10th American History

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• 10th American History
• Unit V A Nation Facing Challenges
• Chapter 19 Section 1 The War Develops

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Overview of the Film from the Vietnam Veterans'
Memorial 0242
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The War Develops

• The Main Idea
• Concern about the spread of communism led the
  United States to become increasingly violent in
  Vietnam.
• Reading Focus
• How did Southeast Asias colonial history produce
  increased tensions in Vietnam?
• What policies did Presidents Truman and
  Eisenhower pursue in Vietnam after World War II?
• What events and conditions caused growing
  conflicts between North Vietnam and South
  Vietnam?
• Why did Presidents Kennedy and Johnson increase
  U.S. involvement in Vietnam?

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Southeast Asias Colonial History

• France gained control of Vietnam by 1883 despite
  fierce resistance from the Vietnamese.
• The French combined Vietnam with Laos and
  Cambodia to form French Indochina.
• Ho Chi Minh led a growing nationalist movement in
  Vietnam.
• During World War II, the Japanese army occupied
  French Indochina.
• A group called the League for the Independence of
  Vietnam, or the Vietminh, fought the Japanese.
• After World War II, the Vietminh declared
  independence, but the French quickly moved in to
  reclaim Vietnam.

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Colonial Vietnam

• Ho Chi Minh
• Real name is Nguyen That Thanh Ho Chi Minh means
  He Who Enlightens.
• Participated in tax revolts against the French.
• Joined the French Communist Party.
• Believed that a Communist revolution was a way
  Vietnam could be free of foreign rulers.

• World War II
• Japan occupied French Indochina.
• Ho Chi Minh organized the Vietminh to fight the
  Japanese.
• Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945, and the
  Vietminh declared Vietnam to be independent.
• Ho Chi Minh hoped for U.S. support of their
  independence.
• The French reclaimed Vietnam after World War II.

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Vietnam and World War II

• By 1940 Japan had conquered French Indochina.
• The Vietnamese resistance leader by 1945 was Ho
  Chi Minh
• Ho would lead the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
  in 1945
• However, the French began to demand the return of
  their former colonies and replace Ho with a
  puppet government
• In 1948, the French re-installed Bao Dai as head
  of state of Vietnam, which now comprised of
  central and south Vietnam.

Ho Chi Mihn
Emperor Bao Dai
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What policies did Presidents Truman and
Eisenhower pursue in Vietnam after WW II?

• Saw Vietnam in terms of the Cold War struggle
  against communism
• Supported France unwilling to back the Vietminh
  because many were Communists

Truman

• Communists seized China in 1949.
• Communist North Korea invaded South Korea in
  1950.
• Communist-led revolts in Indonesia, Malaya, and
  the Philippines

Events

• Believed in the domino theory
• Sent arms, ammunition, supplies, and money to the
  French forces in Vietnam.

Eisenhower
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Colonial Vietnam

• How did Southeast Asias colonial history produce
  increased tensions in Vietnam?
• Recall By what name do we know Nguyen That
  Thanh?
• Analyze How did the experience of the Vietminh
  during World War II prepare it for war with
  France?
• Evaluate Why did Ho Chi Minh expect the United
  States to support Vietnams bid for independence?

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French-Indochina War

• Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh begin to fight the
  French.
• The U.S regard Ho Chi Minh as communist and move
  to support the French
• The French struggle was going badly. The turnover
  of French governments left France unable to
  prosecute the war with any consistent policy.
  France was increasingly unable to afford the
  conflict in Indochina.
• Chinese communists meanwhile increased help to
  Viet Mihn

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Vietnam after World War II

• The Domino Theory
• Domino theorythe belief that communism would
  spread to neighboring countries if Vietnam fell
  to communism
• To avoid this, the United States supported the
  French during the Vietnam War.
• By 1954 the United States was paying more than 75
  percent of the cost of the war.
• The French continued to lose battle after battle.
• Vietminh used guerrilla tactics effectively.

• France Defeated
• French soldiers made a last stand at Dien Bien
  Phu.
• French forces hoped for a U.S. rescue, but
  Eisenhower did not want to send U.S. soldiers to
  Asia so soon after Korea.
• The French surrendered on May 7, 1954.
• After eight years of fighting, the two sides had
  lost nearly 300,000 soldiers.
• The Vietminh had learned how to fight a guerilla
  war against an enemy with superior weapons and
  technology.

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Dien Bien Phu- "57 Days of Hell".

• Began March 13, 1954
• Fought near the village of Dien Bien Phu in
  northern Vietnam and became the last battle
  between the French and the Vietnamese in the
  First Indochina War.
• But contemporary military tactics were unable to
  defeat successive human wave attacks and the
  subsequent siege of the base the French were
  defeated with devastating losses
• At least 2,200 members of the 20,000-strong
  French forces died during the battle. Of the
  100,000 or so Vietnamese involved, there were an
  estimated 8,000 killed and another 15,000
  wounded, almost half of the attacking force.

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The Siege of Dien Bien Phu A French Military
Disaster (0350)
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The Geneva Conference
The goal of the Geneva Conference was to work out
a peace agreement and arrange for Indochinas
future.
According to the Geneva Accords, Vietnam was
temporarily divided at the 17th
parallel. Vietminh forces controlled the North
and the French would withdraw from the country.
General elections were to be held in July 1956
and would reunify the country under one
government. The United States never fully
supported the peace agreements fearing that Ho
Chi Minh and the Communists would win the
nationwide election.
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Vietnam after World War II

• What policies did Presidents Truman and
  Eisenhower pursue in Vietnam after World War II?
• Recall What events in Asia after World War II
  increased American fears of communism?
• Make Judgments Was the domino theory a good
  basis for American policy?

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Vietnam after World War II

• Identify What happened at Dien Bien Phu?
• Make Inferences What useful experience did the
  Vietnamese take away from Dien Bien Phu?
• Evaluate Why did the United States not support
  the Geneva Accords?

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Growing Conflict in Vietnam

• Vietnams Leaders
• Ngo Dinh Diem became the president of South
  Vietnam in 1954.
• Diems government was corrupt, brutal, and
  unpopular from the start.
• He favored Catholics and the wealthy.
• Diem cancelled the 1956 election that would unify
  Vietnam under one government.
• Ho Chi Minhs leadership in North Vietnam was
  totalitarian and repressive.
• He gave land to peasants, which made him popular.

• A Civil War
• Diems opponents in South Vietnam began to
  revolt- 1950s.
• North Vietnam supplied weapons to Vietminh rebels
  in South Vietnam.
• The Vietminh in South Vietnam formed the National
  Liberation Front and called their military forces
  the Vietcong.
• The Vietcong assassinated many South Vietnamese
  leaders and soon controlled much of the
  countryside.
• In 1960 Ho Chi Minh sent the North Vietnamese
  Army into the country to fight with the Vietcong.

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Growing Conflict in Vietnam

• What events and conditions caused growing
  conflicts between North Vietnam and South
  Vietnam?
• Identify Who was the South Vietnamese leader?
• Explain Why was Ngo Dihn Diem so popular with
  the American Government?

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Growing Conflict in Vietnam

• Recall Why did Ngo Dinh Diem refuse to allow
  the 1956 elections?
• Analyze How did Diem Catholicism affect the
  South Vietnamese?

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Growing Conflict in Vietnam

• Identify Who were the Vietcong?
• Evaluate do you believe that Eisenhowers
  decision to send U.S. troops to Vietnam was wise?

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U.S. Involvement in Vietnam

• Began sending money and weapons to South Vietnam
• Military advisors sent to train South Vietnamese
  army

Eisenhower

• Believed in the Domino Theory
• Increased the number of military advisors and
  army special forces, or Green Berets
• Advisors were not to take part in combat, but
  many did

Kennedy

• Believed an expanded U.S. effort was the only way
  to prevent a Communist victory in Vietnam
• Asked Congress to pass the Tonkin Gulf Resolution

Johnson
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U.S Involvement in French Indochina War-
Eisenhower
Former General Dwight D. Eisenhower became
President of the United States and first advanced
the so-called domino theory, warning that if
America did not support France in stopping the
Communists in Indochina, all of the Eastern,
India and Southeastern Asia would fall to the
"Communist Bloc".

• 1950- U.S. begins to help the French with money
  and arms.
• 1953- Eisehower asks for 60 million in aid to
  French.
• 1954- The U.S. is paying for 80 of the war
  between the French and the Vietnamese communists.

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Kennedy and Indochina

• Laos and the coalition government (Pathet Lao)
• Problems in Vietnam
• 1956 National Elections- Geneva Accords
• Civil War
• President Diem
• Government Opposition- many groups, Buddhists,
  Communists all joined the NLF- National
  Liberation Front (Vietcong nicknamed by Diem)
• Overthrow of Diem- Coup, and military junta.
• Kennedy sending supplies, money and advisors
  (16,000 by 1963.)

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Increasing U.S. Involvement

• Diems Overthrow
• Diems government continued to grow more and more
  unpopular.
• He arrested and killed Buddhist protesters.
• U.S. leaders said they would withdraw support if
  Diem did not change his ways.
• Diem refused to change his stand against
  Buddhists, and the United States began to support
  a plot to overthrow Diem.
• In November 1963 the South Vietnamese plotters
  murdered Diem.

• Tonkin Gulf Resolution
• To increase the American military effort in
  Vietnam, Johnson needed to obtain authority from
  Congress.
• Johnson asked Congress for this authority
  claiming that the USS Maddox had been attacked by
  North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of
  Tonkin.
• Johnson claimed this attack was unprovoked, but
  really the Maddox had been on a spying mission
  and had fired first.
• The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was passed on August 7.

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The Tonkin Gulf Incident
During the night of 4 August a second attack was
believed to have taken place against both the
Maddox and the Turner Joy, leading to retaliatory
strikes on North Vietnam by U.S. carrier planes.
U.S.S. Maddox- On 2 August 1964, while on patrol
in the Gulf of Tonkin, she was attacked by North
Vietnamese motor torpedo boats- torpedoes and
machine gunfire.
U.S.S. Maddox
U.S.S. Turner Joy

• Orders were to conduct some electronic
  eavesdropping, monitoring North Vietnamese radio
  traffic, and to support South Vietnamese patrol
  boat raids on North Vietnamese Coastal Radar.
• Most historians are nearly certain that no
  communist attack had occurred.

U.S.S. Maddox
U.S.S. Turner Joy
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Tonkin Gulf Resolution- Aug. 7, 1964

• The resolution passes unanimously in the House,
  and by a margin of 82-2 in the Senate. The
  Resolution allows Johnson to wage all out war
  against North Vietnam without ever securing a
  formal Declaration of War from Congress.
• Resolved by the Senate and House of
  Representatives of the United States of America
  in Congress assembled, That the Congress approves
  and supports the determination of the President,
  as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary
  measures to repel any armed attack against the
  forces of the United States and to prevent
  further aggression.
• Johnson did not believe the Commander in Chief
  needed this resolution (approval)

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America and the Vietnam War 526
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Increasing U.S. Involvement

• Why did Presidents Kennedy and Johnson increase
  U.S. involvement in Vietnam?
• Identify Who were the Green Berets?
• Explain Why did Buddhist monks begin to kill
  themselves publicly?

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Increasing U.S. Involvement

• Recall What happened to Ngo Dinh Diem?
• Predict What would have happened to South
  Vietnam following Diems death if the United
  States had not expanded its military role?

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Increasing U.S. Involvement

• Recall What was the Gulf of Tonkin incident?
• Evaluate How did the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
  help Johnsons war plans?