Guatemala, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Korea

USInterventions in the 1950s

Vietnam

I. Causes

a. France tries to re-colonize Vietnam after WWII

b. Geneva Accords: divide Vietnam

i. North = Communist

ii. South = Anti-Communist

c. US sends $1 billion in aid to the south (weapons, soldiers, supplies)

d. Plan to reunite in 2 years, but fighting begins

The Ballad of the Green Berets by Barry Sadler and Robin Moore

II. US Entry

a. Domino Theory: fear that if 1 country falls to communism, others will follow

b. Tonkin Gulf Incident: US Ship is fired upon by North Vietnamese

c. Tonkin Gulf Resolution: gives President power to “take all necessary actions”

i. *** 58,000 soldiers die in a war never approved by Congress

Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation by Tom Paxton

III. Anti-War Movement

a. Living Room War = violence is on TV

i. Napalm = bomb--> severe burns

ii. Agent Orange = pesticide --> birth defects

iii. Tet Offensive = battle on tv that turns public against war

Fixin to Die by Joe McDonald

b. U of M “Teach-in”: Professors refuse to teach class, and instead discuss protest

c. Kent Statei. Students protest the invasion

of Cambodia

ii. Burn down ROTC building

iii. National Guard kill 4, wound 9

Ohio by Crosby, Stills, and Nash

IV. End of War

a. Vietnamization: US slowly withdraws and puts South Vietnam in charge of own defense

b. War Powers Act: Troops may not be used for more that 60 days without approval from Congress

i. *** Shows people lost confidence in government

“War” by Edwinn Starr

IV. End of the COLD War

a. Détente - an easing of Cold War tensions

i. Nixon visits China!

ii. SALT talks limit # of nuclear weapons

b. Star Wars Program - space-based laser defense shied against foreign missiles

c. Glastnost and perestroika - refoms to the Soviet Union’s poitical and economic systems than ended totalitarian control

Looking for Freedom by David Hasselhoff