CWCR - International Policies (Lesson)
International Policies
Cuban Missile Crisis, courtesy of NBC Universal Archives
Cuba
Cuba lies ninety miles south of Miami, Florida in the Caribbean Sea. Cuba had long been an important island in United States history as exporters of sugar and other resources. Cuba was so important to the United States economy that antebellum planters wished to annex Cuba as a territory or state. In the mid 1950s two brothers led a group of rebels to overthrow a military dictatorship in Cuba. Fidel and Raul Castro replaced the Cuban leaders with a communist style government. The new government seized businesses and took control of farms and directly impacted Americans and American businesses connected to the agricultural trade.
The Bay of Pigs
President John F. Kennedy, recently elected in 1960, feared the threat of communism so close to the United States and he approved an operation to overthrow the Castro-led government of Cuba. This operation was orchestrated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA.) (The CIA is a federal agency tasked with gathering foreign information and determining that information’s importance on American and global security.) The CIA secretly organized American resources to train, supply and transport Cuban exiles who would overthrow the government. However, the efforts of the CIA were thwarted. Word of the overthrow attempt had reached Castro. When the CIA-trained exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs, they were met with fierce resistance from the Castro-led Cuban military. Once the United States’ involvement through the CIA was revealed, Castro called on the Soviet Union to provide assistance. When the United States media gained word of the CIA’s involvement in the failed Bay of Pigs, President John F. Kennedy was put in a tough predicament. First he denied the reports, but later President Kennedy confirmed the United States’ involvement in Cuba. The tension between Cuba, the Soviet Union and the United States increased dangerously. This was not the only tough test for President Kennedy.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet Union seized the opportunity and decided to provide assistance to the geographic neighbor of the United States in Cuba. First, the Soviet Union provided supplies, then it was soldiers and finally the Soviet Union was able to bring weapons to Cuba including the threat of nuclear weapons. With these missiles placed in Cuba, the Soviet Union had a much quicker, easier location from which to attack the United States if it so decided. Estimates suggested these missiles could reach from the east coast of North America west to the Rocky Mountains. Once discovered, the next thirteen days became some of the tensest few days --perhaps in world history. The fear from both the United States and the Soviet Union was that one nuclear attack would lead to a nuclear war that would devastate the world. The stakes were never so high.
In response, President Kennedy and his advisors placed a “quarantine” on any ships entering Caribbean waters en route to Cuba. This “quarantine” was a type of blockade of Cuba. Interestingly, a true blockade of a nation would be considered an act of war; instead the United States used the “quarantine” concept whereby they would inspect ships for weapons. If the ships had weapons or ran the quarantine, it would look aggressive for Cuba and the Soviet Union. If the United States attacked an innocent ship, they would look aggressive. The Soviet Union publicly denounced the quarantine and refused to acknowledge the existence of nuclear weapons capabilities in Cuba. It was not until the United States provided evidence before the United Nations and the world via television that they acknowledged these weapons did in fact exist. Diplomacy ultimately brought the Cuban Missile Crisis to a peaceful end. Openly and behind close doors, the United States and the Soviet Union worked to remove weapons in Cuba and Eastern Europe. Although the Cold War continued for decades, its most tense moment was over.
The Vietnam War
Perhaps one of the most difficult events to understand in United States history is the country’s involvement in the Vietnam War. The region of Southeast Asia was an area rich in resources and was valuable for its strategic proximity for trade. During World War II the Japanese conquered the area known as French Indochina. This area under French colonial control was comprised of the modern-day nations of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. For years the French had held tight control over the region forcing the people to work the land most typically on rice plantations. When World War II ended, control of the region was debated. The French wished to reclaim their territory whereas the Vietnamese people wished to be independent. A former exile of the French and westernized Vietnamese leader named Ho Chi Minh sought support from nations, including the United States, for Vietnamese independence.
Eventually, Ho Chi Minh and his followers, the Vietminh, adopted Communist ideals. President Eisenhower feared the spread of communism and put American support behind the French. This decision was based upon President Eisenhower’s “Domino Theory.” As a continuation of containment, President Eisenhower stated that as one Southeast Asian country fell to communism, so to would another in a fashion like dominoes stacked to fall. The United Nations helped to negotiate a separation at the 17th Parallel. Under this plan North Vietnam would be under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh and retain communist rule. South Vietnam would be led by Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem had been supported by Western nations and was a harsh opponent of communism.
Communist North Vietnamese rebels infiltrated Diem’s South Vietnam. These rebels were known as the Vietcong. The Vietcong and the North Vietnamese Army waged a guerrilla campaign against the French in South Vietnam. When the French military forces were devastated during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, they backed out of Vietnam shortly after. The United States was left to defend South Vietnam. Under President Kennedy, the United States sent military advisors to the nation. As President Johnson took office following Kennedy’s assassination, the United States’ involvement in Vietnam increased. In 1964, two naval vessels, caught in dangerous storms, reported being attacked by North Vietnamese vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin. In response, President Johnson asked Congress to approve military action in Vietnam. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution allowed the president to conduct military operations in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war.
When North Vietnamese military forces became increasingly more involved in South Vietnam, President Johnson ordered military ground forces to Vietnam. This was a step in a new direction as only air strikes and naval attacks had been authorized previously. The United States instituted the military draft and ultimately sent more than 500,000 troops to Vietnam. Throughout the remainder of the 1960s, the United States fought a misunderstood guerrilla war with devastating losses. More than 58,000 American lives were lost in Vietnam.
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