Vietnam Conflict

Geography

• Long, narrow, hilly nation

• Comparable size to California

• Anamite Mountains

• South China Sea, Gulf of Tonkin

• Mekong Delta

Chinese Rule• 2,000 years ago

• China wanted Vietnamese rice fields

• Vietnamese adopted many Chinese traditions

• Freed themselves in the 900’s from China

French Rule

• 1500’s: Catholic missionaries

• Vietnamese were Buddhists

• Some missionaries were murdered

• French military took over Indochina

• Bringing “civilization” to Vietnam

• Turned farmers into share-croppers

• Rice, alcohol, opium

• Many small rebellions against France failed

Battle for Independence

Ho Chi Minh

• Revolutionary leader, Communist

• 1941: Japan took over

• “Vietminh” organized resistance groups

• Americans aided Ho Chi Minh

• Guerilla tactics defeated the Japanese

• Vietnam declared independence

• Minh expected the U.S. to recognize his government (Communist)

• Truman instead supported French efforts to re-take Vietnam

French-Indochina War• 1946-1954• China armed the Vietminh• Americans armed France• Battle of Dienbienphu

–French sent in 13,000 –Vietminh had 50,000–May 7, 1954: France surrendered here

Dividing Vietnam

• Ho Chi Minh compromised with the Geneva Conference

• Division was supposed to be temporary

• North: Ho Chi Minh (Communist)

• South: Ngo Dinh Diem (U.S. supported)

American Policy

• U.S. opposed a nation-wide election fearing a Ho Chi Minh victory

• Domino theory: if one nation in Southeast Asia fell to Communism, others would fall as well

• Diem’s S. Vietnamese gov’t was corrupt & dictatorial

Vietcong

• “Vietnamese Commie”

• National Liberation Front: Communist & Non-Communist Southern revolutionaries

• Killed hundreds of Diem’s officials & attacked his bases

American Involvement

• Eisenhower gave billions in aid & sent military advisers & CIA

• Kennedy gradually increased personnel from 1,500 to 16,000

–He had been strongly advised against an all-out war

Ngo Dinh Diem• Buddhists monks burned themselves in

public protest to Diem

• Diem killed dozens of monks, imprisoned others, & destroyed 2,000 temples

• Diem was assassinated & government were overthrown

War Escalates

• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: President may all necessary force to repel attacks against U.S. troops

• Operation Rolling Thunder: U.S. bombing campaign along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and into North Vietnam

• Ho Chi Minh Trail: NVA & Vietcong supply route that went through parts of Cambodia & Laos

• Defoliants, “search & destroy”, pacification

• dove: people opposed to war

• hawk: those in support of the war

• Incorrect & misleading numbers

• Tet Offensive: coordinated attack on 100 cities & 12 U.S. bases in South Vietnam by the Vietcong

Election of 1968

• 1968: Robert Kennedy assassinated• Dem.: Hubert Humphrey• Repub.: Richard Nixon• Amer. Indep.: George Wallace• Nixon won easily

Nixon: Vietnam & Cambodia

• “Vietnamization”: gradually turning over fighting the war to South Vietnamese while withdrawing U.S. troops

• Nixon invaded Cambodia to cut off NVA supply lines

Kent State University

• May 4, 1970

• National Guard troops fired randomly at student anti-war demonstrators

• 4 killed, 9 injured

• Similar occurrence at Jackson State College in Miss.

End of the War• Jan. 1973: cease-fire signed

• April 30, 1975: South Vietnam surrendered unconditionally

• 26th Amend.: lowered voting age from 21 to 18

• War Powers Act: limits President’s ability to send troops out indefinitely