The following videos were created by John Green for review purposes
Key Points:
The "hot spots" of the Cold War were areas that saw actual phsyical conflict, most of which were in Asia
The Korean War was the first true hot spot Americans were involved in from 1950-1953. - began as a Civil War between Communist North and non-communist South - US got involved to prevent North Korea from creating a unified Communist nation - China got involved out of fear that Americans would enter China as well - at the end of the war the country was still divided along the original division line (38th parallel)
The Vietnam War was a signifcantly more deadly, long and American involvement was more controversial - domino theory was the reason for the US involvement - originally the US troops were there to only "Advise" South Vietnamese troops
- major escalation of US involvement happened during Johnson's presidency after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (upsets balance of power)
- divided American public opinion (Hawks v. Doves) - credibility gap began as American people were being lied to about the war - Vietnamization was the gradual removal of troops from the war - seen as a failure because after the U.S left the war the country fell to Communism
