Question

asian history
the korean war
when china became a communist country in 1949, the united states feared what it might mean for the rest of south and east asia. in what president harry s. truman described as d________ t______, should one country fall to communism, others would surely follow – like one domino knocking down another and another. as such, the u.s. adopted a policy of c______ to prevent the further spread of communism around the world. this is how and why the u.s. military became involved in korea and vietnam during the c______ w________.

• the korean peninsula was divided at the $38^{\text{th}}$ parallel (line of latitude) after world war ii, with the north adopting authoritarian communism and the south becoming a capitalist democracy. north korea, with military aid from the soviet union and china, invaded south korea in 1950. in spite of u.s. military intervention, the conflict was a stalemate (a draw with no clear winner). the korean war never officially ended, although an armistice (ceasefire) was declared. the korean peninsula remains divided to this day.
• a similar situation occurred in vietnam in 1955 when the communist - controlled north led by h________ c______ m________ – with support from the soviet union – invaded the democratic south. once again u.s. forces intervened, but not successfully. under immense public pressure by the american people, and after more than 58,000 fatalities, the u.s. began withdrawing its forces from vietnam in 1969. the war between the north and south continued, though, with the south finally surrendering in 1975. vietnam remains a communist state to this day.

Explanation:

1. The first blank refers to the U.S. foreign policy framework that viewed communist spread as a chain reaction, known as the domino theory.
2. The U.S. adopted a policy of containment to stop the global spread of communism.
3. The Korean and Vietnam Wars were part of the Cold War, the period of geopolitical tension between capitalist and communist blocs.
4. The leader of communist North Vietnam who invaded the South was Ho Chi Minh.

Answer:

1. d: domino, t: theory
2. c: containment
3. C: Cold, W: War
4. H: Ho, C: Chi, M: Minh