1. Honors United States History 20.1
The Vietnam War ( )
Honors United States History
20.1

2. Indochina

3. A History of Foreign Rulers
China ruled Vietnam for 2,000 years
Bring Buddhism, language, and rice
France took over in the 1800s
Catholicism, plantations, education, and infrastructure
Indochina became one of France’s most lucrative possessions
Rice – North; Rubber – South; Coal, Tin, and Zinc from mines
Workers known as “coolies” – Asian laborers

4. Ho Chi Minh and the World Wars
After WWI – Ho Chi Minh wanted to model a system of US system
Wilson refused aid
WWII – Japan’s GEACPS
Ho and his VIET MINH - organization that led the struggle for Vietnamese independence from the French - spied and carried out guerilla warfare for the Allies
Wants US help again but now a Communist

5. Stuck Between Scylla and Charybdis
France wants control back after WWII
US is anti-colonial but…is needs anticommunist forces in Europe

6. Truman has to choose… Mao’s PRC (1949) forces the US to France
Pays 80% of the French bill and takes French troops to Vietnam
Eisenhower comes to power
Continues Truman’s policies to prevent his DOMINO THEORY – if Vietnam falls to Communism all its closest allies would follow

7. War Continues Indochina
French victory
Initial military success
Gained control of Saigon
Viet Minh heavily outnumbered the French but could not get weapons or munitions
Placed Bao Dai as ruler
Catholic, seen as puppet
Tried to seem pro-Vietnamese, anti-communist, anti-colonial
Ho is gaining support throughout Vietnam
Created Vietnamese National Army (VNA)

8. Dien Bien Phu and the Geneva Accords
1954 – French lose at Dien Bien Phu garrison to the Viet Minh
US sends no soldiers, just money
Geneva Accords
Granted independence for Indochina
Peace treaty divided Vietnam at 17th parallel
Ho’s Communists in the North and anticommunist gov’t in South
1956 – election to reunite Vietnam

9. Chaos Followed the Accords
Refugees
900,000 Catholics move to South Vietnam
80,000 Communists move North
Eisenhower sends 900 army trainers to help the VNA (Vietnamese National Army)
S. Vietnam now under Ngo Dihn Diem

10. US and S. Vietnam Rethink Geneva
1954 – SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization) formed to stop Asian Communism
US funds S. Vietnam
Diem losing support
Catholic, persecuted Buddhists
Ho winning more supporters in S. Vietnam…
CIA recognizes Diem will lose to Ho in 1956 election
Diem pulled out

11. Civil War Breaks Out!
1957 – National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) form in S. Vietnam
Assassinated South officials, blow up infrastruction, guerilla style warfare
Undermined Diem’s gov’t
Supplied by the North Vietnamese Army (Viet Minh)

12. JFK Intervenes After Bay of Pigs in 1961
Sent in 16,000 special forces troop “advisors” and 675 trainers for Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)

13. Dissatisfaction with Diem
Repressive, torturous dictator
Diem’s family holds all power, elites hold the wealth
STRATEGIC HAMLET PROGRAM – contain potential communists in walled towns
Buddhist peasants angry as removed from ancestral lands
US keeps him in power

14. Early Protests of Diem’s Government

15. US Offs Diem JFK plots with anti-Diem generals in coup
2 Nov 1963 – Diem is killed
Succession of leaders
Nguyen Cao Ki (ran with Thieu)
Then Nguyen Van Thieu took over when Ki retires

16. LBJ Amps Up JFK’s Approach
Vows not to lose Vietnam in the same we we “lost” China, N. Korea, and Cuba

17. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident
Aug 1964 – N. Vietnamese ship attacked USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
A Blank Check
Gives LBJ the power to send troops into combat without Congress

18. LBJ Sends in Ground Forces
China is still on LBJ’s mind
“I’m not going to be the president who saw Southeast Asia go the way China went.” – Lyndon Johnson
Advised to make the move by SoS Robert McNamara

19. Air Strikes Begin Against N. Vietnam
Broadens US involvement – the war begins for the US
US troops now directly engaged against North Vietnamese troops and the Viet Cong (VC)