Page 29 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol Two

378 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

Whether you like it or not, history is on our side.We will
bury you! • Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971)

1950.As a result of a boycott of the U.N. Security Coun- increased material supplies. In 1965, the United States
cil by the Soviet Union, the United States was able to pass under President Lyndon Johnson began to send U.S.
a resolution that labeled North Korea as an aggressive troops to Vietnam. President Nixon, under increasing
nation and called for U.N. forces to be sent to Korea.The pressure to end the war, bombed not just Vietnam but
U.N. forces, led by American general Douglas MacArthur, also Laos and Cambodia.The Treaty of Paris in January
defeated North Korean troops and expelled them from of 1973 ended the conflict. Two years after the war
South Korea. Subsequently, MacArthur and the U.N. ended, South Vietnam fell to the Communists.
forces crossed the thirty-eighth parallel and adopted a The spread of the Cold War to Asia led Southeast
new mission, which aimed to unite all of Korea under a Asian nations to form an alliance in 1954, the Southeast
non-Communist government. China had issued several Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).This alliance was an
warnings that they might intervene if U.N. forces crossed effort to cooperate economically and also to resist further
the thirty-eighth parallel but these warnings were ignored. Communist encroachment in Southeast Asia. It included
When the Chinese made good on their threat to supply representatives of Australia, France, Great Britain, New
both men and matériel, U.N. forces had to retreat back Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and the
into South Korea. A defensive line was established near United States.
the thirty-eighth parallel. Peace negotiations dragged on
without result and the KoreanWar eventually ended in a Africa
stalemate.At the end of the war, Korea remained divided. Africa was more indirectly affected by Cold War tensions.
The other major “hot” war in the post–World War II Both the United States and the Soviet Union directed eco-
period was also fought through the lens of Cold War ten- nomic assistance plans and policies aimed at securing
sions. The initial war in French Indo-China began as a Cold War alliances. But in the postwar world, African
result of the French decision to try to reestablish control nations were occupied by the struggle for independence
of their colony after the war.War broke out between the and faced significant challenges upon obtaining inde-
French and Ho Chi Minh’s Indo-Chinese Communist pendence. Independence was achieved earlier in north
Party in 1946.After the French fortress at Dien Bien Phu and central Africa, where there were fewer white settlers,
fell to Communist forces the French agreed to negotia- than in South Africa, where the white-dominated gov-
tions and the Geneva Conference in 1954 brought an ernment struggled to maintain its position of power and
end to the first Indochina war.The United States had sent the policies of apartheid.
considerable aid to the French in order to prevent the
spread of Communism, while pressuring the French to The Middle East
agree to Vietnamese independence at a future date. The The Middle East achieved its independence after World
Geneva agreements had called for elections in Vietnam War II. Regional differences, territorial disputes, and the
but as it became clear that free elections would most British mandate that divided territory between Palestine
likely result in a Communist victory, the United States and the newly created nation of Israel contributed to
sought other solutions. The United States was increas- instability in the area.The Arab-Israeli conflict also con-
ingly unwilling to risk another Asian domino to the tributed to violence in the region. Arab nations cooper-
Communists. Thus, the United States supported Ngo ated in an attempt to defeat the Israelis and reclaim the
Dinh Diem, who refused to agree to the elections called territory occupied by the citizens of that nation.The emer-
for by the Geneva Accords. Despite U.S. assistance South gence of various militant religious groups radically altered
Vietnam was on the verge of collapse by 1963. The the nature of many Middle Eastern governments, partic-
United States responded by sending military advisers and ularly in Iran. During the Cold War, regional problems