Vietnam

1
Vietnam

• The Cold War Turns

2
Decolonization

• Around the world, parts of former empires such as
  those of Britain, France, and Holland demand
  independence. In 1940s-1970s, most of these
  former colonies in the Caribbean, Asia, and
  Africa become independent.
• Within these newly-formed states, however, there
  were power struggles over who would govern, often
  with implications over who among the major powers
  they would align themselves with. Both the U.S.
  and Soviet Union backed figures that they felt
  would be loyal to themregardless of how popular
  or unpopular they were among the people
  themselves.

3
Why Vietnam?

• U.S. had learned the lesson from the past that
  its isolationist stance of the 1920s and 1930s
  only gave fascists room to grow and expand. U.S.
  was not going to let this happen again. Was
  going to be more interventionist.
• Domino theory if one nation goes communist, the
  neighboring ones will.
• U.S. leaders felt they had to make a stand
  against communism worldwide or risk being thought
  of as weak.
• Looked to Korea as a model if reinforce the
  southern half, result would be the maintaining of
  the status quo of a divided nation.
• Initially, the situation looked relatively
  straightforward. After all, the U.S. had the
  military capacity to take care of what at first
  seemed like a relatively minor situation.

4
Eisenhower summarizes

• You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock
  over the first one, and what will happen to the
  last one is the certainty that it will go over
  very quicklythe loss of Indochina, of Burma, of
  Thailand, of the Peninsula, and Indonesia
  following, now you begin to talk about areas that
  not only multiply the disadvantages but now you
  are talking really about millions and millions,
  and millions of peoplethe geographic position
  achieved thereby does many things. It turns the
  so-called island defensive chain of Japan,
  Formosa, of the Philippines, and to the
  southward it moves in to threaten Australia and
  New Zealandso the possible consequence of the
  loss are just incalculable to the free world.

5
Phase I

• Turmoil in the French Colonies

6
French Indochina

• Southeast Asias history featured periods of
  independence followed by occupation
• For centuries, was occupied by China and has
  strong Chinese presence today.
• Remained independent from China from 939 to 1862.
  
• In 1860s, French forces under Napoleon III (same
  guy who invaded and held Mexico) in theory to
  prevent persecution of missionaries.

7
Regions

• In 1883, Vietnam became a French protectorate.
  Divided into three areasTonkin (north), Annam
  (central), Cochin China (south). France had a
  colony in Cochin China but puppet regimes in
  north and central.
• The main city in the north was Hanoi. The main
  city in the south was Saigon
• Also oversaw Kampuchea and Laos to form a region
  the French called Indochina.
• Neighboring nation of Siam (Thailand) remained
  independent.

8
Creating Two Vietnams

• World War II Vichy French government allows
  Japanese to occupy French Indochina. A
  resistance movement develops, one leader of which
  was Ho Chi Minh.
• 1945.    Ho Chi Minh declares independent Vietnam
  in wake of Japanese occupation. European
  countries ignore this and Vietnam goes back to
  France as a colony. Result is a struggle for
  independence against France.
• 1953-54. Face off at Dienbienphu. Defeat of
  French.
• 1954.    Geneva Conference. Creates North (under
  Ho Chi Minh) and South Vietnam (under Ngo Dinh
  Diem) with the 17th parallel as the border.
  Republic of Vietnam created in 1955. Cambodia and
  Laos declared independent.
• Diem was so unpopular that in 1960, the National
  Liberation Front or Vietcong formed in South
  Vietnam.

9
Reshaping Southeast Asia

• Laos made independent with tensions between Royal
  Lao and Pathet Lao (communist).
•  Cambodia recognized as independent.
•  U.S. behind the creation of the South East Asia
  Treaty Organization (SEATO). France, Great
  Britain, U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan,
  Thailand and Philippines. Pledged for collective
  security. Laos, southern Vietnam, Cambodia were
  also seen as part of interests to protect. Was
  legal basis for later intervention.

10
Phase II

• Supporting a Divided Nation

11
Kennedy and the Cold War

• Fidel Castro had taken control of Cuba in 1959,
  defeating pro-American Batista regime.
  Eisenhower in 1960 proposed that a well-led force
  of trained Cubans could retake the island.
•  In 1961 Kennedy launched ill-fated Bay of Pigs
  invasion attempt.
• Later that year. Khrushchev remained defiant and
  relations broke down over Berlin. Berlin Wall
  went up.

12
Cuban Missile Crisis

• Late October 1962 U.S. discovered that there
  were missile facilities being built in Cuba. JFK
  demanded withdrawal of missiles from Cuba.
• It shall be the policy of this nation to regard
  any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against
  any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack
  by the Soviet Union of the United States
  requiring a full retaliatory response on the
  Soviet Union. Meanwhile, any hostile move
  anywhere in the world against the safety and
  freedom of the peoples to whom we are committed,
  including in particular the brave people of West
  Berlin, will be met with whatever action is
  needed.
• Khrushchev backs down and ships carrying missiles
  to Cuba turn back.

13
1960-63   Kennedys plan in Vietnam

• Use special forces (Green Berets) when
  necessary.
• Support the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
  (ARVN) with training, materials, and technical
  support (basically, supporting Diems unpopular
  government).
• Conducting covert operations with the CIA
• Humanitarian operations among the people
• Move peasants into villages controlled by the
  government.

14
Conflicting goals

• Defense Secretary McNamara later mused that the
  U.S. had two contradictory goals
• 1)       That the fall of South Vietnam would
  threaten the security of the U.S. and the West
• 2) That only South Vietnam could defend
  itself and so U.S. should only support the
  country but not get involved.

15
Tensions Escalate

• Although had ties to U.S. Diems was unpopular
  with his own people. Religion (Diem was Catholic
  while most Vietnamese were Buddhist), and Diems
  acceptance of existing social hierarchies were
  factors.
• Public outcry against Diem escalates. Protest
  activities increase, such as Buddhist monks
  burning themselves alive to call attention to the
  issues.
• 1963. A coup ousts and kills Diem. Kennedy
  assassinated just weeks later

16
Phase III

• The U.S. Gets Involved

17
The Election of 1964

• Johnson runs on own.
• Republicans put forward Barry Goldwater as a
  hard-line Cold Warrior. First major mobilization
  of a conservative branch of the Republican Party
  based on ideological, rather than business
  issues.

18
Gulf of Tonkin

• August 1964. U.S.S. Maddox attacked. Shortly
  thereafter, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was
  issued. Authorized President to take all
  necessary measures to repel any armed attack
  against the United States and to prevent further
  aggression to protect Southeast Asia. Was what
  one official called the functional equivalent of
  a declaration of war. However, could bypass
  Congress in not needing a formal declaration.

19
Johnsons options

• 1) Bring in U.S. troops in all-out war
• 2) Increase U.S. involvement gradually
• 3) Negotiate a settlement
• 4) Simply pull out of Vietnam directly and let
  the chips fall where they may

20
Troops go in

• First troops go ashore at Danang in March 1965.
• In early 1965, were 50,000 U.S. troops in
  Vietnam. By end of the year, 190,000. By 1968,
  there were 540,000 troops in Vietnam.

21
The Working Class War

• Until 1969, selective service gave draft
  deferments to college students and recruited in
  poor communities.
• Vietnam conflict has been called a working class
  war. Soldiers tended to be working class,
  African American, Latino, etc. Only 12 of
  soldiers in Vietnam were college graduates. High
  school dropouts were most likely to serve and
  most likely to be killed in the conflict.

22
Waging War

• U.S. forces used technology such as helicopters,
  napalm (bombs of jellied gasoline), and aircraft
  to fight.
• Vietminh and Vietcong employed guerrilla
  techniques, taking advantage of the jungle
  conditions. Compared to U.S. soldiers, had less
  equipment and fewer things to carry. Could move
  quickly. Could also blend into the civilian
  population.
• U.S. soldiers were trained to accept rules of
  warfare that the other side did not always
  accept.

23
Ho Chi Minhs attitude

• "You can kill ten of my men for every one I kill
  of yours. But even at those odds, you will lose
  and I will win."
• "It is better to sacrifice everything than to
  live in slavery"
• "If the Tiger does not stop fighting the
  Elephant, the Elephant will die of exhaustion."

24
Official Rationale Military Assistance Command,
Vietnam

• Intro to Pocket Card, "Nine Rules"
• The Vietnamese have paid a heavy price in
  suffering for their long fight against the
  communists. We military men are in Vietnam now
  because their government has asked us to help its
  soldiers and people in winning their struggle.
  The Viet Cong will attempt to turn the Vietnamese
  people against you. You can defeat them at every
  turn by the strength, understanding, and
  generosity you display with the people.  
• DISTRIBUTION -- one to each member of the United
  States Armed Forces in Vietnam (September 1967). 

25
Excerpts from MACV Pocket Card, "Guidance for
Commanders in Vietnam"

• 1.) Make the welfare of your men your primary
  concern with special attention to mess, mail, and
  medical care.
• 4.) React rapidly with all force available to
  opportunities to destroy the enemy disrupt enemy
  bases, capturing or destroying his supply caches.
  
• 5.) Open up methodically and use roads,
  waterways, and the railroad be alert and
  prepared to ambush the ambusher.
• 6.) Harass enemy lines of communication by raids
  and ambushes.

26
Phase IV

• Things Start to Bog Down

27
Credibility Gap

• By 1967, there was a growing credibility gap
  between the president and the population between
  how the government portrayed the war as going on
  and what was happening. TV played a major role
  in this as cameras from the media and papers
  captured photos of the conflict and its horrors.

28
1968 Tet Offensive

• January 1968, a series of surprise attacks on
  part of 70,000 communist soldiers on U.S. and
  South Vietnamese forces.
• Became known as the Tet Offensive because it
  took place during the Vietnamese holiday of Tet
• Marked a turning point in the conflict.

29
1968 My Lai

• March 16, 1968. Lt. William L. Calley, Jr. led a
  platoon that attacked the village of My Lai in
  which over 500 men, women and children died.
  During the massacre,
• Following My Lai, there was a military cover up
  that got exposed in 1969. In process, Calley is
  sentenced for his involvement event and while
  other officers involved had charges dropped.

30
Protest

• Anti-war protests disrupt 1968 Democratic
  Convention.
• Campus unrest. Tied in with counterculture
  movement.
• 1970--Kent State

31
Woodstock 1969
32
Protest Demographics

• Especially noted among white baby boom students
  in college. By mid 1960s, built on earlier civil
  rights activities and techniques. However, were
  protests and disruptions in colleges around the
  world.
• Protesters tended to be college students who were
  white, middle and upper class vs. working class
  soldiers, many of Latino or African American
  backgrounds.

33
A Global Unrest

• In 1968, Soviet forces invade Czechoslovakia to
  crack down on attempts to liberalize the society
  of that eastern bloc country.
• Student unrest in colleges over what students
  felt were strict, confining policies resulted in
  demands for more student rights. Included
  protests in France, Germany, and Mexico.
• In China, Mao Tse-Tung launches a failed
  cultural revolution to root out western,
  non-communist, and intellectual elements in China
  that did not conform to Maos vision for the
  society. The turmoil from this period of 1966 to
  1969 produced a decade of turmoil rather than the
  promised utopia.

34
Southeast Asia

• Ho Chi Minh ran supply line Ho Chi Minh Trail
  through Laos, prompting U.S. involvement that
  ended up weakening those states. U.S. and CIA
  recruited Hmong in the north of Laos to fight the
  communist Pathet Lao.
• September 1969, Ho Chi Minh died.
•  Meanwhile Prince Sihanouk had declared Cambodia
  on the side of North Vietnam. U.S. supported a
  coup in 1970 and openly invaded supporting Lon
  Nol in power. U.S. also bombed NV supply depots
  in Cambodia.

35
A New President Richard Nixon

• U.S. involved in campaigns in Laos and Cambodia
  (after monarchy falls in 1970)
• Vietnamizationturning the campaign over to the
  South Vietnamese
• Massive use of air power
• Attempts at a diplomatic solution

36
Pentagon Papers

• Meanwhile, in 1971, the Pentagon Papers was
  publishedsuggesting that U.S. leaders, civilian
  and military, from Kennedy on, had not been
  truthful about what was going on in the war.
  Undermined publics faith in what the government
  was telling them.

37
Winding Down

• January 1973. Cease fire declared. Last troops
  go home.
• 56-57,000 U.S. killed, 300,000 wounded, 100
  billion in cost. 650,000 south Vietnamese
  deaths and 1 million North Vietnamese and
  Vietcong deaths.
• 10 million refugees. By 1985, 643,200 Vietnamese
  had taken refuge in the U.S.

38
Phase V

• Aftermath

39
Communists Win

• 1975 South Vietnam falls and Vietnam united under
  communist government.
• 1975 Pathet Lao take over Laos
• 1976-1978 Khymer Rouge takes over in Cambodia
  under Pol Pot. 1/3 of the population (2 million
  people) killed by the Khymer Rouge. Regime ends
  when Vietnam invades in 1978.

40
Implications

• Rise of southeast Asian communities in the United
  States.
• Wariness of getting involved in more wars.
• Restrictions on the presidency.
• Loss of credibility for Nixon administration that
  lays the groundwork for Watergate.