3. DOMINO THEORY
1. Idea that if one country falls to
Communism, then all of the other
countries in that region would fall too.
2. The US didn’t want countries to be
Communists, so they tried to support
anyone who was against Communism
in Asia and Latin America.
4.
5. WAR IN CHINA
1. Chang Kai-Shek: Chinese Nationalist leader;
the US supported against the Communists.
2. Mao Zedong: leader of the Communists who
won over the peasants with land reform and
improved food production. (Where have we
heard his name before?)
3. Mao beat Chang; established a Communist
government called the People’s Republic of
China.
8. PROBLEMS IN KOREA
1. 38th Parallel: latitude line that
separated North Korea (Japanese
soldiers who surrendered to the
Soviets) and South Korea (soldiers that
surrendered to US).
2.North = Communist (like today)
3.South = Democratic
9. KOREAN WAR
1. June 25th, 1950 – North Korea, backed by the
Soviet Union, led a surprise attack on South
Korea.
2. South Korea asked the United Nations to
help.
3. The US and 15 other countries sent troops to
support South Korea (though 90% were
American) (1950 to 1953).
10.
11.
12. EFFECTS OF THE KOREAN WAR
1.It was the first time that US troops
were used, instead of political or
economic policies to fight
Communism.
2.War was seen as a stalemate because
North Korean Communists were
pushed back, but Korea was still two
nations, rather than one.
13. PROBLEMS IN VIETNAM
1. Ho Chi Minh: Nationalist leader who
fought the French for independence. He
was backed by the Soviet Union.
2. Vietnam was divided into two countries:
South = Democratic and North =
Communist.
3. Vietcong: Communist fighters in the
south who supported Ho Chi Minh.
16. US GETS INVOLVED
1. The US sent more than 185,000 troops
to support South Vietnam.
2. US fire bombed millions of acres of
farmland looking for enemy hideouts–
wasn’t too popular for doing so.
3. US eventually left the fighting to the
South Vietnamese in 1973.
17. 4. In response, the North overran the
South and took over in 1975
5. North Vietnam nationalized
companies and sent people to
“reeducation camps.”
6.Vietnam is a Communist country
today.
18. NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV
1. He was the leader after Stalin died in
1953.
2. He thought that Communism would
triumph over Capitalism, but peacefully,
not through its military.
3. Sputnik: the world’s first artificial satellite
launched by the Soviets; completely
freaked the Americans out.
Think: Why would the launching of Sputnik
scare Americans?
