After World War II, Japan’s
former colony of Korea was
divided into two occupation
zones along the 38th parallel
with the Soviet zone in the
north and the US zone in the
south
 Before the occupation
forces departed, an
anticommunist regime was
established in the south and a
communist one in the north

The US was uncertain as to the
extent of its commitment in Asia
 It knew its umbrella definitely
covered Japan, Okinawa, and the
Philippines, but it was unclear about
Taiwan, South Korea, and Southeast
Asia
 Believing the US did not intend to
protect South Korea, the USSR
allowed the North Koreans to
invade the south in 1951

Secretary of State Dean
Acheson’s speech to the
National Press Club
omitted South Korea from
the US “defensive
perimeter”
North Korean army crossed the 38th
parallel with an invasion force totaling
over 90,000 troops and 150 Soviet-built
tanks
 By the night of June 28, Seoul had
fallen and the South Korean forces
were in disarray.
 South Korea appealed to the United
Nations for assistance
 The UN passed a resolution
recommending that “the members of
the United Nations furnish such
assistance to the Republic of Korea as
may be necessary to repel the armed
attack and to restore international
peace and security to the area.”

As a member of the UN Security Council, the Soviet Union
could have vetoed UN involvement in the war
 However, at the time Moscow was boycotting the Security
Council in protest of the UN’s failure to seat a representative of
the newly established People’s Republic of China

 (Remember from last lesson the victory of the communists over the
nationalists in China)
In the absence of the USSR, the UN passed a resolution
sending a military force to South Korea
 The force was predominately American with Douglas
McArthur as the Supreme Commander.

 There were also substantial contributions from the UK, Canada and
other Commonwealth countries.
The American forces were
unprepared for the North
Korean attack.

By the end of July, the
North Koreans had pushed
the UN forces to the
southeast corner of the
peninsula, where they dug in
around the port of Pusan.

MacArthur completely changed
the course of the war overnight by
ordering -- over nearly unanimous
objections -- an amphibious invasion
at the port of Inchon, near Seoul.

The Americans quickly gained
control of Inchon, recaptured Seoul
within days, and cut the North
Korean supply lines.

American and ROK forces broke
out of the Pusan Perimeter and
chased the retreating enemy north.

MacArthur continued to push north,
ignoring threats of Chinese
intervention

On October 25, the Chinese army
attacked after having infiltrated into
North Korea

After suffering setbacks, the UN
forces stabilized their lines by
November 5


Chinese withdrew northward
MacArthur launched a great
offensive toward the end of
November, which he optimistically
hoped would end the war in Korea

MacArthur's “all-out offensive” to
the Yalu had barely begun when the
Chinese attacked en masse on the night
of November 25.

Roughly 180,000 Chinese troops
shattered the right flank of the Eighth
Army in the west, while 120,000 others
threatened to destroy the X Corps near
the Chosin Reservoir.

On November 28, MacArthur
informed the Joint Chiefs, “We face an
entirely new war.”

UN retreat ended about 70 miles
below Seoul.

Beginning January 15, Ridgway led
the UN in a slow advance northward.

UN re-recaptured Seoul (the fourth
and final time it changed hands) on
March 15, and had patrols crossing the
38th parallel on March 31.

In the meantime, MacArthur had
been steadily pushing Washington to
remove the restrictions on his forces.

Truman declined for fear of
widening the war

MacArthur repeatedly made
public statements that were
contrary to official US policy
and suggested that Truman
Administration policies were
responsible for the retreat of
the Eighth Army
 Eventually Truman was
forced to relieve MacArthur
and replace him with Ridgway

“But once war is forced upon us,
there is no other alternative than to
apply every available means to bring
it to a swift end. War's very object is
victory, not prolonged indecision. In
war there is no substitute for victory.”
MacArthur’s Farewell Address
Apr 19, 1951
On June 29,1951, Ridgway
broadcast a message to his
communist counterpart
announcing his willingness to
negotiate
 Eighth Army transitioned to
an “active defense”
 Tried unsuccessfully to
break communist supply line
with air and artillery

Matthew Ridgway
Both sides expended
enormous amounts of effort
to solidify their lines

 Costly seesaw battles like
Bloody Ridge, Heartbreak
Ridge, and Old Baldy
Negotiations characterized
by intransigence

 POWs a major obstacle
Armistice not signed till
July 27, 1953

Heartbreak Ridge with Bloody
Ridge in background
An armistice is not a
peace treaty so the
Korean War did not
officially end with its
signing
 Today a Demilitarized
Zone (DMZ) encompasses
2 kilometers on either side
of the 151 mile long
Military Demarcation Line
(MDL)
 North Korea remains
communist and a nuclear
threat

Panmunjeom is the official diplomatic
headquarters at the DMZ. North Korean
guards, in brown, face their South Korean
counterparts, in blue.
In the early 1950s Cuba was
controlled by a moderate right-wing
military regime that was friendly to
the US government and businesses
 The US supported Fulgencio
Batista as an anti-communist and a
proponent of the US in domestic
and international policies
 However, in 1959 Fidel Castro was
able to mobilize the disaffected rural
peasants and topple Batista’s
regime

A Cuban crowd listens to Castro
after his takeover
Castro assumed dictatorial
powers and announced his
goal was to create a society
based on Marxist principles
 He nationalized large-scale
landholdings, sought
economic aid from the Soviet
Union, and tried to export
revolution throughout Latin
America through peasant and
urban guerrilla warfare

Che Guevara directed many of
Castro’s Latin American operations
until he was killed in Bolivia in
1967
The US could not accept the
presence of a revolutionary Marxist
government so close to its borders
and President Eisenhower
authorized planning for a force of
anti-Castro Cubans to invade Cuba
and overthrow Castro
 When Kennedy became president
he authorized the invasion but
stipulated that the US not be
involved in the landing itself

The invasion took place at the Bay
of Pigs in April 1961 and proved to be
a disaster
 Instead of rallying to the invaders,
the local population supported the
Castro government
 The failure embarrassed the US
and weakened President Kennedy in
the eyes of the Soviet Union
 However, it strengthened
Kennedy’s personal resolve to
act more vigorously in any
future crisis

Castro helping to repel the
invasion
Castro feared the US would
try again to overthrow him and
he called for additional
support from the Soviet Union
 Soviet Premier Nikita
Khrushchev responded by
sending medium-range
bombers and missiles to Cuba
to help defend Castro and
threaten the US
 In Oct 1962, US spy planes
discovered missile sites under
construction in Cuba

Kennedy responded
decisively, demanding
that the Soviets remove
the missiles and
bombers or face their
destruction by air
strikes or invasion
 He also imposed a
naval “quarantine” of
Cuba

On Oct 28, Khrushchev
agreed to remove the
missiles
 “Eyeball to eyeball, they
blinked first.”

 Dean Rusk, US Secretary
of State
The Cuban Missile Crisis
had shown the dangers of
nuclear apocalypse in the
bipolar world
 It was a major Cold War
victory for the US and a
major loss of face for the
Soviet Union and
Khrushchev

1962 British cartoon showing Kennedy and
Khrushchev arm wrestling on top of
nuclear weapons
Vietnam was divided after World War II to facilitate disarmament and
then formally divided in 1954 by the Geneva Accords
 Communist forces in the north led by Ho Chi Minh forced the withdraw
of French forces in 1956
 In 1959, Ho declared a “Peoples’ War” to unite Vietnam
 In 1961, President Kennedy sent 400 Green Berets to Vietnam
 In Oct 1961, Maxwell Taylor visited Vietnam and reported “If Vietnam
goes it will be exceedingly difficult to hold Southeast Asia.” (domino
theory)

1964… North
Vietnamese patrol boats
attack a US destroyer in
Gulf of Tonkin. US begins
bombing.
 Mar 2, 1965… Operation
Rolling Thunder begins.
 Mar 8, 1965… First US
combat troops arrive. By
the end of the year,
184,300 troops are in
Vietnam.

The massive bombing campaign
was plagued by restricted targeting
and the non-industrialized nature of
North Vietnam
Diem’s regime was
illegitimate and corrupt
 Catholic in an
overwhelmingly Buddhist
society
 Ignored Geneva Accords
call for elections in 1956
 Nepotism
 Succession of military coups
resulted in a revolving door
government

Several Buddhist monks burned
themselves alive to protest
Diem’s religious oppression
Increasing North Vietnamese
infiltration created security threat in
South Vietnam
 In Dec 1960, the insurgents
formed the National Liberation
Front (typically called the Viet Cong
or VC), a broad-based organization
led by communists but designed to
rally all those disaffected with Diem
by promising sweeping reforms and
genuine independence
 Developed effective military
and political components

Flag of the National Liberation
Front
North Vietnam began
constructing a massive supply
route through Laos and
Cambodia that allowed it to
infiltrate supplies and
personnel south

 The Ho Chi Minh Trail
The Soviet Union and China
provided equipment, advisors,
and diplomatic support

Mao wrote On Guerrilla Warfare in
1937 while in retreat after ten years
of battling the Nationalist Chinese
army of Chiang Kai-shek
 In 1949, Mao defeated the
Nationalist Chinese and validated his
theories of revolutionary guerrilla
warfare
 Remember from last lesson
 The National Liberation Front
would pattern much of its strategy
and tactics after Mao


Phase I: Latent and incipient insurgency.
 Activity in this phase ranges from subversive activity that is
only a potential threat to situations in which frequent
subversive incidents and activities occur in an organized
pattern. It involves no major outbreak of violence or
uncontrolled insurgent activity. The guerrilla force does not
conduct continuous operations but rather selected acts of
terrorism.

Phase II: Guerrilla warfare.
 This phase is reached when the insurgent movement, having
gained sufficient local or external support, initiates organized
continuous guerrilla warfare or related forms of violence against
the government. This is an attempt to force government forces
into a defensive role. As the guerrilla becomes stronger, he
begins to conduct larger operations.

Phase III: War of movement.
 When the guerrilla attains the force structure and capability to
directly engage government forces in decisive combat, then he
will progressively begin to use more conventional tactics and
may obtain combat forces from an external source. He may also
begin to conduct more extensive defensive operations in this
phase to protect the areas he controls.
Between 1961 and 1963,
President Kennedy launched a
full-scale counterinsurgency
program in Vietnam, part of
which would become the
“pacification” program
 Major goals
 Strengthen the South
Vietnamese
government’s hold on the
peasantry
 Cut into the heart of the
Viet Cong politico-military
organization
 Designed to “win the hearts
and minds” of the South
Vietnamese

In 1967, Robert Komer, shown here with
President Johnson, was selected to head CORDS
(Civil Operations and Rural Development
Support)
and coordinate all pacification programs

Strategic Hamlet Program

Combined Action Program

Revolutionary Development Program

Chieu hoi (opens arms)
 Peasants from scattered villages were brought together in
defended and organized hamlets in order to protect them,
isolate the Viet Cong, and show the superiority of what the SVN
government could offer
 Placed selected Marine squads within the village militia to
eliminate local guerrillas
 Put armed social workers into Vietnamese villages to begin grass
roots civic improvement and eliminate the VC shadow
government
 Amnesty program designed to persuade VC to change sides
Commonly considered a
missed strategic opportunity
 Suffered from being “too
little, too late”
 CORDS not activated until
1967
 Perceived as competition
with the “big war” and many
military officers favored a
“military solution”

Air Force Chief of Staff Curtis
LeMay reportedly said, “Grab
‘em by the balls and their hearts
and minds will follow.”
When the Soviet Union and the US nuclear programs
reached the point of Mutually Assured Destruction, the US
faced the dilemma of responding to communist challenges in
peripheral areas by either risking starting a nuclear war or
doing nothing
 The alternative strategy of limited war was developed to
harness the nation’s military power and employ only that force
necessary to achieve the political aim
 The objective was not to destroy an opponent but to
persuade him to break of the conflict short of achieving his
goals and without resorting to nuclear war

The limited war theory
was more an academic
than a military concept
and its application
resulted in tensions,
frustrations, and
misunderstanding
between the military and
civilian leadership

Secretary of Defense Robert
McNamara is sharply criticized
for his technocratic and
statistical approach to the
Vietnam War
Traditionally, the “American way of war” had been a strategy
of annihilation
 Seeks the immediate destruction of the combat power of
the enemy’s armed forces
 In Vietnam, the US would instead follow a strategy of
attrition
 The reduction of the effectiveness of a force caused by
loss of personnel and materiel
 This proved to be a poor strategy against the North
Vietnamese who used a strategy of exhaustion
 The gradual erosion of a nation’s will or means to resist

Led the US to fight according to the theory of
gradual escalation

 A steady increase in the level of military pressure would
coerce the enemy into compliance instead of employing
overwhelming force all at once
 US never had enough forces to control the countryside
 US soldiers served one year tours in Vietnam
 North Vietnamese soldiers were there till the end and
recognized “Victory will come to us, not suddenly, but in a
complicated and tortuous way.”








1959
1960
19613,205
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
760
900
11,300
16,300
23,300
184,300
385,300







1967
485,600
1968
536,100
1969
475,200
1970
334,600
1971156,800
1972
24,200
1973
50
The nature of guerrilla war allowed the North
Vietnamese to avoid contact when it was not to their
advantage to fight
 Low-tech nature of the enemy prevented the US
from bringing to bear the full effects of its combat
power
 North Vietnamese were always able to replace their
losses while Americans became disillusioned with the
mounting death toll

• On January 30, 1968,
the North Vietnamese
escalated to Phase III,
the War of Movement,
when 84,000 Viet Cong
and North Vietnamese
attacked throughout
South Vietnam
• Designed to foster
antigovernment
uprisings against the
South Vietnamese
• By attacking everywhere, the
North Vietnamese had superior
strength nowhere
• By fighting in a conventional
fashion, the North Vietnamese
allowed the US to bring to bear
its full firepower and technology
and use a strategy of
annihilation
• The North Vietnamese had
wrongly assumed South
Vietnamese were on the verge
of a general uprising
Helicopters gave the US the ability
to cover all types of terrain,
maneuver over large areas, react
quickly to enemy attacks, reinforce
embattled units, and conduct raids
into enemy territory
• Tactical defeat for North
Vietnam forces them back to
Phase 2
• North Vietnamese
32,000 killed and 6,000
captured
• US and South
Vietnamese 4,000 killed
• But a strategic victory
• “I thought we were
winning this war!”
(Walter Cronkite)
• Dramatic shift in public
opinion in US
Returning from Vietnam after Tet, Walter
Cronkite reported, “It seems now more
certain than ever that the bloody
experience of Vietnam is a stalemate”
and then urged the government to open
negotiations with the North Vietnamese.
Martin Luther King
delivers his “I have a
dream” speech in 1963
Country Joe
McDonald at
Woodstock, 1969
Gloria Steinem
helped found Ms
magazine in 1971
President Lyndon B. Johnson listens to tape
sent by Captain Charles Robb from Vietnam,
July 31, 1968.
Democratic delegates protest the Johnson
administration's policies in Vietnam at the 1968
Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Richard Nixon was elected
president in 1968 campaigning for
“peace with honor”
 Under Nixon the process of
“Vietnamization”– the gradual
transfer of primary responsibility of
the war to the South Vietnamese
that Johnson had begun on a small
scale after Tet– was accelerated
 Nixon’s involvement in
Watergate, his impeachment, and
resignation hamstrung his ability to
influence peace negotiations
through sustained offensive
operations

Nixon was succeeded by Gerald
Ford. By this point the US was
traumatized by war-weariness and
economic recession. Ford had
almost no maneuver room to help
the South Vietnamese.
Four students were killed and nine wounded at Kent State
and two students were killed at Jackson State during
protests against a number of issues to include US
operations in Cambodia
The US concluded a
peace agreement with the
North Vietnamese in 1973,
but the South Vietnamese
continued fighting until
April 30, 1975 when the
North Vietnamese
captured Saigon

Americans and South Vietnamese
who had worked for the US are
evacuated from Saigon
Sophisticated weaponry and conventional forces
have limits in “low intensity conflict”
 The restrictive rules of engagement (ROEs) and
political considerations of limited war hamper
military operations
 Domestic support is critical
 You can win the battles and lose the war
 “Vietnam syndrome” effects military and
diplomatic operations until finally exorcised by
Desert Storm.

Vietnam remains communist
However, since 2001, it has committed to economic
liberalization and is trying to modernize the economy
and to produce more competitive, export-driven
industries
 An April 28, 2005 article in the Economist was aptly
titled “America Lost, Capitalism Won”
 If you’re interested, USM has a nationally-acclaimed
Vietnam Study Abroad Program

