Chapter 25

Vietnam- What do you know about Vietnam?- How far in

Vietnam from America?

- http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=268181

President Dwight D. Eisenhower

• President from 1953- 1961

• Was a 5 star general during WWII

• Worried about the spread of communism.

Section 1: American focus on Vietnam• Nationalism was on the

rise in Vietnam in response to being under French rule since the late 1800’s.

• The Vietnamese people formed numerous political parties to push for independence.

• Ho Chi Minh emerged as an early leader of the nationalist movement.

Ho Chi Minh • Ho Chi Minh was born

in 1890. • He worked as a teacher

in his village until the age of 21.

• He then traveled across Europe studying. He lived in the Soviet Union for awhile. Where he became an advocate of communism.

• By the time Ho Chi Minh returned to Vietnam in 1941 the Japanese had invaded

• Ho Chi Minh formed the Vietminh, a group that tried to unite both communists and non-communists to get the Japanese forces out of Vietnam.

United States supports the French• After the Japanese defeat Ho

Chi Minh and the Vietminh proclaimed an independent Vietnam.

• In 1946 the French reoccupied and drove the Vietminh into the countryside, this lead to the Vietminh gaining more support.

• The French called for help from the United States. The USA was against communism and colonialism decided to help the French to stop the spread of communism.

• By 1954 the United States was paying 3/4th of the French’s war costs in Vietnam.

• President Eisenhower justified this by claiming that if Vietnam fell to communism it would quickly spread across the rest of Southeast Asia. This was called the Domino theory.

The Vietminh drive the French out of Vietnam

• The Vietminh used guerrilla tactics to attack the French.

• In 1954 the French were occupying the mountain town of Dien Bien Phu.

• The Vietminh surrounded and began bombarding the town until the French were forced to surrender.

• Because of this loss and the unpopularity of the war in France, the French made peace and left Indochina.

The Geneva Accord • The Geneva Accord

divided Vietnam, leaving control of the North to the Vietminh and Ho Chi Minh and the South to a pro-western regime.

• The United States stepped up to protect the new government in the South led by Ngo Dinh Diem.

• In 1956 Diem refused to have nation wide elections to reunite Vietnam.

• He feared that Ho Chi Minh would win and communism would take over the whole country.

• President Eisenhower still supported Diem and increased American military presence.

Vocabulary words

1. Vietnam2. Nationalism 3. Nguyen Tat Thanh4. Dien Bien Phu5. Domino Theory6. Ngo Dinh Diem7. French Indochina8. Ho Chi Minh 9. Vietninh10.Dwight D. Eisenhower11.Geneva Accord12.Guerrillas