Vietnam Conflict1964-1973

Background• 1884-1948 French

Colonial Domination– Ho Chi Minh

• Democratic Republic of Vietnam Declared– Minh and followers -

Vietminh

Following WWII

• 1945-1950 France tries to reclaim lost territory

• Vietnam divided – North- Follow Ho Chi Minh– South- fertile south French take

over• 1946 given free state on French

terms emplace Bao Dai.

Advisory Period

• 1950-1963 Beginning US intervention• Truman– Military Assistance Advisory Group- MAAG– Funding War– SU and China- Vietminh

• Eisenhower– Containment• Brinkmanship• Trade agreements and alliances• Covert operations

– “New Look”• Eisenhower Doctrine- power of pre-emptive war

without congressional approval.• Confrontational• containment

Battle of Dien Bien Phu

• 1954- French attack Vietminh

• US aid- money and supplies

• French surrender 1954

Geneva Accords• Meet in Geneva, Switzerland to

decide French Indo-China war. – Vietnam divided at 17th Parallel-

DMZ– Democratic Republic of Vietnam

takes north– Elected government takes South– Elections in two years to determine

who would rule united country.

• SEATO- prevent the spread of Communism in that region

Problems after Geneva- End of Advisory Period• Problems– Vietcong– Guerilla tactics– Relocating to Hamlets

• Strategic Hamlet Program- attempted to separate rural peasants from communist insurgents by creating fortified villages and forcing the peasants to take an active role in the civil war.

Ho Chi Minh Trail

• North Vietnamese were being supplied by the Soviets and the Chinese

• Vietcong(Charlie) were being supplied by the North Vietnamese via the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Vietnam: Phase II Escalation Period

1963-1974

Lyndon’s War

• 1963-1969• Lyndon Johnson inherits Vietnam• His view: he hated the war• no way out. He inherited the “imperial

presidency”• With that kind of power and the world looking up

to you would you have followed your instinct and pulled the US out?

• weak president

Gulf Tonkin Incident• secret naval missions into

North Vietnam via the Gulf Tonkin

• USS Maddox• No hard evidence has ever

been produced to confirm that Joy was being torpedoed at.

• Johnson had found his way to escalate the war.

• Golf Tonkin Resolution: – Johnson requested a blank

Check (power, money, and personnel) to “repel any armed attack on American Forces and to prevent future aggression.” Resolution passed

Bombing North Vietnam• Operation Rolling Thunder –

Jan. 1965: systematic bombing of North Vietnam and other targets.

• Chemical and biological warfare: used chemicals to destroy the foliage and dense cover that the NVA used for the their guerilla tactics. – Napalm: jellied gasoline– Agent orange: code name

for a herbicide developed for the military, primarily for use in tropical climates.

The Draft

• Use the Draft- calling all 18-26 yr olds.

• medical and college deferments or joined the Coast Guard.

• Many found a legal way out by declaring themselves conscientious objectors

• Grunts vs. Officers-Fragging

Vietnam war protestors burn draft cards at the 1968 Democratic Party Convention on August 1, 1968, in Chicago, Illinois.

Covert Operations• Phoenix program: CIA wanted to locate, interrogate

and assassinate Vietcong leaders. • Meo Allies: CIA recruited Meo tribes of Laos• Meo were actually Hmong:– Attacked NVA on trail– Directed US bombing missions– Flew combat missions– Rescued downed pilots– Gathered intelligence on NVA.

• Hmong fled to Thailand from Laos to avoid extermination by the communist and are now being brought to the US.

Vietnam and US in 1968

Tet offensive

Tet offensive

• Tet, Vietnam’s new year holiday North Vietnam and Vietcong launch surprise attack.

• The Vietcong were defeated • the psychological and political

standpoint the Vietcong were successful.

• The Tet offensive changed Americans opinions that the war

• Walter Cronkite

Loss • Johnson addressed the nation• Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. • In June Robert Kennedy was fatally shot• Protests- College • In Chicago, thousands of antiwar demonstrators came to the city

to protest the Democratic National Convention in August. – http://abcnews.go.com/Archives/video/aug-28-1968-anti-vietnam-protests-

10690501

• Hubert Humphrey was meant to be named the Democratic party candidate

• Nixon Presidency in 1968– He campaigned to restore law and order and to end the war in

Vietnam.