Vietnam

I. Vietnam under foreign rule Vietnam was controlled by Japan during WWII, China and France before that Vietnamese began to push for independence, led by Ho Chi Minh, an advocate of communism Minh worked against the French, was forced to flee temporarily Founded Vietminh to fight the Japanese

II. Driving out the French After driving out the Japanese, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent. French attempted to stop that. French asked for US assistance. US began to pay ¾ of French war costs. Eisenhower warned of domino theory which would lose Asia to communism France had difficulty fighting Vietnamese guerrillas The French fell when Dien Bien Phu fell

III. Geneva The French-Vietnamese conflict was settled in Geneva Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel, a western regime in the south and a communist regime in the north Ngo Dinh Diem controlled the south, refused Geneva-promised free elections United States stepped in to protect the south

IV. American Involvement Deepens Ho Chi Minh raised an army to combat the south, called the Vietcong The United States sent advisors to train the Vietnamese, eventually ground troops JFK wanted to be tough on communism, raised troop levels Diem’s government was corrupt Diem created strategic hamlets, which uprooted citizens

V. Diem Overthrown Diem persecuted Buddhism Many Buddhist monks immolated themselves in protest The United States realized that Vietnamese generals were opposed to Diem, opened the door for his overthrow and assassination

VI. Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam JFK was assassinated shortly after Diem, making Vietnam LBJ’s responsibility LBJ was hard on communism LBJ announced that two American destroyers had been fired on in the Gulf of Tonkin Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, granting war powers to the president

VII. The Conflict Worsens Vietcong attacked American bases, LBJ responded with sustained strategic bombing known as Operation Rolling Thunder By 1965, 180,000 American troops were in Vietnam Vietcong used ambushes, booby traps, guerilla warfare, could blend in to the population American forces used napalm and Agent Orange to kill the jungle

VIII. Stalemate American troops were sent on “search and destroy” missions Americans fought a war of body counts to wear the enemy down, but they did not surrender An invasion of North Vietnam was not authorized for fear of China’s involvement

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution 1. According to this document, what did the North Vietnamese do? 2. Why did the United States feel compelled to respond to this point?