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Where is Vietnam?

Where is Vietnam?. I. Why Did the United States Fight a War in Vietnam?. A. To uphold the containment policy and Truman Doctrine (1947) “to help free peoples to maintain their free institutions and their national integrity against … totalitarian regimes.”

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Where is Vietnam?

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  1. Where is Vietnam?

  2. I. Why Did the United States Fight a War in Vietnam? • A. To uphold the containment policy and Truman Doctrine (1947) “to help free peoples to maintain their free institutions and their national integrity against … totalitarian regimes.” • B. Specifically, to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia

  3. II. Conflict Between France & Vietnam • A. The Vietnam War grew out of the long conflict between France and Vietnam. 1. In July 1954, after one hundred years of colonial rule, a defeated France was forced to leave Vietnam.

  4. B. 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. • C. In the North, a communist regime, supported by the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, set up its headquarters in Hanoi under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh.

  5. May 1954 - French troops surrender at Dien Bien Phu

  6. III. U.S. Support in the South • A. Under SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization), Eisenhower’s administration helped create a new nation in southern Vietnam. • B. In 1955, with the help of massive amounts of American military, political, and economic aid, the government of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) was born, under the leadership of Ngo Dinh Diem.

  7. C. “Domino Theory:” If South Vietnam falls to the Communist, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, India and Pakistan would also fall like dominos; linked Vietnam to the U.S. containment policy 

  8. D. Opposition to Diem: Diem's regime was harsh and oppressive • 1. Buddhist monks and nuns were joined by students, business people, intellectuals, and peasants in opposition to Diem’s corrupt rule. • 2. The result was massive protests on the streets of Saigon that led Buddhist monks to self-immolation.

  9. The pictures of the monks engulfed in flames made world headlines.

  10. E. The National Liberation Front: brought together Communists and non-Communists 1. Anyone could join as long as they opposed Ngo Dinh Diem and wanted to unify Vietnam

  11. IV. Early Military Strategies • A. Kennedy’s Military Advisors: instead of a large-scale military buildup or a negotiated settlement, the United States would increase the level of its military involvement in South Vietnam through more machinery and advisers, but no military troops.

  12. B. Strategic Hamlet Program: plan rounded up villagers and placed them in "safe hamlets" controlled by the government of South Vietnam. • 1. The idea was to isolate the NLF from villagers, its base of support • 2. Villagers did not want to leave land and the program alienated the peasants from the Saigon regime and produced more recruits for the NLF.

  13. V. Escalation of the Conflict • A. Attacks of U.S. Ships: • 1. North Vietnam launched an attack against the two American ships on call in the Gulf of Tonkin. • a. The first attack occurred on August 2, 1964. • b. A second attack was supposed to have taken place on August 4, but evidence now shows that a second attack never took place. • 2. After a reported North Vietnamese raid on two U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin, the Johnson administration argued for expansive war powers for the president.

  14. 3. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: the Johnson administration used the August 4 attack to obtain a Congressional resolution that gave the president broad war powers. • 4. The Resolution was followed by limited air attacks against North Vietnam.

  15. B. Operation Rolling Thunder: In early 1965, the NLF attacked two U.S. army installations in South Vietnam, and as a result, Johnson ordered sustained bombing missions over North Vietnam. • 1. The bombing missions, known as “Operation Rolling Thunder,” caused the Communist Party to reassess its own war strategy

  16. C. Phosphorous & Napalm Bombs: “Operation Rolling Thunder” was backed up by phosphorous and napalm bombs – the latter causing dreadful burns to thousand of civilians.

  17. D. Defoliants: defoliation program used Agent Orange to kill off millions of acres of jungle to try to weaken the Vietcong hiding places – but had huge human and environmental costs.

  18. E. Search & Destroy Tactics: In areas where the NLF were thought to be operating, troops went in and checked for weapons. • 1. If they found them, they rounded up the villagers and burned the villages down. • 2. This often alienated the peasants from the American/South Vietnamese cause.

  19. VI. North Vietnamese Tactics • A. In areas held by the NLF, the Communists distributedland to the peasants. • B. Their weapons were cheap and reliable. • _ The AK47 assault rifle out-performed the American M16 • The portable rocket launcher took out many US vehicles & aircraft. • They recycleddud bombs dropped by the Americans.

  20. C. Tunnels: The Vietnamese built large tunnel complexes that protected them from the bombing raids by the Americans and gave them cover for attacking the invaders.

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