The Vietnam War

1
Chapter 23

• The Vietnam War

2
Section 1

• War in Southeast Asia

3
Vietnam Declares Its Independence

• September 2, 1945
• Ho Chi Minh
• Leader of Vietminh (Vietnamese nationalist
  forces)
  
• Independence from French colonial rule
• U.S. Army officers celebrate with Vietnamese
  leaders

4
The French War in Indochina

• Indochina (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam)
• Rice, rubber, tin
• French were unwilling to give independence
• Vietminh
• Communists
• Land reform and independent unified Vietnam
• Support in North Vietnam

5
(No Transcript)
6
The French War in Indochina (cont.)

• National liberationfreeing a nation from control
  by another nation
  
• November 1946
• War between French in south and Vietminh in the
  north
  
• French gained control of major cities and towns
• Vietminh retreated into the country side
• Gained support of the peasants

7
United States Support for the French

• 1950
• Truman did not want to lose an ally (France)
• Wanted to contain communism
• 1950-1954U.S. gave 2.6 billion to France to
  save Vietnam from communism
  
• Containmentthe U.S. policy of securing the peace
  by trying to contain communism, or keep it from
  expanding beyond its current borders

8
The End of French Rule

• May 1954
• Vietminh overthrew French
• Vietnam would temporarily be divided at the 17th
  parallel
  
• Vietminh in north
• French in south
• 1956 national elections to reunify and select a
  government
  
• U.S. refused to sign peace agreement

9
(No Transcript)
10
The United States Enters the War

• Domino theoryif one country fell to communism,
  other countries would also fall

11
The Diem Regime

• South Vietnam was in disarray
• Ngo Dinh Diem
• Nationalist and anti-Communist
• Ran South Vietnam as an empire
• Rejected any reforms that weakened the ruling
  class
  
• 1954-1961U.S. gave Diem 1 billion (4 out of
  every 5 went to the military)

12
Civil War

• 1957
• Diem cancelled national elections
• Diem held a referendum to show he had support
  of South Vietnamese
  
• 98 support
• Brutal policies
• Many Vietnamese were upset with Diem

13
Civil War (cont.)

• National Liberation Front
• NLF
• AkaVietcong
• Communist leaders
• Opposed Diem
• Economic reform, reunification, independence
• Campaign of terror
• 1960assassinated 2,000 govt. officials
• Close ties with Ho Chi Minh

14
The Kennedy Years

• U.S. had a decision to makeabandon Diem or get
  more involved in Vietnam

• JFK greatly expanded the U.S.s role in Vietnam
• 1.) strengthen South Vietnam military
• 2.) force Diem to make political and economic
  reforms to end communism
  
• Diem refused and South Vietnam govt. officials
  stole U.S.

15
The Overthrow of Diem

• May 8, 1963
• South Vietnamese troops fired upon Buddhists
  protesting Diem
  
• World opinion turned against Diem
• Nov. 1, 1963
• South Vietnamese army officers seized control of
  the govt.
  
• Diem was killed

16
Lyndon Johnsons War

• Wanted a non-Communist govt. in South Vietnam
• Anti-Communist stand
• Diems successors were unsuccessful and
  unpopular
  
• Received massive economic aid

17
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

• August 1964
• LBJ said North Vietnamese boats attacked 2 U.S.
  destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin
  
• Not a declaration of war but it allowed LBJ to
  increase U.S. involvement in the war
  
• http//www.hbci.com/tgort/tonkin.htm

18
Operation Rolling Thunder

• Feb. 1965
• Vietcong attacked a U.S. military base in South
  Vietnam and killed 8 Americans
  
• 1st American bombing in North Vietnam
• Attacks on bases, roads, railways, and Ho Chi
  Minh Trail
  
• Raids failed to stop North Vietnamese aid to the
  NLF

19
Operation Rolling Thunder (cont.)

• 1967
• General Nguyen Van Thieu took over power in South
  Vietnam
  
• Lacked popular support
• NLF continued to grow

20
United States Troops in Vietnam

• By end of 1917
• 500,000 U.S soldiers sent to Vietnam

21
Fighting the War

• U.S. soldiers were frustrated
• Success of enemy killed
• American officials underestimated the Vietcong

22
The Air War

• U.S. relied on air power
• By 1967108,000 bombing raids
• At first limited to military targets and supply
  routes in North Vietnam
  
• Later onbombed roads, railways, factories, homes
  in South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia

23
The Air War (cont.)

• Destroyed dozens of cities, killed thousands of
  civilians, and destroyed rice fields
  
• Vietcong was not destroyed
• Used underground tunnels (30,000)
• http//www.diggerhistory.info/pages-conflicts-peri
  ods/vietnam/tunnels.htm

24
(No Transcript)
25
The Ground War

• search-and-destroy missions (U.S. forces)
• Problems
• Heat, mosquitoes, leeches, knee-deep muddy
  trials, razor-sharp jungle grasses, flooded rice
  fields, hidden mines, not being able to identify
  the enemy
• All of South Vietnam became a war zone

26
Guerrilla Tactics

• Vietcong used guerrilla warfare
• Avoid open battles
• Hit-and-run raids
• Guerrilla warfarefighting by small, independent
  bands, using tactics such as sabotage and sudden
  ambushes

27
Guerrilla Tactics (cont.)

• Advantages of Vietcong guerrilla
• 1.) knew terrain
• 2.) support of many peasants
• Supplied food and shelter
• Gave guerrillas knowledge of U.S. troop movement

28
Guerrilla Tactics (cont.)

• Pacification programa policy in which entire
  villages are uprooted and the people forced to
  move to cities or refugee camps
  
• U.S. used program to stop peasant support of the
  Vietcong
  
• failed

29
The Endless War

• Average soldier was 19 years old
• Some turned to drugs, other snapped, etc.
• 196714,000 soldiers had been killed
• No end in the near future

30
Section 2

• 1968 A Year of Crises

31
Tet Offensive A Turning Point

• Jan. 30, 1968 through Feb. 1968
• Communist forces attacked civilian and military
  targets in South Vietnam
  
• Attacked 100 cities/towns 12 U.S. military
  bases and U.S. embassy in Saigon
  
• 1,100 Americans soldiers killed
• 2,300 South Vietnamese troops
• 12,500 Vietnamese civilians
• 33,000 Vietcong troops
• 1 million Vietnamese became refugees

32
Tet Offensive A Turning Point (cont.)

• U.S. defeated Vietcong
• No place in South Vietnam was safe
• Shattered American confidence
• People began to doubt Johnsons Vietnam policies

33
(No Transcript)
34
Critics of United States Policy

• Many wanted a negotiated settlement and a prompt
  withdrawal of American troops
  
• TV showed brutality and hopelessness of the war
• Was the U.S. really defending democracy in
  Vietnam? If so, at what cost?
  
• Polls showed U.S. public disagreed with LBJ

35
Democratic Challengers

• Eugene McCarthy
• MN Senator
• Anti-war platform
• Robert Kennedy
• Antiwar
• Support from minorities, poor, working class, and
  wealthy Democrats

36
Johnsons Decision

• General Westmoreland requested more troops
• Secretary of Defense Clifford said The military
  course we were pursuing was not only endless but
  hopeless.
  
• LBJ rejected Westmorelands request
• Encouraged South Vietnamese to do more of the
  fighting

37
Johnsons Decision (cont.)

• March 31, 1968
• LBJ said U.S would limit the bombing of North
  Vietnam
  
• Asked Ho Chi Minh for a negotiated war
  settlement
  
• Said he would not run for another term as
  president

38
Tragedy and Turmoil

• The Democratic Primaries
• Eugene McCarthy, Robert Kennedy, and Hubert
  Humphrey
  
• Kennedy became the front-runner

39
2 Assassination

• Kings Assassination
• April 1968
• Many African Americans were upset
• Anger and frustration
• Led to rioting, looting, and destruction

• Kennedys Assassination
• June 4, 1968
• Los Angeles
• Death of King and Kennedy shattered the hopes of
  antiwar and civil rights activists

40
The Election of 1968

• Conservative eraa period in presidential
  politics in which the role of government is
  limited and individuals depend less on the
  government for assistance

41
The Democratic Convention

• Turmoil and protest
• Some demonstrators wanted Democrats to adopt an
  antiwar platform others wanted to cause violence
  
• Hubert Humphrey nominated
• Image of Democratic disorder
• Helmeted police clubbed demonstrators and
  bystanders

42
Nixon and the Republicans

• Republicans were party of stability
• Nixon wanted to bring a kind of Eisenhower calm,
  after the pains and shocks, and tragedies of the
  Democratic years.
  
• Protect every American to be free from domestic
  violence
  
• Promised peace with honor

43
The Wallace Campaign

• George Wallace
• Governor of AL
• American Independent Party
• Conservative
• Called for victory in Vietnam and he denounced
  antiwar protesters

44
The Election

• Nixon won about 43 of popular vote
• Humphrey won about 42
• Wallace 14
• 56 supported conservative candidate
• Democrats lost because their social reforms (push
  for civil rights) had gone too far and they
  failed in Vietnam

45
The Election (cont.)

• Coalitiona temporary alliance formed for a
  specific action or purpose
  
• Liberal eraa period when government promoted
  social progress
  
• End of the Liberal Era with Nixons election

46
Section 3

• The War at Home

47
The Student Movement

• 1960s
• College students became outspoken critics of
  American society
  
• Students rights
• Vietnam War
• 8 million college students by 1969
• Peace Corps, VISTA, civil rights movement
• Only a minority of college students joined
  protest movements (less than 12)
  
• Very vocal though

48
Students for a Democratic Society

• Earliest radical student group
• 1960
• U of M
• Core of the New Left
• Rebirth of radical American politics
• Racism and war could only be solved through
  sweeping changes in American society
  
• http//www.studentsforademocraticsociety.org/

49
Students for a Democratic Society (cont.)

• Port Huron statement
• participatory democracy
• Political awakening
• Beginning of an era of student activism
• Domestic causes, jobs, housing, schools, etc.

50
Protesting the War

• 1964
• Planned a march on Washington for April 1965
  (20,000 protestors)
  
• By end of 1965SDS had 150 chapters and 10,000
  members
  
• Spring of 1965
• Teach-ins
• Debated Vietnam War
• Analyzed U.S. foreign policy

51
(No Transcript)
52
Resisting the Draft

• Drafta system of selecting persons to serve in
  the military
  
• Defermentthe postponement of a persons
  induction into military service for reasons such
  as health or occupation
  
• Conscientious objectorsa person who refuses
  military service because of moral or religious
  principles

53
Resisting the Draft (cont.)

• College students received deferments
• Soldiers were often poor, working class, and
  minorities
  
• Many defiant young men challenged the idea that
  citizens have a military obligation to their
  country

54
Resisting the Draft (cont.)

• Forms of resisting
• 1.) conscientious objectors
• 2.) refused to register for the draft
• 3.) burned draft cards
• 4.) went to jail
• 5.) fled the country

55
Opposition to the War

• Religious groups, peace groups, antinuclear
  groups, civil rights groups, womens groups
  
• Huge antiwar rallies and protests
• SDS changed from Protest to Resistance
• Martin Luther King, Jr., senators, etc.
• 19662 billion a month into the War

56
War Divides the Nation

• Hawksa person who supports the war effort
• Dovea person who supports the withdrawal of U.S.
  troops form war and favors a negotiated end to
  war
  

57
War Divides the Nation (cont.)

• Most Americans were disturbed by both the War and
  the protests
  
• 70 believed the protests were acts of
  disloyalty to the soldiers
  
• Many were convinced that the U.S.A. was
  hopelessly bogged down in an unwinnable war

58
Bringing the War Home

• After Tet Offensive, 41 hawks and 42 doves
• Jan. to June 1968college protests and 40,000
  students
  
• Most were peaceful
• Columbia University
• Most violent uprising
• Linked civil rights and Vietnam War
• April 23,1968
• Protesters took over 5 University buildings

59
The Media and the War

• Mass media was a powerfully ally for antiwar
  protesters
  
• TV molded public opinion
• Nightly news showed brutal fighting, desperate
  refugees, and dying U.S. soldiers
  
• The military did not censor the press
• 800 reporters covered the Vietnam War

60

• Early Reporting on the War
• Fighting to contain communism
• South Vietnam deserved and needed American support

• A More Critical Press
• After Tet Offensive, reporters raised more
  ????????
  
• Should the U.S. be in Vietnam?
• Was Vietnam worth the cost?
• Began to show the cost of human life

61
The My Lai Massacre

• March 1968
• U.S. massacred nearly 350 Vietnamese civilians
• Reported in press in Nov. 1969
• Actions shocked American

62
Nixon and the Antiwar Movement

• June 1969, President Nixon announced he would
  start bringing U.S. troops home under his plan to
  Vietnamize the War
  
• By end of 1969, doves outnumbered hawks 3 to 1
• Nixon reached out to the silent majority
• The minority threatened the nations security
• http//www.history.com/media.do?actionclipidspe
  ech_207

63
The War Comes Home

• April 30, 1970U.S. invaded Cambodia
• Led to massive protests
• Kent State
• May 3, 1970
• Students protested Cambodia invasion
• At first violent but were peaceful on May 4
• Police and National Guard marched towards student
  protesters and used tear gas on students
  
• They fired into students
• 9 students wounded
• 4 killed

64
Kent State (cont.)

• National Guard was found to use unwarranted and
  inexcusable actions
  
• Some blamed the students and others blamed the
  govt.,
  
• http//www.history.com/media.do?actionclipidtdi
  h_may04_broadband

65
(No Transcript)
66
Jackson State

• May 14, 1970
• 12 students wounded
• 2 killed

67
The End of a Decade

• Massive demonstrations failed to end the Vietnam
  War which frustrated many students
  
• CIA and FBI investigated the New Left
• New Left fell apart as Vietnam War wound down
• The antiwar protests helped to force a shift in
  U.S. policy
  
• Radicalism of 1960s would led to conservatism of
  1970s and 1980s

68
Section 4

• Ending the War

69
Working Toward Peace

• Vietnamization
• Public pressureAmerican troops home now
• Nixon wanted to keep an independent pro-U.S.A.
  govt. in South Vietnam
  
• May 1969
• South Vietnamese soldiers would be trained and
  equipped to take the place of American troops

70
Working Toward Peace (cont.)

• Nixon Doctrine
• U.S.A. would no longer step in militarily to
  protect its Asian allies from Communist threats
  
• U.S. would continue to provide weapons and
  financial aid
  
• Vietnamization

71
The Paris Peace Talks

• 1968 began
• Neither Communists nor anti-Communists were
  willing to compromise
  
• Henry Kissinger
• National security adviser
• Nixon used Kissinger to negotiate
• Eventually Secretary of State

72
The Secret War

• 1969
• Secret U.S. bombing of enemy supply routes and
  bases
  
• Cambodia, Laos, North Vietnam
• Attacks failed to cut supply lines
• It spread the war into Cambodia and Laos
• 3,600 secret bombing missions and 110,000 tons of
  bombs

73
A Bigger Stick

• April 30, 1970
• U.S. troops into Cambodia to attack North
  Vietnamese bases

74
The Home Front

• Widespread protests for Cambodia invasion
• Pentagon Papers
• Defense Department
• Secret study of U.S. involvement in Vietnam
• Johnson administration
• Offered evidence that in the past the govt. lied
  to the public about the War
  
• The real reason for sending troops into Vietnam
  was to avoid a humiliating defeat

75
The Final Years of War

• South Vietnamese troops could not defeat
  Communist forces which would continue the War

76
Renewed Peace Talks

• October 1972
• Peace settlement fell apart
• Dec. 18, 1972
• Nixon ordered bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong in
  North Vietnam
  
• Christmas Bombings
• Thousands of civilians killed
• diplomacy through terror

77
Renewed Peace Talks (cont.)

• January 1973
• North Vietnamese troops remained in South
  Vietnam
  
• President Thieu remained South Vietnams
  President
  
• Vietcong would play role in the political
  arrangement
  
• U.S. troops would leave Vietnam

78
Renewed Peace Talks (cont.)

• Negotiateto reach an agreement
• Many Americans believed the peace agreement did
  not achieve peace with honor

79
The Fall of Saigon

• Peace agreement did not bring peace
• March 1973cease-fire collapsed
• April 1975Communist troops defeated South
  Vietnam at capital city of Saigon

80
The Cost of War

• 58,000 Americans dead
• 300,000 wounded
• 150 billion
• Social programs at home went under-funded
• U.S. lost a war for the 1st time ever
• 8 million tons of bombs dropped on Southeast
  Asia
  
• 2 million Vietnamese dead
• Uncounted Cambodians and Laotians killed
• Villages ruined

81
The Cost of War (cont.)

• Nationalist movementthe activities of a group
  focused on freeing a nation from foreign
  influence and control