Vietnam war?
1. 1975 all of Indo-China went communist
a) 2 weeks before Saigon fell, Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh and took control of Cambodia
(renamed Kampuchea)
(1) May 1975 Pathet Lao set up communist gov’t in Laos
b) Neighboring countries like Thailand did not go communist
2. US policy of containment failed
3. 58,000 troops died
4. The war cost $150 billion
5. War was partly responsible for recession of economy in 1970s
6. President Johnson’s plan of social and health reforms—The Great Society—was undermined by cost of war
7. US was divided by war, right wing politicians blamed protests for US’s failure in Vietnam
8. Total NV and SV (civilian and military) casualties between 1961 and 1972 were about 1.8 million
9. January 1973 about half of SV population were refugees
10. US dropped 7 millions tons of bombs on Indo China (3x the amount dropped on Germany in WWII)
11. Led to US reluctance to intervene other countries
a) USSR took advantage, intervening in several countries in Africa and Central Asia in 1970s
12. Vietnam War helped bring about détente
a) Improved relations with China to hoping they would influence NV to end the wra
b) Improved relations with USSR hoping it would end the war
VII. Developments in Germany and the eastern bloc
A. Unrest in Eastern Europe
1. There were problems with the planned economies of the eastern bloc, they had very low productivity
a) Economic reforms in Poland and Czechoslovakia caused political unrest
(1) Czech reform in 1968 led to an invasion from the Warsaw Pact forces
B. Unrest in Poland
1. March 1968 anti-Russian riots by Polish students were violently put down by Polish security forces
a) 1970 saw major increase in violent demonstrations by industrial workers over increased prices in
goods, especially food
b) Party leader Gomulka was replaced by Edward Gierek but trouble only stopped when he cancelled the
price rises
2. 1976 Polish government announced more price raises
a) Poland was heavily in debt to West and Polish exports were in decline due to world recession in ‘73
b) Riots almost caused government to collapse
3. Steep price rises in 1980 led to the most extensive strikes in Polish history
a) The trade union, Solidarity, emerged to organize national strike movement
(1) Gov’t initially agreed to recognize them but in ’81 General Jaruzelski imposed martial law
and banned Solidarity
(a) This was due to Solidarity challenging Communists monopoly on political power
b) Russia was happy that Poland solved their own problems because they already had troops in
Afghanistan and the Polish would be unhappy with Soviet troops
VIII. Sino-Soviet Relations
A. Background
1. Relations between Mao Zedong and USSR had not been close before CCP in 1949
a) Mao saw peasants as revolutionary class which put him at odds with the Soviets
b) USSR gave little support to CCP in civil war in 1946-49
2. Despite Sino-Soviet Friendship Treaty in 1950 USSR still treated Mao harshly
a) USSR did not help and intervene in Korean War (1950-53) while China sacrificed a lot
b) Under the First Five Year Plan (1953-57) the Soviets helped expand China’s heavy industry
3. CCP had praised Stalin publicly and were angered when Khrushchev did not consult them before his 1956
speech on de-stalinization
4. Mao disagreed with peaceful co-existence
a) Soviets were alarmed by Mao saying that the world could survive nuclear war and only capitalists
would perish
 b) Khrushchev promised to help China build an atomic bomb
B. The Sino-Soviet Split
1. Relations crumbled from 1958 when Mao felt that Khrushchev had not given the PRC enough support in the
crisis over the GMD islands of Quemoy (Jinmen) and Matsu
a) USSR reduced military aid to PCR in 1959 and Khrushchev went back on his word to help build an A-
bomb
b) Khrushchev publicly criticized Mao’s economic scheme, the Great Leap Forward
2. Mao suspected that marshall Peng Dehuai (Chinese defense minister) had been conspiring against him
a) 1960 Khrushchev withdrew all Soviet engineers from China
3. The split became official when the Red Flag, CCP’s theoretical paper, published Long Live Leninism
a) These denounced USSR’s commitment to peaceful co-existence
4. 1962 Khrushchev publicly criticized China’s behavior in the Sino-Indian borer war
a) CCP was angered by Test Ban Treaty of 1963, they saw it as USSR denying them the A-bomb
5. 1963 Deng Xiaoping led delegation to Moscow but the talks failed and formal contact ended for 26 years
a) 1969 saw military clashes on their border at Damansky Island in the Ussuri River
6. Emergence of China as nuclear power in 1964 had a profound impact on the Cold War
7. The split helped détente because USSR was fearful of clash with China
a) Nixon visited China in 1972 to help end the Vietnam War and the US finally allowed China into the
United Nations
8. The Sino-Soviet continued into the 80s with more USSR troops on Chinese border than the European
a) It was partially healed in ’89 when Gorbachev visited Bejing