Cold War Conflicts
Korean War, Vietnam War, and
Cuban Missile Crisis
Korean War - Background
Korea was a Japanese colony
 After World War II, U.S. and Soviet Union
divided Korea into two sections (38th
parallel)
a. North Korea (Soviet Union)
b. South Korea (U.S.)

Korean War
Korean War – Cause

1950  North Korea invaded South
Korea in order to unite Korea
Korean War – Key Events
1950  U.S. and United Nations forces
pushed North Korean forces back behind
the 38th parallel
 1951  Chinese and North Korean forces
pushed United Nations forces back behind
the 38th parallel and into South Korea

Korean War - Result

1953  Korean War ended (38th parallel
divides North Korea from South Korea)
Korean War – Key Terms

United Nations (peacekeeping
organization)  Korean War represented
first UN action
Vietnam War - Background
Vietnam was a French colony (French
Indochina)
 Vietnamese forced the French to leave
 Ho Chi Minh (communist leader) dominated
North Vietnam
 Geneva Conference (1954)  temporary
division of Vietnam
a. North  communist
b. South  non-communist

Vietnam War - Causes
Ho Chi Minh wanted
to unite Vietnam
under Northern rule
(communist rule)
 Ho Chi Minh
encouraged
communist rebels
to overthrow South
Vietnamese
government

Vietnam War - Events

Increased American involvement
a. President Eisenhower  sent military
advisors and supplies to South Vietnam
b. President Kennedy  more military advisors
and weapons to South Vietnam
c. President Johnson  sent American troops to
fight the North Vietnamese
d. President Nixon  cease-fire and the
withdrawal of American troops beginning in
1973
Vietnam War - Results
U.S. troops left Vietnam
 Unification of Vietnam (communist
country)

Vietnam War – Key Terms
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)  Congress
authorized President Johnson to increase
American involvement in Vietnam
 Vietnamization  Nixon's administrations
policy of building up South Vietnamese forces
while gradually withdrawing American troops
 Domino Theory  If Vietnam became a
communist country, the countries adjacent to
(surrounding) Vietnam would also become
communist countries


http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/cold-war-history/videos/the-road-to-war?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false
Vietnam War – Key Terms
Dove  Someone opposed to American
involvement in the war
 Hawk  a person who supported
American involvement in the war

Cuban Missile Crisis –
Background
1959  Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba
 Cuba became a communist state
 1961  Bay of Pigs
a. U.S. (President Kennedy) supported a plan
by anti-Castro exiles (people forced to leave
Cuba when Castro came to power) to
invade Cuba and lead an "uprising" against
Castro
b. Failed

http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/cold-war-history/videos/bay-of-pigs-cias-perfect-failure?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false

1962  U.S. imposed a trade embargo on
Cuba
CIA Tries to Kill Castro

http://www.history.com/topics/coldwar/cold-war-history/videos/history-rockscastro-mustdie?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1
&free=false
Cuban Missile Crisis - Cause
Castro asked the Soviet Union for help
 Soviet Union built nuclear missile bases
in Cuba

Cuban Missile Crisis
October 1962
President Kennedy
demanded the
immediate removal
of nuclear missiles
 U.S. created a naval
blockade of Cuba.
 Period of tension
between Soviet Union
and United States

Cuban Missile Crisis - Results
Soviet Union removed nuclear missiles
 U.S. promised not to invade Cuba
