Lecture on post WWII developments in East Asia in relation to Cold War; Domino theory discussion

1. Restructuring Asia in the
Postwar World
Trying to stop the dominos from falling...

2. Objectives
Describe events that highlight the Cold War.
Analyze impact of Korean and Vietnam Wars.

3. Vocabulary
Peoples Republic of China (PRC) - name adopted for China by
the Communist party under Mao Zedong.
cult of personality - use of mass media to create an idealized
image of an individual as heroic.
Cultural Revolution - uprising led by Red Guard to make all
Chinese more equal in status.
38th Parallel - line of division that separates North and South
Korea.
domino theory - political theory first stated by Pres. Eisenhower
that describes spread of Communism.
Gulf of Tonkin incident - Aug.1964 incident in the Gulf of Tonkin
that escalated American involvement in the Vietnam War.

4. China - Rise of Mao
After WWII - Nationalist party under
Jiang Jieshi attempted to crush
Communists (Allies in the war)
Mao Zedong led very popular
uprising of poor farmers in the North
- much more popular than
Nationalists
By 1949 - Nationalist party driven out
of China onto island of Taiwan
Mao declares new nation - Peoples
Republic of China (PRC)

5. Life under Mao
Chinese Communist Party - party of farmers
Chinese population - large and mostly little formal
education
Mao is a hero of the people - the common man
Use of mass media to promote this cult of personality

6. Cultural Revolution
Some changes work, others not
By 1960s, China - closed nation
Effort to keep core socialist values
- a Cultural Revolution led by
young people to ‘weed out’ elitists
Mao’s Little Red Book
Eliminate anyone different
Disastrous

7. Korean War (1950-53)
End of WWII - Korea divided at
the 38th Parallel
North - USSR influence; South
- US influence
1949 - Both countries withdraw;
USSR supplies North Korea and
encourages action
1950 - North Korea invades
South Korea - quickly drives
their forces to near Pusan

8. Enter Gen. MacArthur
UN votes to defend South
Korea
Under direction of Truman
(Truman Doctrine) and
leadership of Gen. Douglas
MacArthur
Drives back North Koreans;
Chinese threatened
3 years of battle - stalemate
In the end - divide Korea at 38th
Parallel

9. Communist Fears
1954 - President Eisenhower describes fears that
events in China and USSR would lead to more nations
turning to oppressive Communist regimes
If one nation fell, neighboring countries would also
likely fall under the influence
Describes as the domino
theory
Like dominos, communism
would spread throughout
East Asia

10. Vietnam: Another Domino
French controlled Indo-China
(Vietnam) - conflict between
imperialist French and native
Vietnamese from 1900
After WWII - Ho Chi Minh
(Communist) and Nationalists join to
rise against French
US - support French to stop
Communist spread, but 1954 French
surrender
Under international pressure, Vietnam
splits North (Communist) and South
(Democracy) - promise of election

11. US Support - South Vietnam
From 1954 - US sends
‘military advisers’ to help
South Vietnam establish
strong democracy
Vietcong (South
Vietnamese Communists)
want one nation
Begin guerrilla style war
US stays out until 1964 -
Gulf of Tonkin Incident

12. Textbook: pp. 866-70
Read textbook pages 866-70
Answer questions #2 and #3 on page 870
Answer for #3 should be at least 2 paragraphs
and should reference material in notes or in
reading. (At LEAST 10 sentences)