Domino Theory Part 3: Vietnam, the Communists and nuclear weapons

Courtesy instruct.

westvalley.edu/kelly

Courtesy http://www.russia-ic.com/

The Soviet Union developed the A-bomb in 1949. 

They further developed the H-Bomb in 1955.

Courtesy interestingfacts.org

When Sputnik circled the globe in 1957 it demonstrated to the world that a nuclear warhead on a missile could travel from the Soviet Union to the United States.

With the help of the Soviets, The Chinese developed nuclear weapons in late 1964. There is an interesting story about why the Soviets aided the Chinese. I will relate that story in a later blog.

Courtesy cla.calpoly.edu

With the three enemies all having the capability to create and deliver nuclear weapons, any direct confrontation between the superpowers threatened the survival of the human race.

Eisenhower developed the “massive retaliation” doctrine. If you attack us, we can and will annihilate you. After the Cuban Missile Crisis, massive retaliation gave way to Kennedy’s “flexible response” which basically said, we’ll match whatever you send at us, but we’ll maintain the ability to obliterate you … several times over.

Courtesy Nixon Archives

Because a direct confrontation between the free world and the communist became so dangerous, the communists attempted to bring the third world countries into their sphere of influence by the use of wars of national liberation, using terrorism and guerrilla warfare.

Many of the former colonies belonged to European countries that were devastated during WWII. These emerging nations were ripe breeding grounds for communist agitators that provoked these wars of national liberation.

Courtesy instruct.

westvalley.edu/kelly

John Foster Dulles explained, The Communist “scheme is to whip up the spirit of nationalism so that it becomes violent[i]” using professional agitators. Then Communist military and technical leadership and the provision of military supplies “enlarge the violence. In these ways, international communism gets a stranglehold on the people and it uses that power to ‘amalgamate’ the peoples in the Soviet orbit[ii]”.

Courtesy McNamara, In Retrospect

  

All the dominos in Eastern Europe fell while the world stood by and watched. Congress let China go by cutting funding to Chang Kai Shek. Western leaders knew that a line had to be drawn somewhere. 

Vietnam was chosen as the place where the line was drawn to stop communist expansionism.

Next post: How did the Communists get the Nukes?

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[i] John Foster Dulles (1888-1959), speech to Overseas Press Club (New York, March 29, 1954) Department of State Bulletin, April 12, 1954: America Should Consider Direct Military Intervention in Indochina, pp. 37-38.

[ii] Ibid.