Vietnam – a French Colony no more

Vietnam – a French Colony no more  France, after ruling Vietnam or over 100 years was defeated by Gen.. Giap at battle of Dien Bien Phu-forced to leave Vietnam..  The Vietminh take ov

Vietnam – a French

Colony no more

 France, after ruling Vietnam or over 100 years was defeated by Gen Giap at battle

of Dien Bien Phu-forced to leave Vietnam.

 The Vietminh take over and declare

Vietnam Independent

 France & Vietnam signed Geneva Peace Accords of 1954-split Vietnam along 17th parallel.

The United States Steps

in

 Geneva Accords stated that in 1956 Vietnam would hold elections to

reunify country.

 US worried Ho Chi Minh was too

popular and would win so the US

doesn’t allow elections to take place

 Why? Domino Theory

North vs South

 The North led by

Ho Chi Minh

 Communist

 Vietminh

 Supported by the

Viet Cong in the

South later called

the National

Liberation Front

 South led by Ngo Dinh Diem

 Supported by US

 US supported creation of counter-revolutionary group

in S Vietnam

Pros of GW in Vietnam

o Easy to slip into a

village; look like

civilians

o More cooperation from

other Vietnamese

o Easy supply system

o Territory and

topography already

known

o Used rainy season as

cover

o Easy to attain civilian

help in ambushes and

information

Cons of GW in Vietnam

o Un-organization easily occurs

o Renegade or untrained troops confuse strategy

o High rates of civilian casualties

o Can ruin economic development

o It is a long drawn out process; low moral

o Can kill own civilians with unremembered booby traps and mines

o Extended from N Vietnam

to S Vietnam

o Est 1959 and used by N Vietnamese troops for a major military supply route

o Goes through Laos and Cambodia on its way to S Vietnam

o main route for invasion of S Vietnam in 1975

The Ho Chi Minh Trail

o built in the time of the

French

o joined village to village and

often passed beneath

American bases

o not only fortifications for

Viet Cong guerillas, but also

center of community life

o several stories deep and

housed up to 10,000

people, supplies and

weapons

o connected isolated pockets

of Viet Cong territory

enabled the guerrillas to

mount surprise attacks and

vanish without trace

The Underground

Tunnels

o Punji sticks were sharpened sticks of bamboo concealed and designed to pierce the enemy’s feet; many times they were contaminated to cause disease

o Bamboo maces swung down onto soldiers who triggered tripwires; also used crossbows

o Land mines were a favorite

of guerilla forces and they were taken from the

U.S.S.R., the French, and even U.S troops

Anti-Personnel

Weapons

Kennedy & Johnson

 Kennedy increased

aid to Diem

 Sent military

advisors to help

train S Vietnamese

troops

 Expands conflict

 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964 gave Johnson

broad military powers

Troop Build Up

 180,000 troops by

1965

 500,000 troops by

1967

US Tactics -copy slide

 Agent Orange – a leaf killing toxic chemical devastated landscape and ruined villages

 Napalm – a gasoline based bomb stuck to leaves and skin

 Search and destroy – uprooting villagers by day and evacuating at night

War at Home - copy

 Great Society Suffers – money spent on war and not on helping poor at home

 Living- room war – media heightens

American concern

 Manipulatable Draft – different

qualifications, if in college could put off

service or join National Guard or Coast

Guard

 African Americans were disproportionately drafted

Tet Offensive

 This offensive by the Viet Cong in S Vietnam shows Americans at home that “We are not winning this war”

 Turning point in public opinion

 LBJ decides not to seek reelection

Protests at Home

Students for a Democratic Society

demanded participatory democracy & Free Speech

 20,000 Marched on the White House

in 1965

 Resistance – “Hell No We Won’t Go!”

 Doves vs Hawks

Kent State Tragedy

 Students in Ohio

protest the secret

bombings in Cambodia

 Governor sends in

National Guard

 Shooting erupts

 4 students are killed

 Colleges across

country are shut down

American Policy changes

assassinated

 Nixon wins Presidential election

 Pull out begins 500,000 troops to

25,000 over 3 years - Vietnamization

Laos

 My Lai Massacre

 Massacre of 100

innocent civilians by

American troops

 “Kill anything that

breathed”

 Court martial - Lt

Calley

The War America Lost

American forces are not able to defeat the North Vietnamese

1973 US pulls out

1975 North Vietnamese invade and

capture Saigon.

The War’s Painful Legacy

 Longest War

 58,000 US soldiers died

 2,212 solders MIA/POWs

 Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial

 US questions role as police officer of world