By: Stephanie Cartagena

Vietnam War Second indochina war – France and Vietnam France forced to leave Vietnam To sides came together - Geneva, Switzerland - events shaped the future – Vietnams modern revolution

Geneva Peace Accords France and Vietnam – 1954 – international cold war Worst future for Vietnam Pressure – soviet union and peoples republic of china - separate – 17 th parallel - France – face-saving defeat

Terms of the Geneva Peace Accords 1956 – election to unify the country Division at the 17 th parallel – vanish with elections U.S Sec. John Foster Dulles - no support – Geneva peaces accords - to much power – communist party of Vietnam

Dulles and President Eisenhower Supported - counter-revolutionary alternative - south of the 17 th parallel U.S – supported - multilateral agreements - Southeast Asia Treaty Organization

South Vietnam Southeast Asia Treaty Organization – political cover New nation from dust – southern vietnam (republic of Vietnam)

Republic of Vietnam 1955 – born Help of American - military - political - economic aid Ngo Dinh Diem

Diems Claims Attack from communists in the North Democratic republic of Vietnam – South Vietnam 1957 – counterattack

Law 10/59 Series of acts Diem Legal to hold someone in jail if he/she was a suspected Communist without bringing formal charges.

Diem's Actions Immediate outcry People joined to stop his rule More attacks – more communist were trying to take the south

kennedy Administration split - peaceful or democratic the Diem regime White house – Vietnam's policy - change in strategy – communists party

Communists Party of Vietnam From Reunify the country – political means Accept soviet unions model of political struggle - Diem collapse – political pressure

15 th Party Plenum Jan Revolutionary violence a) overthrow Diem's gov. b) liberate Vietnam south of the 17 th parallel

May 1959 and sept Revolutionary violence Combination political and armed struggle movement Result - creation of broad-based united front - helped mobilize southerners in opposition to the GVN

United Front Long and historical roots in Vietnam Mobilized anti-French forces Joined communists & non-communists - umbrella organization

Dec. 20,1960 Party's new united front – “National Liberation Front” - anyone could join 1. must oppose Diem 2. want Vietnam unified

National Liberation Front Character vs. relationship to communists in Hanoi - debate - scholars - anti-war activists - policymakers Gov. officials – NLF- attack against Saigon regime

Government “white papers” Washington insiders – NLF - puppet of Hanoi - non-communists elements were communists dupes Washington- discard NLF - calling it Viet Cong ( Vietnamese Communist )‏

White Paper Dec President Kennedy - sends troops to Vietnam to report conditions of South Vietnam Calls for large scale military build up Kennedy sought a limited accord with Diem

Kennedy Argued for increase in: - military - technical - economic aid - large scale advisers - stabilize Diem's regime Urged to leave Vietnam - dead-end alley Choose middle route

Limited Accords U.S – increase level of its military involvement- south Vietnam - more machinery & advisers - would not intervene whole-scale with troops

Communist party military victory in the south - new American military commitment - march Johnson sent first combat troops to Vietnam 2. communists party moved to a protracted strategy

Strategy Get U.S in a war they could not win militarily Create a unfavorable conditions for political victory Communists party – could prevail in a protracted war

War in America Washington moved toward limited war in Vietnam Johnson – war in “cold blood” - called for mobilization of resources material and human and caused little disruption in every day life in America - goal never made

Vietnam War impact Johnson administration forced to consider domestic consequences of its decisions every day Not enough volunteers to continue to fight a protracted war and the government instituted a draft everybody felt war impact

1968 Democratic national convention Chicago Famous anti-war movement Police riot

Tet offensive 1968 – bad to worse for the Johnson administration DVR and NLF – coordinated attacks – major southern cities - tet offensive 1. force Johnson's administration to the bargaining table

Communist Party American people growing war-weary Continued success in the countryside – balance of forces

Historians Tet offensive - military defeat - psychological victory - communists

March 1968 Lyndon Johnson - would not seek the democratic party's re- nomination for president - would go to bargaining table with communists to end the war

Spring of 1968 Secret negotiations began Paris Americans & Vietnam were discussing plans to end the war

Richard Nixon Democratic party would not rescue presidency claimed he had a secret plan to end the war

New President Vietnamization - Vietnamese were not fighting and dying in the jungles of Southern Asia - bought american troops home - increased air over the DRV - relied more on ARVN for ground attacks

Nixon Years Expansion of the war - Laos - Cambodia Violated international rights – secret campaigns

April 1970 Intense bombing campaigns & intervention in Cambodia Intense campus protests all across America

Expanded air war Didnt deter the communist party continued to make hard demands in Paris

Fall 1972 U.S secretary of state and DRV representatives – preliminary peace draft

Kissinger-Tho peace draft Leaders in Saigon - rejected

December 1972 Nixon administration unleashed a series of deadly bombing raids against in the DRV's largest cities - Christmas Bombings

January 1973 Nixon White House - convinced the Thieu-Ky regime in Saigon that they would not abandon the GVN if they signed onto the peace accords

Jan. 23 Final draft was initialed - ended open hostility between the U.S and the DRV

Paris Peace Accords Did not end the conflict in Vietnam

March 1973 until the fall of Saigon on April 30,1975 ARVN forces – save the south from military and political collapse

Second Indochina war April 30 Communist forces – presidential palace in Saigon captured - ended the Second Indochina War

July 2,1976 North Vietnam united North and South Vietnam form the “Socialist Republic of Vietnam”

South Vietnamese government Supports - executed - imprisoned

Saigon Renamed - Ho Chi Minh City - honor of former president of North Vietnam Communist rule continues in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the present day.