Barron's AP World - Chapter 24 The Postwar World Part 3

an organization founded by Ho Chi Minh in 1941; after they defeated the Japanese in 1945, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam; in 1946, the French tried to regain their colony and war ensued

a battle in 1954 between the Vietminh and the French where the French were dealt a major defeat; after this, the surrendered to Ho Chi Minh

a meeting held in 1954 in which Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel; the Communists would rule the north, while the US and France would set up a Communist government under Ngo Dinh Diem in the south

Ho Chi Minh's land redistribution program garnered popular support in the north, while Diem's dictatorial rule made him unpopular in the south; realizing that an election would likely place Ho Chi Minh in power over the whole country, the South Vietnamese government, with US support, disregarded the Geneva agreements and abandoned plans for an election; in 1963 a group of South Vietnamese generals backed by the US staged a coup in which they assassinated Diem

the unpopularity of Diem's government led to the formation of these Communist guerrillas in South Vietnam

in August 1964, after President Johnson claimed that US ships were attacked, the US Congress passed this, which authorized the president to send troops into Vietnam; at the end of 1965, US soldiers were fighting in Vietnam, and American planes had begun to bomb North Vietnam; at the same time, the USSR and Soviet Union were sending troops and weapons to the Vietcong

the unpopularity of the Vietnam conflict in the US caused President Richard Nixon to begin a policy known as this; the plan called for gradual withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam while at the same time increasing the combat responsibilities of the South Vietnamese; in 1973, the last US forces left Vietnam; the North Vietnamese capitalized on the weakness of the South Vietnamese and overran the country in 1975

Cambodia continued to suffer after the Vietnamese conflict; in 1975, these Communists set up a government in Cambodia

the leader of the government that was set up in Cambodia; his effort to transform Cambodia into a Communist society led his followers to slaughter 2 million people; in 1978, the Vietnamese overthrew the Khmer Rouge and dominated Cambodia until 1989; although This man died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge continues to participate in the coalition government of Cambodia

this phraseology developed during the Cold War; the First World consisted of countries allied under NATO, and the Second World those allied under the Warsaw Pact; the Third World consisted of developing nations that did not have an allegiance, but whom the First and Second World attempted to coerce into their respective camps through domination today, with the fall of the USSR, the Second World is less defined, while the Third World has become a general term used to describe any developing nation

Third World nations were still in their formative stages, and looked for good models for their governments and economies; both the US and the USSR would vie for that role, sometimes instigating revolutionary wars; the US provided military and educational programs, and set volunteer workers such as the Peace Corps; the USSR offered technical and military assistance; some nations, such as India and Indonesia, remained nonaligned, independent of both the US and the Soviet Union

after World War 2, the United States supported the leadership of this Cuban dictator, who was overthrown by Fidel Castro in January 1959; while Fidel at first made improvements in the economy, healthcare, and conditions for women, he later showed himself to be a dictator who cancelled elections, imposed censorship, and imprisoned or executed his opponents; he then nationalized the economy and seized American-owned sugar refineries

in April 1961, the US backed an invasion by anti-Castro Cuban exiles who had been trained by the CIA in Florida; midway in the operation, the US under Kennedy decided not to provide air support for the operation, and the invaders were easily countered by Castro's forces; overall, this operation resulted in major embarrassment and a loss of prestige for the US under President John F. Kennedy

in 1962, Soviet Premier Khruschev began to secrety construct missile sites in Cuba; when their presence was noted by American U-2 planes, Kennedy and Khruschev faced a showdown; after Kennedy imposed a blockade of Cuba to prevent the installation of more missiles, people around the world worried that a nuclear war would ensue, but Khruschev eventually agreed to remove the missiles in return for a US pledge not to invade Cuba

after the missile crisis, Cuba depended upon Soviet support; it showed it's appreciation by sending 50,000 soldiers to fight against colonialism in Angola in the 1970s; when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, aid to Cuba ended, dealing a severe blow to the Cuban economy

in 1933, the US began supporting the dictatorship of Nicaraguan Anastasio Somoza and his family; in 1979, these Communist rebels overthrew the dictatorship of Somoza's son

at first, both the USSR and the US gave assistance to this Sandinista leader

when the US discovered that the Sandinistas had assisted socialist rebels in El Salvador, the US backed these Nicaraguan anti-Communist rebels, supporting them with both legal and illegal funds supplied by the administration of Ronald Reagan; in 1990, the Nicaraguan civil war ended when President Ortega agreed to hold free elections

a politician who defeated Daniel Ortega in the 1990 elections and ruled until the 1997 election of Jose (accent aigu) Lacayo

in Iran, this shah allied himself with Western governments and oil companies; in 1953, the US supported the shah during a revolt in which he was nearly deposed; the sha westernized Iran, but at the same time maintained secret police and did little to alleviate the poverty of millions of his people

conservative Islamic leaders who opposed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi when he de-emphasized the role of Islam in political affairs

in 1978, riots erupted throughout Iran, causing the shah to flee the country in 1979; when that occurred, this exiled conservative leader returned to Iran; banning Western influences, he restored traditional Islamic values and law

when the US allowed the deposed shah to enter its borders for medical treatment in 1979, Iranians retaliated by seizing the US embassy in Tehran and taking 69 hostages; 55 remained in captivity until their release in 1981

in 1980, Khomeini, from the Shia sect of Islam, became embroiled in a war with this leader of Iraq, who was a Sunni; this leader's military machine was taking advantage of the internal turmoil in Iran to gain a quick victory; during the war, in an effort to gain the release of it's hostages, the US secretly sold firearms to Iran; by 1988 the Iran-Iraq war ended as a result of a UN negotiated ceasefire

in 1979, when the Communist government of Afghanistan was on the verge of collapse from a Muslim revolt, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan; the US responded by placing an embargo on grain shipments to the Soviet Union and by boycotting the 1980 summer Olympic games in Moscow; the US, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia also equipped and trained the Afghan rebels; after a 10-year occupation, the Soviet forces withdrew

when Stalin died in March 1953 and Nikita Khruschev became the new USSR leader, he announced this policy, which was a denunciation of the brutal policies of Stalin and an attempt to rid the country of the memory of his rule

in October 1956, Hungarians overthrew their Soviet-dominated government; this more liberal Hungarian Communist formed a new government that provided free elections; in response, in November 1956, Soviet tanks rolled into Hungary and overpowered the Hungarians; pro-Soviet leaders were again installed in Hungary, and Nagy was executed

because of the Cuban missile crisis, Khruschev lost favor with the Communist party leaders, and in 1964, was removed from power; this man, his successor, clamped down on basic human rights and upon those who opposed him

this man was the Czech leader who in 1968 relaxed censorship laws; as a result, the Warsaw Pact nations invaded Czechoslovakia, demonstrating once again that the Soviet Union felt it right to intervene if the satellites failed to uphold communist principles

a policy adopted by the US after withdrawal from Vietnam that replaced the policy of brinksmanship; this policy stressed a cooling of Cold War tensions in order to avoid nuclear war

the president under whom détente began; it was manifested in his state visit to the People's Republic of china in 1972; later that same year, he paid a state visit to the Soviet Union, during which he and Brezhnev signed the SALT 1 (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) Treaty; the five-year pact limited each country to its 1972 levels of intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles

in 1973, 35 nations, including the US and the USSR, signed this, which was a promise to practice détente; they also dealt with the freedom of movement as well as the freedom to publish and share information, and called for cooperation in humanitarian endeavors

President Gerald Ford continued the policy of détente, as did President Carter, the when Carter signed the SALT 2 Treaty, it was not agreed to by Congress; the policy of detent eroded further when President Ronald Reagan took office in 1981

in 1983, Reagan initiated this program to protect the US against incoming enemy missiles; the program, nicknamed "Star Wars," was never activated, but remained a threat to Communist nations