1 / 84

Vietnam War

Vietnam War. By Kassandra Castillo. The Vietnam war began on November 1, 1955 and ended on April 30, 1975. It occurred in South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and Cambodia, Laos. People have given the Vietnam War several names such as Vietnam Conflict American War.

eve
Download Presentation

Vietnam War

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Vietnam War By Kassandra Castillo

  2. The Vietnam war began on November 1, 1955 and ended on April 30, 1975. • It occurred in South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and Cambodia, Laos

  3. People have given the Vietnam War several names such as • Vietnam Conflict • American War.

  4. Another name it is known as is the Second Indochina War. a. The reason for that is because it followed the first Indochina War, that took place in French Indochina, but manly north Vietnam.

  5. Fought Between • the communist north Vietnam • supported by communist allies • government of south Vietnam • supported by the United States as well as other anticommunist nations.

  6. The U.S entered the war to stop a communist takeover in South Vietnam. • They did that as part of there wider strategy of containment. • Military advisors started to arrive in the beginning of 1950.

  7. Although the U.S was involved since almost the beginning they really didn’t get involved and help until about the early 1960’s • when there troop level tripled in 1961 and yet again in 1962. • They started to send out there troops in 1965.

  8. Vietnamization • While Laos (Vietnam) and Cambodia were heavily bombed, involvement peaked in 1968 at the time of the Tet Offensive. • After this, U.S ground forces were withdrawn as part of a policy called Vietnamization. • Even though the Paris Peace Accords signed by all parties in January 1973 fighting continued.

  9. Vietnamization lasted from 1969 until 1973.

  10. Case Church Amendment • Passed by the U.S Congress prohibited use of the American military after August 15,1973 • unless the president secured congressional approval in advance.

  11. The capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese army in April 1975 marked the end of the Vietnam War. • North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year.

  12. South Vietnam(main) United States(main) South Korea Australia Philippines New Zealand Thailand Khmer Republic Kingdom of Laos Republic of China Anticommunist

  13. Communist North Vietnam (main) Viet Cong (main) Khmer Rouge Pathet Lao People's Republic of China Soviet Union North Korea

  14. Background • France began its conquest of Indochina in the late 1850’s and completed the pacification by 1893

  15. During 1944-1945 a deep famine struck northern Vietnam • Due to • poor weather • Japanese exploitation.

  16. In august 1945, the Japanese had been defeated and surrounded. • Into this power, the Viet Minh entered and grasped power across Vietnam in the “August Revolution.”

  17. On September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh (leader of the Viet Minh) declared the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam in front of a crowd of 500,000

  18. Major allied victors of World War II • United Kingdom • United States • Soviet Union • all agreed that the area belonged to the French.

  19. As French did not have ships, weapons, or soldiers to take Vietnam, the major powers came to an agreement • British troops would take the south while nationalist Chinese forces would move in from the north.

  20. In January 1946 the Viet Minh won elections across central and northern Vietnam • They began killing off most politicians. • The French landed in Hanoi by March 1946 and in November of that year they ousted the Viet Minh from the city.

  21. Soon after that the Viet Minh began a Guerilla War against the French union forces • beginning the first Indochina war.

  22. In1950 the communist nations led by the People's Republic of China (PRC) recognized the Viet Minh’s Democratic Republic of Vietnam as the government of Vietnam.

  23. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu marked the end of French involvement in Indochina. • French Union garrison surrendered.

  24. Independence was granted to Cambodia, Laos Vietnam.

  25. Transition Period • Vietnam was partitioned at the 17th parallel • under the terms of the Geneva Convention -civilians were the be given the opportunity to freely move between the two provisional states for a 300 day period.

  26. Elections throughout the country were to be helped in 1956 to establish a unified government. • Around one million northerners mainly minority Catholics fled south fearing persecution by the communist

  27. In April-June 1955, Diem cleared the decks of any political opposition in the south by launching military operations against the Cao Dai religious sect and many others. • As broad-based opposition to his harsh tactics mounted, Diem increasingly sought to blame the communist.

  28. In a referendum on the future of the State of Vietnam on October 23, Diem rigged the poll supervised by his brother and was created with 98.2 percent of the vote including 133% in Saigon

  29. On October 26 1955 Diem declared the new Republic of Vietnam(ROV) with himself as president. • The ROV was created largely • because of the Eisenhower administration's desire for an anti-communist state in the region.

  30. The Geneva Conference 1954 • The Domino Theory which argues that if one country fell to communist then all of the surrounding countries would follow. • Was first proposed as policy by the Eisenhower administration.

  31. Kennedy’s Administration • When John F. Kennedy won the 1960 U.S president elections, one major issue Kennedy raised was whether the Soviet space and Missile programs had surpassed those in the U.S.

  32. The Kennedy administration remained essentially committed to the Cold War foreign policy inherited from the Truman and Eisenhower administration.

  33. Kennedy was determined to draw a line in the sand and prevent a communist victory in Vietnam saying “Now we have a problem making our power credible and Vietnam looks like the place.”

  34. The quality of South Vietnamese military however remained poor. • Bad leadership • corruption • political promotions all played part in emasculation of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.

  35. Kennedy advisers Maxwell Taylor and Walt Rostow recommended that U.S troops be sent to South Vietnam • disguised as flood relief workers. • Kennedy rejected the idea but increased military assistance yet again.

  36. On July 23, 1962 fourteen nations including the People’s Republic of China, South Vietnam, the Soviet Union, North Vietnam and the United States, signed an agreement promising the neutrality of Laos.

  37. Lyndon B. Johnson • Lyndon B. Johnson took over the presidency after the death of Kennedy • Did not consider Vietnam a priority • Was more concerned with his “Great Society” and progressive social programs.

  38. Johnson had reversed Kennedy’s disengagement policy from Vietnam in withdrawing 1,00 troops by the end of 1963 with his own NSAM 273 to expand the war.

  39. On August 2 1964 the USS Maddox on an intelligence mission along North Vietnam’s coast, allegedly fired upon and damages several torpedo boats that had been stalking It in the Gulf Of Tonkin.

  40. A second attack was reported two days later on the USS Turner Joy and Maddox in the same area.

  41. National Security Council • Recommended a three-stage escalation of the bombing of North Vietnam.

  42. Operation Flaming Dart • Operation Commando Hunt -targeted different parts of the NLF and Vietnam People’s Army • Operation Rolling Thunder -covered the north with tons of missiles, rockets, and bombs.

  43. Escalation and Ground War • On March 8, 1965 over 3 thousand U.S Marines were sent out to South Vietnam • Marked the beginning of the American ground war

  44. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam forces suffered a heavy loss at the Battle of Binh Gia in December. • And yet again in June at the battle of Dong Xoai.

  45. Later on the U.S came up with a three-point plan to win the war. • Phase 1) Commitment of the U.S forces to halt the losing trend by the end of 1965. • Phase 2) U.S were to seize and destroy the guerilla forces, this will end when the enemy have been worn down and driven back • Phase 3) if it is not complete in 12 to 18 months they will need the final destruction of enemy forces

  46. The plan was approved by Johnson and marked a heavy departure from the previous administrations insistence that the government of South Vietnam was responsible of beating the guerillas.

  47. Tet Offensive • Over 100 cities were attacked with assaults on General Westmoreland’s headquarters and the US Embassy, Saigon. • That was considered the American turning point. • General Westmoreland became the public face of the war.

More Related