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Vietnam War. Brainstorm. What is an alliance of convenience? Who did the US back in the Vietnam War? Who were some of the major people involved in Vietnam?. People to Know. Ngo Dinh Diem. Refused Ho Chi Minh's invitation to join the Communist movement
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Brainstorm • What is an alliance of convenience? • Who did the US back in the Vietnam War? • Who were some of the major people involved in Vietnam?
Ngo Dinh Diem • Refused Ho Chi Minh's invitation to join the Communist movement • Led South Vietnam from 1954 to 1963 • Killed by his generals in a coup. • His autocratic rule, exemplified by the imprisonment and execution of hundreds of Buddhists, and his refusal to institute land reforms, probably contributed to increasing popular support for Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh • Born Nguyen SinhCung, and known as "Uncle Ho” • Led the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from 1945-69 • Embraced communism while living abroad in England and France from 1915-23 • In 1919, he petitioned the powers at the Versailles peace talks for equal rights in Indochina. He later moved to Hong Kong, where he founded the Indochinese Communist Party • Returned to Vietnam in 1941 and declared the nation's independence from France • Led a nearly continuous war against the French and, later, the Americans until his death in 1969
Pol Pot • The architect of the genocidal slaughter of two million of his own people, Pol Pot ruled the communist Khmer Rouge of Cambodia from 1975 to 1978 • Seeking to create an agricultural utopia, Pol Pot ordered the execution of anyone considered to be educated or an intellectual • Turned Cambodia into a huge concentration camp where citizens were forcibly "re-educated" or put to death • Fled to the jungle following the Vietnamese invasion in 1978.
Daniel Ellsberg • In 1971, he released the Pentagon Papers, the U.S. military's account of activities in Vietnam, to The New York Times • Vietnam veteran and a senior research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for International Studies, Ellsberg helped to compile the Pentagon Papers while working in the Defense Department • Initially, he supported the war effort, but later turned against it. His release of the Pentagon Papers succeeded in eroding public support for the war
Robert McNamara • John F. Kennedy's secretary of defense. • Supported increased U.S. involvement in Vietnam, but began to change his position in about 1966 • By 1967, he openly supported a peaceful solution to the conflict
General Westmoreland • Commanded U.S. military operations in Vietnam from 1964-1968 • Highly publicized, positive assessments of the American military prospects were shattered by the Tet offensive of 1968, in which Communist forces boldly attacked cities and towns throughout South Vietnam • Openly disagreed with Johnson’s decision making about Vietnam
Places to Know • Hanoi: Capital of North Vietnam • Saigon: Capital of South Vietnam • Dien Bien Phu: Location in NW Vietnam where Viet Minh defeat the French and ultimately end French involvement in Indochina • My Lai: site of US Massacre of 350-500 unarmed citizens