Cold War: The Proxy Wars

Vietnam

Background The French had controlled

the area known as “Indochina” as a colony since the Age of Imperialism in the early 1900’s.

After WWII, the French wanted to regain control of the region- which included the nation of Vietnam.

Vietnamese Nationalism

The nationalism movement was led by a young cook who took the name Ho Chi Minh. Ho Chi Minh had received support

from various Communist groups. When the French tried to regain

control after WWII, Ho Chi Minh and his followers known as the Viet Minh fought back.

The French were defeated in 1954 in the city of Dien Bien Phu.

Geneva Conference 1954 The purpose of the meeting

was to discuss the possibility of restoring peace in Vietnam

The Soviet Union, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and the People’s Republic of China were participants throughout the whole conference.

The conference produced a set of documents known as the Geneva Accords.

Geneva Accords (Agreements) These agreements separated

Vietnam into two. The north ruled by Ho Chi Minh’s

communist forces. The South ruled by a French

educated Catholic man named Ngo Dinh Diem.

The Accords also said that there was to be a "general election" be held by July 1956 to create a unified Vietnamese state. Ideally the people would vote who

they wanted as their leader- Ho Chi Minh or Ngo Dinh Diem.

War in Vietnam Even though there were to

be free elections, the southern leader Ngo Dinh Diem backed out. Many believe it was because

he knew that Ho Chi Minh would have easily won.

This led to conflict between the North Vietnamese (with support from the Communists) and South Vietnamese (With support from the United States)

USA Supports South Vietnam President John F. Kennedy,

who entered the White House in 1961, chose to initially to give full support to Diem and the South Vietnamese.

President Kennedy increased financial aid to Diem’s regime & sent thousands of military advisers to help train South Vietnamese troops. By the end of 1963, 16,000 U.S. military personnel were in South Vietnam.

Unrest in South Vietnam But military aid by itself could not

ensure success. The problem was that Diem lacked support in his own country. Diem ruled south Vietnam as a dictator.

Anti-Communist- Allowed the torture and execution of thousands of communist supporters.

Money from the U.S. and others meant to help the South Vietnamese was often stolen by corrupt political officials.

When Diem insisted that Buddhists obey Catholic religious laws, serious opposition developed (almost 90% of Vietnam was Buddhist).

On June 11, 1963, a sixty-six year old monk, sat down in the middle of a busy Saigon road. He was then surrounded by a group of Buddhist

monks and nuns who poured gasoline over his head and then set fire to him. One eyewitness later commented:

"As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people around him."

Buddhist Monk Thích Quảng Đức sets himself on fire as a protest of Ngo Dinh Diem’s treatment of the Buddhist population

in South Vietnam.

The government's response to this suicide was to arrest thousands of Buddhist monks. Many disappeared and were never seen again.

By August another five monks had committed suicide by setting fire to themselves. One member of the South Vietnamese government responded to these self-immolations (Suicide by setting yourself on fire) by telling a newspaper reporter: "Let them burn, and we shall clap our hands."

Another offered to supply Buddhists who wanted to commit suicide with the necessary gasoline!

Rise of the Vietcong As a result of Ngo Dinh Diem’s harsh

policies, opposition in the south to his government grew.

Communist militia’s (militia: an army of soldiers who are civilians) called Vietcong, began to gain strength and support in the South.

US Relations with Diem fail The United States, who had always supported Diem’s democratic government, began to question Diem’s leadership and his ability to keep communism from spreading into South Vietnam.

US President JFK agreed that there needed to be a change in leadership in South Vietnam.

Coup d'état and Assassination The United States provided a

group of South Vietnamese generals with $40,000 to carry out the coup with the promise that US forces would make no attempt to protect Diem.

At the beginning of November, 1963, President Diem was overthrown by a military coup.

After the generals had promised Diem that he would be allowed to leave the country they changed their mind and killed him.

US Military Enters Vietnam After Diem’s death in 1963

the U.S. wanted to make sure the battle again communist forces continued in Vietnam.

American troops had been present in Vietnam since the 1950’s, but in 1964 the United States Congress agrees to send thousands more to fight in Vietnam.

By 1968, more than 500,00 American troops were fighting to stop Communism from spreading into Vietnam.

United States Struggles in Vietnam

They Fought a New Type of War • The Vietnamese opposition used guerilla

warfare (the use of hit-and-run tactics by small groups of soldiers) in terrain that the United States soldiers were unfamiliar with (Vietnam is covered in jungles)

The United States had the worlds most powerful , advanced, and best-equipped military, yet it struggled to defeat the communist backed

opposition forces. WHY?

United States Struggles in Vietnam Lack of support from the people of South Vietnam.• The government that the United States was supporting was not

popular among the people of South Vietnam.• Americans bombed farm land – this strengthened peasant’s

opposition to the United States.• The Vietnamese were receiving support from both the Soviet Union

and Communist China

WHY?

United States Struggles in Vietnam

•Lack of support from American Citizens• Widespread protests among young Americans led

many to question why were at war.• Thousands of young Americans were being killed:

in one week in May 1968, 5,550 U.S. soldiers were killed. • The war was widely reported. Every day people

watched the news on television and saw the horrors of war.

End of Vietnam Conflict As the war grew increasingly unpopular,

President Nixon began to withdraw American troops from Vietnam in 1969.

Nixon called the plan Vietnamization. The goal was to have American troops slowly leave while the South Vietnamese would increase their role.

End of Vietnam Conflict The last

American troops left Vietnam in 1973.

Two years later the North Vietnamese, backed by communist nations, took control of South Vietnam.

WAR FACTSU.S. Soldiers Killed

58,132U.S. Soldiers still missing M.I.A 1,689Vietnamese Soldiers Killed (North & South) 1.1 MillionVietnamese Civilians Killed 500,000Cost to U.S. taxpayers $150 Billion

Iconic Images of VietnamClick each picture to read more.

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Iconic Images of VietnamClick each picture to read more.

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