The Vietnam War

The War in Southeast Asia

The French War in Indochina

At the end of WWII Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh (the north Vietnamese nationalist military force) took over the capital of Hanoi and declared Vietnam independent

The French War in IndochinaFrench were unwilling to give up their claims in Indochina

because of the valuable resources like tin, rubber, and rice.

The French faced a formidable foe in Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh who did not want foreign rule. The French were also weakened as a result of WWII.

War broke out in November 1946 when a French ship shelled Haiphong.

French controlled most of the cities and the Vietminh retreated into the countryside.

Vietminh practiced guerilla warfare in response.

U.S. Support for the French1950 – Truman agreed

to send $15 million to the French.

He practices the policy of containment, opposing communism wherever it appeared in an effort to “contain” its spread.

Over the next 4 years, the U.S. gave more than $2.6 billion to the French.

The Battle of Dien Bien PhuMay 7, 1954: The French are defeated and

expelled from Vietnam.

May 8, 1954: The Geneva Accords partition Vietnam at the 17th parallel. Vietnam is divided into North (communist) and South (non-communist).

This partition was supposed to be temporary, and the two zones were meant to be reunited through national elections in 1956.

The elections never took place. Ho Chi Minh would have won and all of Vietnam would turn to communism.

The U.S. Enters the War

The U.S. did not sign the agreement for fear that if South Vietnam became communist, other nations of SE Asia would do likewise (The Domino Theory)

The Diem RegimeThe U.S. hoped Ngo Dinh Diem

would be the savior of South Vietnam. He was:

A nationalist

An anti-communist

An autocratic ruler (Dictator)

He refused to weaken the ruling class, thereby infuriating the peasants.

$4 of every $5 the U.S. sent was spent on the military and not the people.

Civil War1957 – Ngo Dinh Diem

cancels elections with U.S. support.

He holds a referendum in South Vietnam and claims that 98% of the people approve.

In Saigon he claimed 605,000 votes, but there are only 405,000 registered voters.

Civil WarDiscontent among the

peasants with Diem made it easy for the Vietminh to gain support in South Vietnam.

The Vietminh and other groups in South Vietnam who oppose Diem form the National Liberation Front (Vietcong: Guerrilla Fighters)

They develop close ties with Ho Chi Minh, China, and the Soviet Union

The Kennedy YearsKennedy expands the

U.S. role in Vietnam.

He sends advisors and $.

Instead of using the $ for schools, hospitals, and land reform, Diem pads the pockets of corrupt Saigon officials.

No significant military victories over the Vietcong.

The Overthrow of DiemMay 8, 1963 - Buddhists

gathered to protest a government ruling forbidding the display of Buddhist flags. Government troops fired on them.

A month later a Buddhist monk sets himself on fire in protest of the Diem regime.

Nov. 1, 1963 - South Vietnamese army officers seized control of the government and in the process Diem was killed.

Johnson’s WarJohnson did not want

Vietnam to fall to communism like China.

He surrounds himself with JFK’s foreign policy team (Sec. of State Dean Rusk, Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara, and NSA McGeorge Bundy.

The Gulf of Tonkin ResolutionAugust, 1965 – Lyndon

Johnson announced that a North Vietnamese torpedo boat had attacked two U.S. destroyers patrolling in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

This resolution gives Johnson broad powers to wage war in Vietnam.

Gulf of Tonkin (continued)This gave LBJ the

authority to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.”

LBJ failed to tell the public that American warships had been helping South Vietnamese commandos raid 2 North Vietnam islands the night of the attacks.

WAR?Brainstorm some reasons for and against

getting involved in Vietnam:

FOR AGAINST

Vietnam and the War on Terror

Vietnam and the War on Terror