TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. Section 4 Vietnam War and Southeast Asia

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. Wars in Southeast Asia began as nationalist struggles against foreign rule. However, as the superpowers became involved, these conflicts became part of the global Cold War. What were the causes and effects of war in Southeast Asia, and what was the American role in this region?

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. Japan overran Southeast Asia during World War II. After the war, the French returned to their colony of Indochina. Nationalists in Southeast Asia were determined to be free of foreign rule once and for all. Vietnamese guerrillas led by communist Ho Chi Minh fought the French. France withdrew after losing the battle of Dienbienphu in 1954.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. Vietnam was divided into two countries at an international conference in Ho Chi Minh and his communist regime controlled North Vietnam. A noncommunist government under Ngo Dinh Diem ruled South Vietnam, supported by the United States.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. American foreign policy leaders developed the domino theory. They believed that if Vietnam fell to communism, other Southeast Asian nations would follow. The United States sent military advisors to aid South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh, who wanted to unite Vietnam under communist rule, supported the efforts of the Viet Cong against the South Vietnamese government.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. Johnson asked Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing the use of force in Vietnam. North Vietnamese attacked a U.S. Navy ship, believing it had helped in the raids. South Vietnamese forces raided North Vietnamese islands in American military involvement in Vietnam escalated under President Lyndon Johnson.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. The Vietnam War became a major Cold War battleground. Eventually, more than 500,000 American troops served in Vietnam. To support North Vietnam, the Soviet Union and China sent aid, but no troops. American troops patrol the jungles of South Vietnam.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. America faced a guerrilla war in Vietnam. The rebels were friendly with villagers and knew the landscape. American troops were out of their element. In 1968, the North Vietnamese launched the Tet Offensive. Communist guerrillas launched surprise attacks on cities all across South Vietnam.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. Although the Tet Offensive failed, it marked a turning point in American public opinion against the Vietnam War. There were growing American casualties, and high numbers of civilian deaths. Many young people joined a growing antiwar movement and protested in the streets. American troops could not destroy the communists’ will to fight.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. The United States officially withdrew from Vietnam in North Vietnam conquered South Vietnam in Vietnam was reunited under communist rule and Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Communists imposed harsh rule in the south. Hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese refugees fled the country in small boats. Recovery was slow due to lack of resources and an American trade embargo.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. Cambodia became communist. The Khmer Rouge, made up of communist rebels, overthrew the Cambodian government in Under Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge tried to destroy all Western influence. Almost a third of the Cambodian population was slaughtered, starved, or worked to death. Vietnam invaded and set up an authoritarian government, which put a stop to the genocide.