THE VIETNAM WAR1946-75

GLOSSARY

• ARVN- Army of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam’s Army)

• DRV- Democratic Republic of Vietnam (Communist North Vietnam)

• VC or Viet Cong- National Liberation Front (Communist Guerrilla forces in South

Vietnam)

• PAVN- People’s Army of Vietnam (North Vietnamese Army)

• Viet Minh- Vietnam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi (League for the Independence of

Vietnam)

• NLF-The National Liberation Front

• GVN- Government of the Republic of Vietnam

BACKGROUND

• A WAR OF COLONIAL INDEPENDENCE AGAINST THE FRENCH

• Vietnam had been a French colony • French Indochina (along with Cambodia and

Laos)

• Vietnam began to fight for its independence from France during WW II

• France was preoccupied with European conflict

• Ho Chi Minh• Vietnamese revolutionary leader• Communist• Wanted an independent, communist Vietnam• Support from both the USSR and “Red”

China

• War raged from 1946-54

• French defeat at Dien Bien Phu

• France was ready to give up Indochina and

called a peace conference in Geneva,

Switzerland

• Attended by France, Vietnam, the US, and

the USSR

• Separate Vietnam into a communist North

led by Ho and a “democratic” South

Vietnam led by Ngo Dinh Diem

• Reflected the US policy of containment

• Domino theory

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND

GENEVA ACCORDS

1.The Geneva Accords refer to series of agreements pertaining to the future of Vietnam. They were

produced during multilateral discussions in Geneva between March and July 1954.

2. The discussions at Geneva were marred by Cold War paranoia and mistrust. Delegates from some

nations refused to negotiate directly, while the United States and South Vietnam refused to sign the

Accords.

3. Under the terms of the Geneva Accords, Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel for a period of

two years. Free elections were scheduled for July 1956 to decide the government of reunified Vietnam.

4. Both soldiers and militia from North and South Vietnam were instructed to return to their place of

origin, while Vietnamese civilians were free to relocate to the north or south.

5. In 1954-55 the United States launched Operation Passage to Freedom to assist Vietnamese civilians

with relocating from north to south. It was part humanitarian mission, part propaganda exercise.

• GVN headed by Diem

• Spent most of his life outside of Vietnam in Europe/ US

• Extremely anti-Communist

• Catholic

• Essentially was a puppet for the US

• People were not huge fans, he was far more American than Vietnamese

• 1963- the US supports a coup that eliminates Diem

WHY DIEM?

• The National Liberation Front (NLF)

• Brought together Communists and Anti-

Communists

• Opposed Diem

• Wanted to unite Vietnam

• Based in Hanoi

• Capital of Vietnam

• US believed NLF was a puppet

Communist group

UNITED FRONT

• 1961- JFK sent a team to Vietnam • Assess South Vietnam• Make estimates on future aid and

involvement

• White Papers argued for more US support • Military, money, technical

• White Papers wanted massive increase, JFK took a more mild approach

• Would increase advisors and supplies • Not troops • Escalation from 900 to16,000 military

advisors

• NLF continued to make headway

WHITE PAPERS

MILITARY COUP

• Summer 1963 GVN was failing large scale

• Buddhist monks protested Diem • Self-Immolation • Made headlines in the US

• Kennedy Administration supported a coup in November 1963

• ARVN captured Diem and his brother

• November 1, 1963• 16,000 military advisors in Vietnam at

this point

• LBJ had intensions of escalation

GULF OF TONKIN

• The U.S. never formally declared war

• Gulf of Tonkin Incident August 1964

• Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin

Resolutions

• Congress gave LBJ their support in

sending American personnel and

materials

• Ongoing escalation throughout the 1960s

• the US experienced a lack of success

against the Vietnamese guerrilla forces

in S. Vietnam (Vietcong)

• The US Army was unprepared for their

tactics and mentality

§ The US was also never entirely successful

in shutting down the Ho Chi Minh Trail

§ A supply line that ran between North

and South Vietnam via difficult jungle

terrain

§ Often underground and through

neighboring nations like Cambodia

MINIMAL RESULTS