The Late Cold War Era: Part II

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The Late Cold War Era Part II
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Indochina

• France left Indochina in 1954
• An international conference was held in Geneva,
  Switzerland
• Ended French rule
• Laos and Cambodia became independent
• Temporarily partitioned Vietnam at the 17th
  parallel
• Communist North under control of Ho Chi Minh
• Non-communist South under Pres. Ngo Dinh Diem
• Elections were to be held in 1956 to determine
  the future for a united Vietnam

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Second Indochina War

• The U.S. and South Vietnam refused to
• recognize the Geneva Agreement
• hold elections
• The South Vietnamese Communists (Viet Cong)
  revolted against the S. Vietnamese government in
  1958
• Other religious and political groups revolted in
  Laos and Cambodia turning it into a general
  Indochina war

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Second Indochina War becomes Cold War Conflict

• Soviet Union and China hailed it as war of
  national liberation and supplied weapons,
  economic aid, and technical advisors to North
  Vietnamese.
• N. Vietnam sent supplies and troops to the Viet
  Cong in S. Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia
  along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
• Eisenhower invoked Truman Doctrine and sent
  military aid and advisors to help the South
  Vietnamese army.
• Kennedy expanded this policy to aid
  anti-Communist forces in Laos.

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U.S. Involvement Escalates

• Diems anti-Buddhist policies led to popular
  protests (monks burn themselves to death in
  protest)
• In 1963, the U.S. gave approval to a coup by S.
  Vietnamese generals that overthrew and killed
  Diem.
• Political instability followed as a succession of
  generals tried and failed to organize stable
  governments.

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U.S. InvolvementEscalates

• Lyndon Johnson became president in 1963 and
  sharply escalated U.S. involvement in Indochina.
• He maneuvered Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin
  Resolutions on August 7, 1964
• Empowered Johnson to take all necessary
  measures
• Johnson increased combat troops until they
  reached 500,000 in 1968
• Authorized air strikes against N. Vietnam and
  along the Ho Chi Minh trail

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U.S. InvolvementEscalates

• Despite superior arms, equipment, supplies, the
  U.S. found it extremely difficult to fight
  disciplined guerrillas in the hot jungle climate.
• The poorly led S. Vietnamese government and army
  were poor partners.
• By 1968, most of the fighting was occurring in S.
  Vietnam between the U.S. and North Vietnamese
  forces.

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Turning Point (1968)

• The Tet (lunar new year) offensive
• The Communists launched attacks on all important
  towns in S. Vietnam
• They were eventually driven back but at the cost
  of heavy casualties
• The idea of a quick, victorious end to the war by
  the U.S. vanished
• Johnson did not seek reelection in 1968

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The End of U.S. Involvement

• Richard Nixon tried to hasten the end of U.S.
  involvement (Vietnamization)
• Improved relations with Soviet Union China
• Heavily bombed N. Vietnam, strengthened the S.
  Vietnamese army, while slowly withdrawing U.S.
  troops
• On January 27, 1973, the U.S. and N. Vietnam
  signed the Paris Agreement

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The Paris Agreement

• Cease-fire
• Complete withdrawal of U.S. troops within 60 days
• U.S. economic aid to both North and South Vietnam
• Chief negotiators Henry Kissinger (U.S.) and Le
  Duc Tho (N. Vietnam) won Nobel Prize for Peace in
  1973

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North Vietnamese Victorious

• Fighting ended in 1975 when North crushed the
  South Vietnamese government.
• The Communist victory ended the 30 year struggle
  for a united, independent Vietnamese government.
• Cost
• 3.2 million died (mostly Vietnamese civilians)
• 57,000 U.S. troops died.
• Result
• A unified Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1976)
• Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City (Ho had died
  in 1969)
• Communists victorious in Laos and Cambodia

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Overpopulation in Asia

• The newly independent nations were ravaged by
  common problems
• Overpopulation was the determining factor in
  economic growth
• Improved public health and medicine had
  eliminated epidemics and decreased the infant
  mortality rate.
• Despite the huge population increase, there had
  been no famine because of a high-yielding
  miracle rice that doubled the world rice
  harvest between 1967 and 1992. (Green Revolution)

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Overpopulation in Asia

• Countries such as Singapore, which at achieved
  almost zero population growth by the late 1980s,
  thrived economically and achieved a higher
  standard of living.
• Most countries, however, slipped further into
  poverty and economic backwardness because they
  could not control the population explosion.

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Other problems

• Large populations meant that it was difficult to
  improve education and standards of living.
• Most Asian countries also suffered from inept and
  corrupt governments that crippled development.
• Large military expenditures also slowed economic
  development.
• Because of the Cold War, all nations in the
  region benefited from foreign aid, but at a cost.