L16 & L17: The Cold War, Democracy, and the Vietnam War Tan Block

L16 & L17: The Cold War, Democracy, and the Vietnam WarTan Block • Agenda • Objectives: • To analyze whether the Cold War strengthened or undermined democracy through a discussion of Cold War events between 1945 and 1975 with particular attention to the Vietnam War. • To understand the events of the Vietnam War. • Schedule: • Lecture & Whole Class Discussion Homework Process and Research Check in Two Due: Thursday 5/24 Socratic Seminar Thursday 5/31 Paper Due: Monday 6/4

L16 & L17: The Cold War, Democracy, and the Vietnam WarBlue Block • Agenda • Objectives: • To analyze whether the Cold War strengthened or undermined democracy through a discussion of Cold War events between 1945 and 1975 with particular attention to the Vietnam War. • To understand the events of the Vietnam War. • Schedule: • Lecture & Whole Class Discussion Homework Process and Research Check in Two Due: Friday 5/25 Socratic Seminar Monday 6/4 Paper Due: Wednesday 6/6

Review of Cold War Experiences (1945-1962) • How would you describe the experience of the Cold War from 1945 to 1962? • On the military front? • On the foreign relations front? • On the domestic front?

Review of the Goals of the Cold War • What was the goal of the Cold War? • Soviet Union? • United States?

U.S. Stated Goal in 1947 • “To help free peoples to maintain their free institutions and their national integrity against … totalitarian regimes.” • Harry Truman 1947 • Between 1945 and 1962 is the United States achieving this goal… • Internationally? • Domestically?

Question for the Next Two Days… • Did the Cold War strengthen or undermine democracy at home and/or abroad?

We will explore this question by… • Part One: • Consider our question about the relationship between democracy and the Cold War as it applies to what we already know about the Cold War from 1945 to 1962 (Today) • Part Two: • Learn about the Vietnam War (Today & Tomorrow) • Part Three: • Revisit our question given what we learn about Vietnam, thus evaluating the relationship between the Cold War and democracy from 1945 to 1975 (Tomorrow)

Part One • Question: Did the Cold War strengthen or undermine democracy at home and/or abroad between 1945 to 1962? • What are the characteristics of democracy? • Where do you see these characteristics being strengthened in the US/world? • Where do you see these characteristics being undermined in the US/world?

Part Two: The Vietnam War

Broad Overview of the Vietnam War • 1955 to 1975 • War between: • North Vietnam and its communist allies • South Vietnam and its anti-communist allies • U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s and peaked in 1968 • U.S. military involvement ended in 1973

Why Did the United States Fight a War in Vietnam? • Part of the containment strategy. • Stop the falling of the dominos • Goal was to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia.

Broad Overview of the Vietnam War • The Vietnam War was the longest and most unpopular war in American history. • During the war: • 58,000 Americans lost their lives. • 61% of the men killed were 21 or younger. • 304,000 were wounded. • 75,000 were severely disabled. • The United States spent over $200 billion dollars on the war.

Background on the nation of Vietnam • Vietnam was a French colony from mid 1800s to 1954 • France was forced to leave Vietnam following their defeat by the Vietnamese in the First Indochina War. • The Geneva Peace Accords, signed by France and Vietnam in the summer of 1954, provided for the temporary partition of Vietnam at the 17th parallel, with national elections in 1956 to reunify the country. • North Vietnam: communist regime, supported by the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, led by of Ho Chi Minh. • South Vietnam: Republican government, led by President Ngo Dinh Diem.

South Vietnam Under Diem • Diem claimed that his newly created government was under attack from Communists in the north. • In late 1957, with American military aid, Diem began to counterattack. • He used the help of the CIA to identify those who sought to bring his government down and arrested thousands. • He passed a repressive series of acts that made it legal to hold suspected Communists in jail without bringing formal charges.

The National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) • The Communists created a group called the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) to help those living in South Vietnam oppose their government.

American Involvement Increases • In 1961, President Kennedy ordered that America increase its involvement through: • Increase in military, technical, and economic aid • Introduction of American “advisers” to help stabilize the Diem regime and crush the Viet Cong • No U.S. troops were called for

South Vietnam Collapses • By the summer of 1963 the government of South Vietnam was on the verge of political collapse. • Viet Cong successes • Ineffectiveness of Diem and his regime • The Kennedy administration supported a coup against Diem. • With Washington’s tacit approval, Diem and his brother were captured and later killed. • Three weeks later, President Kennedy was assassinated on the streets of Dallas.

Escalation of the Conflict • The assassination of Kennedy placed LBJ in power immediately, and he inherited a Vietnam policy that was in shambles with the killing of Diem only weeks earlier. • South Vietnam was in chaos due to the military coup. Perhaps 40% of southern Vietnamese were supporters of Ho Chi Minh in 1964. • The Americans thus far had not won over the hearts and minds of the indigenous population. The Viet Cong were growing in popularity.

Escalation of the Conflict • 1964 was an election year, and Barry Goldwater, the Republican candidate, was running on the platform that LBJ was “too soft” on communism. • LBJ felt he had to show toughness in the face of Goldwater’s challenge. He began to believe he needed to me more aggressive in Vietnam. • To justify escalating the war, LBJ took advantage of a small naval incident in August 1964 at the Gulf of Tonkin.

Gulf of Tonkin Incident • In August 1964, in response to American and South Vietnamese espionage along its coast, North Vietnam launched an attack against two American ships on call in the Gulf of Tonkin. • The first attack occurred on August 2, 1964. • A second attack was supposed to have taken place on August 4, but authorities have recently concluded that no second attack ever took place.

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution • The Johnson administration used the attack to obtain a Congressional resolution, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, that gave the president broad war powers. • Authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by "communist aggression." • Served as Johnson's legal justification for deploying U.S. conventional forces and the commencement of open warfare against North Vietnam.

The United States Begins Bombing North Vietnam • In early 1965, Johnson ordered sustained bombing missions over North Vietnam. • Tried to overcome the main challenge of fighting in Vietnam which is the dense jungle cover. • Known as “Operation Rolling Thunder.”

Phosphorous & Napalm Bombs • “Operation Rolling Thunder” was backed up by phosphorous and napalm bombs – the latter causing horrific burns to thousand of innocent civilians.

Agent Orange • When this failed to break down the jungle cover the military started the “Operation Ranch Hand” defoliation program, using Agent Orange. • This deadly chemical cocktail, containing dioxin, killed off millions of acres of jungle to try to weaken the Vietcong – but left a horrendous legacy in Vietnam. • The dioxin got into the food chain causing chromosome damage to humans. There were hundreds of cases of children born with deformities.

How did the North VietnameseFight Back Against the U.S. Invaders? • The North Vietnamese used classic Maoist guerrilla tactics. “Guerrillas must move through the peasants like fish through sea.” • Viet Cong fighters would fight in the countryside among the peasants. Peasants will support them with shelter, food, storage, intelligence, and recruits.

North Vietnamese Tactics • In areas held by the Viet Cong, the Communists distributed land and weapons to the peasants. • The AK47 assault rifle out-performed the American M16 • The portable rocket launcher took out many US vehicles & aircraft. • Booby-traps • Recycleddud bombs dropped by the Americans

Protracted War Strategy • After “Operation Rolling Thunder,” the Communist Party moved to a protracted war strategy: the idea was to get the United States bogged down in a war that it could not win militarily and create unfavorable conditions for political victory.

Tunnel Complexes • The Vietnamese built large tunnel complexes. This protected them from the bombing raids by the Americans and gave them cover for attacking the invaders.

Search & Destroy Tactics • The United States countered with “Search and Destroy” tactics. In areas where the Viet Cong were thought to be operating, troops went in and checked for weapons. If they found them, they rounded up the villagers and burned the villages down. • This often alienated the peasants from the American/ South Vietnamese cause.

The Home Front: Death Tolls and the Draft • The Vietnam War had a major impact on everyday life in America, and the Johnson administration was forced to consider domestic consequences of its decisions daily. • Death Toll • Draft • Since there were not enough volunteers to continue to fight a protracted war, the government instituted a draft. • Instituted in1969

Effect of the Draft on the Military • What effect do you think the draft would have the military and combat operations in Vietnam? • “Counting Days” • Drug Use

Anti-War Sentiments • As death tolls mounted in Vietnam and more and more men were drafted, public sentiment began to turn against the war. • Protests erupted on college campuses and in major cities at first, but by 1968 every corner of the country seemed to have felt the war's impact.

The War Goes from Bad to Worse • By 1968, things had gone from bad to worse for the Johnson administration. • Tet Offensive: • In late January, North Vietnam and the NLF launched coordinated attacks against major southern cities. • My Lai Massacre: • Killing of 400 men, women, and children by U.S. troops • Hushed up at the time and only discovered by a tenacious journalist

Johnson Decides Not to Run for Reelection • In late March 1968, a disgraced Lyndon Johnson announced that he would not seek the Democratic Party's re-nomination for president • Republican Richard Nixon easily defeated democrat Hubert Humphrey

Vietnamization • Nixon came to office on the promise of ending the war. • His strategy was “Vietnamization.” • This strategy brought American troops home while increasing the air war over North Vietnam and relying more on the South Vietnamese army for ground attacks.

Expansion to Laos & Cambodia • The Nixon years also saw the expansion of the war into neighboring Laos and Cambodia, violating the international rights of these countries in secret campaigns, as the White House tried desperately to rout out Communist sanctuaries and supply routes.

Campus Protests & Shootings • The intense bombing campaigns and intervention in Cambodia in late April 1970 sparked intense campus protests all across America. • At Kent State in Ohio, four students were killed by National Guardsmen who were called to preserve order on campus after days of anti-Nixon protest.

Anti-War Movement Goes Mainstream • At first, most Americans supported the war. But by 1970, the Peace Movement had support from all parts of society and no government could ignore it.

The Paris Peace Agreement • In early January 1973, the Nixon White House convinced Saigon that they would not abandon the South Vietnamese army if they signed the peace accord. • On January 23, therefore, the final draft was initialed, ending open hostilities between the United States and North Vietnam. • The Paris Peace Agreement did not end the conflict in Vietnam, however, as Saigon continued to battle Communist forces.

The Fall to Communism • From March 1973 until the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, the South Vietnamese army tried desperately to save the South from political and military collapse. • The end finally came when North Vietnamese tanks rolled south along National Highway One. • On the morning of April 30, Communist forces captured the presidential palace in Saigon, ending the Vietnam War.

Part Three • Question: Did the Cold War strengthen or undermine democracy at home and/or abroad between 1945 to 1975?

L16 & L17: The Cold War, Democracy, and the Vietnam War Tan Block