Conor Bulman

The Vietnamese People  Vietnam was invaded by the French in  By the end of the Vietnamese conquest (1888) most Vietnamese were rice farmers.  The French separated Vietnam into three different districts for administrative purposes.  The capital of the north was Hanoi, the centre capital was Hue and the south capital was Saigon  Vietnam at the time was spilt in to the native Vietnamese and the colonial French.

The Effect of WW II on the Vietnam Conflict. There was a power vacuum left. The Vietnamese were left with the weapons The French troops were released without weapons The Japanese left Vietnam

The Truman Doctrine  President Harry S. Truman presented the Truman Doctrine to congress.  It was an anti-communist declaration that would shape American foreign policy for four decades.  It committed America to step in and support the Greece government against communist pressure.  The same mindset was shown when the communist Vietcong started to fight the democratic government.

Why America Intervened  The Americans invaded Vietnam because they thought the communists were going to “win” by taking over a country.  The ruling class of America pushed for the invasion because communist’s opposed their very existence.  Troops were sent to help bolster the French troops.

The Vietcong  The People’s Liberation Armed Forces, more commonly known as the Vietcong, was the military arm of the National Liberation Front.  They were established at the end of  They were organized in to three different levels, regular forces, full time guerrillas and a part time self defence militia.

Guerrilla Warfare  Guerrilla warfare is used by armies to fight armies that are much bigger than themselves.  The term guerrilla comes from a Spanish word meaning “little war”.  It originated from small bands of Spanish soldiers fighting Napolean’s army in the peninsular war ( )

Guerrilla Tactics  The tactics date back to Sun Tzu, the Chinese strategist who lived 2000 years ago.  They were adapted by Mao Zedong, the leader of the communist china.  The National Liberation Front (NLF) based their tactics on Mao.

The Effect of the peasants  One of the Vietcong's first actions was to gain the favour of the peasants  They gained the favour by following a certain set rules.  This included working for their food and repairing the houses.  The peasants thus helped the Vietcong by hiding them and some even joined them to fight for the future of equality they were promised.

The Cu-Chi Tunnels.  The famous tunnels used by the Vietcong were the Cu-Chi tunnels.  They are located approximately 70 KM from Ho Chi Minh city.  They were dug in the late 1940’s.  They allowed the Vietcong to travel must easier then they would above ground.

Weapons used by the Vietcong  Between 1950 and 1960 America supplied south Vietnam with weapons used during the second world war.  These included the M-1 Garand, hand grenades, Thompson submachine guns and the M-1 Carbine.  The Vietcong largely supplied themselves with stolen south Vietcong weapons.

The CHICOM influence.  The CHICOM were a group of Chinese communists.  The CHICOM supplied a small amount of the Vietcong’s weapons.  Some of the communist issued weapons were SKS Semi-automatic carbines, potato masher style grenades and the well known rocket propelled grenades (RPG)

Bibliography  1) “The American War: Vietnam” by Jonathan Neale.  2) Battlefield:Vietnam.com  3) Topdocumentary.com/the-cu-chi-tunnels/