Vietnam

Background to the War

• 2000 years of nationalism • Many attempts of

neighboring countries (China) to take over

• France gains control of Vietnam (part of “French Indochina”) in the 1800s

• Ho Chi Minh used the Communist Doctrine to lead the resistance (League for the Independence of Vietnam) –Vietminh

Ho Chi Minh

• Ho Chi Minh began gaining support for Vietnamese independence during the Japanese occupation of Vietnam during WWII

• After Japanese surrender, Minh declared Vietnam independent.

• France wanted to take back control over Indochina (Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam)

• The French countered with a French government established under Bao Dai

• “All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights…

The French• …have violated our fatherland• …enforced inhuman laws• …impoverished our people• …robbed us of our rice fields, our

mines, our forests…

• …we…solemnly declare to the world that Vietnam has the right to be a free and independent country and in fact it is so already.

A War Breaks Out

• Vietminh begin an insurgency against French-backed government.

• French troops number more than 150,000 by the early 1950s

• By 1954, 92,000 French troops died

• French attempted to turn fight over to the Vietnamese under Bao Dai –”Yellowing”

US Reactions to Minh

• The immediate response was that of sympathy.

• JFK states (prior to presidency), “The United States must not ally itself with a colonial regime that [has] no real support from the people. The single most powerful force in the world is man’s desire to be free.”

• What changed the US’s stance?

Containment

• China becoming communist• Korean War• End of Korean war led US to

see Indochina as a strategic area.

• United States ally with France

• French public began to see what had happened in Korea and Frances struggle lost support

“If Indochina falls, Thailand is put in an almost impossible position. The same is true of Malaya with its rubber and tin. The same is true of Indonesia. If this whole part of South East Asia goes under Communist domination or Communist influence, Japan, who trades and must trade with this area in order to exist must inevitably be oriented towards the Communist regime.”

1953 Nixon

France Moves Forward• Minh attempts to negotiate with the French• France decides to refuse negotiations and move forth with the

“Navarre Plan.”• Navarre Plan:

• Dramatic buildup of forces• Construction of strategic positions to block Vietminh

– “Now we can see it [victory] clearly—like light at the end of the tunnel.”

• French commander regains support of the people

Dienbienphu

• Navarre ordered 6 battalions into a valley at Dienbienphu near the border of Laos

• Attempt to force a conventional war

• The Vietminh armed the surrounding mountains with artillery (French thought this impossible) and rained fire on the French trapped in the valley.

• The French surrendered on May 7th, 1954

Conference

• Democratic Republic of Vietnam, French back Vietnam, China, Soviets, British and French were to meet to discuss the situation.

• Why didn’t the US want to be involved?• US denounced China and saw them as Soviet

Puppets • US did not want to agree to any loss of territory

to communists

At the Conference

• Each of the nations present discussed the future of Korea and Indochina

• The Geneva Accords:• Indochina’s independence recognized• Vietnam separated and troops to respectively

withdraw » North=Ho Chi Minh- Democratic Rep. of Vietnam» South=Ngo Dinh Diem- Republic of Vietnam

• Elections were to be held

French Step OutUS Steps In

• As French withdrew, the US begin sending “military advisers” and money

• US supports Diem • Diem refuses to hold elections • China and Soviets fail to respond to this non-

action• US begins sending more advisors and money • Advisers there to support ARVN (Army of the

Republic of Vietnam)

Opposition to Diem—Vietcong

• Many southern Vietnamese did not like Diems authoritative presence

• Vietcong begin attacking and assassinating officials with the support of the National Liberation Front

Protests and Killings

• Buddhists began protesting Diem and his religious oppression.

• Protests led to nine deaths

• Buddhist lights himself on fire to protest and image is burned into American minds

• Diem blames Vietcong

US Ramps up efforts

LBJ Replaces JFK

• Lodge is appointed and Diem is threatened– Reform is Needed

• JFK is assassinated and LBJ becomes president

• 24000 US advisers by 1964• Suggestions to begin

bombing North Vietnam• North Vietnamese Army

begin infiltrating South

Moving Toward War

• Note:• Only congress can declare war• Congress appropriates money (“power of purse”)• Often president “police action” like Korea

• LBJ takes a tougher stance to bring congress together (Barry Goldwater’s criticism of LBJ prompted this)

• LBJ drafts a resolution describing the aggression of the communists and the failure of the North Vietnamese government to follow the instructions of the Geneva Accords

– This being said– No war declarations until further N.V. aggression.

Questions

• Why was bipartisan support in congress so important?

• How does the formulation of foreign policy differ in democracies and dictatorships?

Gulf of Tonkin• Ships patrolling 8 miles out

just north of 17th parallel examining NV radar capability

• Other SV raiding parties in the same area

• Maddox (a US destroyer) is fired at by torpedoes and guns

• US planes and Maddox fire at NV patrol boats

• Later Maddox and C. Turner Joy report aggression (though no real evidence)

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

• Handout

• Incident on August 2nd

• Follow-up incident August 4th

• Response to incident

• Legitimacy of the incident

Escalation

• As the conflict developed, supplies flowed into the south via the Ho Chi Minh trail– The trail was a network of paths that led through

Laos and Cambodia and allowed the Vietcong to attack southern Vietnamese bases

– Pleiku– An attack by the Vietcong killed 8 Americans and wounded 126

– Johnson authorizes troop increases requested by William Westmorland and orders bombing of North Vietnam

• Early 1965—25,000 • End of year– 184,000

Operation Rolling Thunder

• 1965– LBJ authorizes relentless bombing of North Vietnam.

• The objective was not to conquer but demoralize the North and force them to stop fighting

• Major destruction but not effective

• 7-8 million tons of bombs dropped by 1973

All Out War– Ok Maybe Not Officially But…

• New puppet named Nguyen Cao Ky– Supported at the beginning of escalation

• Challenges:• Vietnamese were familiar with the environment• Found protection in Cambodia and Laos• The villagers often assisted the Vietcong • Morality dropped because the people the Americans

were told they were defending didn’t give a rats behind.• Guerilla warfare tactics– Sabotage, hit and run, tunnels

(some containing hospitals and even stores)

Weapons

Americans• Some examples

– Saturation bombing– Complete destruction of entire areas– Fragmentation bombs– metal shrapnel fragments – Agent orange—Kill off the jungles (also killed crops and

caused health problems– Napalm—Flammable jelly used to burn vegetation but also

stuck well to flesh

– Bombing Video– Carpet Bombing

Vietnamese– Punji traps– Land mines– Grenades rigged to explode

http://www.vietnam-war.info/myths/

Public Opinion Shifts

• As the war continued, American public opinion became more and more divided

• In 1967 Nguyen Van Thieu succeeds Ky as new president.

• Thieu nor Ky could seem to establish an effective army.

• American did have some success.• Westmorland claimed to be winning the war

• Tet– Vietnamese new year• Massive offensive by the Vietnamese in South

Vietnam

Tet Offensive Consequences

• North said they would observe 7 day truce • A country-wide coordinated attack by the VC

and NVA against more than 100 South Vietnamese cities

• Most of the attacks (besides Hue and Saigon) lasted only days and ended in defeat for the communists

• This closely followed an address to the nation that the US was winning the war

• Result-Americans opinion of American progress changed

My Lai

• American troops sent to My Lai to find VC

• Told anyone in the village after 7AM (after the markets opened) was probably VC

Nixon Takes Over

• Nixon promises “peace with honor”

• Nixon Doctrine=Vietnamization

• Open to peace talks

• Operation Lam Son 719– 1971 RVN Failure to launch attack on NVA in Laos

• Nixon announces withdraw of troops

Counterculture

• Student protests against the war were rampant.• Violence– Weathermen in Chicago• “Silent Majority” blamed youth for violence,

drugs and instability even though some did not agree with the war

• As a response to action taken by Nixon against Cambodia, violence erupted at Kent State

• Broke windows, burned ROTC building, threw rocks at national guard,

• Response- tear gas and open fired on protestors killing 4 (2 of which were bystanders)

1972-1973

• Paris peace talks were achieving little• NV launches offensive on SV• Most intensive bombing campaign yet.• Kissinger announce peace then more bombing

after reelection• An agreement was reached in 1973

• POWs released• US withdraw from SV in 60 days• Halt military action in Laos and Cambodia• 17th parallel division until reunification

End of Police Action/War

• 2 years of more fighting between N and S• April 29th, 1975 the dramatic airlifting of

troops from the American embassy in Saigon

• April 30th, NV take over Saigon and NV• Cambodian genocide Khmer Rouge killed

11/2 million “tainted with western ideas”• Many SV fled or were placed in

reeducation camps

Outcome

• 58000 dead Americans

• 300000 wounded Americans

• 150 Billion spent

• Millions of dead Vietnamese

• Country destroyed by more bombs than were dropped by the allies in WWII