Daniel Orr's Blog, page 15

August 8, 1919 – Anglo-Afghan War of 1919: Britain and Afghanistan sign a peace treaty that sets the Durand Line as the border between British India and Afghanistan

On August 8, 1919, Britain and Afghanistan signed a peace treaty that ended the Anglo-Afghan War. The treaty also set the Durand Line as the common border between British India and Afghanistan. Spanning 2,200 km, the Durand Line was delineated in 1893 between British diplomat Sir Mortimer Durand and the Afghan monarchy to set the boundary of their respective spheres of influence and improve diplomatic relations and trade. At that time, Afghanistan was under British suzerainty, but had its own government and was recognized as an independent state. Strategically, Afghanistan also served as a buffer zone in the “Great Game”, the territorial expansionist ambitions of the British and Russian Empires in Central Asia.

The British Empire’s prized possession during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was the Indian subcontinent. Afghanistan served as a neutral zone between the region’s two major powers, the Russian Empire and the British Empire.

(Taken from Anglo-Afghan War of 1919 – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 1)

Background During the early years of the twentieth century, Tsarist Russia and the British Empire in India were the regional powers in Central Asia.  The devastating effects of World War I on these two regional powers had a profound effect on the Anglo-Afghan War of 1919.  In Russia, the Tsarist government had collapsed and a bitter civil war was raging.  Consequently, Russia’s control of its Central Asian domains was weakened.  The British Empire, which included the Indian subcontinent (Map 7), was drained financially and militarily, despite emerging victorious in World War I.

With the two regional powers weakened by war, thesemi-independent Emirate of Afghanistan moved to assert its right ofsovereignty.  More important, Habibullah,the Afghan ruler, wanted to annul the Treaty of Gandamak, where Afghanistan had ceded its foreign policydecisions to the British Empire.  Adding strength to Habibullah’s diplomaticposition was that he had allowed Afghanistan to stay neutral duringWorld War I, despite the strong anti-British sentiments among his people.  Habibullah had also spurned Germany and the Ottoman Empire, enemies of theBritish, who had encouraged him to defy British domination in the region andeven launch an attack on British India, at a time when Britain was most vulnerable.

For these reasons, Habibullah asked the British to allow himto present his case for Afghanistan’sindependence at the Paris Peace Conference, where the victorious Alliedcountries had gathered to discuss the end of World War I.  Habibullah was assassinated, however, beforehis case was decided.  His son,Amanullah, succeeded to the Afghan throne, despite a rival claim by a familyrelative.

Upon his ascent to the throne, Amanullah declared Afghanistan’sindependence, doing away with his father’s policy of trying to gain thecountry’s sovereignty through diplomatic means. The declaration of independence was immensely popular among Afghans, asnationalist sentiments ran high. Amanullah therefore was able to consolidate his hold on power, even assome sectors opposed his leadership. Amanullah provoked the British by inciting an uprising of the tribalpeople in Peshawar, British India.  Using the uprisingas a diversion, he sent his forces across the Afghan-British Indian border tocapture the town of Bagh.

The British Army quickly quelled the Peshawar uprising and threw back the Afghanforces across the border.  The Afghansclearly were unprepared for war – although having sufficient numbers ofsoldiers as well as being assisted by tribal militias, they possessed obsoleteweapons, which even then were in short supply.

By contrast, the British were a modern fighting machinebecause of the technological advances they had made in World War I.  The British suffered from a shortage ofsoldiers, since much of their forces had yet to return to India from their deployment toother British territories during World War I. The British air attacks on Kabuldevastated Afghan morale, forcing Amanullah to sue for peace.

Afghanistanand the British Empire entered into peacenegotiations to end the war.  In thepeace treaty that emerged from these negotiations, the British grantedconciliatory terms to the Afghans, including returning Afghanistan’s right of foreignpolicy.  The British, therefore,essentially recognized Afghanistanas a sovereign state.  By this time, Afghanistan already had been nominallyindependent, as it had established diplomatic relations with the newly formed Soviet Union and its independence was gaining recognitionby the international community.

Afghanistanand the British Empire retained the DurandLine as their common border.  After thewar, Afghanistan continuedto serve as a buffer zone between the Russians and the British, because of theend of the previous non-aggression treaties between Tsarist Russia and theBritish Empire following the emergence of the Soviet Unionafter the Russian Civil War.

August 7, 1940 – World War II: Germany incorporates Alsace-Lorraine

On August 7, 1940, Alsace-Lorraine was incorporated (but not annexed) into the Greater German Reich. Since the French-German armistice (June 1940) guaranteed the territorial integrity of France, Hitler secretly drafted an annexation law that would annex French territory, to be announced after a German victory in World War II.

In 1942, residents of Alsace-Lorraine were granted Germancitizenship, and young men were drafted into the German armed forces, manyagainst their will (called malgré-nous,“against our will”). Some also volunteered. Most of the 130,000drafted from the region fought (and died) in the Eastern Front.

Alsace-Lorraine had previously been contested by France and Germany. In the Franco-Prussian War (July 1870-May 1871), the alliance of Prussia and other German states (soon forming the German Empire) defeated France and annexed the region. With Germany’s defeat in World War I, Alsace-Lorraine briefly proclaimed its independence before the French forces entered the region. With the Treaty of Versailles, Germany ceded the region back to France.

(Taken from Battle of France – Wars of the 20th Century – World War II in Europe)

Aftermath Despite Germany’s overwhelming military position at the end of hostilities, the armistice negotiations were conducted with consideration of other realities: for Hitler, that the French government and army could very well move to French colonies in North Africa from where they could continue the war; and for the French government, that it wanted to remain in France but only if the Germans did not impose “dishonorable or excessive” terms.  Terms that were deemed unacceptable included the following: that all of France would be occupied, that France should surrender its navy, or that France should relinquish its (vast) colonial territories.

Not only did Hitler not impose these terms, in fact, hedesired that France remain a sovereign state for diplomatic and practicalreasons: in the first case, France had ostensibly switched sides in the war,isolating Britain; and in the second case, France, with its large navy, wouldmaintain its global colonial empire, which Germany could not because it did nothave enough ships.

Thus, in the armistice agreement, Francewas allowed to remain a fully sovereign state, with its mainland territory andcolonial possessions intact, with some exceptions: Alsace-Lorraine became partof the Greater German Reich, although not formally annexed into Germany; and Nord and Pas-de-Calais wereattached to Belgium in the“German Military Administration of Belgium and Northern France”.  France also retained its navy, butwhich was demobilized and disarmed, as were the other branches of the Frencharmed forces.

Because of the continuing hostilities with Britain, as part of the armistice agreement, theGerman Army occupied the northern and western sections of France (some 55% of the Frenchmainland), where it imposed military rule. The occupation was intended to be temporary until such time that Germany had defeated or had come to terms with Britain,which both the French and German governments believed was imminent.  The Italian military also occupied a smallarea in the French Alps.  In the rest ofFrance (comprising 45% of the French mainland), which was not occupied and thuscalled zone libre (“free zone”), on July 10, 1940, the French government formeda new polity called the “French State” (French: État français), which dissolvedthe French Third Republic, and was led by Petain as Chief of State.

The “French State” had its capital at Vichy,some 220 miles south of Paris, and was commonlyknown as “Vichy France”.  Officially, VichyFrance retained sovereigntyover all France,but in reality, it exercised little authority in the occupied zones.  Vichy France did have full administrativepower in zone libre, and in the ongoing war, it maintained a policy ofneutrality (e.g. it did not join the Axis), and was internationally recognized,and maintained diplomatic relations with the United States, Canada, the SovietUnion, even Britain, and many neutral countries.

The Vichy government imposedauthoritarian rule, with Petain holding broad powers, which was a fullturn-around and rejection of the liberalism and democratic ideals of the French Third Republic.  Using Révolution nationale (“NationalRevolution”) as its official ideology, the Petain regime turned inward-looking(la France seule, or “Francealone”), was deeply conservative and traditionalist, and rejected liberal andmodernist ideas.  Traditional culture andreligion were promoted as the means for the regeneration of France.  The separation of Church and State wasabolished, with Catholics playing a major role in affairs, the French ThirdRepublic was reviled as morally decadent and causing France’s military defeat,and anti-Semitism and xenophobia predominated, with Jews and other“undesirables”, including immigrants, gypsies, and homosexuals beingpersecuted.  Communists and left-wingers,and other radicals were included in this category following the German invasionof the Soviet Union in June 1941.  Xenophobia was particularly directed against Britain, with Petain and other leadersexpressing strong antipathy with the British, calling them France’s “hereditary” and lastingenemy.

The Vichy regime waschallenged by General Charles de Gaulle, who in June 1940 in Britain, formed agovernment-in-exile called Free France, and an army, the Free FrenchForces.  De Gaulle criticized Vichy Franceas illegitimate, that it had usurped power from the French Third Republic, and that it wasa puppet state of Nazi Germany.  In a BBCbroadcast on June 18, 1940 (the so-called “Appeal of 18 June”; French: Appel du18 juin), he called on the French people to reject the Vichy regime and resist the German occupiers.Initially, de Gaulle received little support in Franceand among expatriate French, who regarded the Petain regime as being theconstitutionally legitimate authority for France.

Despite the armistice agreement’s stipulation thatdeactivated the French naval forces, the British government feared that theFrench fleet would be seized by the Germans who then would use it to invade Britain.  Thus, on July 3, 1940, British ships attackedthe French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir (in Algeria),sinking or damaging several French ships, while the French squadron at Alexandria (in Egypt) allowed itself to beinterned by the British fleet.

By October 1940, the Petain regime had began to activelycollaborate in implementing the Nazi government’s Anti-Semitism laws.  Using information of the poll registers onthe Jewish population that earlier had been collected by the French police,French authorities and the Gestapo (German secret police), working together orseparately, conducted raids where thousands of Jews (as well as other“undesirables”) were rounded up and confined in internment camps for eventualtransport to concentration and extermination camps in Eastern Europe; manyconcentration camps also were set up in France. Of the 330,000 Jews in France,some 77,000 perished in the Holocaust, a death rate of 25%.

As the armistice agreement also required France to pay the cost of theGerman occupation, the French became dependent on and subservient to Germanimpositions.  French farm production andresources were seized by the Germans, resulting in the deterioration of theFrench economy and causing severe hardships to the French people, who sufferedfood and fuel shortages or rationing, curfew, and restricted civil liberties.

The Battle of France resulted in some 1.5 million Frenchsoldiers becoming German prisoners of war. To prevent Vichy France from re-mobilizing these troops, Germanauthorities kept these French soldiers in labor camps in Germany and France,although some 500,000 were later released at various times, and the remainingone million freed by the Allies at the end of World War II.

By 1941, a French resistance movement comprising many smallgroups had emerged, with its memberships increased by the influx of communistsfollowing the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, and forced workevaders following the implementation of Service du Travail Obligatoire(“Obligatory Work Service”) in February 1943.  The French resistance soon also made contactwith de Gaulle’s government-in-exile, the British Special Operations Executive(SOE) and the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which sent supplies andagents.  The resistance conductedsabotage operations against military-vital targets, provided the Allies withintelligence information, and sheltered and helped escape downed Allied airmen,Jews, and other elements targeted by German and Vichy authorities.

In November 1942, following the Allied invasion of westernNorth Africa, the German military also occupied the territory of Vichy Francein order to safeguard the southern flank. The Italian occupation zone also was expanded.  While Franceostensibly continued its sovereignty over its territories, in reality, Germanmilitary authority came into force throughout France,and the Vichygovernment exercised little power.  TheGerman occupation of Vichy France also ended the latter’s diplomaticrelations with the United States,Canada,and other Allies, and also with many neutral states.

August 6, 1990 – Gulf War: The UN Security Council imposes economic sanctions on Iraq following Iraqi’s invasion of Kuwait

(Taken from Gulf War – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 4)

Background On August 2, 1990, Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait), overthrew the ruling monarchy and seizing control of the oil-rich country.  A “Provisional Government of Free Kuwait” was established, and two days later, August 4, the Iraqi government, led by Saddam Hussein, declared Kuwait a republic.  On August 8, Saddam changed his mind and annexed Kuwait as a “governorate”, declaring it Iraq’s 19th province.

Jaber III, Kuwait’sdeposed emir who had fled to neighboring Saudi Arabia in the midst of theinvasion, appealed to the international community.  On August 3, 1990, the United Nations SecurityCouncil (UNSC) issued Resolution 660, the first of many resolutions against Iraq, which condemned the invasion and demandedthat Saddam withdraw his forces from Kuwait.  Three days later, August 6, the UNSC releasedResolution 661 that imposed economic sanctions against Iraq, which wascarried out through a naval blockade authorized under UNSC Resolution 665.  Continued Iraqi defiance subsequently wouldcompel the UNSC to issue Resolution 678 on November 29, 1990 that set thedeadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait on or before January 15, 1991 as wellas authorized UN member states to enforce the withdrawal if necessary, eventhrough the use of force.  The ArabLeague, the main regional organization, also condemned the invasion, although Jordan, Sudan,Yemen, and the PalestineLiberation Organization (PLO) continued to support Iraq.

Iraq’sannexation of Kuwait upsetthe political, military, and economic dynamics in the Persian Gulf region, andby possessing the world’s fourth largest armed forces, Iraq now posed a direct threat to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. The United Statesannounced that intelligence information detected a build-up of Iraqi forces in Kuwait’s southern border with Saudi Arabia.  Saddam, however, declared that Iraq had no intention of invading Saudi Arabia, aposition he would maintain in response to allegations of his territorialambitions.

Meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney whoarrived in Saudi Arabiashortly after Iraq’sinvasion of Kuwait, SaudiKing Fahd requested U.S.military protection.  U.S. PresidentGeorge H.W. Bush accepted the invitation, as doing so would not only defend animportant regional ally, but prevent Saddam from gaining control of the oilfields of Saudi Arabia,the world’s largest petroleum producer. With its conquest of Kuwait,Iraq now held 20% of theworld’s oil supply, but annexing Saudi Arabia would allow Saddam tocontrol 50% of the global oil reserves. By September 18, 1990, the U.S.government announced that the Iraqi Army was massed in southern Kuwait,containing a force of 360,000 troops and 2,800 tanks.

U.S.military deployment to Saudi Arabia,codenamed Operation Desert Shield, was swift; on August 8, just six days after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait,American air and naval forces, led by two aircraft carriers and twobattleships, had arrived in the Persian Gulf.  Over the next few months, Iraq offered theUnited States a number of proposals to resolve the crisis, including that Iraqiforces would be withdrawn from Kuwait on the condition that Israel alsowithdrew its troops from occupied regions in Palestine (West Bank, Gaza Strip),Syria (Golan Heights, and southern Lebanon. The United Statesrefused to negotiate, however, stating that Iraq must withdraw its troops asper the UNSC resolutions before any talk of resolving other Middle Easternissues would be discussed.  On January 9,1991, as the UN-imposed deadline of January 15, 1991 approached, U.S. Secretaryof State James Baker and Iraq’sForeign Minister Tariq Aziz held last-minute talks in GenevaSwitzerland(called the Geneva Peace Conference). But the two sides refused to tone down their hard-line positions,leading to the breakdown of talks and the imminent outbreak of war.

Because Mecca and Medina, Islam’s holiest sites, were located in Saudi Arabia, King Fahd received strong localand international criticism from other Muslim states for allowing U.S. troopsinto his country.  At the urging of KingFahd, the United States organized a multinational coalition consisting of armedand civilian contingents from 34 countries which, apart from Saudi Arabia andKuwait’s (exiled forces), also included other Arab and Muslim countries (Egypt,Syria, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Turkey, Morocco,Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh). A force of about 960,000 troops was assembled, with U.S. soldiers accounting for 700,000 or about70% of the total; Britainand Francealso sent sizable contingents, some 53,000 and 18,000 respectively, as well aslarge amounts of military equipment and supplies.

In talks with Saudi officials, the United States stated that the Saudi governmentmust pay for the greater portion of the cost for the coalition force, as thelatter was tasked specifically to protect Saudi Arabia.  In the coming war, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, andother Gulf states contributed about $36 billion of the $61 billion coalitiontotal war cost; as well, Germany and Japan contributed a combined $16 billion,although these two countries, prohibited by their constitutions from sendingarmies abroad, were not a combat part of the coalition force.

President Bush overcame the last major obstacle toimplementing UNSC Resolution 678 – the U.S. Congress.  The U.S. Senate and House of Representativeswere held by a majority from the opposition Democratic Party, which was opposedto the Bush administration’s war option and instead believed that the UNSC’seconomic sanctions against Iraq, yet barely two months in force, must be giventime to work.  On January 12, 1991, acongressional joint resolution that authorized war, as per President Bush’srequest, was passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 250-183 andSenate by a vote of 52-47.

One major factor for U.S. Congress’ approval for war werenews reports of widespread atrocities and human rights violations beingcommitted by Iraq’soccupation forces against Kuwaiti civilians, particularly against members ofthe clandestine Kuwaiti resistance movement that had arisen as a result of theoccupation.  Some of the moreoutrage-provoking accounts, including allegations that Iraqi soldiers pulledhundreds of new-born infants from incubators and then left to die on thehospital floors, have since been determined to be untrue.

Iraq’s programs for developing nuclear, chemical, andbiological weapons were also cause for grave concern to Western countries,particularly since during the Iran-Iraq War (that ended just three yearsearlier, in August 1988), Saddam did not hesitate to use chemical weapons,dropping bombs and firing artillery containing projectiles laced with nerveagents, cyanide, and sarin against Iranian military and civilian targets, andeven against his own people, i.e. Iraq Kurds who had risen up in rebellion andsided with Iran in the war.

The coalition campaign to recapture Kuwait,codenamed Operation Desert Storm, consisted of two phases: the air campaign andland campaign.

August 5, 1965 – Indo-Pakistani War of 1965: Pakistani soldiers posing as civilians cross the Line of Control

On August 5, 1965 and the days that followed, some 30,000Pakistani soldiers posing as civilians crossed the Line of Control (the ceasefireline and de facto border resulting from the 1947 Indian-Pakistani War) andentered Indian-held Kashmir.  ThePakistani infiltrators carried out some sabotage activities but failed toincite a general civilian uprising.  TheIndian Army, tipped off by informers, crushed the operation, killing manyPakistani infiltrators and forcing others to flee back to Pakistan.

Then on August 15, the Indian forces crossed the westernceasefire line and entered Pakistani-held Kashmir.  The offensive made considerable progressuntil it was slowed at Tithwail and Pooch, upon the arrival of Pakistani Armyreinforcements.  By month’s end, thebattle lines had settled.

Armed clashes between Indian and Pakistani forces at Rann of Kutch in April 1965 were a precursor to a full-scale war in Kashmir five months later.

(Taken from Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 2)

Background As a result of the Indian-Pakistani War of 1947, the former Princely State of Kashmir was divided militarily under zones of occupation by the Indian Army and the Pakistani Army.  Consequently, the governments of India and Pakistan established local administrations in their respective zones of control, these areas ultimately becoming de facto territories of their respective countries.  However, Pakistan was determined to drive away the Indians from Kashmir and annex the whole region.  As Pakistan and Kashmir had predominantly Muslim populations, the Pakistani government believed that Kashmiris detested being under Indian rule and would welcome and support an invasion by Pakistan.  Furthermore, Pakistan’s government received reports that civilian protests in Kashmir indicated that Kashmiris were ready to revolt against the Indian regional government.

The Pakistani Army believed itself superior to its Indiancounterpart.  In early 1965, armedclashes broke out in disputed territory in the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat State, India.  Subsequently in 1968, Pakistan was awarded 350 squaremiles of the territory by the International Court of Justice.  In 1965, Indiawas still smarting from a defeat to Chinain the 1962 Sino-Indian War; as a result, Pakistan believed that the IndianArmy’s morale was low.  Furthermore, Pakistan had upgraded its Armed Forces withpurchases of modern weapons from the United States, while India was yet in the midst ofmodernizing its military forces.

In the summer of 1965, Pakistanmade preparations for invading Indian-held Kashmir.  To assist the operation, Pakistani commandoswould penetrate Kashmir’s major urban areas,carry out sabotage operations against military installations and publicinfrastructures, and distribute firearms to civilians in order to incite arevolt.  Pakistani military plannersbelieved that Pakistanwould have greater bargaining power with the presence of a civilian uprising,in case the war went to international arbitration.

August 4, 1964 – Vietnam War: The American ships USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy report being attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin

(Taken from Vietnam War – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 5)

As early as 1961, under the top-secret Oplan 34A by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and later in 1964, under the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Operations Group (MACV-SOG), U.S. Navy fast patrol boats transported South Vietnamese commandos on small attack missions inside North Vietnam.  One such mission, which would have far-reaching consequences, occurred on July 30, 1964, when South Vietnamese commandos attacked two North Vietnamese islands in the Gulf of Tonkin.  The USS Maddox, an American destroyer operating as an electronic spy ship, was located nearby.  On August 2, 1964, the commander of the USS Maddox reported being attacked by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats, but that the attack was thwarted.  Two days later, August 4, the USS Maddox, now joined by another electronic spy ship, the USS Turner Joy, again reported being attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats.

This second incident was later determined to not havingoccurred.  However, after the second“attack”, President Johnson announced to the American public that U.S. naval forces in the Gulfof Tonkin had been attacked by North Vietnam.  U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson then orderedretaliatory air strikes, where U.S.planes struck North Vietnamese naval bases and an oil storage facility.  President Johnson also called on the U.S.Congress to pass a resolution that would guarantee “freedom…and peace in Southeast Asia” and support “all necessary action toprotect our Armed Forces”.

On August 7, 1964, U.S. Congress overwhelmingly passed theGulf of Tonkin Resolution (Senate: 88-2 and House of Representatives: 416-0),which came into law on August 10, which gave President Johnson broad powers touse all necessary military force in Southeast Asia in support of its alliesthere.  The Resolution essentially gavePresident Johnson the authority to go to war against North Vietnam without first obtaininga Declaration of War from U.S. Congress. 

Southeast Asia during the 1960s

The U.S.air strikes, the U.S. spyactivities in the Gulf of Tonkin, and the South Vietnamese infiltrationmissions convinced the Hanoi government that theUnited States wasintervening in the war, and worse, it was planning to invade North Vietnam.  As a result, the Ho regime increased militarypressure in South Vietnam tooverthrow the Saigon government before the United States could intervene.  In early 1965, North Vietnamese and Viet Congforces launched a series of attacks across South Vietnam, with concentrationsin the Central Highlands east toward the coast to cut South Vietnam in two, andin the region west of Saigon and near the Cambodian border.  U.S.military installations in South Vietnam also were targeted.  In November 1964, the Bien Hoa airport,headquarters of the U.S. Air Force command in South Vietnam, was attacked by VietCong mortar fire, killing and wounding dozens of American servicemen anddamaging several planes.  Then inFebruary 1965, Viet Cong units attacked the U.S.air base at Pleiku, Central Highlands, killing 9 U.S.soldiers and wounding 70 others, which was followed three days later, by anexplosion that destroyed a hotel at Qui Nohn, killing 23 U.S. soldiers.

As a result of the Viet Cong escalation, President Johnsonauthorized Operation Rolling Thunder, a limited-scale bombing of North Vietnam, which began on March 2, 1965,with the stated aims of boosting South Vietnamese morale, deterring North Vietnam from supporting the Viet Cong/NLF,and stopping North Vietnamese forces from entering South Vietnam.  Initially planned to last only 8 weeks, thebombing campaign became an incremental, sustained effort that lasted 44 months,ending in November 1968.  Under OperationRolling Thunder, President Johnson required that the U.S. military’s list ofpotential targets be subject to his approval, which generated greatconsternation among the generals who wanted an all-out, large-scale strategicbombing campaign of North Vietnam.  U.S. planes also were only allowed to hittargets (such as road and rail systems, industries, and air defenses) inside adesignated radius away from Hanoi and Haiphong, as well as froma buffer zone from the North Vietnam-China border.  Some of these restrictions would be liftedlater.

The incremental nature of Operation Rolling Thunder allowed North Vietnamenough time to strengthen its air defenses. Thus, by 1968, Hanoi, Haiphong, and other vital centers werebristling with 8,000 Soviet-supplied anti-aircraft guns and 300 surface-to-airmissile batteries, supported by 350 radar facilities, as well as scores ofSoviet MiG-21 fighter planes and 15,000 Soviet air-defense advisers.  In February 1965, the Soviet Union furtherincreased its military support to North Vietnamwhen an American bombing attack coincided with the visit of Soviet DeputyPremier Alexei Kosygin to Hanoi.Previously, the Soviet government had sought a diplomatic resolution to theVietnam War (despite providing military support to North Vietnam).  Ultimately, by the end of Rolling Thunder,the United States lost over900 planes, while North Vietnamcontinued to deliver even larger amounts of weapons to South Vietnamthrough the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Throughout the war, the United States launched other aerial operations (Steel Tiger,Tiger Hound, and Commando Hunt) on the Ho Chi Minh Trail to try and stop theflow of men and materiel from North Vietnamto South Vietnam,but all of these ultimately proved unsuccessful.

August 3, 1959 – Guinea-Bissau War of Independence: Portuguese police fires on striking dock workers in Bissau

On August 3, 1959, Portugal’s colonial police force opened fire on striking dock workers in Bissau, the capital of Portuguese Guinea. Dozens of workers were killed. The workers had been incited to strike by the nationalist organization, African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde or PAIGC (Portuguese: Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde), whose aim was to end Portuguese colonial rule and achieve independence for Guinea and Cape Verde. Initially, the PAIGC wanted to achieve its aims through dialogue and a negotiated settlement with the Portuguese.  By the late 1950s, however, the Guinean nationalists had become radicalized and militant.

In March 1962, PAIGC militants in Cape Verde attacked Praia.  Other rebel attacks also took place in manyparts of Guinea.  In June 1963, the rebels attacked governmentforces in the Guinean towns of Tite, Buba, and Falacunda.  By July, rebel activities also were felt inthe Guinean northern regions.  Earlier inApril 1964, the Portuguese had lost control of the Guinean southern coast afterthe rebels captured Como Islands.  Cassaca and Cantanhez also fell to theinsurgents.

The sudden outbreak and rapid spread of the insurrectioncaught the Portuguese by surprise.  ThePortuguese Army also had just recently transferred some of its Guinean forcesto Angola and Mozambique,where other wars for independence had broken out earlier.    Consequently, the remaining Portugueseforces in Guineawere undermanned and were reduced to defending the remaining territories stillunder colonial control.

Portugal’s colonial possessions in Africa consisted of Angola, Mozambique, Portuguese-Guinea, Cape Verde, and Sao Tome & Principe.

(Taken from Portuguese Colonial Wars – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 3)

During the colonial era, Portugal’s territorial possessions in Africa consisted of Angola, Mozambique, Portuguese Guinea, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Príncipe (Map 24).  When World War II ended in 1945, a surge of nationalism swept across the various African colonies as independence groups emerged and demanded the end of European colonial rule.  As these demands soon intensified into greater agitation and violence, most of the European colonizers relented, and by the 1960s, most of the African colonies had become independent countries.

Bucking the trend, Portugal was determined to holdonto its colonial possessions and went so far as to declare them “overseasprovinces”, thereby formally incorporating them into the national territoriesof the motherland.  Nearly all the blackAfrican liberation movements in these Portuguese “provinces” turned their attentionfrom trying to gain independence through negotiated settlement to launchinginsurgencies, thereby starting revolutionary wars.  These wars took place through the early 1960sto the first half of the 1970s, and were known collectively as the PortugueseColonial War, and pitted the Portuguese Armed Forces against the Africanguerilla militias in Angola,Mozambique,and Portuguese Guinea.  At the war’speak, some 150,000 Portuguese soldiers were deployed in Africa.

By the 1970s, these colonial wars had become extremelyunpopular in Portugal,because of the mounting deaths in Portuguese soldiers, the irresolvable natureof the wars through military force, and the fact that the Portuguese governmentwas using up to 40% of the national budget to the wars and thus impinging onthe social and economic development of Portuguese society.  Furthermore, the wars had isolated Portugal diplomatically, with the United Nationsconstantly putting pressure on the Portuguese government to decolonize, andmost of the international community imposing a weapons embargo and otherrestrictions on Portugal.  In April 1974, dissatisfied officers of themilitary carried out a coup that deposed the authoritarian regime of PrimeMinister Marcelo Caetano.  The coup,known as the Carnation Revolution, produced a sudden and dramatic shift in thecourse of the colonial wars.

August 2, 1934 – Hitler becomes Fuhrer of Germany

On August 2, 1934, Chancellor Adolf Hitler became the Fuhrer(“leader”) of Germanyupon the death of 86-year old President Paul von Hindenburg that same day.  One day earlier, August 1, anticipating Hindenburg’sdeath, Hitler had his cabinet pass the “Law Concerning the Highest State Officeof the Reich”, which provided that upon Hindenburg’s death, the positions ofpresident and chancellor would be merged under the title of “Leader andChancellor”.

Thus upon Hindenburg’s death, Hitler assumed the dual roles of head of state and head of government, in effect becoming absolute dictator of Germany. Meanwhile, Hitler had earlier co-opted the heads of the powerful Germany military to his support by promising to suppress his Nazi paramilitary SA (Sturmabteilung; “Storm Detachment”) and allow the armed forces pre-eminence in military affairs.  Finally, on August 1934, in a plebiscite to the German people, 90% of voters agreed with Hitler to merge the offices of president and chancellor.

(Taken from Hitler and the Nazis in Power – Wars of the 20th Century – World War II in Europe)

In October 1929, the severe economic crisis known as the Great Depression began in the United States, and then spread out and affected many countries around the world.  Germany, whose economy was dependent on the United States for reparations payments and corporate investments, was badly hit, and millions of workers lost their jobs, many banks closed down, and industrial production and foreign trade dropped considerably.

The Weimargovernment weakened politically, as many Germans turned to radical ideologies,particularly Hitler’s ultra-right wing nationalist Nazi Party, as well as theGerman Communist Party.  In the 1930federal elections, the Nazi Party made spectacular gains and became a majorpolitical party with a platform of improving the economy, restoring politicalstability, and raising Germany’sinternational standing by dealing with the “unjust” Versailles treaty.  Then in two elections held in 1932, the Nazisbecame the dominant party in the Reichstag (German parliament), albeit withoutgaining a majority.  Hitler long soughtthe post of German Chancellor, which was the head of government, but he wasrebuffed by the elderly President Paul von Hindenburg , who distrustedHitler.  At this time, Hitler’s ambitionswere not fully known, and following a political compromise by rival parties, inJanuary 1933, President Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor, with fewNazis initially holding seats in the new Cabinet.  The Chancellorship itself had little power,and the real authority was held by the President (the head of state).

On the night of February 27, 1933, fire broke out at theReichstag, which led to the arrest and execution of a Dutch arsonist, acommunist, who was found inside the building. The next day, Hitler announced that the fire was the signal for Germancommunists to launch a nationwide revolution. On February 28, 1933, the German parliament passed the “Reichstag FireDecree” which repealed civil liberties, including the right of assembly andfreedom of the press.  Also rescinded wasthe writ of habeas corpus, allowing authorities to arrest any person withoutthe need to press charges or a court order. In the next few weeks, the police and Nazi SA paramilitary carried out asuppression campaign against communists (and other political enemies) across Germany,executing communist leaders, jailing tens of thousands of their members, andeffectively ending the German Communist Party. Then in March 1933, with the communists suppressed and other partiesintimidated, Hitler forced the Reichstag to pass the Enabling Act, whichallowed the government (i.e. Hitler) to enact laws, even those that violatedthe constitution, without the approval of parliament or the president.  With nearly absolute power, the Nazis gainedcontrol of all aspects of the state.  InJuly 1933, with the banning of political parties and coercion into closure ofthe others, the Nazi Party became the sole legal party, and Germany became de facto a one-partystate.

At this time, Hitler grew increasingly alarmed at themilitary power of the SA, particularly distrusting the political ambitions ofits leader, Ernst Rohm.  On June 30-July2, 1934, on Hitler’s orders, the loyalist Nazi SS (Schutzstaffel; English:Protection Squadron) and Gestapo (Secret Police) purged the SA, killinghundreds of its leaders including Rohm, and jailing thousands of its members,violently bringing the SA organization (which had some three million members)to its knees.  The purge benefited Hitlerin two ways: First, he became the undisputed leader of the Nazi apparatus, andSecond and equally important, his standing greatly increased with the upperclass, business and industrial elite, and German military; the latter,numbering only 100,000 troops because of the Versailles treaty restrictions,also felt threatened by the enormous size of the SA.

In early August 1934, with the death of PresidentHindenburg, Hitler gained absolute power, as his Cabinet passed a law thatabolished the presidency, and its powers were merged with those of thechancellor.  Hitler thus became bothGerman head of state and head of government, with the dual roles of Fuhrer(leader) and Chancellor.  As head ofstate, he also was Supreme Commander of the armed forces, making him absoluteruler and dictator of Germany.

In domestic matters, the Nazi government made great gains,improving the economy and industrial production, reducing unemployment,embarking on ambitious infrastructure projects, and restoring political andsocial order.  As a result, the Nazisbecame extremely popular, and party membership grew enormously.  This success was brought about from soundpolicies as well as through threat and intimidation, e.g. labor unions and jobactions were suppressed.

Hitler also began to impose Nazi racial policies, which sawethnic Germans as the “master race” comprising “super-humans” (Ubermensch),while certain races such as Slavs, Jews, and Roma (gypsies) were considered“sub-humans” (Untermenschen); also lumped with the latter were non-ethnic-basedgroups, i.e. communists, liberals, and other political enemies, homosexuals,Freemasons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc. Nazi lebensraum (“living space”) expansionism into Eastern Europe and Russiacalled for eliminating the Slavic and other populations there and replacingthem with German farm settlers to help realize Hitler’s dream of a 1,000-yearGerman Empire.

In Germanyitself, starting in April 1933 until the passing of the Nuremberg Laws inSeptember 1935 and beyond, Nazi racial policy was directed against the localJews, stripping them of civil rights, banning them from employment andeducation, revoking their citizenship, excluding them from political and sociallife, disallowing inter-marriages with Germans, and essentially declaring themundesirables in Germany.  As a result, tens of thousands of Jews left Germany.  Hitler blamed the Jews (and communists) forthe civilian and workers’ unrest and revolution near the end of World War I,ostensibly that had led to Germany’sdefeat, and for the many social and economic problems currently afflicting thenation.  Following anti-Nazi boycotts inthe United States, Britain, and other countries, Hitler retaliatedwith a call to boycott Jewish businesses in Germany, which degenerated intoviolent riots by SA mobs that attacked and killed, and jailed hundreds of Jews,looted and destroyed Jewish properties, and seized Jewish assets.  The most notorious of these attacks occurredin November 1938 in “Kristallnacht” (Crystal Night), where in response to theassassination of a German diplomat by a Polish Jew in Paris, the Nazi SA andcivilian mobs in Germany went on a violent rampage, killing hundreds of Jews,jailing tens of thousands of others, and looting and destroying Jewish homes,schools, synagogues, hospitals, and other buildings.  Some 1,000 synagogues were burned, and 7,000businesses destroyed. 

In foreign affairs, Hitler, like most Germans, denounced theVersaillestreaty, and wanted it rescinded.  In1933, Hitler withdrew Germanyfrom the World Disarmament Conference in Geneva,and in October of that year, from the League of Nations, in both casesdenouncing why Germanywas not allowed to re-arm to the level of the other major powers.

In March 1935, Hitler announced that German militarystrength would be increased to 550,000 troops, military conscription would beintroduced, and an air force built, which essentially meant repudiation of theTreaty of Versailles and the start of full-scale rearmament.  In response, Britain,France, and Italyformed the Stresa Front meant to stop further German violations, but thisalliance quickly broke down because the three parties disagreed on how to dealwith Hitler.

Italy,after being denounced by the League of Nations and slapped with economicsanctions after its invasion of Ethiopia,switched sides to Germany.  Mussolini and Hitler signed a series ofagreements that soon led to a military alliance.  Meanwhile, Britainand France continued theirindecisive foreign policies toward Germany.  In March 1936, in a bold move, Hitler senttroops to the Rhineland, remilitarizing the region in another violation of the Versailles treaty, but metno hostile response from the other powers. Hitler justified this move as a defensive response to the recentlyconcluded French-Soviet mutual assistance pact, which he accused the twocountries of encircling Germany,a statement that drew sympathy from some British politicians.

Nazi ideology called for unification of all Germanic peoplesinto a Greater German Reich.  In thiscontext, Hitler had long sought to annex Austria,whose indigenous population was German, into Germany.  An annexation attempt in 1934 was foiled byItalian intervention, with Mussolini determined to go to war if Germany invaded Austria.  But by 1938, German-Italian relations hadwarmed and were moving toward a military alliance.  With Britainand France watching by, inMarch 1938, Hitler put political pressure on Austria, and with the threat ofinvasion, forced the Austrian government to resign, and cede power to theAustrian Nazi Party.  Within days, thelatter relinquished Austrian independence to Germany,and German troops occupied Austria.  In a Nazi-controlled plebiscite held in April1938, an improbable 99.7% of Austrians voted for “Anschluss” (political union)with Germany.

In late March 1938, while Germany was yet in the process ofannexing Austria, another conflict, the “Sudetenland Crisis” occurred, whereethnic Germans, who formed the majority population in the Sudeten region ofCzechoslovakia, demanded autonomy and the right to join the Nazi Party.  Hitler supported these demands, citing theSudeten Germans’ right to self-determination. The Czechoslovak government refused, and in May 1938, mobilized for war.In response, Hitler secretly asked the German High Command to prepare for war,to be launched in October 1938.  Britain and France,anxious to avoid war at all costs by not antagonizing Hitler (a policy calledappeasement), pressed Czechoslovakiato yield, with the British even stating that the Sudeten Germans’ demand forautonomy was reasonable.  In earlySeptember 1938, the Czechoslovak government agreed to the demands.  Then when civilian unrest broke out in theSudetenland which the Czechoslovakian police quelled, in mid-September 1938, afurious Hitler demanded that the Sudetenland be ceded to Germany in order to stop thesupposed slaughter of Sudeten Germans. Under great pressure from Britainand France, on September 21,1938, the Czechoslovak government relented, and agreed to cede the Sudetenland.  Butthe next day, Hitler made new demands, which Czechoslovakia rejected and againmobilized for war.  In a frantic move toavert war, the Prime Ministers of Britainand France, NevilleChamberlain and Edouard Daladier, respectively, together with Mussolini, metwith Hitler, and on September 29, 1938, the four men signed the Munich Pact,where the Sudetenland was formally ceded to Germany.  Two days later, Czechoslovakiaaccepted the fait accompli, knowing it would not be supported by Britain and Francein a war with Germany.  In succeeding months, Czechoslovakia disintegrated as a sovereignstate: the Slovak region separated, aligning with Germanyas a puppet state; other regions were annexed by Hungaryand Poland; and in March1939, the rest of the Czech portion of the country was occupied by Germany.

Hitler then turned to Poland,and proposed to renew their ten-year non-aggression pact (signed in 1934) inexchange for revising their common border, specifically returning to Germany some territories that were ceded to Polandafter World War I.  The Polish governmentrefused, causing Hitler to rescind the pact in April 1939.  By then, Britainand France had abandonedappeasement in favor of assertive diplomacy, and promised military support to Poland if Germany invaded.  In the period May-August 1939, as war loomed,frantic efforts were made by Britainand France jointly, and by Germany, to win over to their side the lastremaining undecided major European power, the Soviet Union.  The Germans prevailed, and a non-aggressionpact was signed with the Soviets on August 23, 1939, which prompted Hitler tobegin hostilities with Polandunder the mistaken belief that Britainand Francewould not react militarily.

August 1, 1927 – Chinese Civil War: Chinese communists start the Nanchang Uprising against the Kuomintang

On August 1, 1927, Chinese communist forces seized control of Nanchang in Jiangxi Province from the Nationalist (Kuomintang) local government.  Four days later, August 5, with the approach of Nationalist forces, they withdrew from the city, taking 5,000 small arms and 1 million rounds of ammunition.

The communists then embarked on what is known as the “Little Long March”, a withdrawal south to the province of Guangdong. Along the way, they were attacked by Nationalist-affiliated forces, reducing the communist forces to only 1,000 troops from some 20,000 at the peak of the Nanchang Uprising. After breaking up into two groups moving in different directions, the remnants later joined with the forces of Mao Zedong in Hunan Province.

The Nanchang Uprising was the first battle between the Nationalist and communist forces in the Chinese Civil War. In the People’s Republic of China today, August 1 is celebrated as the founding of the People’s Liberation Army.

(Taken from Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 1)

History of the Chinese Civil War In 1911, two thousand years of dynastic imperial rule ended in China.  Suddenly left without a central government, the country fragmented into many semi-independent regions.  Then from southern China, a political party called the Kuomintang (English: Chinese Nationalist Party) formed a government whose aim was to reunite the country.

The Kuomintang built an army and then began a militarycampaign for China’sreunification, an event known as the Chinese Civil War.  The civil war lasted 23 years and consistedof four phases: first, the Kuomintang’s defeat of the regional military leaderscalled warlords; second, the Kuomintang’s contentious split into two rivalfactions, i.e. the right-wing Nationalists and the left-wing and Communistsalliance; third, these two rival factions’ brief alliance to fight the Japanesewho had invaded China; and fourth, the ultimate reunification of China by thevictorious Communists in 1950.

The origin of the Chinese Civil War can be traced to theearly 1900s, with many factors coming into play.  Among these factors were the growing oppositionof the Han people (China’s main ethnic group) to the ruling Qing monarchy; theassimilation of Western political ideas into Chinese thought; China’s militarydefeats to and occupation by the foreign powers; and the country’s backwardnessin stark contrast to the prosperity and development in the West.  These factors shattered the Chinese people’sconfidence in their government.

In 1911, revolts and civil unrest broke out in many areas ofsouthern China.  Being unable to stop the disturbances, theQing monarchy abdicated, which ended two millennia of Chinese dynasticrule.  China was left suddenly without acentral government.

In southern China,the Kuomintang emerged and formed a government, and declared that the countrywas henceforth a republic.  Sun Yat-sen,the Kuomintang’s leader, became president of China – nominally at least.  For in reality, the country had fracturedinto many semi-autonomous regions after the Qing monarchy’s collapse.  Sun’s first task was to reunify the countryunder his government through the use of force. However, he lacked an army to carry out a campaign of conquest,especially in the northern region of China where the Qing monarchy stillheld strong influence.  Sun thereforeentered into an agreement with Yuan Shikai, the powerful northern militarycommander, whereby Yuan would cease his support for the Qing monarchy inexchange for Sun stepping down and allowing Yuan to become China’s president.

After becoming president, however, Yuan suppressed theKuomintang and gave himself unlimited powers. He appointed military governors, commonly called warlords, in theprovinces, where they held great power and commanded a local army.  Warlordism would dominate China’s regional politics for manyyears.  With Yuan’s death in 1916, Chinaagain was left without a central government. The country fragmented into many quasi-independent regions, with eachregion coming under the control of a warlord.

Sun returned to China, having fled into exileduring Yuan’s dictatorship.  Sun restoredthe Kuomintang and restarted his plan to reunify the country.  This time, however, he decided to build hisown army.  He turned to the Westernpowers for military assistance but was turned down.  Sun then approached the Soviet Union, which promised him support on the condition that Sunallowed members of the fledging Communist Party of China to join theKuomintang.  Sun agreed.

In 1923, with Soviet funds, Sun founded a military academyto train military recruits for his new army. The recruits came from different ideological backgrounds: Chinesetraditionalists, right-wingers, left-wingers, Communists, etc.  Thus, the Kuomintang Army that ultimately wasformed included many political persuasions.

In 1936, Sun passed away. The Kuomintang was wracked by a power struggle, which ultimately splitthe party into two factions: the left-wingers (including the small group ofCommunists) led by Wang Jingwei, who was appointed chairman of the Kuomintang,and therefore Sun’s legal successor, and the right-wingers led by GeneralChiang Kai-shek who, as the commander of the Kuomintang Army, held the realpower.  Initially, the two sides workedtogether.

July 31, 1941 – World War II: German forces capture Smolensk

On July 31, 1941, units of German Army Group Center led by two panzer groups entered the Russian city of Smolensk, located 400 km west of Moscow. The Germans met fierce Soviet resistance during the two-month battle, but with the city’s capture, German Army Group Center had advanced 500 km into Soviet territory within 18 days since the start of Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941. At Smolensk, the Germans encircled and destroyed three Soviet armies (the 16th, 19th, and 20th), capturing 300,000 troops and 3,200 tanks. As well, the Soviets suffered 180,000 troops killed and 170,000 wounded.  German infantry units again were delayed in closing the gap with their panzer spearheads, allowing large numbers of Soviet troops (from the 19th and 20th armies) to escape to the east.

German Army Group Center also suffered heavy losses in men and material in the drawn-out battle. Historians have conjectured that German Army Group Center’s two-month delay on its advance to Moscow was consequential to its eventual defeat at the Battle of Moscow in December 1941.

Operation Barbarossa

(Taken from Wars of the 20th Century – World War II in Europe)

Operation Barbarossa: Central Sector On June 22, 1941, German Army Group Center (with 1.3 million troops, 2,600 tanks, and 7,800 artillery pieces), based in Poland, attacked into Soviet-occupied eastern Poland, where the uneven border arising from the 1939 partition of the country created salients whose weak flanks could be exploited by an invading force.  German Army Group Center had the greatest concentration of tanks comprising two panzer groups, as Hitler anticipated that this sector’s campaign into Moscow would be strongly resisted by the Red Army.  To exploit the Soviet salient at Bialystok, the two panzer groups crossed the frontier in a flanking maneuver, with the 2nd Panzer Group to the south and bypassing Brest, and 3rd Panzer Group to the north advancing for Vilnius, with both groups aiming for Minsk, 400 miles to the east.  Meanwhile, German Army Group Center’s three field armies also advanced north and south of the Bialystok salient, forming another set of pincers.

On June 23, 1941, a Red Army counter-attack wasstopped.  The next day, another Sovietcounter-offensive, led by an armored force of over 1,000 tanks, advanced for Grodno to break thelooming encirclement, but met disaster caused as much by fierce German airattacks as by mechanical breakdowns of the tanks and shortage of fuel.  Another Soviet attack with 200 tanks on June25 also ended in failure.

On June 27, 1941, the German 2nd and 3rd Panzer Groups metup at Minsk, and the next day, German Army Group Center’ssecond pincers closed shut east of Bialystok.  The trapped Soviet forces at Bialystok,Navahrudak, and Minskcontinued to resist, while elimination of these pockets by the Wehrmacht wasdelayed by lack of adequate German motor transports to hasten the advance ofinfantry units.  Full encirclement ofSoviet forces also was compromised as the German 2nd Panzer, which was led byGeneral Heinz Guderian (an advocate of armored blitzkrieg tactics), continuedadvancing east in contravention of Hitler’s pause order, which left gaps in thecordon that allowed Soviet units to escape. In the end, in the Bialystok-Minsk battles, although the Germanscaptured 300,000 Soviet troops, as well as 3,000 tanks, and 1,500 artillerypieces, some 250,000 Red Army soldiers escaped.

An annoyed Hitler faulted the panzer commanders forachieving only a partial capture of the trapped Soviets; in turn, the Germancommanders blamed the slow advance of the supporting infantry units.  But in the aftermath, the Soviet WesternFront was destroyed, with two field armies obliterated and three othersseverely incapacitated.

German Army Group Center then continued east toward Smolensk,which commanded the road to Moscow.  The German advance was again spearheaded bypanzers, with 2nd Panzer Group advancing in the south and 3rd Panzer Group inthe north with the aim of meeting up and encircling Smolensk. On Stalin’s orders, five Soviet armies from the strategic reserve weredeployed in Smolensk,reinforcing the Soviet 13th Army there in essentially reconstituting the SovietWestern Front.  The Soviets formed a newdefensive line around the city, and also took up positions along the old StalinLine along the Dnieper and Dvina rivers.

On July 6, 1941, Soviet armored units, comprising 1,500tanks, attacked toward Lepiel, but were repulsed and nearly wiped out by aGerman tank and anti-tank counter-attack. Then on July 11 and the following days, the Red Army launched morecounter-attacks, which all failed to stall the Germans.  On July 13, German 2nd Panzer Group took Mogilev, trapping severalSoviet armies.   Two days later, theGermans entered Smolensk,leading to fierce house-to-house fighting in the city.  German 3rd Panzer Group, advancing from thenorth, was stalled by swampy terrain that was exacerbated by the seasonalrains.  But in late July 1941, it tooentered Smolensk,and the two panzer groups closed shut and trapped three Soviet armiescomprising 300,000 troops and 3,200 tanks. As well, the Soviets suffered 180,000 troops killed and 170,000 wounded.  German infantry units again were delayed inclosing the gap with the panzer spearheads, which allowed large numbers ofSoviet troops to escape to the east.

July 30, 1969 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon makes a surprise visit to South Vietnam

On July 30, 1969, President Richard Nixon made an unscheduled visit to South Vietnam, spending five hours in the capital Saigon meeting with President Nguyen Van Thieu and also with U.S. military commanders. He also visited U.S. troops at Di Am, twelve miles north of Saigon. The trip was part of a broad itinerary, where he made stops in Guam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Romania, and Britain.

A divided country: North and South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

In South Vietnam, he stated that the war must allow the South Vietnamese to “choose their own way”, a reference to the ongoing “Vietnamization” process, where the U.S. military was gradually disengaging from the war, concurrent with building up the South Vietnamese military which would take over the fighting. “Vietnamization” had begun the previous year, near the end of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s tenure in office.

(Taken from Vietnam War – Wars of the 20th Century – Twenty Wars in Asia)

In 1969, newly elected U.S. president, Richard Nixon, who took office in January of that year, continued with the previous government’s policy of American disengagement and phased troop withdrawal from Vietnam, while simultaneously expanding Vietnamization, with U.S. military advice and material support.  He also was determined to achieve his election campaign promise of securing a peace settlement with North Vietnam under the Paris peace talks, ironically through the use of force, if North Vietnam refused to negotiate.

In February 1969, the Viet Cong again launched a large-scaleTet-like coordinated offensive across South Vietnam, attacking villages,towns, and cities, and American bases. Two weeks later, the Viet Cong launched another offensive.  Because of these attacks, in March 1968, onPresident Nixon’s orders, U.S.planes, including B-52 bombers, attacked Viet Cong/North Vietnamese bases ineastern Cambodia(along the Ho Chi Minh Trail).  Thisbombing campaign, codenamed Operation Menu, lasted 14 months (until May 1970),and segued into Operation Freedom Deal (May 1970-August 1973), with the lattertargeting a wider insurgent-held territory in eastern Cambodia.

In the 1954 Geneva Accords, Cambodia had declared its neutrality in regional conflicts, a policy it maintained in the early years of the Vietnam War.  However, by the early 1960s, Cambodia’s reigning monarch, Norodom Sihanouk, came under great pressure by the escalating war in Vietnam, and especially after 1963, when North Vietnamese forces occupied sections of eastern Cambodia as part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail system to South Vietnam.  Then in the mid-1960s, Sihanouk signed security agreements with China and North Vietnam, where in exchange for receiving economic incentives, he acquiesced to the North Vietnamese occupation of eastern Cambodia.  He also allowed the use of the port of Sihanoukville (located in southern Cambodia) for shipments from communist countries for the Viet Cong/NLF through a newly opened land route across Cambodia.  This new route, called the Sihanouk Trail (Figure 5) by the Western media, became a major alternative logistical system by North Vietnam during the period of intense American air operations over the Laotian side of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

The Ho Chi Minh Trail and other key areas during the Vietnam War.

In July 1968, under strong local and regional pressures,Sihanouk re-opened diplomatic relations with the United States, and his governmentswung to being pro-West.  However, inMarch 1970, he was overthrown in a coup, and a hard-line pro-U.S. governmentunder President Lon Nol abolished the monarchy and restructured the country asthe Khmer Republic.  For Cambodia,the spill-over of the Vietnam War into its territory would have disastrousconsequences, as the fledging communist Khmer Rouge insurgents would soonobtain large North Vietnamese support that would plunge Cambodia into a full-scale civilwar.  For the United States (and SouthVietnam), the pro-U.S. Lon Nol government served as a green light for American(and South Vietnamese) forces to conduct military operations in Cambodia.

The U.S.bombing operations on Viet Cong/North Vietnamese bases in eastern Cambodia forced North Vietnam to increase its military presence in other partsof Cambodia.  The North Vietnamese Army seized controlparticularly of northeastern Cambodia,where its forces defeated and expelled the Cambodian Army.  Then in response to the Cambodiangovernment’s request for military assistance, starting in late April to earlyMay 1970, American and South Vietnamese forces launched a major groundoffensive into eastern Cambodia.  The main U.S. objective was to clear theregion of the North Vietnamese/Viet Cong in order to allow the planned Americandisengagement from the Vietnam War to proceed smoothly and on schedule.  The offensive also served as a gauge of the progress of Vietnamization, particularlythe performance of the South Vietnamese Army in large-scale operations.

In the nearly three-month successful operation (known as theCambodian Campaign) which lasted until July 1970, American and South Vietnameseforces, which at their peak numbered over 100,000 troops, uncovered severalabandoned major Viet Cong/North Vietnamese bases and dozens of undergroundstorage bunkers containing huge quantities of materiel and supplies.  In all, American and South Vietnamese troopscaptured over 20,000 weapons, 6,000 tons of rice, 1,800 tons of ammunition, 29tons of communications equipment, over 400 vehicles, and 55 tons of medicalsupplies.  Some 10,000 Viet Cong/NorthVietnamese were killed in the fighting, although the majority of their forces(some 40,000) fled deeper into Cambodia.  However, the campaign failed to achieve oneof its objectives: capturing the Viet Cong/NLF leadership COSVN (Central Officefor South Vietnam).  The Nixon administration also came underdomestic political pressure: in December 1970, and U.S. Congress passed a lawthat prohibited U.S. ground forces from engaging in combat inside Cambodia andLaos.

Before the Cambodian Campaign began, President Nixon had announcedin a nationwide broadcast that he had committed U.S. ground troops to theoperation.  Within days, largedemonstrations of up to 100,000 to 150,000 protesters broke out in the United States,with the unrest again centered in universities and colleges.  On May 4, 1970, at Kent State University, Ohio,National Guardsmen opened fire on a crowd of protesters, killing four peopleand wounding eight others.  This incidentsparked even wider, increasingly militant and violent protests across thecountry.  Anti-war sentiment already wasintense in the United Statesfollowing news reports in November 1969 of what became known as the My LaiMassacre, where U.S. troopson a search and destroy mission descended on My Laiand My Khe villages and killed between 347 and 504 civilians, including womenand children.

American public outrage further was fueled when in June1971, the New York Times began publishing the “Pentagon Papers” (officiallytitled: United States– Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense),a highly classified study by the U.S. Department of Defense that was leaked tothe press.  The Pentagon Papers showedthat successive past administrations, including those of Presidents Truman,Eisenhower, and Kennedy, but especially of President Johnson, had many timesmisled the American people regarding U.S.involvement in Vietnam.  President Nixon sought legal grounds to stopthe document’s publication for national security reasons, but the U.S. SupremeCourt subsequently decided in favor of the New York Times and publicationcontinued, and which was also later taken up by the Washington Post and othernewspapers.