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Crash Course 38 - The Cold War in Asia

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(Period 8) with info on Korean War and the Vietnam War

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hi I'm John Green this is Crash Course u.s. history end  stop the cold more about the war on the generals and the tactics instead on why the wars were fought and what it all meant a part of the world that we haven't seen much on this series  not my best work going to start today with the what's with the Cold War really heated up at least as far as Americans of course Korea like me from the past many Americans have forgotten about the Korean War which lasted three years from 1950 to 1953 and is sometimes called the Forgotten War the Korean war was the first real-life shooting war that Americans were involved in after World War II it was also the only time that American troops directly engaged with an honest-to-goodness communist now I'm referring not to North Korea but to China which became communist in 1949 and qualifies as a major world power because it was and also is huge we love you China just getting you're not watching because of the great fire with Korea split between a communist North led by Kimmel Crazy Pants Song and anti put hardly Democratic South led by syngman Rhee we're supposed to reunite but that was impossible because they were constantly fighting fighting that cost around 100,000 lives score between the two koreas turned into a full-fledged International conflict in June of 1950 when Kim il-sung's invaded the South and the US responded Truman thought that Kim's invasion King pushed by the Soviets and it was a challenge to the quote 3 world Truman went to the United Nations and he got authorization but he didn't go to Congress and never called the Korean War for insisting instead that American troops were leading a un police action but that was kind of a misleading statement general Douglas MacArthur was in command of this time turn the war because he was the highest ranking general in the region he was also really popular at least with the Press although not so much with other generals or with the president under MacArthur choose which basically meant American and South Korean forces pushed the North Koreans back past the 38th parallel where the two countries had been divided and then Truman made a fateful to the United States would try to reunify Korea as a non communist state went swimmingly this idea so up North they went all the way to the northern border with China at the yalu river star attacked on November 1st 1950 and by Christmas the two sides were stalemated again at the 38th parallel right where they started the war dragged on for two more years with the pursuing a scorched-earth policy and dropping more bombs on Korea than have been dropped in the entire Pacific Theater during World War II point with the repatriation of North Korean and Chinese prisoners who didn't want to go back to their communist Homeland what election of 1952 Ford white Eisenhower also who is his name was in addition to helping I'd get elected the Korean War headed number of profound effects first and most importantly it was expensive both in terms of lives and money in 3 years fighting 33629 Americans were killed 100 mm were wounded and nearly 4 million Korean and Chinese people were killed wounded or missing them 40 of Korean casualties were civilians also further strengthen executive power in the United States and Congress name that the war was initially unpopular it was wanted to see American do something about communism and allow him to take the South and possibly threaten Japan was unacceptable play the you don't really need to declare war to go to war Walnut new in America sure has been important the last 60 years in the Cold War mentality I mean this was the height your Redskins for America's longer more destructive and more well-known engagement taneja the Vietnam War the rules here are simple I guess the author of the mystery document on my right or I get shocks all right let's see what we got the Declaration of the French Revolution made in 1991 States all men are born free and with equal rights and must always remain free and have equal rights those are undeniable truths for more than 80 years to French imperialists abusing the standard of Liberty equality and fraternity have violated our Fatherland and oppressed our fellow citizens they have acted true to the ideals of humanity and Justice in the field of politics they have deprived our people of every Democratic Liberty turn that sounds like a Frenchman who really doesn't want to be friends anymore what somebody was very disappointed by the way that France has been running their colonies on the North Vietnamese leader and course chalkboard person Ho Chi Minh  wait stand says he needs his real name it's wins in Kong at least rhetorically Ho Chi Minh was fighting for Liberation from a colonial power as much as if not more than he was trying to establish a Communist dictatorship in Vietnam but because of the war and its prevailing theories the United States could only see her as a communist stooge a tool of the Kremlin under the so-called domino theory Vietnam was just another dumb it had to be propped up around for the rest of Southeast Asia would fall to Communism like a row of dominoes what time people felt that they didn't want the Soviet Union to expand the way that say Nazi Germany has involved in Vietnam like most things cold war dates back to World War II but it really picked up in the 1950s as we threw our support behind the French in their War to maintain their colonial Empire weight stand with the French to maintain right because we were blinded by our fear of Communism or use Atomic weapons to help the French set affections to reunite North and South which is been divided after World War II but then we didn't let that happen because I'm X democracies don't vote for our guy instead of the let's begin supporting the repressive elitist regime of node in DM as a bulwark against communism was a Catholic and a majority Buddhist country and his support of landowners didn't win him any plans but he was against communism which was good enough for us the first major involvement of American troops then called advisers begin in the early 1960s why is the army of the Republic of Vietnam also called Arvin how did they not know this was due let's fight for Arvin against this guy seriously pretty quickly this advising turned into shooting and the first American advisors were killed in 1961 during John Kennedy's presidency consider Vietnam to be Lyndon Johnson's war and they aren't wrong the major escalation of American troops started under Johnson especially in 1965 after the Gulf of Tonkin integrate incidents in all of American History so in August 1964 North Korean Patrol boats attacked us warships in the Gulf of Tonkin to authorize the president to take quote all necessary measures to repel armed attack in Vietnam which Congress dutifully did with the Gulf of Tonkin solution American history should we go to war star of American policy wait a second did I just say to quote historian James Patterson like the crime novelist books because he's so busy with his secret career being a historian named operation winter began in the spring of 1965 and in March of that year to Marine battalions arrived at Danang Air Base authorized to attack the Enemy No advising about it can actually tell the American public that our troops had this authorization which was part of a widening credibility gap between what the government told Americans about the war and what was real happening let's go to the thought bubble play 1968 they were about half a million American soldiers in Vietnam and the government was constantly saying that victory was just around the corner but then in Vietnamese forces launched the Tet Offensive and what was the fastest victory was imminent the Vietnam War itself was particularly brutal with much of the ground fighting taking place in jungles rather than Ward scale offensive troops were sent on Search and Destroy missions and often it was cool to tell enemy from civilian territory wasn't meaningful so commander is kept track of body counts like if more enemy were killed in Americans we were winning in addition to Jungle fighting there was a lot of bombing like more bombs were dropped on North and South Vietnam did both the axis and allied powers in all of World War the u.s. use chemical performance like agent orange to get rid of that pesky jungle and also Napalm was used to burn trine's phones and people television coverage map in Vietnam is the first war brought into American living rooms and people were horrified by what they saw they were especially shocked by the My Lai Massacre which took place in 1968 it was only did a year later in 1969 from the lower classes because enrollment so unlike previous American wars the burden of fighting did not fall evenly across socioeconomic class thanks. What was going on in Vietnam protests started but it's important to remember that the majority of Americans were not out in the streets or on college campuses burning their draft cards right up through 1968 and maybe in 1970 most Americans supported the Vietnam War during the 1968 presidential campaign Richard Nixon promised that he had a secret plan to end the war and appeal the silent majority of Americans who weren't on board with the anti-war movement of Nixon's Vietnamization gradually withdrawing American troops and fighting to the Vietnamese in order to cut off these so-called Cantrell named for this guy a supply line that connected north to south give me a rooms represented the absolute worst that Communism had to offer forcing almost all cambodians into communes and massacring one-third of the country's population no great secret plan in the United States by 1970 the anti-war protests said grown and discontent within the Armed Forces was in Norma's Vietnam veterans and sing future almost President John Kerry were participating in protest in the New York Times published The Pentagon Papers who did the government have been misleading the public about the war for years the War Powers Act in 1973 which was supposed to limit the ability to send troops overseas without their approval and prevent another Gulf of Tonkin Resolution how does that work out Stan after five years of negotiations Nixon and his secretary of state Henry Kissinger were able to end America's involvement in Vietnam in nineteen III the Paris peace agreement made it possible for America to withdraw its troops the war between North and South Vietnam however continued until 1975 when the north finally read the South and created a single communist Vietnam War cost the United States as well as between 3 and 4 million Vietnamese people first war in American history that we definitively lost we lost it because we didn't understand the Vietnamese and we didn't done stand why they were find historian James Patterson determination of the enemy War down the American commitment which proved to be far less America expected that its Superior technology and wealth would eventually wear down the Vietnamese and they just give up communism but the Vietnamese word fighting for communism they were fighting for Vietnam this fundamental misunderstanding combined with the government's dishonesty changed Americans relationship with their leaders before Vietnam stood their government to even when they knew it did horrible things but after the war and largely because of it that trust was gone thanks for watching I'll see you next week made with the assistance of all of these nice people and also through your support at several your choice including $0 so if you enjoyed value crash course I hope you'll consider supporting us through some of them if you can't afford to do so that's fine we're just glad that you're watching you can click my which are there's also Link in the video info thanks again for watching crash course and as we say in my hometown don't forget to be awesome

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Crash Course 38 - The Cold War in Asia

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