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The Vietnam War. 22.1 Notes. Background of the War. 1800s French colony Used for land and resources 1924 – Communist Ho Chi Minh led independence movement from exile 1940 – Japanese in control Forced to leave after WWII defeat
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The Vietnam War 22.1 Notes
Background of the War • 1800s French colony • Used for land and resources • 1924 – Communist Ho Chi Minh led independence movement from exile • 1940 – Japanese in control • Forced to leave after WWII defeat • Vietminh – organization whose goal was to gain independence from foreign rule • French regained control and battled Vietminh • US aided French • saw Minh as a communist/enemy • Domino theory • French defeated at Dien Bien Phu in May, 1954
Geneva Accords • May – July, 1954 • France, G.B., Soviet Union, U.S., China, Laos, Cambodia meet in Switzerland • Temporarily divided into 2 separate nations • North Vietnam – Ho Chi Minh, communist • South Vietnam – Ngo Dinh Diem, US supported republic • 1955 - Beginning of US involvement in Vietnam war • 1956 election to unify Vietnam – US refused
Kennedy’s Vietnam Policy • determined to prevent spread of communism at all costs • strengthen and protect S.V. gov’t • 16,000 military advisers by 1963 • corruption of Diem’s government • Lacked support in own country • imprisoned opposers • filled gov’t positions with family members • US aid for economic reform went to military and corrupt officials • isolated peasant farmers • Catholic
Kennedy realized Diem would never reform • US would not object to Diem’s overthrow • Diem assassinated as he tried to flee military coup
Johnson’s War • S.V. military gov’t in trouble – bickering generals • Viet Cong – Communist guerillas in South Vietnam • Gained control of territory in South • Ho Chi Minh aided Viet Cong • determined to save Vietnam from communism • contradicted this in his 1964 election campaign
“We are not about to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys out to be doing for themselves.”
Expanding the War • N.V. patrol boat torpedoed Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin but missed (international waters) • Returned fire w/ heavy damage • “alleged” torpedoing days later • Johnson used incident to deepen US involvement • Secretly been raiding N.V. • Maddox was collecting info for raids
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution • Gulf of Tonkin Resolution – granted Johnson broad military powers in Vietnam • Launched bombing strikes on N.V. • Johnson started a gradual military escalation • more money and men • Ho Chi Minh Trail – supply route from N. to S. Vietnam that passed through Laos and Cambodia • Operation Rolling Thunder – Feb. 1965 • 1st sustained bombing of N.V. • 50,000 troops by June