Southeast Asia in Conflict

p. 528

French Indochina

• During the New Imperialism era, France controlled what it called “Indochina”

• EC: today known as three countries (3)– Vietnam, – Kampuchea, – Laos

• After World War I, Vietnamese went to Paris to request self-determination.

• They were ignored.

WW II to the 1950s

• EC: When Germany defeated France in 1940, ____ was allowed to take control of French Indochina.

• Japan• Guerrillas:• Bands of unofficial soldiers (insurgents), who resist an

occupying army long after their own country surrenders.– British, American, and French agents trained and equipped

Vietnamese, Laotian, and Kampuchean guerrillas to fight the Japanese.

– Of course, Japan was defeated in 1945.– The Allies gave Indochina back to France soon after.

– Indochinese guerrillas continued to fight the French.

Ho Chi Minh:

• Nationalist and Communist leader of the Vietnamese guerrillas (Viet Minh).

• His forces fought for eight years against the French. (First Indochina War), 1950s.

Dienbienphu:

• Viet Minh army decisively defeated the French in 1954.

• France decided to withdraw from Vietnam• By an international agreement, there would be

two countries until free elections were held:

EC: North Vietnam (6)

• Communist, • Led by Ho Chi Minh, • Supported by the Soviet Union and the PRC.• Capital was Hanoi• Preferred by anti-imperialist (US/France)

Vietnamese• Preferred by Vietnamese hating the South

Vietnam’s corrupt, brutal, dictatorial Diem government.

South Vietnam

• Republic of Vietnam • Dictatorial • Led by Ngo Dinh Diem, • Supported by the United States.• Capital was Saigon• Catholic and pro-French Vietnamese preferred

it.

Domino Theory:

• US idea that if Vietnam fell, then Communist would use it to take control of all of Southeast Asia, country-by-country.

• The US decided to fight it.

• EC: by 1975, which three countries above actually fell to communism?– Vietnam– Cambodia (Kampuchea) – Laos

Viet Cong:

• Also called the National Liberation Front. • They were South Vietnamese guerrillas who

supported and fought for Ho Chi Minh.• They fought the Diem forces in South Vietnam.

• US forces hated and feared VC guerrilla tactics…..

EC: US sees Diem as a problem (3)

• Resisting free elections• Diem’s corruption and brutality against his

people • Conflicted even with Buddhist monks

Diem became an embarrassment for the US.

• In 1963, the CIA advises the _____ Administration to eliminate Diem.

• Kennedy– Diem is assassinated (verified in clip by

former President Johnson), and US-approved leadership replaces him.

EC: The guerrilla-style war against the US was most effective. (2)

– Rainforests work in the VC’s favor.– VC were local people and knew their land

• Villagers often aided the VC– US and ARVN troops targeted such villages.

» Destruction of villages made US and ARVN troops unpopular

» Helicopter and jet raids (in this case, napalm) terrorized and destroyed many villages

» EC: Hidden jungle trails were used to move supplies, troops, weapons: the ____ was the main route…

• “Ho Chi Minh Trail”– Communists used illegal bases and routes across the

border in Kampuchea and Laos.» US ordered troops and bombings on those bases,

expanding the war.

EC: The Soviet Union gives Vietnam effective high-technology weapons: (1)

– Surface-to-air missiles (SAM), to defend against US bombers and fighters.• US suffers high losses doing air raids over

North Vietnam.

Tet Offensive:

• 1968, using the relaxed celebrations of the Vietnamese new year, VC and NVA troops attacked all over South Vietnam at the same time.

– The US commander had been on nationwide news telling Americans the communists were all but defeated.

• ARVN and US troops were caught off guard. – The fighting was house to house…..– It was the kind of fighting US troops were good at.)

• VC and NVA attackers were eventually killed or driven off • Battles and courage showed that the Communists were

still very ready and able to fight– American and South Vietnamese leaders were humiliated– American public opinion, led by the media, turned against the war.

• Lyndon Johnson decided not to run for a second presidential term.

US Anti-war movement:

• Once again, American young men were drafted.– Increasing numbers later avoided the draft by leaving

the country.

• College students were not drafted– They led the growing anti-war movement.– It grew strong enough to make many Americans want

to end the war.– The anti-war movement would confuse and divide the

American people.

• Similar protests occurred in Europe …..

EC: In 1973, the Paris Peace Accord was signed. (4)

– There would be a cease-fire– US troops would withdraw from the country– North Vietnam would send no more troops

into South Vietnam– South Vietnam would decide when and how to

begin talks for reunification.

Kampuchea (Cambodia)—

• Khmer Rouge:• Cambodian Communists. They took control

of Kampuchea in 1975.

Pol Pot

– led Khmer Rouge

EC: Pol Pot began to purge Kampuchea of “dangerous” people. (2)

– City people were moved to the countryside to do honest peasant work.

– Educated people• In “reeducation” camps, educated and Western-influenced

people were identified, tortured, and executed.– One-third of the population (1 to 2 million) was

slaughtered (shot, drowned, beaten) in “killing fields”, their bodies left to rot.

– EC: ____ troops invaded and defeated the Khmer Rouge and ended the genocide in 1979.

– Vietnamese

South Vietnam

• EC: In the early ‘60s, Diem did not hold the agreed-upon elections because it was certain that the people would choose ___ as their leader.

• Ho Chi Minh• The US feared Communists would gain Vietnam.

South Vietnam

• In the early 1960s, South Vietnamese guerrillas began to fight the Diem government.

• They were supplied from North Vietnam.– EC: The Viet Cong wanted to: (3)

• unite Vietnam• depose the dictator, Diem• drive the United States out

Biography, p 529

• How did Ho Chi Minh’s approach to communism differ from the Soviet model?

• He shifted the Communist focus – from urban workers to rural peasants– to national liberation.

Standards Check, p. 529

• Why did Vietnamese guerrillas fight the French in Indochina?

• Vietnamese guerillas fought the French in an effort to win independence

US Involvement

• Until 1964, the United States sent supplies and “advisors” to train the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN).

Military Intervention

• After a maritime attack on a US warship, the US Congress passed the ____.

• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, in 1964.– President ________________ ordered

thousands of troops into Vietnam– Lyndon Johnson

• US has technology in its favor

Bombing, 10x all of WW II

• The US also began massive bombing raids on North Vietnam– Dropping 10 times the tonnage used in

Europe and Asia in all of WW II.– These make US look like a “bully” to the world

• Bombings make Vietnamese hate US.

Years and years

• In the next few years, the United States had about ____ military personnel in Vietnam.

• 500,000– EC: American men had to register for the

draft at age ___.– 18

• In the beginning, many saw service as a patriotic duty.

Thinking Critically, p. 530-1

1

• To halt further advances of troops and supplies from North Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh Trail

• to be able to attack Vietnam from the West

2

• It was difficult to distinguish Viet Cong guerillas from local villagers

• Swamps and dense vegetation made it easy for guerillas to hide and ambush US forces.

The Communists

• The North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Viet Cong (“____”, “_____”, “____”) get their supplies and training from the Soviet Union and the PRC, – “VC”– “Charlie”– “Mr. Charles”

• The USSR and PRC do not send troops.

US’ Vietnam Legacy

• EC: The Vietnam War saw many US soldiers and aviators taken ____(POW) or (MIA). (2)– prisoner of war– missing in action

• By the end of the war these numbered around 2,500 and would be a point of conflict between the two countries until the 1990s.

Standards Check, p. 532

• How did the domino theory lead the United States to send troops to Vietnam?

• The US entered Vietnam to prevent the spread of Communism across Southeast Asia

Finding a solution—

• EC: Peace Talks began with North Vietnam in 1968 under President ____.

• Johnson.• EC: They continued in Paris under President

____.• Richard Nixon.• The first problem was the design of the table.

The North Vietnamese demanded the set-up show in the image.

Standards Check, p. 532

• Why did the United States withdraw its troops from Vietnam?

• The US withdrew from Vietnam because:

• It was not winning

• Great pressure from US citizens against the war.

Image, p. 533

• Why might people choose to flee across the open ocean in a small boat like this one?

• They were desperate to escape communist rule.

Aftermath• The rest of Southeast Asia remained capitalist: Thailand, Burma, Malaysia,

Singapore

• EC: A US-led embargo kept Vietnam poor (similar to the US embargo of _____)

• Cuba– but soon Japan and Europeans ignored the US, and began trade and diplomatic

relations.• The US does trade with Vietnam somewhat now and Americans can travel there….

• Vietnam has mostly recovered, – but a higher standard of living is still decades away.– Many unexploded munitions are still in the ground and maim and kill animals and

people.– Vietnamese land and flora are still recovering from American chemical defoliants.

• EC: Vietnam still maintains a large army against its ancient enemy, _____

• China.

Standards Check, p. 533

• How did communist Vietnam dominate parts of Southeast Asia after the Vietnam War?

• Communists took control or invaded Cambodia and Laos after Vietnam fell.

Quick Write

• Why would the United States support Diem even though he was such a brutal dictator?