The Vietnam War

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The Vietnam War
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Early Background

• 111 B.C.- Chinese invade Vietnam
• 111 B.C.-939 A.D.- Chinese control Vietnam
• 939 A.D.- Vietnam independent
• Capital- Hanoi

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France and Vietnam

• 1857- Napoleon III decided to invade Vietnam
• 1858- French take Da Nang
• 1859- French take Saigon
• 1873- annex Laos
• 1884- control all of Vietnam
• By the end of the 19th century- France controls
  Southeast Asia( Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam)
• Controls French Indochina until 1940

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Paris Peace Conference-1919

• Self-determination for European nations
• Ho Chi Minh- Vietnam nationalist wants
  independence for Vietnam
• Allied Powers side with France and their control
  of Southeast Asia
• Ho Chi Minh ignored
• 1925- Ho Chi Minh- leader of the Revolutionary
  League of the Youth of VietnamCommunist
  influence want to throw the French out

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Japan and Vietnam

• 1939- WW II begins
• France surrenders to the Germans in June, 1940
• 1940- French Indochina falls to Japan
• 1940-1945-Japan controls region
• 1941- Ho Chi Minh organizes the Viet Minh
  goal-independence and distribute the land to the
  peasants

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U.S. and Vietnam

• 1941-1945-U.S. sending weapons and money to Ho
  Chi Minh to help the Viet Minh fight against the
  Japanese
• Ho Chi Minh- known as the Thomas Jefferson of
  Southeast Asia
• August Revolution- Viet Minh in control of most
  of Vietnam including Hanoi and Saigon
• September,1945-Japan surrenders WW II over and
  Viet Minh believe that they have won independence
  and called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam

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France and Vietnam- Part II

• 1945- French return to Vietnam
• Promised Viet Minh partial independence
• France appointed Bao Dai, not Ho Chi Minh, to
  lead Vietnam

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The Vietnamese Civil War-1946

• Viet Minh vs. the French
• Problems
• Roman Catholic vs. Buddhists
• Urban vs. Rural
• Western Culture vs. Eastern Culture
• Anti- Communists vs. Communists

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• 1950- Viet Minh with the help from Communist
  China mount a major offensive against the French
• U.S.- supporting the French
• Truman Administration sends 150 million to the
  French to keep Vietnam from falling to the
  Communists (Containment)

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Eisenhower and Vietnam

• 1953- U.S. sends 1.3 billion to Vietnam
• Afraid of the Domino Theory
• French asking the U.S. for military help
• Eisenhower refuses because the Korean War had
  just ended in 1953
• Most Americans want to stay out of another Asian
  conflict

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Battle of Dienbienphu

• 1954- French army surrounded by the Viet Minh
• French asked for U.S. air support
• Eisenhower refused
• French force doomed
• May, 1954- French surrender after 56 day battle
• French no longer a factor in Vietnam

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The Geneva Conference-1954

• French- Viet Minh ceasefire
• Vietnam divided at the 17th Parallel
• North Vietnam- Ho Chi Minh
• South Vietnam- Bao Dai
• 1956- election to take place to choose one leader
  and unite Vietnam
• Laos and Cambodia received their independence

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Ngo Diem

• 1954- overthrows Bao Dai government
• Diem- Catholic nationalist and anti- Communist
• Did not allow the election to take place in South
  Vietnam because he said that South Vietnam had
  not signed the Geneva Agreements
• Strengthened his government abolished the
  village form of government and appointed his own
  people as the leaders
• Imprisoned people who objected to his policies
• Secret police headed by his brother

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Viet Cong

• 1956- Anti- Diem forces
• Viet Cong- from South Vietnam
• Many were Communists who wanted land reform
• Many were Buddhists who did not Diems
  persecution
• Some were Liberals who wanted basic freedoms like
  freedom of speech, press, trial by jury
• Some were nationalists who wanted a united Vietnam

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U.S. Support

• 1955-1961- U.S. aid- 200 million per year
• Diem- anti-Communist
• 1960- Eisenhower sends 400 American advisors to
  help the South Vietnamese military
• Diem- starting to lose control of the cities
  because of his repressive policies

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Kennedy and Vietnam

• Spring, 1961-JFK sent observers to make reports
• Reports advised American combat troops to help
  Diem regime
• Sent 600 Green Berets
• 1961- sent Lyndon Johnson and he called for more
  troops
• 1961- sent National Security Advisor Walt Rostaw
  to South Vietnam- agreed with Johnson- more troops

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1962

• JFK sent Maxwell Taylor- head of the Joint Chiefs
  of Staff
• Calls for 10,000 air force men to maintain
  security for the Diem government
• Military advisors participate in battles

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1963

• January- JFK believes Communist aggression in
  South Vietnam has been controlled
• August- Henry Cabot Lodge, U.S. Ambassador to
  South Vietnam, sees problems with Diem and his
  government
• Tells South Vietnamese generals that a coup would
  be supported by the U.S. government

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Kennedys Plan

• September, 1963- JFK told American people that
  the Vietnam War was the South Vietnamese peoples
  war to win or lose U.S. can give equipment and
  advisors but the South Vietnamese have to fight
• Plan- phased withdrawal of U.S. forces by the end
  of 1965 plan remained in effect until March, 1964

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Assassinations

• Nov. 1, 1963- Ngo Diem assassinated by South
  Vietnamese military with CIA help
• General Minh- President
• Nov. 22, 1963- JFK assassinated
• Lyndon B. Johnson- President
• By the end of 1963- 16,300 Americans in South
  Vietnam- 73 Americans killed

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Johnson and Vietnam

• Jan.,1964- 17,000 troops in South Vietnam
• North Vietnamese regular army troops helping the
  Viet Cong
• August 4, 1964- Maddox and Turner Joy attacked by
  North Vietnamese gunboats
• August 7, 1964- Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
• H/R- 416-0 Senate- 98-2
• Johnson given the power to take all necessary
  measures to repel any armed attack against armed
  forces of the United States and to prevent
  further aggression
• Johnson now could do whatever he wanted to do in
  South Vietnam

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