the vietnam war1
DESCRIPTION
Vietnam War - JohnsonTRANSCRIPT
1965 - 1975
Why did the United States fight in Vietnam?
Why did the United States lose the war?
Why did an antiwar movement become so strong in the United States?
How did the war change the United States?
Essential Questions
War in Indochina: Origins
Did not begin as war against communism
• Began as a war of decolonization
In WWII Ho Chi Minh (communist) began to resist the Japanese occupation
When the war was over, the French thought Indochina would be there’s again
War broke out between the Ho Chi Minh and the Communists and the French forces
Dien Bien Phu
Battle between the French and Viet Minh (communist)
French were defeated May 1954 This was the end of the war between the French
forces and the Vietnamese The Geneva Agreement of 1954 gave
independence to Laos and Cambodia Vietnam was divided temporarily at the 17th
parallelNorth South
CommunistHo Chi Minh
DemocraticNgo Dinh Diem
The Domino Theory If Vietnam fell to the
communism would Laos and Cambodia be next?
Containment- this policy requires American action wherever democracy is threatened
SEATO- block communism from Southeast Asia- USA is obligated to uphold their treaty commitments
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
1962-Kennedy put in 11,000 troops Early 1963-Began loosing faith and wanted to
start pulling out troops 1963- assassinated- Johnson took over and the
war escalated 1964- North Vietnamese “torpedoed” an
American destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin Congress gave Johnson “all necessary powers”
to take “all necessary measures” Johnson put in 200,000 troops in 1965 Increased it to 600,000 in 1968
LBJ
Why did the Americans think they would win?
American tactics Operation Rolling
Thunder• Bombing N.
Vietnamese towns to destroy morale
Search and Destroy• Looking for the
Vietcong in villages. If Vietcong presence was suspected, the village was destroyed
Tactics Cont.Chemical weapons…
Agent Orange
Napalm
The next two slides contain photos of people harmed by chemical weapons
Napalm
A fluid that burns through almost anything. The Americans hoped it would hit Vietcong bases. In fact, it often hit civilians.
Agent Orange
• Destroyed crops and trees• Attacked the human body and led to
birth defects
Vietnamese Tactics
Viet Cong guerillas (South)AKA: Victor Charles, Charlie
North Vietnamese Army (NVA)
The Tunnel System
Ho Chi Minh Trail
A jungle path60 tonnes a day
carried to the Vietcong in the south.
Essential to Vietnamese Victory