THE UNITED STATES

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THE UNITED STATES VIETNAMhttp//www.youtube.com
/watch?vUr9qVP2As3Y
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The Situation

• Before WWII Vietnam was part of the French empire
• During WWII Vietnam was overrun by the Japanese
• After WWII France was given back control of South
  Vietnam, but North Vietnam formed its own
  government, led by Ho Chi Minh

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Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969)
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The French in Vietnam

• In 1946, the French began to reclaim North
  Vietnam
• Ho Chi Minh and his Viet Minh guerillas fought to
  retain their independence
• Growing opposition to French control

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The French in Vietnam

• By 1950, the Viet Minh were supported by China
  and the Soviet Union
• In late 1953, French troops sent into Dien Bien
  Phu were defeated by the Viet Minhs guerilla
  tactics
• France left Vietnam in 1954
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vtG3mifrpGp0feature
  related

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Viet Minh Dien Bien Phu
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The Geneva Peace Accords (1954)

• Vietnam split at the 17th Parallel with pressure
  from the USSR US
• Ngo Dinh Diem was given charge of South Vietnam,
  Ho Chi Minh was given charge of North Vietnam

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Friction between the North and South

• US supported Ngo Dinh Diem who opposed communism
  but ruled as a dictator
• The North Vietnamese, supported by China and the
  Soviet Union, spread communism to their oppressed
  neighbors to the South

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Friction between the North and South

• In 1956, the Viet Minh formed the North
  Vietnamese Army and fought in the South
• The Viet Cong, South Vietnamese communists, used
  guerilla warfare in the South

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Americas Domino Theory

• The US wanted to contain communism in North
  Vietnam, fearing its spread to the South then to
  surrounding nations
• The US sent increasing numbers of special forces
  to train the South Vietnamese to fight the Viet
  Cong
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vv_RL7vwl_T4feature
  endscreenNR1
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vQP9QDRDLw6c

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America steps up its involvement

• In 1963, Diem was overthrown and killed by the
  South Vietnamese army
• In 1964, an American destroyer was attacked by
  North Vietnamese gunboats in the Gulf of Tonkin

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America steps up its involvement

• The US Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin
  Resolution which allowed the president to take
  "all necessary steps" to protect the United
  States and its allies
• No formal declaration of war was ever made

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Peak American Involvement

• At the wars peak, 500,000 American troops were
  stationed in Vietnam
• American troops tended to be drafted and were
  trained conventionally
• Draftees were typically from low-income families,
  unable to get deferments for going to college
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v_HO06__Z_So

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Peak American Involvement

• Viet Cong continued to use guerilla warfare
• Shoot and run
• Booby traps
• Blend in with the civilian population
• 1968 Tet Offensive VC changed strategies and
  attacked directly
• Sparks massive American protests and causes LBJ
  to not seek reelection

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http//www.youtube.com/watch?vAqQGQwBi5ag
http//www.youtube.com/watch?vO_Sji9OhAuI
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Tet Offensive (1968)
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Changing American Strategy and Attitudes

• Nixon wins election in 1968 hoping for peace
  with honor
• Vietnamization training and equipping South
  Vietnamese to assume combat role in place of
  Americans
• Gradual reductions in US troop numbers from 1969
  to 1973

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• Invasion of Cambodia wanting to prevent attacks
  by North Vietnamese on South Vietnam from
  neighboring Cambodia
• Restarts mass protests against war effort,
  including deadly protests at Kent State
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vpr-zRI7Gu-Ufeature
  related

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• Renewed shifts of opinion against the war
• Congress revokes authority of Gulf of Tonkin
  Resolution
• Pentagon Papers excerpts of Defense Dept.
  documents showing govt. justifications by war
  published by New York Times in 1971
• My Lai Massacre killing of over 300 unarmed
  South Vietnamese civilians, with military
  personnel put on trial
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vq3wKQLE7nks

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End of American Involvement and the Fall of Saigon

• Negotiations restart in 1972, Nixon drops
  demands for full North Vietnamese withdrawal
• Both secret and public negotiations near
  completion before the 1972 election, then break
  down
• Christmas bombings massive bombing of North
  Vietnamese cities in late December 1972

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• Paris Accords peace agreement reached on January
  27, 1973
• Cease fire between North and South Vietnam
• Return of American POWs

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• North Vietnamese launch attack on South Vietnam
  in March 1975 with no American intervention
• Saigon, the capitol of Vietnam was captured and
  renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1975
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v3AiyFF9qOls

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