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Vietnam

Explore the history of Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh's leadership, the Vietnam War, and the U.S.'s role in the conflict. Learn about the Geneva Accords, the Vietcong, the Tet Offensive, and more.

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Vietnam

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  1. Vietnam Chapter 22

  2. Background: Vietnam • Ho Chi Minh - Communist leader of Vietnamese independence movement • Declares Vietnam an independent nation in 1945 • 1950: U.S. begins sending money to France to fight spread of communism • Domino Theory - Countries will fall to communism like rows of dominos

  3. Ho Chi Minh

  4. The Vietminh Drive Out The French • Vietminh - (Communist) organization want Vietnam to be independent • Dien Bein Phu Falls - 1954 Vietminh overrun the French at Dien Bien Phu. France surrenders. • Geneva Accords - Divides Vietnam at 17th Parallel: • Communist = North • Anticommunist: South Vietnam

  5. Dien Bein Phu

  6. Why the U.S. Got Involved • There were supposed to be elections to unify the country of Vietnam in 1956 • Ho Chi Minh has brutal, repressive government…but is popular for land distribution • Diem - South Vietnam’s anticommunist leader - refuses to have elections • U.S. feared a countrywide election might allow Ho Chi Minh to win and spread communism • The U.S. promised military aid and training to Diem in return for a stable reform government in South Vietnam

  7. Diem’s government was corrupt, did not honorpromise to create a stable government • Suppressed opposition, offered little or no land distribution to peasants • Buddhist monks were imprisoned, their temples burnt and publically burnt themselves in protest

  8. The Vietcong • Vietcong - Communists group that formed in South Vietnam, began attacks on the Diem government • They used guerilla warfare • Received support from Communist Ho Chi Minh • Ho Chi Minh Trail: Paths the Vietcong used to distribute arms and lead surprise attacks

  9. Opening to Vietcong Tunnel System

  10. Underground view of tunnels

  11. U.S. Aid and Tonkin Gulf • Kennedy and Democrats not soft on communism • Diem is assassinated 1963 by a U.S. supported military operation • Military leaders begin to take rule in South Vietnam: Country becomes unstable • LBJ inherits presidency and Vietnam • Believes U.S. will lose international prestige if communists win in Vietnam • Tonkin Gulf Resolution - Allegedly, North Vietnamese had attacked U.S. ships in the gulf of Tonkin. • LBJ asked congress for authority to wage war

  12. U.S. At War With Vietnam • 1965: Operation Rolling Thunder: first sustained bombing of North Vietnam • William Westmoreland: American commander in South Vietnam • June 1965: 50,000 soldiers arrive to battle Vietcong • End of 1965: 180,000 soldiers • 1967: 500,000 soldiers

  13. Fighting in the Jungle

  14. Fighting in the Jungle • Vietcong use hit-and-run tactics • Land is laced with booby traps, land mines • Vietcong receiving supplies from China and U.S.S.R. • New weapons: Napalm and Agent Orange • Search and Destroy Missions

  15. Napalm

  16. The Living Room War • Combat footage is seen on nightly news • Critics say Credibility gap exists between administration reports and actual events • Draft enacted- calls men 18-26 into service • 80% from lower economic levels

  17. Opposition • New Left - Youth movement in 60s, demand change and truth from government • Students protest on campus • Protest songs become popular • “Gimme Shelter” Rolling Stones • “Ohio” CSNY • “Vietnam Song” Country Joe and the Fish • “Fortunate Son” CCR

  18. Fighting in Vietnam

  19. 1968 A Tumultuous Year • Tet Offensive - Vietcong attacks civilians and U.S. troops for one month starting on Vietnamese New Year • Clark Clifford - New Secretary of Defense: says war is unwinnable • LBJ’s popularity drops by 60%

  20. The Tet Offensive

  21. 1968 a Tumultuous Year • Robert Kennedy (Bobby) enters presidential race along with Eugene McCarthy for Democratic nomination • Robert Kennedy wins California Primary but is assassinated after his victory speech

  22. Robert Kennedy Shot

  23. 1968 • August of 1968, Democrats met in Chicago for the convention • Hubert Humphrey got the nomination: This angered many anti-war activists • Violence erupted outside the DNC in Chicago between police and anti-war demonstrators (Grant Park)

  24. An End in Sight? • Richard Nixon gets elected to the presidency • Pledged to end American involvement in Vietnam • Henry Kissinger: National Security Advisor • Vietnamization: plan of gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops and for the South Vietnamese to take over fighting. • By August of 1969, the first 25,000 troops returned home. Over the next 3 years went from 500,000 to less than 25,000

  25. Nixon did not want to lose the war in Vietnam • As Nixon pulled troops out of Vietnam, he ordered massive bombing attacks on North Vietnam • Also ordered bombings of Laos and Cambodia

  26. U.S. Bombing of Cambodia

  27. Nixon May Not be Telling the Truth???? • Silent Majority: - Mainstream Americans who supported Nixon’s strategy of war • My Lai Massacre - November 1969, Americans learned that U.S. troops killed more than 200 unarmed Vietnamese • April 1970, Nixon announced that the U.S. had invaded Cambodia. College protests exploded! • Kent State Massacre in Ohio

  28. Kent State University Protest

  29. Kent State University

  30. America’s Longest War Ends • 1972: election year. Nixon wants to win reelection. • Nixon calls on Henry Kissinger (advisor on foreign affairs) to negotiate a peace settlement with the North Vietnamese • Kissinger announced peace was close at hand. Nixon reelected. • South Vietnam objected to peace settlement. Peace talks stopped, bombing against North Vietnam resumed.

  31. America’s Longest War Ends • Peace talks resumed again in 1973. Signed a peace agreement. • March 1973, the last of the U.S. combat troops left. • North and South Vietnam resumed fighting. • April 1975, North captures the South’s capital, Saigon. Soon after, South surrendered to North Vietnam.

  32. More Trouble in SE Asia • N. Vietnam held out hand for peace after war was over: “You have nothing to fear!” – NVA Colonel Bui Tin • They then imprisoned 400k S. Vietnamese in labor/”reeducation camps” • U.S. Invasion of Cambodia sparked a Civil War • Khmer Rouge – Communist group led by Pol Pot. He executed anyone with an education or foreign ties. 1 million Cambodians dead.

  33. How Did The War Affect America • 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam • 303,000 wounded, 15% suffered ptsd, some turned to alcohol, drugs. Thousands committed suicide • 2 Million Vietnamese dead • War resulted in many policy changes: • Congress passed War Powers Act in 1973 • Prevented the president from committing troops in a foreign conflict without approval from Congress • Left many Americans with a feeling of mistrust towards their government

  34. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial

  35. Located in Washington D.C.

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