The Vietnam War (1954-1975)

Honors United States History 20.1

Indochina

A History of Foreign Rulers• China ruled Vietnam for 2,000

years– Bring Buddhism, language, and

rice• France took over in the 1800s– Catholicism, plantations,

education, and infrastructure– Indochina became one of

France’s most lucrative possessions• Rice – North; Rubber – South;

Coal, Tin, and Zinc from mines

– Workers known as “coolies” – Asian laborers

Ho Chi Minh and the World Wars• After WWI – Ho Chi Minh

wanted to model a system of US system– Wilson refused aid

• WWII – Japan’s GEACPS– Ho and his VIET MINH -

organization that led the struggle for Vietnamese independence from the French - spied and carried out guerilla warfare for the Allies

– Wants US help again but now a Communist

Stuck Between Scylla and Charybdis • France wants control back

after WWII– US is anti-colonial but…is

needs anticommunist forces in Europe

• Mao’s PRC (1949) forces the US to France– Pays 80% of the French bill

and takes French troops to Vietnam

• Eisenhower comes to power– Continues Truman’s

policies to prevent his DOMINO THEORY – if Vietnam falls to Communism all its closest allies would follow

Truman has to choose…

War Continues Indochina• French victory– Initial military success

• Gained control of Saigon• Viet Minh heavily outnumbered

the French but could not get weapons or munitions

– Placed Bao Dai as ruler• Catholic, seen as puppet

– Tried to seem pro-Vietnamese, anti-communist, anti-colonial• Ho is gaining support throughout

Vietnam• Created Vietnamese National

Army (VNA)

Dien Bien Phu and the Geneva Accords• 1954 – French lose at Dien Bien

Phu garrison to the Viet Minh– US sends no soldiers, just money

• Geneva Accords – Granted independence for

Indochina– Peace treaty divided Vietnam at

17th parallel• Ho’s Communists in the North and

anticommunist gov’t in South

– 1956 – election to reunite Vietnam

Chaos Followed the Accords• Refugees – 900,000 Catholics move

to South Vietnam – 80,000 Communists move

North • Eisenhower sends 900

army trainers to help the VNA (Vietnamese National Army)– S. Vietnam now under

Ngo Dihn Diem

US and S. Vietnam Rethink Geneva• 1954 – SEATO (Southeast Asia

Treaty Organization) formed to stop Asian Communism – US funds S. Vietnam

• Diem losing support– Catholic, persecuted Buddhists• Ho winning more supporters in S.

Vietnam…

• CIA recognizes Diem will lose to Ho in 1956 election– Diem pulled out

Civil War Breaks Out!• 1957 – National Liberation

Front (Viet Cong) form in S. Vietnam– Assassinated South

officials, blow up infrastruction, guerilla style warfare

– Undermined Diem’s gov’t– Supplied by the North

Vietnamese Army (Viet Minh)

JFK Intervenes• After Bay of Pigs in

1961– Sent in 16,000

special forces troop “advisors” and 675 trainers for Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)

Dissatisfaction with Diem

• Repressive, torturous dictator– Diem’s family holds all

power, elites hold the wealth

– STRATEGIC HAMLET PROGRAM – contain potential communists in walled towns • Buddhist peasants angry

as removed from ancestral lands

• US keeps him in power

Early Protests of Diem’s Government

US Offs Diem

• JFK plots with anti-Diem generals in coup– 2 Nov 1963 – Diem is killed

• Succession of leaders– Nguyen Cao Ki (ran with Thieu)– Then Nguyen Van Thieu took over when Ki retires

LBJ Amps Up JFK’s Approach

• Vows not to lose Vietnam in the same we we “lost” China, N. Korea, and Cuba

The Gulf of Tonkin Incident

• Aug 1964 – N. Vietnamese ship attacked USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin

• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution– A Blank Check– Gives LBJ the power to send

troops into combat without Congress

LBJ Sends in Ground Forces

• China is still on LBJ’s mind– “I’m not going to be the

president who saw Southeast Asia go the way China went.” – Lyndon Johnson

• Advised to make the move by SoS Robert McNamara

Air Strikes Begin Against N. Vietnam

• Broadens US involvement – the war begins for the US

• US troops now directly engaged against North Vietnamese troops and the Viet Cong (VC)