Vietnam

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Vietnam
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Moving Toward Conflict

• I. Frances involvement in Vietnam
• From 1800WWII, France ruled most of Indochina
  (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia)
• Vietnamese peasants began resisting French rule
• French rulers began restricting freedom of speech
  and assembly

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• Many revolutionaries fled to China and formed a
  group under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh
• Leader of the Indochinese Communist Party
• Vietminhan organization whose goal it was to win
  Vietnams independence from foreign rule
• September 2, 1945Ho Chi Minh stood in the
  northern city of Hanoi and declared Vietnams
  independence
• The French fought back

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• The US get involved in 1950 backing the French
  for 2 reasons
• Strengthen ties with France
• Fight spread of Communism
• US provided military and economic support
• Eisenhowers Domino TheoryCountries on the brink
  of Communism are like dominoes waiting to fall
  one after another

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• The Vietminh overran the French at Dien Bien Phu
  in May 1954
• Geneva AccordsTemporarily divided Vietnam along
  the 17th parallel
• Ho Chi Minh and the Communists ran North Vietnam
  from Hanoi
• Anticommunist Nationalists ran South Vietnam from
  Saigon

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US involvement in Vietnam

• With France gone, the US played a larger role
• Ho Chi Minh was winning support in the north by
  breaking up large estates and dividing the land
  among the peasants
• He was considered a hero
• 1956, South Vietnams President, Ngo Dinh Diem
  canceled elections because of Ho Chi Minhs
  popularity
• Knew entire country would become Communist
• US supported Diems government in South Vietnam,
  which soon became corrupt

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• VietcongCommunist group against South Vietnam,
  began attacking Diems government
• Supported by Ho Chi Minh
• Ho Chi Minh TrailPath Ho Chi Minh used to supply
  the Vietcong in South Vietnam

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JFK and Vietnam

• Increased financial aid to Diem
• --Sent military advisers to train South
  Vietnamese troops (16,000 by 1963)
• Diem began targeting Buddhists
• US overthrew Diem on November 1, 1963
• JFK announced he planned to withdraw from
  Vietnam, shortly before his death

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LBJ and Vietnam

• After Vietnams removal South Vietnam became more
  unstable
• LBJ believed a communist takeover in South
  Vietnam would be disastrous
• Tonkin Gulf IncidentThe USS Maddox claimed to
  hear enemy fire and began firing back
• Prompted LBJ to authorize bombing strikes on
  North Vietnam
• LBJ asked Congress for powers to take all
  necessary measures to repel any armed attack
  against the forces of the US and to prevent
  further aggression Tonkin Gulf Resolution
• Gave LBJ broad military powers in Vietnam
• By August 1965, 50,000 US soldiers were battling
  the Vietcong

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Viewpoints on increasing involvement
Lyndon Johnson Determined to contain Communism Sent over large numbers of American troops
Robert McNamara LBJs Secretary of Defense Supported LBJs decision to send troops
Dean Rusk LBJs Secretary of State Supported LBJs decision to send troops
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Viewpoints continued
General William Westmoreland American commander in South Vietnam Continued asking for more troops
US Congress Supported LBJs decisions and strategy
American Public Supported their President, although there were dissenters
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American
Military advantages Military strategies
Superior high-powered weaponry Bombings War of Attritiongradual wearing down of the enemy Preventing Vietcong support by S. Vietnams rural population The use of Napalm (gasoline-based bomb that set fire to the jungle) and Agent Orange (a leaf-killing toxic chemical) Search and Destroy missions
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Vietcong
Military advantages Military strategies
Knowledge of terrain Ability to blend in with civilians Willingness to pay any price for victory Hit and run ambushes Booby traps and land mines Surprise attacks Guerilla warfare Intense tunneling system (pg 738)
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Decreasing public support

• The US economy
• As the number of troops in Vietnam grew, the cost
  of the war grew
• Inflation rate rose
• LBJ asked for a tax increase
• Congress agreed after LBJ cut 6 billion in
  funding for the Great Society

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Decreasing public support

• Television
• Living room war
• People could watch combat footage
• Listened nightly to body count statistics
• 16,000 from 1961-1967
• The Fulbright Hearings
• LBJ advisers were asked to defend their foreign
  policies to congress
• People felt they werent hearing the truth about
  what was really happening

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End of the War and its Legacy

• 1. Nixon adopts a policy of Vietnamization
• VietnamizationNixon and National Security
  Advisor, Henry Kissingers, plan to gradually
  withdraw US troops so the South Vietnamese could
  take a more active combat role in the war
• Silent MajorityModerate, mainstream Americans
  who quietly supported the US efforts in Vietnam

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• 2. My Lai massacre shocks Americans
• 200 innocent Vietnamese were killed by US
  soldiers
• 3. Nixon orders invasion of Cambodia
• Wanted to remove Vietnamese and Vietcong supply
  centers from Cambodia

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• 4. First student strike in US history occurs
• 1.5 million students closed down 1,200 campuses
  protesting the invasion of Cambodia
• 5. Congress repeals the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
• To protest Nixons bombing and invasion of
  Cambodia without notifying Congress
• To gain greater Congressional control over US
  policy in Vietnam

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• 6. The Christmas bombings take place
• Nixon bombed North Vietnam cities, Hanoi and
  Haiphong, as one last push to force a negotiated
  peace

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• 7. South Vietnam surrenders to North Vietnam
• North Vietnams full-scale invasion of South
  Vietnam and the capture of Saigon
• No US troops there to prevent the Norths victory

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• 8. Vietnam veterans receive a cold homecoming
• Americans were very torn and bitter about the war
• 9. Cambodia erupts in civil war in 1975
• Caused by the US invasion of Cambodia in 1970
• 1 million Cambodians died

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• 10. Congress passes the War Powers Act
• A president must inform Congress within 48 hours
  of sending troops into a hostile area without a
  declaration of war
• Curbs the presidents war-making powers
• 11. The draft is abolished
• Due to much caused anti-war sentiment