The Mysteries of History (April 7 Edition)
Truman's Cold War; Eisenhower's Cold War
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana, 1905
1950 — Truman Receives Report on Soviet Expansion
public domain image from wikimedia commons
On this date in 1950, President Harry Truman received a government report he had commissioned (the “NSC-68 report”), which took four months for the CIA, the Department of Defense, the State Department, and others to compile.
The report raised alarm about Soviet expansion, as it concluded the only two world powers remaining (following the devastation World War 2 had wreaked on America’s enemies Germany and Japan as well as their allies Great Britain and France) were the United States and Russia, and Russia was determined to expand its influence throughout the world. China becoming Communist a few months earlier had also rattled them.
The report advised Truman to increase military spending in an effort to keep pace with or surpass Russia in military might and readiness. Truman at first hesitated, as doing so would increase taxes in a time of peace, which citizens might find hard to accept. With the breaking out of the Korean War in June 1950, though, the American public became sold on the idea of ramping up deterrence of the Soviets and their allies, and Truman acted on the report’s recommendations in September.
One State Department official made the rather Machiavellianistic statement, “Thank God Korea came along” (meaning the War, not the Peninsula, of course).
The NSC-68 report remained top secret until 1975, twenty-five years later and now half a century ago.
public domain image from wikimedia commons
The following is what I wrote about the Korean War in my book Still Casting Shadows: A Shared Mosaic of U.S. History — Volume 2: 1914-2006:
The Korean War began on June 25th, when troops from the Northern, communist half of that divided nation invaded the Southern portion. Five days later, President Harry Truman authorized military intervention to help protect pro-U.S. South Korea. Actually, the confrontation is not considered to have been a war, but a “police action,” or simply a “conflict.” Whatever you call the involvement the two sides had with each other, it was not officially terminated until 1991, or 38 years after fighting had ceased in 1953. It was not until then that North Korea and South Korea finally signed a treaty of reconciliation and nonaggression.
Of course, many would consider the activities in Korea a war, regardless of its official designation. Up to this point, this was the most intense burst of heat the Cold War had given off. And it was considered a very high-stakes game, too. The Americans feared a “domino effect” if they lost South Korea to the communist camp. They were afraid that one “conversion” to communism would lead to another, then another, until they were outnumbered and out-gunned by the opposition. On the other hand, they didn’t want to “pull out all the stops” out of fear of triggering World War III, or, as many people referred to the potential event, a “thermonuclear Armageddon.” Th Korean conflict coincided with, and foreshadowed, another Asian conflict the U.S. would involve itself in. France, which had lost many colonies since World War II, such as Algeria, wanted its old colonies of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia back. Knowing the United States was also intensely interested in keeping communism in check, they asked for help from the U.S. in fighting communist rebels in Vietnam. America responded by sending “military advisers” and supplies, and contributed millions of dollars to the cause. This was just the beginning of American involvement in the quagmire there, though. America would remain entangled in one way or another with the problems in Vietnam from Truman’s Presidency at this time and on through Eisenhower’s, Kennedy’s, Johnson’s (and how!), and finally end in Nixon’s era.
public domain image from wikimedia commons below
Questions: Do you think the Korean War was, all things considered, a good thing? What would have most likely been the global outcome if the Korean War had not “come along”? Did you have any relatives who were involved in the Korean War? If so, how did they feel about it? Did you have any relatives who were involved in the Vietnam War? If so, how did they feel about it?
1954 — Eisenhower Plays with Dominoes
public domain image from wikimedia commons
Newly-minted President and ex-General Dwight Eisenhower warned against “French Indochina” (Vietnam) falling to the communists as precipitating a “domino effect,” where other countries would subsequently fall into Soviet line.
At first, Eisenhower’s words seemed to have little impact, but his “Domino theory” was later accepted by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson (LBJ) and influenced their decisions regarding aid to the non-communistic part of Vietnam as well as the use of American troops in the war there (after France had been defeated and absquatulated, the United States basically took their place, fighting to curb communism rather than regain a former colony, which France had been doing).
Questions: What might have happened had the U.S. not gotten involved in Vietnam? How would this have likely changed the world? How would this have likely changed the United States and its place in the world? Would there have been a “hippie movement” without the Vietnam War? If not, how would this have affected U.S. culture? What parallel is there between the Soviets in Afghanistan and then the Americans following in their footsteps there? How had France lost control over Vietnam (“French Indochina”) in the first place? Did Kennedy support the Vietnam War? Which President was in office when the Vietnam War ended?
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