Southeast Asia in Conflict

1. Southeast Asia in Conflict p. 528

2. French Indochina • During the New Imperialism era, France controlled what it called “Indochina” • EC: today known as three countries (3) • Vietnam, • Kampuchea, • Laos • After World War I, Vietnamese went to Paris to request self-determination. • They were ignored.

3. WW II to the 1950s • EC: When Germany defeated France in 1940, ____ was allowed to take control of French Indochina. • Japan • Guerrillas: • Bands of unofficial soldiers (insurgents), who resist an occupying army long after their own country surrenders. • British, American, and French agents trained and equipped Vietnamese, Laotian, and Kampuchean guerrillas to fight the Japanese. • Of course, Japan was defeated in 1945. • The Allies gave Indochina back to France soon after. • Indochinese guerrillas continued to fight the French.

4. Ho Chi Minh: • Nationalist and Communist leader of the Vietnamese guerrillas (Viet Minh). • His forces fought for eight years against the French. (First Indochina War), 1950s.

5. Dienbienphu: • Viet Minh army decisively defeated the French in 1954. • France decided to withdraw from Vietnam • By an international agreement, there would be two countries until free elections were held:

6. EC: North Vietnam (6) • Communist, • Led by Ho Chi Minh, • Supported by the Soviet Union and the PRC. • Capital was Hanoi • Preferred by anti-imperialist (US/France) Vietnamese • Preferred by Vietnamese hating the South Vietnam’s corrupt, brutal, dictatorial Diem government.

7. South Vietnam • Republic of Vietnam • Dictatorial • Led by Ngo Dinh Diem, • Supported by the United States. • Capital was Saigon • Catholic and pro-French Vietnamese preferred it.

8. Domino Theory: • US idea that if Vietnam fell, then Communist would use it to take control of all of Southeast Asia, country-by-country. • The US decided to fight it. • EC: by 1975, which three countries above actually fell to communism? • Vietnam • Cambodia (Kampuchea) • Laos

9. Viet Cong: • Also called the National Liberation Front. • They were South Vietnamese guerrillas who supported and fought for Ho Chi Minh. • They fought the Diem forces in South Vietnam. • US forces hated and feared VC guerrilla tactics…..

10. EC: US sees Diem as a problem (3) • Resisting free elections • Diem’s corruption and brutality against his people • Conflicted even with Buddhist monks

11. Diem became an embarrassment for the US. • In 1963, the CIA advises the _____ Administration to eliminate Diem. • Kennedy • Diem is assassinated (verified in clip by former President Johnson), and US-approved leadership replaces him.

12. EC: The guerrilla-style war against the US was most effective. (2) • Rainforests work in the VC’s favor. • VC were local people and knew their land • Villagers often aided the VC • US and ARVN troops targeted such villages. • Destruction of villages made US and ARVN troops unpopular • Helicopter and jet raids (in this case, napalm) terrorized and destroyed many villages • EC: Hidden jungle trails were used to move supplies, troops, weapons: the ____ was the main route… • “Ho Chi Minh Trail” • Communists used illegal bases and routes across the border in Kampuchea and Laos. • US ordered troops and bombings on those bases, expanding the war.

13. EC: The Soviet Union gives Vietnam effective high-technology weapons: (1) • Surface-to-air missiles (SAM), to defend against US bombers and fighters. • US suffers high losses doing air raids over North Vietnam.

14. Tet Offensive: • 1968, using the relaxed celebrations of the Vietnamese new year, VC and NVA troops attacked all over South Vietnam at the same time. • The US commander had been on nationwide news telling Americans the communists were all but defeated. • ARVN and US troops were caught off guard. • The fighting was house to house….. • It was the kind of fighting US troops were good at.) • VC and NVA attackers were eventually killed or driven off • Battles and courage showed that the Communists were still very ready and able to fight • American and South Vietnamese leaders were humiliated • American public opinion, led by the media, turned against the war. • Lyndon Johnson decided not to run for a second presidential term.

15. US Anti-war movement: • Once again, American young men were drafted. • Increasing numbers later avoided the draft by leaving the country. • College students were not drafted • They led the growing anti-war movement. • It grew strong enough to make many Americans want to end the war. • The anti-war movement would confuse and divide the American people. • Similar protests occurred in Europe …..

16. EC: In 1973, the Paris Peace Accordwas signed. (4) • There would be a cease-fire • US troops would withdraw from the country • North Vietnam would send no more troops into South Vietnam • South Vietnam would decide when and how to begin talks for reunification.

17. Kampuchea (Cambodia)— • Khmer Rouge: • Cambodian Communists. They took control of Kampuchea in 1975.

18. Pol Pot • led Khmer Rouge

19. EC: Pol Pot began to purge Kampuchea of “dangerous” people. (2) • City people were moved to the countryside to do honest peasant work. • Educated people • In “reeducation” camps, educated and Western-influenced people were identified, tortured, and executed. • One-third of the population (1 to 2 million) was slaughtered (shot, drowned, beaten) in “killing fields”, their bodies left to rot. • EC: ____ troops invaded and defeated the Khmer Rouge and ended the genocide in 1979. • Vietnamese

20. South Vietnam • EC: In the early ‘60s, Diem did not hold the agreed-upon elections because it was certain that the people would choose ___ as their leader. • Ho Chi Minh • The US feared Communists would gain Vietnam.

21. South Vietnam • In the early 1960s, South Vietnamese guerrillas began to fight the Diem government. • They were supplied from North Vietnam. • EC: The Viet Cong wanted to: (3) • unite Vietnam • depose the dictator, Diem • drive the United States out

22. Biography, p 529 • How did Ho Chi Minh’s approach to communism differ from the Soviet model? • He shifted the Communist focus • from urban workers to rural peasants • to national liberation.

23. Standards Check, p. 529 • Why did Vietnamese guerrillas fight the French in Indochina? • Vietnamese guerillas fought the French in an effort to win independence

24. US Involvement • Until 1964, the United States sent supplies and “advisors” to train the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN).

25. Military Intervention • After a maritime attack on a US warship, the US Congress passed the ____. • Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, in 1964. • President ________________ ordered thousands of troops into Vietnam • Lyndon Johnson • US has technology in its favor

26. Bombing, 10x all of WW II • The US also began massive bombing raids on North Vietnam • Dropping 10 times the tonnage used in Europe and Asia in all of WW II. • These make US look like a “bully” to the world • Bombings make Vietnamese hate US.

27. Years and years • In the next few years, the United States had about ____ military personnel in Vietnam. • 500,000 • EC: American men had to register for the draft at age ___. • 18 • In the beginning, many saw service as a patriotic duty.

28. Thinking Critically, p. 530-1 1 2 It was difficult to distinguish Viet Cong guerillas from local villagers Swamps and dense vegetation made it easy for guerillas to hide and ambush US forces. • To halt further advances of troops and supplies from North Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh Trail • to be able to attack Vietnam from the West

29. The Communists • The North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Viet Cong (“____”, “_____”, “____”) get their supplies and training from the Soviet Union and the PRC, • “VC” • “Charlie” • “Mr. Charles” • The USSR and PRC do not send troops.

30. US’ Vietnam Legacy • EC: The Vietnam War saw many US soldiers and aviators taken ____(POW) or (MIA). (2) • prisoner of war • missing in action • By the end of the war these numbered around 2,500 and would be a point of conflict between the two countries until the 1990s.

31. Standards Check, p. 532 • How did the domino theory lead the United States to send troops to Vietnam? • The US entered Vietnam to prevent the spread of Communism across Southeast Asia

32. Finding a solution— • EC: Peace Talks began with North Vietnam in 1968 under President ____. • Johnson. • EC: They continued in Paris under President ____. • Richard Nixon. • The first problem was the design of the table. The North Vietnamese demanded the set-up show in the image.

33. Standards Check, p. 532 • Why did the United States withdraw its troops from Vietnam? • The US withdrew from Vietnam because: • It was not winning • Great pressure from US citizens against the war.

34. Image, p. 533 • Why might people choose to flee across the open ocean in a small boat like this one? • They were desperate to escape communist rule.

35. Aftermath • The rest of Southeast Asia remained capitalist: Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore • EC: A US-led embargo kept Vietnam poor (similar to the US embargo of _____) • Cuba • but soon Japan and Europeans ignored the US, and began trade and diplomatic relations. • The US does trade with Vietnam somewhat now and Americans can travel there…. • Vietnam has mostly recovered, • but a higher standard of living is still decades away. • Many unexploded munitions are still in the ground and maim and kill animals and people. • Vietnamese land and flora are still recovering from American chemical defoliants. • EC: Vietnam still maintains a large army against its ancient enemy, _____ • China.

36. Standards Check, p. 533 • How did communist Vietnam dominate parts of Southeast Asia after the Vietnam War? • Communists took control or invaded Cambodia and Laos after Vietnam fell.

37. Quick Write • Why would the United States support Diem even though he was such a brutal dictator?