u.s. history & geography chapter 17. vietnam controlled for centuries by china for centuries....
TRANSCRIPT
THE VIETNAM WAR
U.S. HISTORY & GEOGRAPHYCHAPTER 17
VIETNAM
controlled for centuries by China for centuries. From late 1800s to WWII they were controlled by the French along with Laos & Cambodia (a.k.a. French Indochina). In 1940, invaded by Japan
VIETNAMESE NATIONALISM
Nationalism would grow in Vietnam leading them towards a push for independence or for reform of French colonial rule.
Nationalist movement was led by Nguyen That Thah (Ho Chi Minh). He would found the Indochinese Communist Party in 1930 & would work towards independence. Forced to flee & spent time in exile in the Soviet Union & China, returning in 1941 after Japan invaded. He then organized a group called the Vietminh, consisting of Communists & non-communists.
U.S. will support the Vietminh in their struggle to expel the Japanese.
AFTER WWII
Japan gives up control in 1945. Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnam
independence. French refuse to give up colony &
send troops in 1946. Vietminh go into hiding, slowly
gaining control of large areas of the country.
AMERICA AIDS FRENCH
France appeals to U.S. for assistance. U.S. opposes colonialism & supported the Dutch & Britain in giving up their colonies in the area but they did not Vietnam to become Communist.
Truman’s decided to aid France after China’s fall to communism & the Korean War.
Eisenhower continued supporting France as he believed in Truman’s domino theory policy
DEFEAT AT DIEN BIEN PHU
Vietminh would use guerilla tactics against the French.
French took over the town of Dien Bien Phu where they planned to cut off the Vietminh’s supply lines & force them into open battle.
Vietminh responded by surrounding the town & bombarding it
May 7, 1954: French forces fell to the Vietminh. French made peace & withdrew from Indochina
GENEVA ACCORDS
Provided temporary division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel. Ho Chi Minh & Vietminh controlled North Vietnam. Pro-western regime led by anti-Communist Ngo Dinh Diem controlled South Vietnam. Elections were to be held in 1956 to reunite country
Diem refused to hold the elections fearing Ho Chi Minh would win. Eisenhower approved of this & increased aid to South Vietnam
AMERICAN INVOLVEMENT DEEPENS
Ho Chi Minh responds by organizing a new guerilla army of South Vietnamese communists (Vietcong) to aide in an armed struggle to reunify Vietnam. By 1961 they controlled much of the country
Eisenhower sent military advisers to train South Vietnam’s army.
Vietcong grew as many opposed Diem’s government.
JFK & VIETNAM
Kennedy continued to support South Vietnam sending more military personnel (15k approx.)
Despite this increase of military personnel, Diem’s regime was falling apart.
OVERTHROW OF DIEM
Diem continued to make unpopular decisions. He began discriminatory policies against Buddhism, banning the traditional religious flags used for Buddha’s birthday. Buddhist’s protested in return & Diem’s police killed 9 people. Several Buddhist monks responded by pouring gasoline over their bodies & setting themselves on fire. These images broadcasted across U.S. TV news reports horrified Americans.
OVERTHROW OF DIEM
August 1963: U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge arrived & learned that the S. Vietnam generals were planning on overthrowing Diem
November 1, 1963: S. Vietnam Generals launched a military coup against Diem & executed him.
JOHNSON & VIETNAM
Johnson did not want to lose control of Vietnam to the Communists as he felt it would hurt Democrats, his presidency, and democracy.
August 2, 1964: Johnson announces that the North Vietnamese torpedoed two U.S. destroyed on the Gulf of Tonkin.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, August 7, 1964: Congress gave Johnson the authority to “take any measures necessary to repel any armed attack against the U.S. & to prevent further aggression”
March 1965: Johnson continued bombing North Vietnam & sent combat troops into Vietnam
SEE ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES PG. 403
BLOODY STALEMATE
End of 1965 – more than 180k troops; 1966 – more than doubled that number
U.S. military felt confident yet the Vietcong frustrated them by continuing to use guerilla tactics & by blending in with the general population & vanishing quickly
SEARCH & DESTROY
American troops attempted to locate enemy troops & then bomb them using napalm as well disrupt supply lines.
Agent Orange was used to desolate the land but that would end up injuring our own troops as well.
Vietcong were resolved to keep fighting and not surrendering. They demonstrated this with their acceptance of huge losses.
HO CHI MINH TRAIL
North Vietnamese supported the Vietcong by providing arms & supplies through jungle paths that wound through Cambodia & Laos known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Eventually they would send in troops to fight.
North Vietnam received weapons & other types of support from both China & the Soviet Union – both of whom were communist nations. Johnson did not want to directly attack North Vietnam for fear that one of the two would get directly involved like China had done in Korea.
BODY COUNTS
American troops would have to fight a war of attrition _ wearing down y our enemy. They began doing “body counts” after each battle to measure their progress. As the numbers increased of American troop deaths, many back in U.S. began questioning our involvement in the war.
ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT
Vietnam was the “first televised war” as media reports were constantly aired that contradicted government reports. This created a credibility gap in believing what the government said was happening as to what was really happening
February 1966: Congress would hold “educational” hearings on Vietnam to discuss administration’s military strategy
TEACH-INS
March 1965: faculty members & students hold a teach-in at University of Michigan where they discussed Vietnam & their reasons for opposing it
May 1965: “National Teach-In” – held by radio for more than 100k antiwar demonstrators
Opposition was for different reasons: saw as a civil war in Vietnam that U.S. had no business involved in; saw S. Vietnam as a corrupt dictatorship & defending it was immoral
ANGER AT THE DRAFT
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) will organize a march on Washington D.C. drawing more than 20k against the war. Another rally held at the Lincoln Memorial drew thousands.
Many protested the unfair draft system. Many who were in college could postpone their draft until after graduation. Working-class family members who could not afford college were more likely drafted leading to a disproportionate number of them & minorities being drafted.
ANGER AT THE DRAFT
African Americans represented 20% of combat-related deaths that caused Dr. King to publicly condemn the conflict.
More than 500k draftees will refuse to go: burning their draft cards, not showing up for induction, or fleeing the country.
1969: lottery system instituted leaving those with low numbers subject to the draft.
Twenty-sixth Amendment: gave all citizens 18 years old and older the right to vote in all state and federal elections.
HAWKS & DOVES
Johnson was determined to continue fighting to stop spread of communism
Americans would be divided into two groups: Doves – wanted to leave Vietnam; Hawks – wanted to stay and fight
TET OFFENSIVE
Tet Offensive – January 30, 1968: North Vietnamese & Vietcong launch a surprise attack during Tet, Vietnamese New Year. They attacked American airbases, major cities, & the American embassy in Saigon.
A month later, U.S. troops would repel the Vietcong.
This attack left American people shocked that a people who were on the verge of losing were able to do this. This began to leave doubt in American minds that we would win this war & that it would end in a stalemate
JOHNSON DOES NOT RUN FOR RE-ELECTION
With the upcoming presidential election in 1968, Eugene McCarthy and Senator Robert Kennedy decide to run for the Democratic presidential nomination with both attracting Americans who opposed the war
March 31: 1968: President Johnson, who would be the incumbent, decided on national television that he would not run for the presidency nor accept the nomination from the Democratic Party.
SEASON OF VIOLENCE AT HOME
April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King assassinated by James Earl Ray
June 5, 1968: Senator Robert Kennedy was gunned down by Sirhan Sirhan, an Arab nationalist
Democratic National Convention – Chicago: antiwar protestors and police clash. In a park not from the convention hall protestors & police began fighting that would air on national television
NIXON WINS PRESIDENCY
Republican candidate: Richard Nixon, former vice presidential & 1960 presidential hopeful
Independent: George Wallace of Alabama seeking to attract Americans who were still distraught with Civil Rights movement & urban social unrest.
Nixon’s campaign promised to reunify the nation & restore law and order
Nixon will win by more than 100 electoral votes, but won by a slim margin of the popular vote
NIXON MOVES TO END WAR
Nixon appoints Henry Kissinger to engage in a policy called linkage where he worked to improve relations with the Soviet Union & China so as to get them to reduce their aid to North Vietnam
Nixon would engage in Vietnamization where he began the process of withdrawing troops & having South Vietnam troops take over more of the responsibility in fighting.
Nixon would increase the air strikes in North Vietnam & secretly bomb Vietcong sanctuaries in Cambodia
TURMOIL AT HOME CONTINUES
My Lai incident: Lt. William Calley & his platoon massacred old men, women, & children. News reached American ears & began to change the viewpoint about the war.
April 1970: Nixon announced that American troops invaded Cambodia to attack Vietcong bases there. Americans began to see this as an expansion of the war setting off numerous protests resulting in deaths of many Americans at home
TURMOIL AT HOME CONTINUES
Congress will repeal the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in December 1970.
Pentagon Papers: leaked by Daniel Ellsberg to the New York Times which were government documents that had details about decisions to expand the war – Confirming American fears that the government was not being honest about the war
U.S. PULLS OUT
Nixon is able to win re-election as Kissinger returns from his secret talks & announces that “peace is at hand”.
Talks for peace break down & Nixon launches more air strikes in December 1972 (“Christmas Bombings”) in an effort to force the North Vietnamese back to the table
January 27, 1973: warring sides signed an agreement “ending the war & restoring the peace in Vietnam”. U.S. promised to withdraw the troops & exchange prisoners of war.
DOMINO EFFECT
January 1975: Cambodia falls to Communists March 1975: North Vietnamese army
invaded South Vietnam. Gerald Ford, president, asked Congress for funds & they refused. April 30 – North Vietnamese capture Saigon & rename it Ho Chi Minh City
Neighboring country of Laos, who was neutral during the war, would be destabilized by the bombings along the Ho Chi Minh trail that ran through their country & would fall to communists after the fall of Saigon
WAR’S HUMAN TOLL
America’s price: Over $173 billion, Approximately 58k dead, 300k injured.
Millions of Vietnamese soldiers & civilians died
Many more Americans are listed as POWs/MIAs. Families believe that the government is hiding the truth about them
Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedicated in 1982
WAR’S IMPACT ON NATION
War Powers Act 1973: Requires the president to inform Congress of any commitment of troops abroad within 48 hours & to withdraw them in 60 to 90 days unless explicit approval given by Congress.
