The Vietnam War

Wash, Rinse, Repeat……

Pre-American Involvement

• Like Korea, French Indochina (Vietnam) also fell to Japan during World War II.

• When the war ended, France took Vietnam back over.

• Vietnamese nationalists, led by Ho Chi Minh, however were strong and willing to fight the French for independence.

• Finally, the nationalists were communists!

Guess What? • Fearing all of

Southeast Asia would follow Vietnam into communism, America supported the French with money and weapons to keep control of Vietnam.

The Domino Theory!

Victory for Ho Chi

• Ho Chi Minh was able to defeat the French in 1954 and Vietnam became free.

• Just like in Korea, though, the country was divided into two parts.

• North Vietnam was communist under Ho Chi Minh while South Vietnam was democratic under Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem was very corrupt…..

Shades of Korea• The North Vietnamese

wanted all of Vietnam to be one communist country and invaded.

• Right away, America began sending weapons and “advisors” to South Vietnam.

The Gulf of Tonkin• America continued

sending advisors into Vietnam in the 1960s under President Kennedy.

• In 1964, though, after the “Gulf of Tonkin Incident,” new President Johnson sent troops into Vietnam.

North Vietnamese, Vietcong, and

Gorillas? • American troops fought North Vietnamese and

Vietcong (southern Vietnamese communists).• The Vietnamese were excellent at guerilla warfare

in the jungles of Asia.

No Love….• The South Vietnamese

government had no support from the people.

• Many Americans protested the war.

• American soldiers could not defeat the Vietnamese due to a variety of circumstances.

• America finally agreed to a withdrawal (we quit)

In Conclusion….

• The North Vietnamese took over South Vietnam in 1975.