1. Chapter 22: The Vietnam War

2. French Indo China- Vietnam
-Cambodia
-Laos
1940-Japan seizes control of Indo China from France
1945- WWII ends, Japan out and France struggles to take back control. Vietnamese Civil War ensues
1949- Communist Forces win the Vietnamese Civil War
USA contributes $2.6 billion to France’s efforts to take back Vietnam.

3. Ho Chi Minh
1924- Exiled from Vietnam, flees to Moscow
1940-Ho Chi Minh returns to Vietnam from exile
VIETMINH-Vietnamese independence movement (wanted their freedom) to kick out Japanese rule.
1954-France is defeated and leaves Vietnam
Dien Bien Phu-
September 2, Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh forces collaborate with US forces to help defeat Japan in WWII
1950- Ho Chi Minh receives support from China and USSR in winning Vietnamese independence from the French
Domino Theory- Idea that if Vietnam falls to communism, surrounding countries will follow

4. Geneva Accords- July 1954
- France Grants Independence to Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
-Divided Vietnam into 2 countries
- North Vietnam controlled by Ho Chi Minh’s communist forces
- South Vietnam controlled by an anti-communist government supported by the US.

5. South Vietnam President Anti-Communist
Ngo Dinh Diem
South Vietnam President
Anti-Communist
Received economic and military aid through SEATO
Avoids 1956 Unification Elections
Vietcong- Anti-Diem guerilla
Fighters committed to under-
Mining the Anti-Communist
Government in the south.
Ho Chi Minh Trail-Secret
Trading route set up by Ho Chi
Minh in the North to support
His Vietcong allies in the
South.

6. Anti-Diem Protests
1963

7. “In the final analysis, its their war.”
-John F. Kennedy 1963
Assassinated November 22, 1963

8. Gulf of Tonkin Incident
August 2,1964- N Vietnamese torpedo boats fired on the American Destroyer USS Maddox.
August 4, “Supposed” second Gulf of Tonkin Incident (never actually happened)
Tonkin Gulf Resolution- Allowed Johnson to use this incident as a reason to provide military support (SEATO) rather than formally declaring war.
Lyndon B. Johnson

9. American commander in South Vietnam
William Westmoreland
American commander in South Vietnam
Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)- South Vietnamese Army (teammates with USA enemies of Ho Chi Minh).

10. Viet Cong
Different/Elusive Enemy-
War of Attrition- “If the tiger stands still, the elephant will crush it. But if the tiger keeps moving and occasionally jumps on the elephant to take a bite out of it, the elephant will slowly bleed to death.”
“Battle for Hearts and Minds”

12. Civil Rights and the Vietnam War

13. Burning Draft Cards

14. Class conflict and Vietnam / Draft Deferment

15. The Tet Offensive

16. Hawks vs. Doves

17. Democratic Challengers in 1968

18. Johnson Steps Down

19. Ho Chi Minh Trail / Secret Bombing of Cambodia

20. The Kent State Protests

21. The Fall of Saigon 1975