In the last section we introduced the idea of the "Cold War" and how it has been referred to as the 'Long Peace.'  A Cold War is when the two main enemies never actually fight each other in war.  This does not mean, however, that the each side did not engage the friends of their enemy in war.  We will begin to see in this section, how the Cold War turned "hot" - but not between the USSR and Americans, although in this first case, the Soviet Union was deeply supporting their communist allies in North Korea.  There is a lot of video available for the topic of the Korean War, so make sure that you watch and listen carefully.

          "The Korean War took place from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953. Korea had been divided after World War II, when Japanese control ended. The northern part was occupied by Soviet troops until 1948 and the southern part by Americans until 1949. Efforts to reunify Korea failed, and the divided regions became independent countries. The Korean War began when communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950 and captured the capital Seoul. The United Nations Security Council voted to aid South Korea, and the United States led the peacekeeping forces. China and USSR supported North Korea. Although 20 other nations eventually became involved in the war, the Koreans saw it primarily as a civil war between the north and south. The armistice line north of the 38th parallel along the battle line ended the fighting, but Korea has remained divided into North Korea and South Korea for decades since" (www.encarta.com).

           Part of the information for this section will be learned from the University of California's curriculum for high school students.  The directions are the same for the last section:

           You will click on the following link (do not do it until you finish the directions):  The Link:  Conflict in Asia

           2.  In the new window that pops up, look under "Lessons"

           3.  Click on the link for "Lesson 67 Conflict in Asia"

           4.  Read the screen and click "Start Lesson"

           5.  This will begin the first lesson

           6.  When that video is over, look at the top of the screen and click on the white dot that is to the right of the green line.

           7.  Continue until all video lessons have played.

Parts 1 and 2 of a 90- video series on the Korean War.  It is mandatory to watch these two video clips.  If you would like to watch the  entire series,

  CLICK HERE

for the rest of the videos.

Top Center Picture:  This picture shows the peninsula of Korea.  North Korea (communist) and South Korea (Democracy) are divided at the 38th Parallel.  This is where the Soviets and the Americans decided to divide the country after World War II.  The Soviets were to control the North and the Americans were to control the South.  When North Korean forces invaded the South, that is when the newly formed United Nations decided to enact its "police action" to repel the communists from South Korea.  This became known as the Korean War and while it was a United Nations fighting force, the brunt of the expense and lives lost fighting the communists were American.

Top Right Picture:  American soldiers manning a heavy machine gun in Korea.  Notice the racial integration of the soldiers.

          In 1959, Fidel Castro with the help of fellow revolutionary, Che Guevara came to power through a revolution in the island nation of Cuba.  Cuba is only 90 miles away from the United States, so it matters greatly to the US what happens there.  If you remember back to Learning Period 3; Section 2 and the Spanish American War - the United States has a long history of involvement and influence with Cuba. 

        When Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba, with a socialist view of the world, he found that the US government was less than happy about his rise in power.  Fidel Castro had to rely heavily on the other superpower in the world for support and even supplies and money to help his new government run.  Fidel Castro than offered that he was instituting full-fledged communism in Cuba, and the Soviet Union came running with aid, support and "friendship."  How much happier could the Soviet Union be than to have a communist partner 90 miles away for their worst enemy in the world - the United States of America!!!  Not only did they hope that the communist government in Cuba may expand to other countries in Latin America, but also Cuba would provide a perfect place to launch a possible invasion from one day if that need/opportunity ever arose. 

         Of course, while the Soviet Union was excited about the idea of communism now spreading to Cuba's neighbors and a place to launch attacks on America -- the United States HATED, FEARED these possibilities and desired to stop these possibilities from ever happening. 

         The President after Harry Truman was named President Eisenhower.  With approval from Eisenhower to formulate a plan to invade Cuba with a guerilla force, the CIA developed a plan.  Eisenhower never acted on the plan though, and when the next president, President Kennedy (JFK) came to power, he decided to enact this covert operation.   The operation will be known in American History as the Bay of Pigs Invasion -- which was a TOTAL FAILURE.  The operation had 1,500 Cuban exiles who were living in America launch an invasion to Cuba.  The CIA in America worked off the thought that Communism is so awful, that once the Cuba soldiers and citizens saw this force come, that they would all join in trying to over-throw Fidel Castro.  They were wrong.  The videos explain it well. 

The map above shows how close the country of Cuba is the most southern point of the United States is - Key West, Florida.

         The Cuban Missile Crises is a very complicated topic in trying to understand.  The basic premise of the situation is rather simple, and will be explained here.  The 4 videos are very good in helping to understand the hole crises.

         The crux of the crises lies in that America's worst fears regarding the Soviet influence on Cuba came true.  For 13 days in October of 1962, the world stood still as the threat of nuclear war between the USSR and the United States became more real, and more probable than ever in the history of the Cold War. 

        An American U2 spy plane took pictures of missiles being placed on Cuba by the Soviet Union.  The US demanded the missiles to be taken away and led to a showdown between the US and the USSR.  EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY: Watch the movie 13 Days and write a 1 page summary of the events that take place in the movie.

         One of the theories which had kept the world from a major World War again, or nuclear war to this point was the idea of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction).  That idea was both the Soviet Union and the United States knew that they each had enough nuclear weapons to blow each other off the face of the earth.  Because of this, neither would want to start a war because if they did - there was a good chance their nation would also be destroyed. 

Mutually = Both

Assured = Definitely

Destruction = Death

"In the final weeks of October 1962 the Cuban Missile Crisis between the United States and the USSR brings the world to the brink of nuclear war after U.S. spy planes detect Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba. On October 16, 1962 President John F. Kennedy demands removal of the weapons. The U.S. then blockades Soviet ships headed for Cuba. The confrontation ends when the Soviets withdraw their missiles and the U.S. promises not to invade Cuba. The most dangerous and frightening clash of the Cold War, the crisis leads to a thaw in relations between the sides and a nuclear test ban treaty" (www.encarta.com).