Vietnam War

1955-1975

Vocabulary

• Viet Cong – National Liberation Front (NLF) or North Vietnamese Communist

• Ho Chi Minh – communist Revolutionary leader of North Vietnam

• Domino Theory – if one state in a region falls to communism surrounding nations will too

• Attrition – military strategy of wearing down the enemy by continual loss of personnel and material

Vietnam War

• Cold War proxy war fought from 1955 to 1975

• Occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia

• Second Indochina War

First Indochina War

• 1946-1954– North Vietnam supported by

USSR and China– South Vietnam supported by USA

and France• Viet Cong (Communist) fought

guerilla war against anti-communist forces

• Peace treaty ending war divided Vietnam along 17th Parallel

Truman Doctrine

• Containment policy continues• Eisenhower pledges firm support to S.Vietnam– Sends advisors to train their military

• S. Vietnam cracks down on communist sympathizers – Arrest 100,000 people – torture and execution

• 1961 JKF advised to increase support

Domino Theory

• if one Southeast Asian nation fell to communism, many would follow

• Kennedy increases aid to Vietnam– 1962 : 9,000 troops present in Vietnam

War Escalates

• South Vietnam leaders toppled in a coup and killed (CIA involved)– Three weeks before JFK assassinated

• President Lyndon Johnson persuaded to increase U.S. military and economic support

Gulf of Tonkin Incident

• 8/2/1964 USS Maddox was attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats

• 8/4/1964 second attack on U.S. ships in Gulf• Incident used as excuse to rapidly increase

U.S. involvement in conflict– 8/4 event was false radar images– 8/2 event never happened!

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

• Gave LBJ authorization to use our military in SE Asia

• Not a declaration of war• Resolution authorizing the president to do

“whatever” necessary to SE Asian nations suffering from communist aggression. – Rapid escalation of the war - President could do

anything he wanted!

Escalation

• March 1965 – LBJ decides to send more troops– American public in support– June 1965: 82,000– July 1965: immediate dispatch 100,000– 1966: another 100,000– November 1967: 500,000

• War of attrition – to kill as many enemy troops as possible – not to secure territoy

First Televised War

• Most Americans watch Vietnam war on the TV news

• Constant horrific images of the war • Oct 1967 mass antiwar protest in Washington

D.C• Government is facing loss of public support– 15,000 American soldiers lost

Tet Offensive

• 1967 Viet Cong sought to strike a decisive blow to U.S

• It was a coordinated series of attacks on 100 cities and towns – Unable to hold them against American counterattack

• Shocked American public who had been told we were winning war

• 1968 – LBJ’s approval falling – US enters peace talks– He does not seek re-election ~ Richard Nixon elected

Vietnam War Ends

• Richard Nixon continues peace talks while escalating the bombing of North Vietnam

• Anti-war protest grow especially on college campuses

• 500,000 men become ‘draft dodgers’ by fleeing to Canada

• Nixon ends the draft and institutes an all volunteer army that we have today

Vietnam War Ends

• 1973 America begins pulling troops out – Congress limits funds to fight war

• Fighting continues until 1975 when Saigon fell to the Communist

Evacuation of the American Embassy

Vietnam War Ends

• U.S. Casualties 58,303• 303,000 wounded• South & North Vietnam united as a communist

nation – Communism not contained• 1986 – Vietnam introduces free-market

economic reforms• 1990s re-established diplomatic ties with U.S.

Vietnam War Ends

• America did not loose the Vietnam war from a military perspective but rather it was lost in the court of public opinion.

Questions to Ponder

• What was the result of the first Indochina War?

• What is the Domino Theory?• What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?• What role did television play in the Vietnam

war?