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The Vietnam War

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Page 1: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII

The Vietnam War

Page 2: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII

French Indochina

French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII.

After WWII, the Japanese lost control of French Indochina.

The Viet Minh were Vietnamese people who wanted Vietnam to become an independent country.

Ho Chi Minh was their leader. He was a communist, but his goal was independence, not the spread of communism.

Page 3: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII

Southeast Asia

Page 4: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII

Vietnam is divided

In 1954, Vietnam was divided into a northern and southern section, with the North supported by the USSR and China, and the South supported by the US.

This was supposed to be temporary until elections were held in 1956 to decide the fate of a united Vietnam.

Ngo Dinh Diem was the leader of South Vietnam

He opposed communism but his government was corrupt

For this reason, many South Vietnamese supported the Viet Cong

Page 5: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII

Ngo Dinh Diem

Page 6: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII

Ho Chi Minh ruled North VietnamHe had supporters in South Vietnam called Viet Cong

Most of these Viet Cong were communists, but some simply supported overthrowing Diem’s government

The US decided that the elections planned for 1956 would probably result in a loss for Diem’s loss and a win for Ho Chi Minh, so the elections never happened.

Page 7: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII

Ho Chi Minh

Page 8: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII

The Domino Theory

In the 1950s, President Eisenhower proposed the Domino Theory

If one county fell to communism, its neighbors would alsoHe used this argument to support the idea of intervening in Vietnam

Page 9: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII

Lyndon JohnsonAt first, the US played an advisory role in South Vietnam

Trained soldiers to fight the VC and army of North Vietnam

Gulf of Tonkin ResolutionAugust 1964—North Vietnamese forces attack US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin

Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin resolution to allow LBJ freedom to do whatever he sees as necessary in Vietnam

Numbers of US troops sent to Vietnam increases dramatically

Page 10: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII

LBJ being sworn in on Air Force One following JFK’s

assassination

Page 11: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII
Page 12: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII

Ho Chi Minh Trail

The North Vietnamese used the Ho Chi Minh Trail to get supplies to VC in South Vietnam

The trail ran through the neighboring countries of Laos and Cambodia

Page 13: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII

Ho Chi Minh

Page 14: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII

The Tide Turns

In 1968, the North Vietnamese attacked the South in an incident known as the Tet Offensive

Tet is the celebration of the Vietnamese New Year

US/South Vietnamese forces had taken a break from the fighting to allow celebrations and the NVA used the opportunity to attack

Although the North Vietnamese did not make any great gains, popular opinion turned against the war.

Page 15: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII

LBJ’s Legacy

LBJ decided not to run for reelection in 1968 due to the unpopularity of the war.

He was succeeded by Richard Nixon, who negotiated an end to the war in 1973.

Fighting officially ended April 30, 1975, when the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon, fell to communist forces.

Page 16: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII
Page 17: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII

Fall of Saigon

Page 18: The Vietnam War. French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII

Elsewhere in Asia

Cambodia falls under the control of the Khmer Rouge, a communist organization led by Pol Pot.

Millions will die in the Killing Fields of Cambodia in the 1970s and 1980s.