The Vietnam War - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 16
About This Presentation
Title:

The Vietnam War

Description:

The Vietnam War 22 Gia Long St., Saigon, 1975 Maps of French Indochina Vietnam: Historical Background Vietnamese people: resisted Chinese control for a millennium ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:153
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 17
Provided by: schu2160
Category:
Tags: trial | truman | vietnam | war

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: The Vietnam War


1
The Vietnam War
  • 22 Gia Long St., Saigon, 1975

2
  • Maps of French Indochina

3
Vietnam Historical Background
  • Vietnamese people resisted Chinese control for a
    millennium, French colonialism in the 19th and
    20th century, and U.S. power in the 20th century
  • French colonial policies violently uprooted
    Vietnamese society
  • Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969) father of the
    Vietnamese revolution, helped found the French
    Communist Party, worked for the Communist
    International in 1920s and 1930s, organized the
    Vietminh (League for the Independence of Vietnam)
    in World War II to resist Japanese and French
    presence, proclaimed the Democratic Republic of
    Vietnam in 1945 by quoting from the American
    Declaration of Independence and the French
    Declaration of the Rights of Man Source
    Vietnamese Declaration of Independence
  • During World War II the Vietminh worked with the
    Office of Strategic Services to liberate Vietnam
    from the Japanese rescuing downed airmen and
    passing intelligence Sources Pentagon Papers,
    Gravel Edition, Summary and Chapter I and
    Advising the Viet Minh

4
The First Indochina War, 1946-1954
  • 1946 outbreak of French-Vietminh war after the
    French high commissioner in Saigon declared the
    Republic of Cochinchina a separate state, and
    after the breakdown of a negotiated compromise
    agreement between the French and Ho Chi Minh
  • Eight-year guerilla war, including the 1947
    French aerial bombing with napalm (jellied
    gasoline mixture, incendiary weapon), ended with
    decisive French defeat at Dienbienphu in 1954
  • Dienbienphu General Vo Nguyen Giap defeated
    French garrison with 15,000 soldiers (many elite
    paratroopers) major military victory of a
    non-European colonial independence movement
    against a modern Western occupier Eisenhower
    administration refused air strike to break the
    siege
  • By 1954 U.S. paid about three-quarters of the
    financial cost of the French war against Ho Chi
    Minh between 1950 and 1954 the U.S. gave 3
    billion in aid to the French U.S. sent 300 men
    as part of the Military Assistance Advisory Group
  • April 5, 1954 President Eisenhower coined
    domino theory Source Domino Theory

5
Eisenhower and Diem
  • Military Intervention Debated President
    Eisenhower vs. Sec. of State John Foster Dulles
    and Vice President Richard Nixon
  • American Military Divided Air Force Chief of
    Staff Nathan Twinning (for atomic bomb) vs. Army
    Chief of Staff Matthew Ridgeway (air power does
    not equal victory)
  • 1954 Geneva Conference temporary division of
    Vietnam at 17th parallel national elections in
    1956 Source Geneva Conference
  • After 1955 U.S. supported government of Ngo Dinh
    Diem even though it had little support in South
    Vietnam U.S. provided 300 million per year
    (mostly for South Vietnamese military) and up to
    740 uniformed U.S. soldiers Diem refused to hold
    elections
  • December 1960 National Liberation Front NLF
    (the Communist Partys vehicle for armed
    insurgency against Diem) Diem and American
    officials called the NLF Vietcong although it
    was not entirely communist. Was NLF part of
    civil war in South Vietnam? Source NLF
  • Did U.S. intervene in South Vietnam after 1954
    because it had been defeated politically at
    Dienbienphu?
  • Illusion of Nation Building military security
    over economic and political reform Example
    Lansdale Report , Lansdale to Diem, Lansdale Bio

6
Kennedy and Diem
  • JFK increased U.S. support to South Vietnam
    41.1 million in military aid in 1961 military
    advisors grew from 900 in 1961 to 16,700 in 1963
  • JFKs Cold War Optimism counter-insurgency
    defense against armed or unarmed rebellion to
    save American troops Relevance 2006
    Counterinsurgency Field Manual, Crane,
    Counterinsurgency Paradoxes
  • Strategic Hamlet Program (1961-64) South
    Vietnamese peasants were uprooted and
    concentrated in fortified villages to counter
    Vietcong political and military influence
    Source Failure of Strategic Hamlet Program
  • 1963 Buddhist Crisis self-immolation of Buddhist
    monks to protest Diems brother Ngo Dinh Nhu
    (head of the governments police and security
    forces)
  • 1963 Military Coup against Diem and Nhu South
    Vietnamese killed both brothers U.S.
    intelligence agents knew of plotting, but did not
    warn Diem
  • If JFK had lived, would he have withdrawn? Not in
    light of his 1961 inaugural address to bear any
    burden in defense of liberty Sources JFK
    Audio, JFK Speeches

7
Malcolm W. Brownes PhotoBurning Buddhist Monk,
Thich Quang DucSelf-Immolation (June 11, 1963)
  • Malcolm W. Browne
  • Digital History Website

8
Johnsons War ? A Closer Look at 1964
  • LBJ as reluctant warrior LBJ did not want war,
    but pledged to build on Trumans, Eisenhowers,
    and Kennedys military containment policies. LBJ
    in early 1964 This country was built by
    pioneers with an ax in one hand and a rifle in
    the other. Source Gardner, 103
  • LBJ as New Dealer, January1964 I got a lotta
    problems. Ive got a brazen Communist attempt to
    conquer Asia on my hands. Ive got Negroes
    revolting in America I got troubles in Central
    America that the people dont even know about. I
    gotta figure out how to pay for these fucking
    wars and keep my commitment to feed, educate, and
    care for the people of this country. Source
    Gardner, 104
  • In his mind, LBJs unconditional war on poverty
    in America hinged on victory in Vietnam
  • Dec. 1963-July 1965 LBJ sought victory in South
    Vietnam and expanded JFKs limited commitment
    into an open-ended one
  • Aug. 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident LBJ argued
    that North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. ships were
    unprovoked and widened the war Source National
    Security Archive
  • Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed Congress 416-0
    in House and 88-2 in Senate gave LBJ a blank
    check for war Democratic Senators Wayne Morse of
    Oregon and Ernest Gruening of Alaska dissented
    Sources Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Senate
    Debate, Norman Solomon
  • Senator J. William Fulbright, who had supported
    the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, later said I
    dont normally assume a President lies to you.

9
Vietnam War Escalation, 1965-1968
  • Operation Rolling Thunder U.S. retaliatory air
    strikes against North Vietnam after an NLF attack
    on American barracks in Pleiku (Feb. 6, 1965)
    between 1965-1967 U.S. dropped more tonnage of
    bombs on Vietnam than the Allies dropped on
    Europe in World War II only Undersecretary of
    State George Ball opposed air war at the time
  • Land War first two battalions of U.S. Marines
    deployed in March 1965 peak level in April 1969
    with 543,400 soldiers in Vietnam
  • April 1966 for the first time, more Americans
    than South Vietnamese were killed in action
  • Bombings probably killed a ratio of two civilians
    to one Vietminh search-and-destroy operations on
    the ground perhaps killed as many as six
    civilians for each Vietminh
  • Attrition Strategy developed by Gen. William
    Westmoreland, aimed at destroying enemy forces
    faster than they could be replaced Sec. of
    Defense Robert McNamaras emphasis on body
    count led to inflated accounts and targeting of
    civilians Tip McNamara Symposium
  • Casualties (1961-1973) 58,193 U.S. deaths
    635,357 South Vietnamese (military and civilian
    deaths) 916,000 North Vietnamese (military and
    civilian deaths)

10
TetThe Turning Point 1968
  • Tet North Vietnamese surprise offensive in
    January 1968, hit 36 of 44 provincial cities and
    100 villages, including the American embassy in
    Saigon, Khe Sanh (U.S. Marine base besieged), Ben
    Tre (a Pyrrhic victoryas one American officer
    stated, it became necessary to destroy the town
    to save it)
  • Tet a tactical failure, yet a strategic success
    for Hanoi, given its psychological impact on U.S.
    antiwar movement and media
  • Feb. 1, 1968 NBC news showed a film clip of Gen.
    Nguyen Ngoc Loan, chief of South Vietnams
    national police, pointing a gun at the head of a
    Vietcong lieutenant who had just murdered a South
    Vietnamese colonel, his wife and their six
    children newsman John Chancellor called it
    rough justice on a Saigon street as the general
    pulled the trigger the U.S. public was horrified
  • March 31, 1968 LBJ announced in a television
    address that U.S. would halt the bombing, begin
    peace negotiations, and that he withdrew himself
    as a candidate for reelection Source Johnson
    Speeches

11
Edward T. Adams Pulitzer Prize PhotoViet Cong
Execution (February 1, 1968)
  • Newseum

12
Atrocities
  • Violence against civilians as intentional tactic
    of war
  • Vietcong utilized terrorism to solicit
    cooperation from the Vietnamese Vietcong
    guerrillas assassinated or kidnapped thousands of
    local officials, priests, teachers, and other
    counterrevolutionaries
  • U.S. policy of bombing with high explosives and
    napalm created many civilian deathssome
    accidental and some intentional
  • My Lai Massacre (March 16, 1968) largest single
    American atrocity U.S. Army infantry company
    killed 504 unresisting women, children, and old
    men officers in charge tried to cover up only
    one officer, Lieutenant William Calley, received
    judicial punishment Tip S. Hersh
  • Hue Massacre (Tet Offensive, 1968) North
    Vietnamese Army and Vietcong occupied Hue and
    executed those connected with Americans 2,810
    bodies found in mass graves and 3,000 residents
    missing
  • Jonathan Shay, Achilles in Vietnam Combat Trauma
    and the Undoing of Character (1994) Healing
    from trauma depends upon communalization of the
    traumabeing able to safely tell the story to
    someone who is listening and who can be trusted
    to retell it truthfully to others in the
    community. p. 4

13
Nixons War, 1968-1974
  • Nixon sought peace with honor by negotiating
    for peace while escalating the war at the same
    time
  • Vietnamization reduction of American troops in
    South Vietnam by 1971 down to 139,000 (protests
    at home continued)
  • June 1971 Pentagon Papers leaked to press
    secret 20-year summary of war revealed
    superficiality and lack of candor in U.S. Vietnam
    policy strengthened case for ending the war
  • Secret Bombing of neutral Cambodia (1969-1973),
    naval blockade of North Vietnam, and continued
    bombing of Vietnam (on average one ton of bombs
    dropped each minute). Example Linebacker II or
    Christmas Bombing (Dec. 18-29, 1972) dropped
    20,000 tons of bombs on North Vietnam Explore
    Henry KissingerHero or Villain?
  • January1973 Paris Peace Accords, formal ending
    of American war in Vietnam, but fighting in
    Vietnam continued U.S. left CIA and military
    advisers in Saigon, pulled last combat troops
    out of Vietnam in March 1973, and continued
    bombing in Cambodia until August 1973
  • War Powers Act (Nov. 1973) Congress limited
    presidents war powers, funded fighting only for
    60 days in an undeclared war
  • February 1974 begin of North Vietnamese
    offensive against South Vietnam
  • April 1975 Saigon came under North Vietnamese
    control and was renamed Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam
    reunified, war ended

14
Huynh Cong Uts Pulitzer Prize PhotoVietnamTerr
or of War (June 8, 1972)
  • Huynh Cong Ut

15
Why did the United States fail in Vietnam?
  • Vietnam Syndrome American unwillingness to
    exercise its power vs. military containment
    doctrine and domino theory
  • Lack of presidential support for military
    General Westmoreland criticized LBJ for moving
    too slowly and Nixon for conceding to 1973
    ceasefire 82 of Vietnam veterans believed they
    were not allowed to win
  • Limited War Lack of American public support
    for widening the war, i.e. occupation of North
    Vietnam and ground war in Cambodia and Laos
  • American underestimation of Vietnamese
    determination and willingness to suffer
    casualties
  • U.S. put itself in a no-win situation lack of a
    political base in South Vietnam GIs rarely spoke
    Vietnamese in his 1999 memoir A Rumor of War
    Philip Caputo characterized Vietnam as a
    formless war against a formless enemy
  • Misuse of military power Army War College
    instructor Col. Harry G. Summers, Jr. told a
    Vietnamese colonel after the war, You know, you
    never defeated us on the battlefield, to which
    the colonel replied, That may be so, but it is
    irrelevant.

16
Recommended Readings
  • David L. Anderson, ed., Facing MyLai Moving
    Beyond the Massacre (1998)
  • David L. Anderson, The Columbia Guide to the
    Vietnam War (New York, 2002)
  • Dixee Bartholomew-Feis, The OSS and Ho Chi Minh
    Unexpected Allies in the War Against Japan (UP
    Kansas, 2006)
  • Fox Butterfield, Getting it Wrong in a Photo
    New York Times (April 23, 2000)
  • Denise Chong, The Girl in the Picture The Story
    of Kim Phuc, the Photograph, and the Vietnam War
    (New York, 2000)
  • Graham Greene, The Quiet American (1955)
  • Mason Drukman, Wayne Morse A Political Biography
    (1997)
  • Lloyd Gardner, Pay Any Price Lyndon Johnson and
    the Wars for Vietnam (Ivan Dee, 1995)
  • George Herring, Americas Longest War The United
    States and Vietnam, 1950-1975 , 3rd ed.
    (McGraw-Hill, 1996)
  • Seymour Hersh, My Lai 4 A Report on the Massacre
    and its Aftermath (1970)
  • Seymour Hersh, The Price of PowerKissinger in
    the Nixon White House (1983)
  • Christopher Hitchens, The Trial of Henry
    Kissinger (2001)
  • Robert D. Johnson, Ernest Gruening and the
    American Dissenting Tradition (Harvard UP, 1998)
  • Walter LaFeber, America, Russia, and the Cold
    War, 1945-2006 (2008)
  • Robert McNamara, In Retrospect The Tragedy and
    Lessons of Vietnam (1997)
  • Jonathan Nashel, Edward Lansdales Cold War
    (University of Massachusetts Press, 2005)
  • Cyma Rubin and Eric Newton, eds., The Pulitzer
    Prize Photographs (The Freedom Forum Newseum,
    2000)
  • Marilyn Young, Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990 (1991)
  • Miller Center of Public Affairs - Vietnam War
    Bibliography
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com