The Vietnam WarBy: Gurjit Rai, Brent Vivier, and Danielle Letkeman

Introduction

Who: North and South Vietnam, America and the Soviet Union.

When: 1954-1975 What: After the rise of Ho Chi Minh and

his communist Viet Minh party in North Vietnam, and an intense Cold War between two global superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union, war broke out against South Vietnam in efforts to inflict communism upon all of Vietnam.

The Cold War

The Containment Policy and the Cold War would be the driving reason why the USA would get involved in the Indochina War (Willbanks 2013).

The Indochina War At the time of the containment policy there was

already a war underway in South Asia, The Indochina War. French colonists had conquered Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. French Colonists had established almost complete control of Vietnam when the ICP (Indochinese Communist Party) was created by Ho Chi Minh in 1930 after WW1 (Willbanks 2013).

This domination by Colonial France caused the roots of Vietnamese nationalism and resistance.

1940’s- Ho and the ICP eventually waged full warfare on the French and eventually leading to war on the Americans as well. This was known as the first Indochina War.

Incidents in Tonkin Gulf When North Vietnam attacked US destroyers in August of 1964, the Americans

retaliated by strategically launching their own series of attacks on North Vietnamese ammo bases and oil fields.

After these multiple attacks came the Tonkin Gulf Resolution which gave the US army authority to deal with communist attacks anyway they see fit (Willbanks 2013).

The Tonkin Gulf incidents were seen as a turning point for the Americans. Not only did it conclude with several North Vietnamese coastal base air raids but, it resulted in the first deployment ground troops in South Vietnam In March 1965 (Willbanks 2013) . They were sent to protect US coastal bases.

Operation Rolling Thunder!

Some sources state that the events in the Tonkin Gulf were not as dramatic as the US army reported. There is controversy if the majority of the attacks against the US ships even happened due to communication issues (Willbanks 2013).

Terrorism in Vietnam

My Lai Massacre March 16, 1968 504 civilians killed Perpetrators: US Army Viet Cong thought to be hiding in My Lai

My Lai Massacre

Terrorism in Vietnam

Dak Son Massacre December 6, 1967 252 civilians killed Viet Cong vengeance attack on anti-

communist village

Terrorism in Vietnam Differences between terrorism and warfare

Laws of war Civilians and non-combatants not deliberately

targeted

“Once a terrorist, is not always a terrorist. Yet the opposite is also true: once a soldier, is not always a soldier.”

Terrorism and Politics Revolutionary terrorism (activities aimed at

philosophical and political nature of government)

Reactionary terrorism (activities concerned with preventing societal and governmental changes)

How the War Ended - Use of the Tet offensive This was a plan to strike all the major cities within

south Vietnam, they had some victories in the beginning, but they lost a lot more when the US and South Vietnam counter attacked

With media being more readily available for reporters, news of the US soldiers causing massacres in the name of fighting the viet cong came to light in the United states. This caused massive protests across the US and across the world and under this pressure President Nixon put into place the plan “Vietnamization” , this was a plan to slowly reduce the soldiers in Vietnam but at the same time help reinforce South Vietnamese army with giving them arms.

How the War Ended - Use of the Tet offensive With the US forces pulling

out, and giving less and less financial aid and not providing as many arms to the forces of South Vietnam, it was evident that the south was going to loose to the north.

In January of 1973 the Paris peace accord was signed and this ended any direct US military involvement in the war. Texas, nd

The Fall of Saigon/South Vietnam With the Americans not being allowed to

be directly involved in the war the Viet Cong continued to attack major cities, and when they attacked the capital city of Saigon which was the capital of south Vietnam and were able to takeover the central buildings and had the NLF(nation liberation force) flag waiving from the Presidential palace in Saigon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mcQoQDkhbYw#t=259

Bibliography Willbanks, James H., ed. The Vietnam War: The Essential Reference Guide. Santa Barbara: Library of

Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data, 2013. Pages 15-19. Picture-http://ows.edb.utexas.edu/site/reimagining-vietnam-war/ending-americas-involvement-vietnam http://thevietnamwar.info/how-did-the-vietnam-war-end/ http://www.maps.com/ref_map.aspx?pid=11336 P. Schmid Alex (2004) Frameworks for Conceptualising Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, 16:2,

197-221, DOI: 10.1080/09546550490483134

The VN Center Archive. (n.d). Dak Son Massacre. Retrieved from http://vnafmamn.com/VNWar_atrocities.html

Feltz, J. (1967). Dak Son burned huts after VC attack [Online image]. Retrieved October 13, 2013 from http://vnafmamn.com/VNWar_atrocities.html

BBC News. (1998). Murder in the name of war – My Lai. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/03/98/mylai/64344.stm

Everett. (2013). Young Victim of Dak Son Massacre [Online image]. Retrieved October 13, 2013 from http://fineartamerica.com/featured/young-victim-of-dak-son-massacre-600-everett.html

[Untitled illustration of My Lai Massacre]. Retrieved October 13, 2013 from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-485983/Found-The-monster-My-Lai-massacre.html

[Untitled illustration of woman and gun]. Retrieved October 13, 2013 from http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/vietnam/vietnam_mylai.cfm