Skit!
Skit
skit!
The korean war
Korea had been taken over by Japan prior to WWII
- WWII: Japan is defeated by Allies
- USA & USSR split Korea
- North: occupied by USSR - communist
- South: occupied by USA - democratic
- Dividing line: 38th parallel
War breaks out:
- In the 1950s, N. Korea crossed the 38th parallel
- Led by Kim Il Sung
- Leads to WAR!
- USA & UN came to S. Korea's aid
- Communist China came to N. Korea's aid
- Results:
- N. Korea remains communist
- S. Korea remains democratic
- Split stays at 38th parallel
afghanistan
iran
December, 1979: The USSR invades Afghanistan to establish a new communist government
Mujahideen: Muslim resistance fighters
(some received $$$ support from USA)
The Big Picture: USA got involved in Iran to counter Soviet involvement
This backfired when the Iranians resented American involvement and turned to Islamic Fundamentalism
10-year-long civil war resulted
Result: Taliban (Islamic fundamentalist group) comes to power
Crises in Cuba
Bay of Pigs
Cuban Missile Crisis
Castro Rules Cuba
Castro Overthrows Batista
- USA didn't like that Cuba was communist
- CIA trained Cuban exiles & sent them to Cuba to overthrow Castro
- Khrushchev sent nuclear missiles to Cuba
- 90 miles from Florida
- Nuclear strike possible
- American spy planes see the missiles
- In the 1950s, Cuba was ruled by an oppressive dictator named Fulgencio Batista
- A lawyer named Fidel Castro tried to overthrow him
- 1st attempt: failed
- 2nd attempt: success!
- Kennedy warns USSR: If you use nukes, we'll attack Cuba
- Kennedy imposes blockade on Cuba
Skit!
- Castro quickly became a communist dictator
- Confiscated land from rich
- Didn't allow free elections
- Killed opponents
- Poor peasants liked him
- Middle- and upper-class Cubans hated him
- Many people fled Cuba
Batista
failure!
- World is in the brink of nuclear war!
- Kennedy & Khrushchev agree: (1) USSR will remove missiles, (2) USA won't attack Cuba, (3) USA will remove missiles in Turkey
fidel
vietnam war
- The USA fought a war to prevent democratic South Vietnam from becoming Communist like North Vietnam
- USA & South Vietnam's enemies were:
- Ho Chi Minh, leader of North Vietnam
- North Vietnamese army
- Viet Cong, communist guerilla soldiers
Nicaragua
- An oppressive government led to a Marxist revolution
- This brought the communist Sandinistas to power
- Daniel Orteaga: Sandinista leader
- Fighting began in the 1950s
- USA began sending troops in the 1960s
- USA suffered many casualties
- In 1973, the USA stopped fighting
- In 1975, N. Vietnam captures Saigon (capital of S. Vietnam)
- Vietnam is unified under communist control
Both the Sandinistas & Contras carried out major human rights violations
Despite this, the USA secretly sent weapons to the contras (by first sending them to Iran)
When this secret became public, it was called the Iran-Contra scandal
However, not all Nicaraguans supported the Sandinistas
Contras: a group of anti-Sandinista rebels
Civil War!
hot spots of the cold war
Aim: Describe Hot Spots of the Cold War