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Essential Question

Essential Question. What events led to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War?. The United States and Vietnam. Vietnam. Controlled by France until WWII Seized by Japan Pushed for independence after the war. Ho Chi Minh. Leader of a nationalist movement in Vietnam Founded the Vietminh.

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Essential Question

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  1. Essential Question • What events led to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War?

  2. The United States and Vietnam

  3. Vietnam • Controlled by France until WWII • Seized by Japan • Pushed for independence after the war

  4. Ho Chi Minh • Leader of a nationalist movement in Vietnam • Founded the Vietminh

  5. Domino Theory • The belief that if Vietnam fell to communism, all of southeast Asia would follow

  6. Division of Vietnam • According to the Geneva Accords • Divided at the 17th parallel • Elections to be held in 1956 to unite the country

  7. North Vietnam • Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh controlled the north • Communist supporters

  8. South Vietnam • Pro-western regime • Led by Ngo Dinh Diem • Supported by the U.S.

  9. Diem’s Government • Diem regime became corrupt and repressive • Refused to hold promised elections

  10. Vietnam • Ho Chi Minh formed the National Liberation Front (NLF) to reunite the country • Guerrilla terrorist forces known as the Vietcong

  11. Vietnam • November 1, 1963 • Diem overthrown and assassinated

  12. Vietnam • Johnson followed idea of global containment • “I am not going to lose Vietnam” • Intended to increase troops

  13. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution • August 2, 1964 • North Vietnamese fired on U.S. destroyer Maddox • Congress gave Johnson a mandate to conduct operations in Vietnam

  14. War Escalates • March 8, 1965 • Marines landed at Da Nang • By 1968, over 500,000 troops were stationed in Vietnam

  15. Vietnam Warfare • Vietcong used ambushes, booby traps and guerilla warfare in the thick Asian jungles

  16. Realities of War “Three quarters of the way through the tangle, a trooper brushed against a two-inch vine, and a grenade slung chest high went off, shattering the right side of his head and body . . . Nearby troopers took hold of the unconscious soldier and, half carrying, half dragging him, pulled him the rest of the way through the tangle.”

  17. Vietnam Warfare • U.S. carried out search and destroy missions • Get rid of thick jungle hiding places by using napalm and Agent Orange (kills foliage)

  18. Ho Chi Minh Trail • Main supply line for the North Vietnamese • Passed through Cambodia and Laos • Received military support from China and Vietnam

  19. Tet Offensive • January 1968 • Vietcong launched assaults on South Vietnam, nearly overran Saigon • Americans viewed war as unwinnable

  20. Antiwar Movement • By 1967 – U.S. public discontent with the war • Television coverage, body counts, carnage

  21. Counterculture Movements • Youth attack on mainstream America • Student protests • Revolution against middle class respectability

  22. Music

  23. Woodstock

  24. Election of 1968 • Democrat – Hubert Humphrey • Republican – Richard Nixon • Independent – George Wallace

  25. Troop Withdrawal • June 1969 • Nixon announced the withdrawal of 25,000 troops

  26. My Lai Massacre • Nov. 1969 • Slaughter of 350 Vietnamese villagers by U.S. troops • Sinking morale among troops

  27. Mobilization Day • November 16, 1969 • ½ million protestors of the war in Washington • Anger over news of Cambodia invasion

  28. Kent State • May 4, 1970 • National Guard fired into an anti-war rally • 4 students killed, 11 wounded

  29. Kent State

  30. Kent State

  31. Paris Peace Accords • On January 23, 1973 the final draft was initialed, ending open hostilities between the United States and North Vietnam. • Troop withdrawal began

  32. Vietnam Unifies under Communism • 1973 until 1975 the countries remain at odds. March 1975 – final offensive of North Vietnamese against the South • April 29, 1975 – Saigon falls • Saigon renamed Ho Chi Minh City

  33. Fall of Saigon

  34. Fall of Saigon

  35. Fall of Saigon

  36. Why Did the United States Lose the Vietnam War? They underestimated the tenacity and organization of the North Vietnamese and the National Liberation Front Despite dropping more tonnage of high explosive on Vietnam than the whole of World War II, the Americans could not stop the movement of troops or supplies to the south along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  

  37. Why Did the United States Lose the Vietnam War? The North Vietnamese conducted a “Peoples war” in which everyone played a part. At first, most Americans supported the war. But by 1970, the Peace Movement had support from all parts of society and no government could ignore it. Cannot sustain a war without support of the people!

  38. Why Did the United States Lose the Vietnam War? America was not prepared to keep losing high numbers of casualties for such limited progress in a difficult jungle war, for which they were not suited.  

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