Vietnam War

1. Vietnam War Vietnam War

2. Indochina FrancecontrolsIndochinasince late 19th Century Japan tookcontrolduring WWII. After the war, Francetriestorecolonize it withhelp from the USA.

3. Ho Chi Minh Leads the struggle for Vietnamese independence. Hadalready led resistancegroupsagainst the Japanese. • Leaderof the Vietminh and a communist. • Defeats the French at the BattleofDien Bien Phuin 1954. How? • Guerilla tactics, moretroops and aid from Mao.

4. GenevaAgreement 1954 • Independence for Laos and Cambodia • Vietnam temporarilydivided at the 17th parallel. • Ho Chi Minh controls the nationalist forces in the North. • NgoDinh Diem, a French-educated, Roman Catholicwho is backed by the USA, controls the South. • Electionsto be held in 1956 and thenreunification. However the electionsare never held.

5. Whydid the USA back Diem? Diem refusestohold the elections and the USA doesn’t press him. Why? • Fear a communistvictory. Diem’srule is repressive and corrupt. Buddhist majority is persecuted. Peasantsdemand land reform like what the communistshaddone in the North. Yet, Eisenhower sendsfinancial and militaryaid. Why? • There is no other alternative leader and…

6. …the Domino Theory If one country falls tocommunism, the neighboringcountrieswouldalso fall.

7. Reasons for Americaninvolvement • Primarily, the Vietminh and its successor, the National Liberation Front (NLF); and the government of North Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh were agents of global communism and therefore the enemy. • In 1949, when the Communist Party came to power in China, Washington feared that Vietnam would become the next Asian domino. That was one reason for Truman's 1950 decision to give aid to the French who were fighting the Vietminh.

8. 4 Different Presidentsbetween 1950 - 1965 • US enters the war in steps between 1950 – 1965 • Noneofthe presidents wantedtolosea country tocommunism. • The US hadpromisedassistanceto the South Vietnamese. US credibilitywas at stake

9. In 1950, Truman approved economic and military aidto the Frenchtoretain control of Indochina. It would help the development of non-Communist nations of Southeast Asia. Free trade in the region would provide markets for Japan, recovering with American help after World War 2. It reassured the British, whose postwar recovery was linked the rubber and tin industries in their colony of Malaya. With U.S. aid, the French could concentrate on economic recovery at home, and hopefully oversee the rearmament of West Germany, a Cold War measure deemed essential by the Americans.

10. Dwight D. Eisenhower1953-1961 • Attempts to build a nation and gov’t in South Vietnam. Takes over control from the French, dispatching military advisers to train a South Vietnamese army. • Does not want loss of North Korea to be in vain.

11. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) Escalation In 1961 he secretly sent 400 Special Operations Forces to teach the South Vietnamese how to fight a counterinsurgency war against Communist guerrillas in South Vietnam. When Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, there were more than 16,000 U.S. military advisers in South Vietnam.

12. Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69) The US is now at war. Johnson committed the US most fully to the war. In August 1964, he secured from Congress a functional (not actual) declaration of war: the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. In February and March 1965, he authorized the bombing of targets north of the 17th parallel, and on 8 March dispatched 3,500 Marines to South Vietnam. “Operation Rolling Thunder”

13. Operation Rolling Thunder • US bombing raids todestroy the North Vietnameseeconomy and force herto stop helping the guerilla fighters in the south. Bombingwasalsodirected at NLF territory in South Vietnam. • It wassuppposedto last 8 weeksbutwent on for 3 years. ( 1 million tons of bombs weredropped on Vietnam morethanwhatwasdropped on Germany, Japan and Italyduring WW 2.)

14. NLF’sresponseto the bombing • The responseof the NLF wasto attack US airbases in the south. The US wasunabletodefendthem and moresoldiersarerequested. • The firstofficial US combattroopsarrived later thatyear (’65). The useofnapalm is alsoauthorizedby President Johnson. • Soldiers from the S. Vietnamesearmybegintodesert and 50% of the countryside in the southare under the controlof the Vietcong.

15. Tacticsof the NLF: Guerilla Warfare • Organizedinto small cells of 3 – 10 soldiers. • Knowledgeofeachotherkeptto bare minimum. • Involve the enemy in a long, drawn-outwar. • Gain support ofpeasants and takecontrolof villages. Hadstrictcodeofbehavior. • In exchange for land, the villages helpedtofeed and hide the NLF. • The peasantsweremotivated by fearof the US marines or ARVN and gratitudeto the NLF. ( South Vietnam / US ”Strategichamlets” erodedpeasant support )

16. Tunnels and Trails In the villages theycontrolled, the NLF • built tunnels which led outinto the jungle • oftencontainedcavernsto store equipment The Ho Chi Minh Trail • Complex web of different junglepaths from North Vietnam to areas closeto Saigon. • Impossibletoidentify from the air. • Estimated 60 tons ofaid per dayreached the NLF.

17. ”Toohot! Too hot!” The iconic photo taken on June 8, 1972 in Trang Bang by AP photographer Nick Utshows PhanThị Kim Phúcat about nine years of age running naked on a road after being severely burned on her back by a South Vietnamesenapalm attack. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phan_Thi_Kim_Phuc)

18. US public opinion turns After the Tet Offensive 1968 • Although a Hanoi failure, General Westmorelandrequests 200,000 moresoldiers. • Johnson is advisedagainstfurtherincreases in numberofgroundtroops. • Hewouldrestrict the bombingof North Vietnam and pursue a negotiated settlement with Hanoi. • Anti-warmovementbegins 1964, butnowgainsmomentum as casualties and costsrise. • Over 14,000 Americansarekilled in action thisyear – the highestannualdeathtollof the war. • TV coveragebrings the warinto ”the livingroom”.

19. Anti-war demonstrations Draft from age 18. College students wereexempt. 3 million served, most from workingclasshomes. Minoritiesweremorelikelyto serve.

20. Song My or My Lai MassacreMarch 16, 1968 The worst US warcrimeof the conflict. Massmurderof500 unarmedcivilians. Sparks global outragewhenmade public in 1969. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:My_Lai_massacre.jpg

21. Beginningof the end Richard Nixon elected in 1968. National securityadvisor Henry Kissinger states 3 options: • escalation • withdrawal • status quo The policy chosen is gradualwithdrawaland Vietnamization. US wouldprepare the South Vietnamesetograduallytake over the military and political controlof South Vietnam.

22. Aerial bombardment and troopreductions • In 1969 Nixon secretlybeganto bomb neutral Cambodiawhichhad provided a sanctuary for Vietcong and NVA forces. • Groundwarcontinueseven as troopswithdraw. The morale and disciplineof the soldiersdeclines. Futile endeavor! • To support Vietnamization, in 1970 – 71 Nixon sendsgroundunitsintoCambodia and approves heavy air attacks on communistsupplylines in Laos and Cambodia.

23. Nixon’sdiplomaticinitiatives in 1972 WithSovietleader Leonid Brezhnev. USSR provided material support to North Vietnam WithChairman Mao. China helpedto transport Soviet materials into North Vietnam.

24. Peace talks 1969-1973 By April 1, 1973 • US forceswereoutof Vietnam. • 587 POWsreturned. 2500 still MIA. • Congress cuts off funds and air warends in Cambodia. In November 1973 a new law is passedto limit presidentialpower: War Powers Resolution. • It statesthatthe President can send U.S. armed forces into action abroad only by authorization of Congress or if the United States is already under attack or serious threat.

25. The Paris Peace Accord of 1973 The agreement: • US to end itsmilitaryinvolvement in Vietnam. • North and South Vietnam agreeto a ceasefire. • South Vietnam toholdfreeelections. Anyunificationtooccurpeacefully. The reality: • South Vietnam’sfuture is unsolved. Itsmilitaryforcesdeteriorate. • In Spring 1975: NVA and the Vietcongtake Saigon. • South Vietnam falls and is reunited under a communistgovernment.