HOW EFFECTIVELY DID THE USA CONTAIN COMMUNISM 1950-1975?

WHY CONTAIN COMMUNISM? THE KOREAN WAR 1950-1953

Timeline General events
Korean War
Fear of Soviet ambition 1948 Vietnam War
Causes of US intervention in Korean War:
Communism established in Cuban Missile Crisis
Kennan’s Long Telegram (Feb 1946) Korea had been ruled by Japan. During WW2, the Soviets
North Korea
Kennan – US ambassador in Moscow – wrote a telegram to President 1949 liberated [Link] & USA liberated [Link].
Truman warning of Soviet ambitions to expand communism globally. Aug: USSR gains atomic bomb
The US must take action to prevent this. Oct: China turns communist A dividing line, the 38th Parallel, marked the point where
1950 Soviet & US armies would stop their advances. A communist government was set up in
Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech (Mar 1946) Feb: Sino-Soviet Alliance
A month later, Truman was again warned of Soviet intentions [Link] led by Kim Il Sung. In [Link] Syngman Rhee led a capitalist government. Both
June: [Link] invades S. Korea
to expand communism. The British wartime leader, Jul: UN Resolution 84 1951 wanted a unified Korea but neither wanted to lose their own positions of power.
Churchill, stressed the need for US and UK to work together Sept: US & UN troops in S. Korea Jan: Chinese troops in N. Korea
Mar: MacArthur sacked In June 1950, [Link] troops invaded [Link] to achieve unification under Kim Il Sung.
against the ‘Soviet sphere’ of control in Eastern Europe.
Jun: Peace talks begin
1953 Events of the Korean War:
Soviet actions confirm US fears Jul: Korean War armistice
1954 1. Sep 1950: General MacArthur (US) leads UN force in pushing back [Link] forces
The development of the Eastern Bloc (1945-8) Jul: Geneva Accords signed
Sep: SEATO formed
2. Oct 1950: MacArthur ignores Chinese warnings not to approach China’s border.
• In those nations liberated by the Soviet army 1955 US now pursuing policy of rollback – no longer containment.
during WW2, communist governments were Feb: CENTO formed 3. Jan 1951: 200,000 strong PLA (Chinese army) pushes UN forces back into [Link].
set up. Oct: Republic of South Vietnam
1959 4. Apr 1951: MacArthur is sacked after trying to continue policy of rollback.
• Cominform (Sep 1947) demanded that formed under Diem with US aid
Jan: Castro overthrows Batista 5. Jun 1951-Jul 1953: Peace talks begin. Stalemate reached. Stalin’s death sped up talks.
leaders of each nation go to Moscow for Nov: MAAG formed to assist SV
annual briefings. as leader of Cuba
• Berlin = Cold War ‘hotspot’. Berlin in East
Germany was divided between East and
1960
Jun: CIA ordered to overthrow
West. Stalin wanted the West out. The Berlin
Castro
Blockade (1948) and the Berlin Wall (1961) Dec: NFL/Vietcong established 1961
were both viewed by US as acts of Soviet Jan: US severs relations with
aggression & ambition. Cuba
1962 Apr: Bay of Pigs invasion fails
US military advisers & strategic
1949: The Soviet threat is now global! hamlets in S. Vietnam
Feb: MACV replaces MAAG 1963
USSR successfully tests its first A-bomb
May: Soviet arms to Cuba starts Nov: Diem overthrown. JFK
This sparks a wave of paranoia in the US. It is believed that communist assassinated
16-28 Oct: Cuban Missile Crisis
spies within the US have passed nuclear secrets to the Soviets. Julius &
Ethel Rosenburg are suspected and executed in 1953. A series of 1964
televised trials, the McCarthy Hearings 1954, attacks US army command. Aug: Gulf of Tonkin Incident &
China turns communist Gulf of Tonkin Resolution 1965
In Oct 1949 Mao declared the People’s Republic of China. In Jan 1950 Feb: Operation Rolling Thunder
the Soviets and Chinese signed the Sino-Soviet Alliance. President Mar: US troops in S. Vietnam
1967
Truman is accused by the Republicans of having ‘lost China’. He is under
Apr: MLK speech opposing
considerable pressure to prove his commitment to containing the spread Vietnam War How successful was US containment of communism in Korea?
of communism. Now Asia – not just Europe – is a concern. 1968
Jan: Tet Offensive ☺ The spread of communism had been  High cost of containment: 30,000+
Mar: My Lai Massacre contained: the 38th Parallel was Americans, 1.5 million South Koreans
KEY TERMS Definition 1969 Nov: Nixon replaces Johnson restored. and 3.5 million North Koreans killed.
arms race After 1949, the US & USSR raced to build more/ better nuclear weapons Sep: Trial of Lt. William Calley
CIA Set up 1947 as US security agency, protecting US against external threats. Nov: Washington anti-war march ☺ US had showed Asian allies (eg: Japan)  The UN appeared to be a US pawn.
700,000 protestors 1973 it was committed to containing
détente Thawing of tensions
Jan: Paris Peace Agreement  Asia is now a theatre of Cold War. US
domino theory US fear that communism in Asia would spread rapidly (like falling dominoes) communism commitment to containment widens.
Mar: Last US troops leave S.V
hot war Conventional military conflict/ fighting 1975 ☺ The UN had proved willing to support  US aims unclear: rollback or
M.A.D Theory that the US & USSR had enough nuclear power to destroy each other Communism established in US containment containment? Tension in US politics.
Laos & Cambodia
missile gap US fear that USSR was developing ICBMs (missiles) at faster rate than USA
Apr: Fall of Saigon  Korea remains divided. Korean unity
NATO Formed 1949 as defensive alliance against USSR. Collective security 12 states
ignored for Cold War aims.
proxy war Hot war where each side is supported by rival superpower (US, USSR, China)
 HOW EFFECTIVELY DID THE USA CONTAIN COMMUNISM 1950-1975?

THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS 1962 US INTERVENTION IN VIETNAM 1954-1973

Causes of the Cuban Missile Crisis: Causes of US intervention in Vietnam:

Cuba becomes communist 1959: Batista, the US friendly dictator Communists in Vietnam: Vietnam was part of French colony of Indochina. After occupation
of Cuba, is overthrown by communist Fidel Castro. Is the Soviet by Japan during WW2, the French returned to reclaim control. France was defeated in 1954
sphere of influence closing in? by the Vietminh – a communist independence movement in the north led by Ho Chi Minh.
US tries to force Castro out: 1960 CIA tasked with getting rid of Castro. US stops buying The domino theory: At the 1954 Geneva Peace Accords it was
Cuban sugar hoping for Cuba’s economic collapse. Jan 1961: US secretly funds & supports agreed Vietnam would be split at the 17th Parallel into a communist
of Bay of Pigs invasion by Cuban exiles (fails). Operation Mongoose continues CIA mission. north & capitalist south. Elections were to take place in 2 years’
Soviets spot an opportunity: USSR not happy with US Jupiter missiles in Turkey & Italy. time for Vietnam to decide its own
Summer 1960 Castro allies with USSR. USSR buys sugar in return for Soviet arms. future. The USA did not sign
fearing communist victory.

Events of the Cuban Missile Crisis: The US began a process of nation building to strengthen South
Vietnam against takeover by Ho Chi Minh’s [Link] communist
regime. This included:
• Financial support to Diem’s government ($1.6bn by 1960)
• Military advisers & aid (1955: MAAG MACV in 1962)
Weakness of South Vietnam: Diem’s regime ([Link]) was
corrupt & brutal. Within [Link] support for the Vietminh &
an independent Vietnam grew. 1960 the NLF or Vietcong formed
starting an effective guerilla war against Diem’s regime & its US
advisers. A supposed attack on US warships in the Gulf of Tonkin
(Aug 1964) triggered US troops in Vietnam.

Events of the Vietnam War 1965-1973:

• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed giving Johnson a ‘blank cheque’ to destroy the Vietcong
• Johnson begins with bombing of [Link] – Operation Rolling Thunder. US marines
arrive in [Link] in March 1965 but will not invade N. Vietnam. Johnson wants to keep
the conflict as a ‘limited war’.
• US marines struggle to defeat Vietcong which is supplied by [Link] via the Ho Chi
Minh trail. Anti-war opposition grows in US against war atrocities eg: My Lai Massacre &
mounting casualties. Jan 1968 Tet Offensive across 100 cities/ towns in [Link] =
turning point. Johnson admits defeat & will not run for re-election.
• 1969 Nixon promises Peace with Honor (Vietnamisation; triangular diplomacy; ‘mad
bomber’ tactics). Laos & Cambodia bombed in effort to force N.V to peace talks. US
protests grow (Kent State Shootings 1970). Paris Peace Accords signed Jan 1973.
How successful was US containment of communism in Cuba?
How successful was US containment of communism in Vietnam?
☺ Publicly, the USSR had backed down in  The US weakened NATO by agreeing to
the face of US resistance. remove missiles in Turkey without NATO  Vietnam was a military failure for the US and a propaganda disaster showing the limits of
☺ Khrushchev was ousted from power in knowledge. US power against a smaller nation
1964 by an embarrassed Kremlin.  Cuba remained a communist regime on  Containment failed. In 1976 all of Vietnam united under a communist government.
☺ Soviet backdown harmed Sino-Soviet USA’s doorstep.  US involvement actually helped communism spread. The destabilization of Laos &
relations. Khrushchev a ‘paper tiger’.  As a result of US hostility, Cuba was now Cambodia as part of Nixon’s ‘peace with honor’ strategy led to communist governments
☺ Kennedy’s solution avoided a hot war or a heavily armed Soviet ally committed in both countries by 1975.
nuclear attack. to supporting communist revolution
 Failure in Vietnam affected US policy of containment. The ‘Vietnam Syndrome’ meant
worldwide (eg: Angola 1970s).
☺ Brinkmanship leads to nuclear détente. successive governments were much more reluctant to involve US troops again.