Vietnam War – the End

1. Vietnam War – the End WALT . To understand why the US lost the Vietnam war

2. Why the Americans lost the Vietnam war • The Vietcong were expert guerrilla fighters and the Americans had no answer to this type of warfare. The Vietcong copied the tactics the Red Chinese had used. The tactics can be summarised: • • the enemy attack, we retreat • • the enemy camps, we raid • • the enemy tires, we attack • • the enemy retreats, we pursue.

3. It was almost impossible to win a battle against a guerrilla army because you could never find out where it was. It attacked you then disappeared into the jungle. The Viet Cong had the support of many of the peasants on whose land they were fighting. They could move freely around the country sheltered by villagers. One Viet Cong leader said: "The people are the water; our armies are the fish."

4. Failure of American bombing • The only way to win against a guerrilla army was to win the support of the local population. • The casualties that the South Vietnamese farmers and villagers suffered because of the over-use of American weapons did not encourage them to side with the USA. • The US did not understand the • patriotism of the Vietnamese people. • It could not understand the desire • for a united Vietnam and for • freedom from foreign interference.

5. The Vietnam War quickly sapped the morale of the American soldiers. Many of them were raw recruits who had just left school or college. Conscription fell heavily on the blacks and uneducated because those going to college were able to delay joining-up or even avoid it altogether. It was perhaps unrealistic to expect American blacks to fight for ‘freedoms’ in Vietnam which they did not enjoy at home.

6. As American casualties rose, the Americans launched huge bombing raids which devastated North Vietnam. Chemicals were used to destroy the jungle in which the guerrillas sheltered. Tens of thousands of South Vietnamese civilians were killed. The Viet Cong losses in military equipment, raw materials and vehicles were more than made up by increased aid from the USSR and China. • The North Vietnamese showed great ingenuity in coping with the bombing. They relocated industries in remote places and hid them effectively. They stored arms in caves and underground. Tens of thousands of North Vietnamese women and children worked full time in keeping transport routes open.

7. The end of the War • By 1969 the question was not whether America would get out of Vietnam but how it could do it without appearing defeated. Nixon, the new American President, came up with the policy of Vietnamisation. This involved building up South Vietnamese forces and providing money, training and equipment so they could replace American soldiers. • The Americans also entered peace talks with Ho Chi Minh and in January 1973 agreed a ceasefire which allowed the last American soldiers to leave. • However, the ceasefire was meaningless. The Viet Cong continued their assault against South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese Army were unable to stop them without American help and in April 1975 Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, had fallen to the Communists, after almost 30 years of warfare the Communists controlled Vietnam.

8. Loss of American public support • For war on such a scale, America had to have the support of the American public. The Vietnam War was a media war. Thousands of television, radio and newspaper reporters sent back to America and Europe reports and pictures of the fighting. Under this barrage of images and stories support for the war was wavering by 1967. There were anti-war protests all over the country.

9. American troops started treating Vietnamese civilians roughly, believing, often rightly, that they were helping the Vietcong. At My Lai in March 1968 about 400 civilians were killed. The army tried to cover the massacre up but one sickened soldier reported it to Congress. Photographs were found. Only Lieutenant William Calley, the officer in charge, was put on trial. He was found guilty, sentenced to 20 years in prison but released after a few years. The news of the massacre deeply shocked American public opinion

10. b) Explain why the American forces were pulled out of Vietnam in 1973.(9) • Use the worksheet to help you answer the question.

11. Using the worksheet, create a spider diagram showing how America got out of Vietnam.

12. Study Sources A and B.Does Source A make you surprised by the account in Source B? Explain your answer using thesources. SOURCE B The American story was that this was an example of the success of their bombing and shelling campaign. They told me that it showed that the Viet Cong were so demoralised that they were having to take refuge underground. Well I must confess that I believed that version of the story. It was only later when it was discovered how enormous the tunnel complex was and how skilfully the Viet Cong used it and how the tunnels actually extended under the American base camps, that I started to think for myself and I realised that this was not a sign of how demoralised the Viet Cong had become but how determined they were. A British journalist speaking on a television programme, 27 June 1993 • SOURCE A • The American soldier in Vietnam could rely on the latest equipment. He was transported to the battle scene by helicopter, and if wounded flown out by helicopter. Tanks and armoured cars supported any attack and he had the most up-to-date arms – mortars, machine guns, grenade and rocket launchers, and the M16, a fully automatic rifle. The Americans had air-to-surface missiles and bombs of every shape and size from napalm bombs that roasted their victims alive to cluster bombs whose hundreds of pellets burst out to rip deep into the body of anyone within range. They also had electronic instruments • which detected guerrillas, and chemical weapons which could destroy jungles and crops. • From a book about the Vietnam War by an American historian, published in 1983.

13. Study Sources F and G.Is one of these sources more useful than the other to a historian studying the Vietnam War?Explain your answer using the sources and your knowledge. [9] SOURCE G Two young women who tempted some United States soldiers to lay down their weapons, and then killed them. An old woman who assisted guerillas in setting up an ambush against American soldiers. A young boy who befriended some United States soldiers and then led them into a Viet Cong ambush. A government soldier who deserted to the Viet Cong, bringing several weapons and stolen documents with him. A schoolboy who secretly spread the teachings of Ho Chi Minh among his classmates. A list of Viet Cong ‘heroes’ drawn up by an American journalist. In 1974 he researched the life of one small South Vietnamese village during the war. The villagers told him that they remembered the Viet Cong in the area calling meetings of villagers in which they were told about these ‘heroes’. • SOURCE F • Dear American friends: • Large sections of the American people, encouraged and supported by many peace- and justice-loving persons, are about to launch an offensive throughout the United States to persuade President Nixon to put an end to the Vietnam War. Your urgent demand is to save American honour and prevent sons and brothers from dying uselessly in Vietnam. It is a timely answer to the government which is intensifying and prolonging the war in Vietnam in defiance of American and world protests. The Vietnamese and world people fully approve of your just struggle. We are firmly confident that with the solidarity and bravery of our two countries, and with the approval and support of peace-loving people in the world, the struggle of the Vietnamese people and the American people will certainly be crowned with total victory. • Affectionately yours, Pham Van Dong, Premier of North Vietnam • A letter to American anti-war protesters, dated 14 October 1969. • It was read out in the US Congress by the Chairman of the Republican Party.

14. 5 Study Sources H and I.How far do these sources agree? Explain your answer using the sources and your knowledge. [8] SOURCE H First is the simple fact that South Vietnam, a member of the free world family, is striving to preserve its independence from Communist attack. Second, South-East Asia has great significance in the forward defence of the United States. The Communists’ victory would only be a first step towards eventual Chinese dominance over South-East Asia. Robert McNamara, explaining publicly in 1964 why America had to be involved in Vietnam. The media started calling the conflict ‘McNamara’s War’. SOURCE I The Vietnam War is unpopular in this country. It is becoming increasingly unpopular as it escalates – causing more American casualties. Most Americans do not know how we got where we are, and most are convinced that somehow we should not have got this deeply in. All want the war ended and expect their President to end it. Successfully. Or else. There may be a limit beyond which many Americans will not permit the United States to go. The picture of the world’s greatest superpower killing or seriously injuring 1000 innocent civilians a week, while trying to pound a tiny backward nation into submission, is not a pretty one. From a memorandum Robert McNamara wrote for President Johnson on 19 May 1967, opposing a request from General Westmoreland for more troops to be sent to Vietnam.

15. Create a timeline covering all key events of the Vietnam War (including important events before it began) using the worksheet provided.

16. 2010 OR 2008 What involvement did America have in Vietnam between 1954 and 1962 (4) Explain why the Communists used Guerrilla tactics in the Vietnam War (6) The main reason for American withdrawal from Vietnam was the Tet Offensive of 1968. how far do you agree with this statement? (10) • Who were the Vietcong? (4) • Explain why America was involved in Vietnam (6) • The following were all equally important reasons for the American withdrawal from Vietnam: • (I) the financial cost of the war; • (II) the military tactics of the Vietcong • (III) the failure of US military tactics • How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer referring only to (I) (II) (III)

17. homework • Using page 365 of Ben Walsh answer the question • b) Explain the consequences of the Vietnam War (6)