History 12 Ms Leslie

1. History 12 Ms Leslie Vietnam War

2. During WWII • A French administered possession of Japan • Vichy reps would collaborate with Japanese military • At the end of the war, Japan set up a Puppet government led by Bao Dai

3. After WWII, the French wanted to return to their South East Asian colony, but their subjects in French Indo-China really did not want them • North Vietnam had an effective resistance movement to the occupying Japanese had been organized by Ho Chi Minh.

4. Ho’s forces proved the only effective anti-Japanese group, seizing control of Vietnam at the time of the Japanese surrender. • Boa Dai resigned and Vietnam was united under Ho and the Viet Minh. • Ho declared independence on September 2, 1945

6. Ho’s Vietminh simply continued the struggle when the French retuned, • Ho’s communist guerillas earned the support of the peasants with land reform.

7. The success of the Chinese revolution brought a steady stream of supplies from Mao’s China.

8. At the Potsdam Conference it was agreed the British and Chinese would supervise the disarming of the Japanese in the area • British actively supported the restoration of French Power. • By the end of September, the French were back in power in the South, at least in the urban centers.

9. In 1946 Ho tried to reach a settlement with the French • Negotiations broke down in 1946, and at the end of the year the French opened hostilities at Haiphong, killing at least 6,000 civilians. • The Viet Minh responded with failed attack on Hanoi • Both sides now in a prolonged struggle.

10. French controlled the cities and highways • Ho had the countryside and Mao’s support • France set up their own puppet government under Bao Dai again

11. Bao Dai did not have the support of the people as he had collaborated with the Japanese • The Soviets and Chinese would only recognize Ho as leader • British and USA recognized Bao Dai

12. by 1950 The French, unable to finance the war against the Vietminh themselves, turned to the USA for help and were granted financial and military aid to assist in the cold war struggle against communism. The Americans wanted to end colonialism and have independent non-Communist governments in the Area.

13. 1952-53 USA paying 2/3 of war • Would not provide troops • French want out

14. The French attempted to cut off Viet Minh supplies at Dien Bien Phu in March - May 1954.

15. This air drop brought almost 10,000 troops to the area • They were soon surrounded and had to rely on airdrops for supplies • Again the French asked for American help

17. Eisenhower wanted to help to prevent the domino effect. • Congress was divided - some didn’t want another Korea • May 7 1954 the French surrendered to General Giap

18. 1954 Geneva Agreement, • Formal settlement between Indochina and France • Laos and Cambodia were given independence, • while Vietnam was temporarily partitioned at the 17th parallel, until elections in 1956 could determine its future. Elections never happened

19. An 8 power declaration • providing for 3 independent states • supervised elections in Vietnam • prohibited the involvement of any of the states in treaty alliances or allowing foreign bases in their territory. • The Americans called for a UN supervised election

20. the Communist regime of Ho Chi Minh in the North faced the South Vietnamese of Ngo Dinh Diem • Ngo Dinh Diem replaced Bao Dai in 1955 • Neither could be properly described as democratic

21. Diem’s Vietnam • Ngo Dinh Diem was a catholic governing a mostly Buddhist population. • Diem’s family has all the power • torture

22. did not feel bound by the agreement, knowing full well that Ho would easily win the election. • With American support, Diem refused to allow the elections. Diem and Eisenhower

23. SEATO 1954 • South-East Asian Treaty Organization • which guaranteed the security of the South-East Asians nations against foreign aggression • America encouraged this agreement • Australia, Bangladesh, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, UK and USA

24. Meanwhile in America • 1954, Congress granted President Eisenhower executive power to wage war without the consent of Congress • Because that’s such a great idea

25. Diem vs Communism • 1957, communists protest the cancellation of elections • USA gets nervous about this • 1962 Kennedy increased troops from 500 to 10,000 to South Vietnam with equipment

26. Diem’s policies were anti-Buddhist. • The led to the famous self-immolation of a monk in June of 1963 • Thích Quảng Đức was protesting the religions oppression of Diem • His protest didn’t work • youtube video - no sound

27. Diem became an embarrassment to the US administration, which came to support a CIA backed military coup against him in 1963. • Diem was shot and killed Nov 2 • Kennedy killed Nov 22 • In the next two years, nine changes of government occurred, before Air Marshal Nguyen Cao Ky seized control in June 1965.

28. Diem dead

29. Ky’s government • The Buddhists were still opposed, until Ky broke their resistance in the late spring of 1966. • Civil liberties, especially freedom of the press, were limited and political opponents were imprisoned

30. Political parties could only operate if they did not oppose the government • farcical elections were held • In 1967, the military candidates Nguyen Van Thieu and his running mate, Ky, took power with only 35% of the vote. • The civilian candidate winning the most votes was jailed.

31. A guerilla war (Viet Cong) began in the south, with the Southern Vietminh forming the basis of the new NLF (National Liberation Front), armed and supported Ho’s North. The North never accepted a divided Vietnam.

32. America’s Involvement • All fact-finding-missions returned to Washington DC stating that Vietnam was hopeless. • Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon all ignored this. They were blinded by their fear of communism.

33. Kennedy had dispatched advisors and equipment. • His advisors were instrumental in setting up the safe village programme, in which peasants were moved into fortified villages to protect them and to isolate the Viet Cong outside. • The policy was based on the false assumption that most peasants supported the South Vietnamese government.

34. In practice, the Vietcong were very often the very same peasants who were relocated, and they continued to operate within the settlements.

35. After Kennedy’s assassination, his VP Johnson took over • He was told the Viet Cong and NLF controlled 40% of South Vietnam and had public support • Johnson kept resisting communist aggression

36. I’m not going to be the president who saw Southeast Asia go the way China went. - Johnson

37. Gulf of Tonkin - Aug 2,1964 • It was reported 3 North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked 2 US destroyers • One of the NV boats was sunk • In 2000, it was revealed that the Americans fired first

39. USS Maddox

41. The result = war!!! • Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, approving escalation of the conflict. (blank cheque) • 1965, Johnson increased troops to 200,000 • authorized the bombing of North Vietnamese cities, hoping to prevent the infiltration of men and material into the South

42. bombing failed completely • Four weeks after the bombing began, North Vietnam began to send its first regular army units into the South.

43. Operation Rolling Thunder • 1965-68 • Bomb Hanoi for 3 years straight

44. American presence increases • March 7, 1965, 35,000 Marines were landed at Da Nang • July the total number of US combat troops had risen to 75,000. • 510,000 troops present in 1968-9.

45. Da nang is pretty

46. They also water boarded Vietnamese in Da Nang • 1968

47. Also… • In addition, there were 750,000 regular Vietnamese troops, 50,000 South Koreans, • detachments from Thailand, New Zealand and Australia (the last 3 honouring their SEATO commitment).

48. They were up against • About 70,000 North Vietnamese regulars and around 450,000 Viet Cong.

49. Charlie’s well stocked • The NLF received aid from the north via the Ho Chi Minh Trail. • This trail went from North Vietnam, through Cambodia and Laos and back to South Vietnam.