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Early History of Vietnam
Vietnam was ruled by the Chinese for over a thousand years
France conquered the nation by 1893 along with Laos and Cambodia. and began exploiting the economic wealth of the region
Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia became known as French Indochina
Then WWII happened………USA supported Ho Chi Minh to fight Japan
French Indochina consisted of Laos,
Cambodia and Vietnam.
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After WWII…. Cold War, Domino theory, Communism ….. French wanted to reclaim Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh- leader of the Communist Vietnamese
FRENCH Indo China War- a bitter nine year war began that ended in a French defeat that divided Vietnam into two halves. One, the north, became communist, while the south was under U.S. influence.
Who did US support now? Why?
Vietminh- Name of the League for the Independence of Vietnam, a communist movement from 1941-1954 (beat the French)
FRENCH INDOCHINA
HO CHI MINH
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Is Truman Involved? How
1954-What did Eisenhower do?
President Kennedy increased military advisors and formed the Green Berets special forces.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (from left) greet south
Vietnam's President Ngo Dinh Diem at Washington national airport, 05/08/1957
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President Ho Chi Minh,
Democratic Republic of Viet Nam
President Ngo Dinh
Diem,Republic of Viet Nam
Vietcong: A communist led army and guerilla force in SOUTH Vietnam that fought its government and was supported by North Vietnam
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President Kennedy was assassinated and LBJ takes over…….. November 22,1963.
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USS Maddox
Target of a fictional North
Vietnamese naval attack
Tonkin Gulf Resolution, August 1964Resolution passed by Congress in response to perceived aggression by North
Vietnamese against the U.S. Navy. Gave Pres. Johnson approval to escalate the use of military force in Vietnam without declaring war
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“Most of the non-Communist nations of Asia cannot, by themselves and alone, resist the growing might and the grasping ambition of
Asian communism.Our power, therefore, is a very vital shield. If we are driven from
the field in Viet-Nam, then no nation can ever again have the same confidence in American promise, or in American protection.
In each land the forces of independence would be considerably weakened, and an Asia so threatened by Communist domination would certainly imperil the security of the United States itself.
We did not choose to be the guardians at the gate, but there is no one else. Nor would surrender in Viet-Nam bring peace, because we learned from Hitler at Munich that success only feeds the appetite
of aggression. The battle would be renewed in one country and then another country, bringing with it perhaps even larger and crueler
conflict, as we have learned from the lessons of history.Moreover, we are in Viet-Nam to fulfill one of the most solemn pledges of the American Nation. Three Presidents -- President
Eisenhower, President Kennedy, and your present President -- over 11 years have committed themselves and have promised to help
defend this small and valiant nation.”
LBJ explained “why we are fighting in Vietnam” (follow along as read aloud- answer in your own words
why US is fighting in Vietnam)
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Agent orange
an herbicide used by the U.S. military to destroy forests and cropsgoal -to clear vegetation along highways in order to make it
more difficult for the VC to conceal themselves for ambushes.
Napalm- a mixture of chemicals used by the U.S. military in flamethrowers and fireboms
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In 1965, OPERATION "Rolling Thunder" a series of bombing attacks by U.S. In N. Vietnam in an attempt to cut supply lines to the VietCong in
South Vietnam
the first sustained American assault on North Vietnamese territory and
thus represented a major expansion of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam
War
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Helicopters played a vital role in America's air mobility strategy
during the Vietnam War
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Helicopters
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1965 U.S. troops engage in combat.
end of 1965, 180,000 U.S.
troops in Vietnam.
By 1968 over 500,000
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0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
60-
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64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72
U.S. troop strength in Vietnam: 1960-1972
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The geography of Vietnam made it a difficult battleground for U.S.
soldiers.
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Ho Chi Minh trail: the route used by N. Vietnamese to conduct raids in
S. Vietnam and to deliver supplies to the VietCong
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Ho Chi Minh trail
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Vietnamese Communist (VC) tactics
Guerrilla Warfare
describes war where the fighters use the surrounding areas and geography of the
land-mainly in mountains, jungles, swamps and cities-to hide in, to set traps in and to fight in without using heavy weapons like
tanks, planes, warships, etc.
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Examples of traps
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Vietcong traps used to wound or kill American and South Vietnamese
soldiers
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The VC used underground tunnel
complexes to hide from U.S. firepower.
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Used by N. Vietnamese Army
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Troop strength in Vietnam by year
Year USA SVN Aust. Korea
New
Zealand Philippines Thailand
1959 760 243000 -- -- -- -- --
1960 900 243000 -- -- -- -- --
1961 3205 243000 -- -- -- -- --
1962 11300 243000 -- -- -- -- --
1963 16300 243000 -- -- -- -- --
1964 23300 514000 198 200 30 20 --
1965 184300 642500 1560 20620 120 70 20
1966 385300 735900 4530 25570 160 2060 240
1967 485600 798700 6820 47830 530 2020 2200
1968 536100 820000 7660 50000 520 1580 6000
1969 475200 897000 7670 48870 550 190 11570
1970 334600 6800 48450 440 70 11570
1971 156800 2000 45700 100 50 6000
1972 24200 130 36790 50 50 40
1973 50 -- -- --
1,000,000
1,000,000
1,000,000
1,000,000
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The Tet Offensive: Turning point in the war in South Vietnam
A major Communist attack against the South Vietnamese and U.S. positions in January 1968 during Tet, the Vietnamese New Year
This event is widely viewed as a turning point in the war because Americans questioned how a “defeated” army could launch such a
large-scale and effective attack.
up until that point Americans were told that the communists were losing the war.
evident that this war could only be won through a greater commitment of men and resources,
additional 200,000 troops was refused by a presidential commission headed by the new United States secretary of defense
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My Lai Massacre March 16, 1968
My Lai was in an area of South Vietnam that was entrenched with communists. On March 16, 1968, Charlie
Company, 11th Brigade, under the command of Lieutenant William Calley, entered the
Vietnamese village of My Lai. Numerous members of Charlie Company were maimed or killed in the area during the preceding weeks.The company engaged in a search and destroy
mission, and over 300 apparently unarmed civilians, including women, children, and the elderly were massacred. Lieutenant Calleyordered his men to enter the village firing,
though there had been no report of opposing fire. According to eyewitness reports offered
after the event, several old men were bayoneted, praying women and children were
shot in the back of the head, and at least one girl was raped and then killed. For his part, Calleywas said to have rounded up a group of the
villagers, ordered them into a ditch, and mowed them down in a fury of machine gun fire.
When news of the atrocities surfaced, it sent shockwaves through the U.S. political
establishment, the military's chain of command, and an already divided American public.
Army First Lieutenant William Calley, Jr
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My Lai was used by the anti-war movement
The anti-war movement attempted to use this event to prove that the U.S. had no right to be involved in the
Vietnam conflict. However, they were applying an unfortunate double standard.
North Vietnamese atrocities, such as the slaughter of South Vietnamese civilians in Cai Be and Dak Son in 1967
and the massive live burial of innocents in Hue in 1968 were virtually ignored in the United States. After the Tet Offensive the NVA and VC murdered as many as 5,000 South Vietnamese civilians including doctors, teachers, lawyers, businessmen. The most widespread atrocities
happened in the city of Hue. There alone the Communists killed over 3,000 South Vietnamese.
This was not widely reported by the press, and routinely either ignored by the anti-war movement.
The United States Army punished its soldiers for wartime atrocities. The North Vietnamese gave medals to those
who buried thousands alive at Hue.
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My Lai Today: monument to the Massacre
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The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), was a radical student activist movement in
the U.S.
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Richard M. Nixon became the 37th President of the United States
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January 1969President Richard M. Nixon, promised to
achieve "Peace With Honor."
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1969 saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the war. This led to massive anti-war
demonstrations and the announcement of a new policy.
Nixon visited Vietnam, 1969
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Vietnamization
Nixon launched “Vietnamization” of the war.
fighting to be done by South Vietnamese (ARVN) with
the U.S. providing support.
also involved the improvement and
modernization of the South Vietnamese armed forces,
and training them
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Examples of Vietnamization
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President Nixon, as part of Vietnamization, began withdrawing U.S.
troops from Vietnam
050000
100000150000200000250000300000350000400000450000500000
1969 1970 1971
troops
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In May of 1970, a Kent State University anti-war (Cambodian invasion) protest turned deadly. National guardsmen opened fire
on protesting students killing four and wounding eight.
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Kent State photo that shocked the nation
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Vietnamization did not yield victories
In February 8, 1971, three South Vietnamese divisions drove into Laos to attack two major enemy bases. Unknowingly, they walked
into a North Vietnamese trap. Over the next month, more than 9,000 South Vietnamese troops were killed or wounded. More than two thirds of the South Vietnamese Army's armored vehicles were
destroyed, along with hundreds of U.S. helicopters and planes.
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January 1, 1972
Two-thirds of America's troops were removed in only two years. The ground war was then almost exclusively the
responsibility of South Vietnam, which had over 1,000,000 men enlisted in its armed forces.
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
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600,000
60-
63
64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72
Year
Number of
troops
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*
VIETNAM PEACE ACCORD The peace agreement signed in Paris by representatives from the United States, North
Vietnam, and South Vietnam on January 27, 1973.
Signing the documents,
1973
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0
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16000
60-
63
64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72
The human cost of the Vietnam war. U.S. Battle deaths 1960-1972
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47359
10797
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
Deaths
combat deaths
non combatdeaths
US deaths in Vietnam
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In 1975, South Vietnam,
Cambodia and Laos became communist
states.
