Cold War-
Flexible Response- Response to "Brush fire wars"- where insurgent forces were aided by soviet arms and training. Kennedy increased spending on nonnuclear arms and
mobile military forces. It reduced the risk of using nuclear weapons but increased the temptation to send elite special forces into combat all over the globe.
There is no clear-cut start to the Cold war. The Cold War was never a direct war between America's allies and the Soviet Union's allies: the relationship between the two was
very tense from about 1945-1991 when the USSR finally collapsed. In 1946, Stalin, the Dictator of the USSR, declared in his speech that communism and capitalism were
incompatible. This was followed by Winston Churchill's Sinews of Peace, in it, Churchill stated that the Iron Curtain descended upon Europe. Later in 1961, the Berlin wall
was built. In October of 1962, President John F. Kennedy announced the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba. This became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The crisis
enclosed the Bay of Pigs which was considered an epic failure due to the last minute cuts made by President Kennedy. In 1963, Russia and the United States signed the
Limited Test Ban Treaty. This treaty stated that nuclear testing was banned in water, outer space and in the atmosphere. In 1965, America committed troops to Vietnam to
help combat the opposing Communist of North Vietnam.
Flexible Response- Response to "Brush fire wars"- where insurgent forces were aided by soviet arms and training. Kennedy increased spending on nonnuclear arms and
mobile military forces. It reduced the risk of using nuclear weapons but increased the temptation to send elite special forces into combat all over the globe.
There is no clear-cut start to the Cold war. The Cold War was never a direct war between America's allies and the Soviet Union's allies: the relationship between the two was
very tense from about 1945-1991 when the USSR finally collapsed. In 1946, Stalin, the Dictator of the USSR, declared in his speech that communism and capitalism were
incompatible. This was followed by Winston Churchill's Sinews of Peace, in it, Churchill stated that the Iron Curtain descended upon Europe. Later in 1961, the Berlin wall
was built. In October of 1962, President John F. Kennedy announced the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba. This became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The crisis
enclosed the Bay of Pigs which was considered an epic failure due to the last minute cuts made by President Kennedy. In 1963, Russia and the United States signed the
Limited Test Ban Treaty. This treaty stated that nuclear testing was banned in water, outer space and in the atmosphere. In 1965, America committed troops to Vietnam to
help combat the opposing Communist of North Vietnam.
Vietnam War-
Vietnam was part of the French territories called Indochina. Ho Chi Minh was a communist leader who waged guerrilla war on Japan with the support of America. Ho Chi Minh did not want the French to control the Vietnamese due to a growing sense of nationalism. The French tried to control the movement but eventually gave up. Vietnam soon became divided. The north was controlled by the communist countries and the south was influenced by America. According to Chesley Jones, who served in the Navy as an aircraft technician during the early stages of the Vietnam War, that it seemed like Russia and America were playing a chess game with the local military forces. Many Americans believed that communism would infect other countries by domino theory and therefore began to fear it. Chesley also believed that a big push factor to send more troops in was from the private corporations that supplied the United States military with goods helped advertise how communism was spreading as a scare tactic. The war was not widely supported after a wide amount of losses in life. Chesley also talked about how the Americans seemed to loose more troops than the other side causing withdrawing from the war to become popular to those who sent loved ones into Vietnam. Military drafts were still sent out at this time. However, those with connections and money often got out of the draft with poor excuses or by going to Canada.
When the news of the bombing of spy ships on the Gulf of Tonkin reaches the public's ears, there is a wide demand for war. The Tonkin Golf Resolution is passed allowing an undeclared war against Vietnam to begin. Shortly after the resolution is put in place, the Selective Service System is set up, selecting young men to draft into the military.
In the early months of 1965, President Johnson allots the air war to begin through ordering the North to be bombed. Shortly after this, the first anti-war demonstration is given at Ann Arbor. One protest grew to 2 million people, the largest protest in United States history. Once the American public hears of the inhumane things done in the town of My Lai, support for the war declines even more so, leading the war to close in 1973.
Vietnam was part of the French territories called Indochina. Ho Chi Minh was a communist leader who waged guerrilla war on Japan with the support of America. Ho Chi Minh did not want the French to control the Vietnamese due to a growing sense of nationalism. The French tried to control the movement but eventually gave up. Vietnam soon became divided. The north was controlled by the communist countries and the south was influenced by America. According to Chesley Jones, who served in the Navy as an aircraft technician during the early stages of the Vietnam War, that it seemed like Russia and America were playing a chess game with the local military forces. Many Americans believed that communism would infect other countries by domino theory and therefore began to fear it. Chesley also believed that a big push factor to send more troops in was from the private corporations that supplied the United States military with goods helped advertise how communism was spreading as a scare tactic. The war was not widely supported after a wide amount of losses in life. Chesley also talked about how the Americans seemed to loose more troops than the other side causing withdrawing from the war to become popular to those who sent loved ones into Vietnam. Military drafts were still sent out at this time. However, those with connections and money often got out of the draft with poor excuses or by going to Canada.
When the news of the bombing of spy ships on the Gulf of Tonkin reaches the public's ears, there is a wide demand for war. The Tonkin Golf Resolution is passed allowing an undeclared war against Vietnam to begin. Shortly after the resolution is put in place, the Selective Service System is set up, selecting young men to draft into the military.
In the early months of 1965, President Johnson allots the air war to begin through ordering the North to be bombed. Shortly after this, the first anti-war demonstration is given at Ann Arbor. One protest grew to 2 million people, the largest protest in United States history. Once the American public hears of the inhumane things done in the town of My Lai, support for the war declines even more so, leading the war to close in 1973.