I think that the Cold War sparked political turmoil for the U.S. domestically in many ways, the nation began to lose trust in their leaders who lied to them about the rate of success that was being made in Vietnam. They also caused the nation to be angered at the troops because of what they saw on television that showed ground troops murdering villages full of people in North Vietnam. Lastly, they put a ton of stress on U.S. troops and did not give them the help and support that they had needed when they came home. As a result, many Vietnam War Veterans suffer from PTSD and the divorce and suicide rates for them rose. The American people were first scared when President Kennedy opened up about his fear of the Domino Theory_ which meant that all of the countries who became communist, would influence surrounding nations to fall under communism. Then, because of his fear of communism, President Kennedy sent troops into Vietnam and raised our involvement in the Vietnam War_ that was fought between North and South Vietnam. The North was communist and supported by China, the Soviets, and other communist countries. The South was mostly supported by the U.S. and some support from other democratic countries. South Vietnam had a poor government and needed a lot of support from the U.S. during the war. When American people watched videos of the violence in Vietnam, they stopped supporting the war and wanted their troops back home. Because of this, we used Vietnamization_ to train South Vietnam to fight their own war while we withdrawal our troops. We still gave them supplies and weapons so that they could afford to keep fighting and some U.S. troops stayed in Vietnam to help them. Our Presidents also caused some political turmoil in the U.S. because we would send troops into countries that we were not allowed to be in. During the Vietnam War, we wanted to destroy the Vietcong's path to supplies so we tried to reach the Ho Chi Minh Trail with the Invasion of Cambodia_. At the time, Cambodia was a no war zone for the U.S. and we broke the rule by sending troops into their country and causing warfare in their land. We also illegally sent planes through East Berlin in order to send supplies to our people in West Berlin. Our planes almost got shot down because West Berlin didn't know if we were trying to attack them. This eventually gave us the Berlin Airlift_ which made the Soviets unblock our pathway to West Berlin so we could make sure we had the supplies that we needed over there. One thing that did improve our relations with communist country, China, was Ping Pong Diplomacy_ which was when the U.S. table tennis team went to Japan for the Championships and they got invited into China. They were the first Americans allowed into China since they fell under communsim.
The Cold War sparked political turmoil for the U.S. internationally because we fought wars to help other countries stay democratic which angered communist countries because they wanted us to stay out of their wars. For example, the Bay of Pigs_ started the rivalry between the U.S. and Cuba because the CIA invaded Cuba in attempt to overthrow their leader, Fidel Castro for his close ties with USSR leader, Khrushchev. Dwight D. Eisenhower was concerned with the direction that Cuba's government was leaning so we invaded Cuba and it was a failed mission that ended in three days and caused the U.S. to lose trading rights with Cuba, we are also not allowed to go into Cuba anymore. Since Cuba had such a good relationship with the Soviets, the started the Cuban Missile Crisis_. This was when the Soviets out missiles in Cuba facing towards the U.S. and we also had our missiles facing their country. President Kennedy took all of our troops and moved them Southeast and created a blockade around Cuba. He then was on the phone with Khrushchev before they were about to launch the missiles and they talked out an agreement to both withdrawal their weapons and go home. We also managed to calm the turmoil between our countries through Detente_ which began in 1971 and inproved relations within the USSR and the U.S. Also, Salt I_ was when the Soviets agreed to work out an anti ballistic missile treaty within one year. One thing that caused turmoil internationally was the Berlin Wall_ that was put up because we did not want the Soviets to own all of Berlin. So, Berlin was split into two and the Soviets occupied the East half while U.S. occupied the West half. This caused a lot of turmoil in Germany because families were separated and the Soviets would kill people who tried to cross over to the democratic side because if they did not do this, everyone would leave the communist side. The a East half had limited variety, pollution, a bad economy, no privacy, no religion, and they had to do hard labor. The west side however, had all of the freedoms that we have in America. In the end, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution_ was signed to promote maintenance of international peace and security in Southeast Asia so that we can help countries that don't want to fall under communism. For my personal perspective I interviewed my father's friend who is a Vietnam War Veteran. He was one of the few who actually volunteered at the age of 19 to serve in the Vietnam War. When I asked him about his decision to volunteer for the war he said, "At the time, I was afraid that if I didn't help them fight for freedom, America would end up communist like the rest of them." I then asked if he ever regretted fighting in the war. His response was, "I don't regret volunteering because I would've been drafted anyways and I think it's easier to stay mentally....in order, if I knew that I believed in what we were doing this for. If I had the mind set that the government was forcing me to throw myself out there I don't think I would be okay. I would be angry at the government like most draftees were."
The Cold War sparked political turmoil for the U.S. internationally because we fought wars to help other countries stay democratic which angered communist countries because they wanted us to stay out of their wars. For example, the Bay of Pigs_ started the rivalry between the U.S. and Cuba because the CIA invaded Cuba in attempt to overthrow their leader, Fidel Castro for his close ties with USSR leader, Khrushchev. Dwight D. Eisenhower was concerned with the direction that Cuba's government was leaning so we invaded Cuba and it was a failed mission that ended in three days and caused the U.S. to lose trading rights with Cuba, we are also not allowed to go into Cuba anymore. Since Cuba had such a good relationship with the Soviets, the started the Cuban Missile Crisis_. This was when the Soviets out missiles in Cuba facing towards the U.S. and we also had our missiles facing their country. President Kennedy took all of our troops and moved them Southeast and created a blockade around Cuba. He then was on the phone with Khrushchev before they were about to launch the missiles and they talked out an agreement to both withdrawal their weapons and go home. We also managed to calm the turmoil between our countries through Detente_ which began in 1971 and inproved relations within the USSR and the U.S. Also, Salt I_ was when the Soviets agreed to work out an anti ballistic missile treaty within one year. One thing that caused turmoil internationally was the Berlin Wall_ that was put up because we did not want the Soviets to own all of Berlin. So, Berlin was split into two and the Soviets occupied the East half while U.S. occupied the West half. This caused a lot of turmoil in Germany because families were separated and the Soviets would kill people who tried to cross over to the democratic side because if they did not do this, everyone would leave the communist side. The a East half had limited variety, pollution, a bad economy, no privacy, no religion, and they had to do hard labor. The west side however, had all of the freedoms that we have in America. In the end, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution_ was signed to promote maintenance of international peace and security in Southeast Asia so that we can help countries that don't want to fall under communism. For my personal perspective I interviewed my father's friend who is a Vietnam War Veteran. He was one of the few who actually volunteered at the age of 19 to serve in the Vietnam War. When I asked him about his decision to volunteer for the war he said, "At the time, I was afraid that if I didn't help them fight for freedom, America would end up communist like the rest of them." I then asked if he ever regretted fighting in the war. His response was, "I don't regret volunteering because I would've been drafted anyways and I think it's easier to stay mentally....in order, if I knew that I believed in what we were doing this for. If I had the mind set that the government was forcing me to throw myself out there I don't think I would be okay. I would be angry at the government like most draftees were."
Domino Theory: www.http://princeton.edu
Vietnam War: www.http://history.com
Vietnamization: www.britannica.com
Invasion of Cambodia: www.pbs.org
Berlin Airlift: www.trumanlibrary.org
Ping Pong Diplomacy: www.http://smithsonianmag.com
Bay of Pigs: www.jfklibrary.org
Cuban Missile Crisis: www.history.state.gov
Detente: www.historylearning site.co.uk
Salt I: www.armscontrol.org
Berlin Wall: www.newyorker.com
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: www.ourdocuments.gov
Vietnam War: www.http://history.com
Vietnamization: www.britannica.com
Invasion of Cambodia: www.pbs.org
Berlin Airlift: www.trumanlibrary.org
Ping Pong Diplomacy: www.http://smithsonianmag.com
Bay of Pigs: www.jfklibrary.org
Cuban Missile Crisis: www.history.state.gov
Detente: www.historylearning site.co.uk
Salt I: www.armscontrol.org
Berlin Wall: www.newyorker.com
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: www.ourdocuments.gov