Beginning after the First World War, and on into the later half of the 20th century, the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in a state of political, economic, and military tension known as the Cold War. These tensions, primarily divided between sentiments of eastern collectivist communism and western individualist capitalist system, had a profound impact on not only the policies of these governments, but also the operations of other nations as well. As other parts of the world were reorganized after the fallout of World War II, their systems became largely implanted with the desires of one of these two supporters. As people around the world worked to establish a new social order, the political and economic desires of the two superpowers worked to promote their own values. As the Soviet Union worked to consolidate its influence over the various small states that surrounded its borders, the United States worked at containment, opting to focus their efforts on swaying the most strategically advantageous states for limiting the spread of communism. Inevitably, as the underlying tensions between these two ideologies were used in order to promote the development of specific forms of government, violence and war erupted throughout the regions. These movements for decolonization or national liberation overlapped with the East-West conflict to create “hot spots” in the global Cold War. In looking at these events, it is evident that The Vietnam War and The Korean War were important factors that dramatically altered the geopolitical landscape during this period. In understanding these cases, the impact of the Cold War climate on the various developing nations of the world can be assessed.
Following World War II, Korea had been divided by the United Nations after the Japanese forces, which had occupied the peninsula for decades, were pushed out from the northern half by the Soviet Union. After the U.S. brokered a peace agreement between the two, the country was divided at the 38th parallel. Rising Cold War concerns, however, caused the U.S. to occupy the southern half in order to support the nation against northern aggression. The Korean War was largely a result of both the north and south Korean government’s claims to legitimacy over rule of the entire peninsula. Due to this, neither country viewed the parallel as having any permanence. Due to “the Soviet nuclear test and the fall of Chinamany felt that Russian aggressiveness was increasing” (Jervis 577). Growing military policies in the United States that were decided based on the Domino Theory, presented a context in which tensions were only made worse. The Domino Theory was a view that as communism spread more and more countries would fall to its influence. Supported by both the Soviet Union and China, the northern Vietnamese launched an offensive against the south which initially resulted in the U.S. and the South Korean government being pushed out. However, after gaining a foothold, the effort to retake the south would begin. In 1953, the war ended with the north and south once again being divided, this time by the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which creates a buffer between the two opposing political orders. Even in the modern day, both the DMZ and the tensions between north and south exist. The conflict was largely the result of a larger conflict between eastern and western powers which viewed the other as being a threat to their own interests.
The roots of the Vietnam war started for the United States once the French officially withdrew from the country in January of 1950. The French occupation dated back to around one hundred years and, despite various attempts at being overthrown, they were able to find limited success. However, after the Second World War ended, the previously U.S. and China funded group was able to establish its independence from France after its defeat by the Germans. At this point, the U.S. backed the democratic State of Vietnam, which was also backed by France and Great Britain, while the Chinese backed Viet Minh’s Democratic Republic of Vietnam, which was based on Marxist values and considered to be communist. “The U.S. decision to provide aid to the French in Indochina was based, in part, on the conception of a monolithic Communist movement expanding outward from its "origin" in European Russia” (Khan 162). The diplomatic isolation of Vietnam was based on the underlying sentiments of western political leaders that feared the establishment and spread of communist values throughout the east. In order to temporarily rectify the tensions that were created due to this split in policy the country was divided at the 17th parallel, creating North and South Vietnam as they are known today. South Vietnam was looked at as a cap that contained the spread of collectivist values from spreading beyond the peninsula. Throughout the 1960s, a variety of insurgencies that occurred in the south resulted in a significant involvement and escalation of U.S. troops in the region due to the concerns of Cold War leaders.
Both the Korean War and the Vietnam War present the results of policies directed at containment of communist values. The movements for decolonization or national liberation that occurred within these nations can be seen to overlap with the East-West conflict to create “hot spots” in the global Cold War. The continuing spread of communism through the collectivist cultural values that exist in the east were in conflict with the western desire to contain this spread and the underlying threat that it presented to their own sovereignty. These policies drew on underlying sentiments of the individual and society and demonstrate a deep divide that has existed in relation to the expectations that countries have of their citizens and independence. These values came into conflict during the Cold War and the rising movements within both Korea and Vietnam were largely affected by the decisions that were made during this period. The wars that erupted were the result of values directed at these countries from both without and struggles of ideology that were occurring from within.
Works Cited
Jervis, Robert. The Impact of the Korean War on the Cold War. The Journal of Conflict Resolution,
Vol. 24, No. 4. 1980. Print.
Khan, Abdul Zahoor. The Cold War in Southeast Asia: Vietnam Conflict. International Journal of
Business and Social Science. Vol. 2. No. 12. 2011. Print.
