The Vietnam War, 1954-1975.ppt - Ms. Solomon

The Vietnam War, 1954-1975

Chapter 17 Lesson 1 Going to War

French Indochina

? From the late 1800s until WWII, France controlled Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia

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Growth of Vietnamese Nationalism

Why nationalism?

? Several political parties were pushing for independence from French colonial rule

Who was Ho Chi Minh?

? Vietnamese Communist who worked for independence in the 1930s

? Founded the Indochinese Communist Party

? Spend several years in exile and returned in 1941 to organize the nationalist group called the Vietminh

? At this time Vietnam was controlled by Japan

Who were the Vietminh?

? A nationalist group that united Communist and non- Communist Vietnamese in an effort to expel the Japanese

What did Ho Chi Minh do when Japan surrendered WWII?

? Declared Vietnam's independence

But France was not going to lose their colony so they returned to Vietnam...

? And the Vietnamese fought back so France turned to the US for help

But the US was hesitant...

? They didn't support colonialism

? Pressured Dutch to give up empire in Indonesia

? Supported British decision to give India independence

BUT NO MATTER WHAT, THE UNITED STATES DID NOT WANT VIETNAM TO BE COMMUNIST

What made Truman change his mind and authorize aid to the French?

? 1) China fell to Communists

? 2) the Korean War

Domino Theory

? Eisenhower continued Truman's policies in what became known as the Domino Theory: the idea that if Vietnam fell to communism the rest of Southeast Asia would follow(like dominoes falling over)

Vietminh use guerrilla tactics ? Irregular troops who blend

into the civilian population ? Hit-and-run ambush attacks ? The French armies struggled

with this? Why? Why do you think this was a success for the Vietminh?

Diem refused to hold the elections fearing that Ho Chi

Minh would win

What was the Geneva Accords?

? Temporary agreement

1) divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel

? Ho Chi Minh controlled the north

? Diem controlled the south ? USA supported Diem due to

his anti-communist stance

2) called for elections to be held in 1956 to reunite the country under a single government

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South Vietnamese Communists or the Vietcong

? In reaction to Diem refusing to hold elections in 1956, a new guerilla army was formed

? Eisenhower sent military advisers to train South Vietnams army but the Vietcong grew powers because many Vietnamese opposed Diem's government

? By 1961, the Vietcong controlled much of the countryside

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President Kennedy continued to increase U.S. military presence in South Vietnam.

Why did Diem become even more unpopular?

? He started discriminating against Buddhism

? One of the most widely practiced religions in Vietnam

? Banned the traditional religious flags for the Buddha's birthday

? Diem's police killed nine people when Buddhists started to protest

? This led to several monks setting themselves in fire in protest

? Americans watched footage on TV in horror

On November 1, 1963, Diem was overthrown in a military coup.

? He was killed just three weeks before President Kennedy was assassinated

? US officials knew of the coup to overthrow him but did nothing

? We found out in August 1963

What happened when Diem was overthrown?

? There was celebration among many people in South Vietnam ? Diem had alienated most of the South Vietnamese people during his rule

On August 2, 1964...

? President Johnson announced that North Vietnamese forces fired on the American destroyer the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin

? He reported another attack two days later...

President Johnson then asked Congress for the authority to defend American forces and Allies in Southeast Asia.

? Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed August 7, 1964

? This gave Johnson the power to take all measures necessary to defend the U.S. forces as retaliation for the supposed attack on the Maddox

Reactions of Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and increased US involvement in Vietnam...

Supporters

? Believed that Vietnam was important to protect American interests and maintain stability in Southeast Asia

Non-supporters

? Said if we got too involved, it would be difficult to get out

American troops entered Vietnam very confident

But the Vietcong used tactics that made fighting difficult for U.S. troops...

? Guerilla tactics

? booby traps ? Ambushes ? blending in with the

population to quickly vanish

? No one place was safe

So U.S. troops used a tactic called "search and destroy"...

? This was an attempt to force Vietcong into the open and combat

? American planes dropped napalm

? Jellied gasoline that explodes on contact

? Agent Orange was dropped to cause leaves to fall from trees and shrubs

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What was Johnson afraid of that caused him to place limits on the war?

? He knew that North Vietnam was receiving weapons and support from the Soviet Union and China

? He didn't want to bring China into the war like in Korea

? He also refused to bomb Cambodia and Laos to destroy the Vietcong supply line on the Ho Chi Minh Trail

Ho Chi Minh Trail?

? Supply trail that brought supplies and support from North Vietnam to South Vietnam

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"War of Attrition"

? Instead of conquering, American troops were trying to defeat the Vietcong by wearing them down

? "Progress" in the war began being measured by the number of enemy dead

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