130 likes | 287 Views
Conor Bulman. The Tactics of the Vietcong during the Vietnam war. . The Vietnamese People . Vietnam was invaded by the French in 1859. By the end of the Vietnamese conquest (1888) most Vietnamese were rice farmers.
E N D
ConorBulman The Tactics of the Vietcong during the Vietnam war.
The Vietnamese People • Vietnam was invaded by the French in 1859. • By the end of the Vietnamese conquest (1888) most Vietnamese were rice farmers. • The French separated Vietnam into three different districts for administrative purposes. • The capital of the north was Hanoi, the centre capital was Hue and the south capital was Saigon • Vietnam at the time was spilt in to the native Vietnamese and the colonial French.
The Truman Doctrine • President Harry S. Truman presented the Truman Doctrine to congress. • It was an anti-communist declaration that would shape American foreign policy for four decades. • It committed America to step in and support the Greece government against communist pressure. • The same mindset was shown when the communist Vietcong started to fight the democratic government.
Why America Intervened • The Americans invaded Vietnam because they thought the communists were going to “win” by taking over a country. • The ruling class of America pushed for the invasion because communist’s opposed their very existence. • Troops were sent to help bolster the French troops.
The Vietcong • The People’s Liberation Armed Forces, more commonly known as the Vietcong, was the military arm of the National Liberation Front. • They were established at the end of 1960. • They were organized in to three different levels, regular forces, full time guerrillas and a part time self defence militia.
Guerrilla Warfare • Guerrilla warfare is used by armies to fight armies that are much bigger than themselves. • The term guerrilla comes from a Spanish word meaning “little war”. • It originated from small bands of Spanish soldiers fighting Napolean’s army in the peninsular war (1807-1814)
Guerrilla Tactics • The tactics date back to Sun Tzu, the Chinese strategist who lived 2000 years ago. • They were adapted by Mao Zedong, the leader of the communist china. • The National Liberation Front (NLF) based their tactics on Mao.
The Effect of the peasants • One of the Vietcong's first actions was to gain the favour of the peasants • They gained the favour by following a certain set rules. • This included working for their food and repairing the houses. • The peasants thus helped the Vietcong by hiding them and some even joined them to fight for the future of equality they were promised.
The Cu-Chi Tunnels. • The famous tunnels used by the Vietcong were the Cu-Chi tunnels. • They are located approximately 70 KM from Ho Chi Minh city. • They were dug in the late 1940’s. • They allowed the Vietcong to travel must easier then they would above ground.
Weapons used by the Vietcong • Between 1950 and 1960 America supplied south Vietnam with weapons used during the second world war. • These included the M-1 Garand, hand grenades, Thompson submachine guns and the M-1 Carbine. • The Vietcong largely supplied themselves with stolen south Vietcong weapons.
The CHICOM influence. • The CHICOM were a group of Chinese communists. • The CHICOM supplied a small amount of the Vietcong’s weapons. • Some of the communist issued weapons were SKS Semi-automatic carbines, potato masher style grenades and the well known rocket propelled grenades (RPG)
Bibliography • 1) “The American War: Vietnam” by Jonathan Neale. • 2) Battlefield:Vietnam.com • 3) Topdocumentary.com/the-cu-chi-tunnels/