Origins of the Vietnam Conflict Day 1 Notes Origins of the Vietnam Conflict

History of Vietnam *Vietnam had been a territory under the French Empire since 1800 *During World War II France fell to the Third Reich and their colonies in Asia quickly were snatched up by the Empire of Japan. *Even before the fall of France, Communist leader, Ho Chi Minh, had lead multiple Communist uprisings in the 1930’s, which lead the French to sentence him to death. *Minh fled to the Soviet Union and China to help build the Communist movement from afar

Vietnam Rises *Post WWII The French went on to assume their previous colonial holdings, including Vietnam. *France had gained control of the Southern half of the peninsula and Ho Chi Minh and the communists had control of the North *Following domino theory policies, Truman sent the French $15 mil to aid them in their fight. *The French had their final stand in DIen Bien Phu and were finally pushed out of the country

America Takes Sides *Due to Cold War policies of containment, the United States will Side with Ngo Dinh Diem and the South Vietnamese *Diem was a not a democratic leader but instead a brutal dictator that cancelled elections in South Vietnam (U.S. backed this decision) *Diem and the U.S.’s action led to the communist group in the South called the Vietcong being formed.

Kennedy in Vietnam *When Kennedy takes office in 1961, he decided to continue friendly relations with Diem regardless of his obvious brutality towards his own people *Kennedy will continue to send financial aid to South Vietnam *By the end of 1963 16,000 military personnel were on the peninsula as “Military Advisors”

Fall of Diem *Diem continued his brutal practices against his own people, especially towards the Buddhists living in Vietnam, the end of his regime was coming to an obvious end *In 1963, the United States helped organize and facilitate a military coup to throw Diem from power *Against Kennedy’s wishes, Diem was assassinated

Johnson and the Gulf of Tonkin *Johnson held the same outlook on Vietnam as Kennedy and continued American support *In August of 1964, American destroyer, USS Maddox, was shot upon by a Vietnamese patrol boat *This act of North Vietnamese aggression led to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which gave Johnson larger military powers without formally declaring war