The Cold War's Hot Wars

A condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.

1. Korea Divided: From Japanese Rule to Two Rival States (1910-1948). Japan ruled Korea from 1910 to 1945; liberation then split the peninsula into two rival states by 1948.
2. The Korean War: Invasion, Inchon, and Chinese Intervention (1950). North Korea invaded the South in June 1950, and Inchon and Chinese intervention transformed the war by year's end.
3. Stalemate, Armistice, and Korea's Divergent Postwar Paths. The front stabilized near the 38th parallel, and the 1953 armistice, not a treaty, left Korea permanently divided.
4. From French Indochina to Dien Bien Phu: The Roots of the Vietnam Conflict. French colonial rule in Indochina collapsed at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, and Vietnam split at the 17th parallel.
5. South Vietnam, the Diem Regime, and America's Growing Commitment. Diem's authoritarian rule, the Viet Cong's rise, and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution drew America into direct war.
6. Americanization, Tet, and the War at Home. Johnson's massive troop buildup and the 1968 Tet Offensive turned American opinion decisively against the war.
7. Nixon, Vietnamization, and the Fall of Saigon. Nixon's Vietnamization narrowed U.S. ground war even as fighting spread, ending with Saigon's fall in 1975.
8. Human Cost and the Enduring Legacy of Korea and Vietnam. Both wars killed millions and tested containment, yet left opposite legacies: a frozen Korea, a reunified Vietnam.