VIETNAM WAR

By: Phoenix Stone

WHEN WAS THE VIETNAM WAR?

The Vietnam war was between 1954 and 1974.

HOW DID AMERICANS PERCEIVE THE WAR ON THEIR PERSONAL LIVES?

They wanted their lives to get better and get money. They wanted their family in the war to be careful and come home

WHAT EVENTS BROUGHT AN END TO AMERICAN INVOLVEMENT IN THE WAR?

1. January 27, 1973: The Paris Peace Accords are signed by the U.S., North Vietnam, South Vietnam and the Viet Cong. Under the terms, the U.S. agrees to immediately halt all military activities and withdraw all remaining military personnel within 60 days. However, some U.S. military "advisors" will stay with the South Vietnamese Army until the fall of Saigon.

2. April 30, 1975: At 8:35 a.m., the last Americans, ten Marines from the embassy, depart Saigon, concluding the U.S. presence in Vietnam. North Vietnamese troops pour into Saigon and encounter little resistance.

WHAT WERE THE PRIMARY CHANGES BROUGHT ABOUT BY THIS CONFLICT?

Conflict in the US was the military draft The killing of innocent people The taking of homes

WHO WERE THE MAJOR POLITICAL LEADERS INVOLVED IN THE WAR?

Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford./Generals & Colonels Harkins, Westmoreland, Abrams, Olds, Starry, Patton (WW2 General Patton's son)./Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.

WHAT WERE THE CAUSES OF THIS WAR?

The U.S was trying to stop communism in Vietnam As for why the US got involved, Americans feared the "domino theory" of

expanding communist empires. The Truman doctrine stated that America would assist governments resisting communism.

French rule was harsh: only the government was allowed to produce/sell alcohol & salt; rice was exported from huge French-owned plantations while many Vietnamese did not have enough to eat; workers in mines and rubber plantations could be jailed if they tried to leave their jobs; and taxes of every kind multiplied. Then during WW2, the French shared control of Vietnam with the Japanese.

In 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam a free and independent country. However, the British and Chinese helped the French to return and the USA did nothing to stop them.

In 1954, after a massive Viet Minh victory over the French at Dien Bien Phu, peace talks were held in Geneva and Vietnam was divided at the 38th parallel. Elections were planned for 1956 but the South Vietnamese leader, Ngo Dinh Diem, refused to hold these.

The USA was worried about the spread of Communist power in Asia and Ho Chi Minh was a member of the French Communist Party.