IB History - The Vietnam War

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 uÊ Vietnam has a very old culture, dating back thousands of years, including their own language script (writing system), and inventions. uÊ che Vietnamese resisted invasions from China and the Mongols and prided themselves on their independence. uÊ aespite this, Vietnam was colonized by the French, becoming part of ͞ French Indochina͟ along with Cambodia and Laos. uÊ àn Independence movement began after World War I and, after the French were pushed out by the Japanese in World War II, resisted the Japanese occupation with the aid of the United States. uÊ In 1941, Communist activist   organized a nationalist organization known as the Viet Minh (Vietnam Independence League). uÊ àfter WWII, the country was divided in half at the 16 th parallel in order to disarm the Japanese ʹ Chinese soldiers in the North and British in the South.   c
   

  uÊ France demanded the return of its colony, but     declared himself the President of the aemocratic Republic of Vietnam and set up his government in Hanoi ʹ che North. uÊ France moved 35,000 troops to Saigon (in the south) and, despite negotiations with    in Paris, attacked Hanoi in 1946, forcing   and his army to go into hiding and begin a guerrilla war against the French. uÊ auring the struggle against the French, the United States became deeply embroiled in the ideological ͞Cold War͟ against the Communist Soviet union and fought a war in Korea to prevent the spread of Communism there. uÊ In 1950, the United States began providing financial aid to the French, but 90,000 French soldiers died in 1951 alone. uÊ In 1954, at a
 
  , 10,000 French soldiers were surrounded, cut off, and captured. More than half died marching to (or in) prison camps 500 miles away, causing France to decide to surrender and withdraw completely from Vietnam. uÊ [ver 4000,000 people ʹ from both sides ʹ died during this conflict. uÊ àt the peace conference in Geneva, a decision was made to divide the country at the 17th Parallel ʹ awarding the North to    , and the South to new President  a a
 . uÊ che United States immediately began sending aid to South Vietnam.

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 uÊ In 1955, the U.S. began sending weapons to South Vietnam, and     travelled to Moscow to accept the aid of the Soviet Union.  uÊ Now identified as part of the ͞War on Communism,͟ aiding the South Vietnamese gained great support in the U.S. government.  uÊ In 1959,      declared a ͞People͛s War͟ to unite the country and invaded South Vietnam. uÊ che      c !" a 15000 mile-long network of jungle and mountain passes extending from North Vietnam through Laos, parts of Cambodia, was built, funneling a constant stream of soldiers and supplies into the highlands of South Vietnam, cutting the trip length to 6 weeks from 6 months.  uÊ President  a a
 was deeply unpopular in the South, in part because he was Catholic in a mostly Buddhist country but also because he was co rrupt and nepotistic (government is all part of the same family) uÊ Many South Vietnamese sympathized with the North and aided the 
  guerrillas. uÊ In 1961,  #
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$ (JFK) is inaugurated as the 35 th U.S. President and declares ¦
               

    uÊ Privately, outgoing President Eisenhower tells him ͞I think you͛re going to have to send troops͙͟ to Southeast àsia.  uÊ In 1961, 400 U.S. Green Berets ͞special advisors͟ were sent to South Vietnam to help train their army, followed by more ͞advisors͟ numbering 16,000.  uÊ President Kennedy holds off on sending in more troops, despite recommendations for a commitment of 200,000 and growing discontent with President aiem in Vietnam. uÊ [n November 2 nd, 1933, President aiem͛s government is overthrown in a coup and he is assassinated. à power vacuum results which is exploited by the Viet Cong.  uÊ [n November 22 nd, 1963, President Kennedy is assassinated, raising Vice-President Lyndon Johnson to the Presidency.    ! uÊ às President Johnson prepared for the commitment of (more) troops to Vietnam, the South Vietnamese àrmy continued to use U.S. helicopters, vehicles, and boats to attack the North. uÊ In àugust, 1964, the U.S. destroyer 

 was fired on in the r!c&, where it was supporting an attack by the South Vietnamese.

uÊ [nly a single machine gun bullet hit the ship, and no casualties were sustained, but this ͞r
      ͟ was used to justify a bombing of Hanoi, where 2 àmerican pilots were shot down. uÊ che U.S. Congress passed the r!  c& 
! , which allowed the President ͞to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force͟ to prevent further attacks against U.S. forces. uÊ che Resolution, passed unanimously in the House and 98 -2 in the Senate, granted enormous power to President Johnson to wage an undeclared war in Vietnam from the White House.

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uÊ President Johnson was reelected as President in 1964, and following attacks on U.S. bases in South Vietnam, he authorized ¦

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' ( bombing of North Vietnam which was scheduled to last 8 weeks, but instead lasted 3 years. uÊ che basic and continuous problem for the U.S. army in Vietnam was the geography of the country. It is long and skinny (only a few miles wide at its smallest), with mountains in the West, sea in the east, and dense rainforest. uÊ che 
  guerrillas could use this to their advantage, while the U.S. troops struggled to find an enemy they could fight face to face.

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c!   uÊ che U.S. would use many different ways to try to overcome this disadvantage, including ÀÀ on a huge scale. uÊ 4 times as many bombs dropped during all of World War II. uÊ Most of these bombs are dropped on suspected Viet Cong positions in South Vietnam, resulting in 3 million civilian refugees whose villages were destroyed. uÊ [ver 500 U.S. bombers were shot down over the   c !, and bombing did occur in Cambodia and Laos later in the war. uÊ à type of flammable explosive called 
! was invented and used ʹ to clear away jungle as well as to ͞burn out͟ guerrillas. uÊ Entire villages were bombed, and civilians killed uÊ Planes also dropped chemicals, such as 
 
" which were supposed to kill away the rainforest so that the Viet Cong would not have places to hide. uÊ che Viet Cong, however, built networks of underground tunnels, where they would be safe from these bombings. uÊ àt a place called Chu Chi, there was a vast network of tunnels, holding an entire battalion of Viet Cong Soldiers.

uÊ che U.S. continued to struggle to find their enemy. uÊ chus, the biggest effect of 
 
 has been, sadly, on the numerous birth defects it continues to cause in Vietnam. uÊ 
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 were used to transport soldiers over the jungle and to attack enemies from the air. uÊ Called ͞àir Cavalry,͟ this enabled the U.S. to attack unexpectedly and quickly. uÊ che Viet Cong countered by setting ÀÀ  
 for the àmericans, such as the simple ) & ʹ sharpened stakes placed in a covered pit. uÊ Mines were set by both sides, resulting in many civilian causalities, and some of these remain to this day.

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 uÊ às the need for more and more soldiers increased, the United States government conducted a a , requiring all men of a certain age to submit to a ͞lottery͟ of selection for Military duty. uÊ às there was much resistance to the war, protests in the U.S. ensured, some as large as 35,000 people. uÊ àdditionally, most of the men drafted were poor and urban, which meant that a disproportionate number of àfrican -àmerican men were called on to fight. uÊ Given that it was the 1960s, and in the midst of the Civil Rights movement, many people (some àfrican-àmerican and some not) protested by refusing to join the military and burning their draft cards. uÊ che U.S. soldiers in Vietnam suffered from disease such has Malaria and aengue fever; were bitten by leeches and snakes as they waded through marshes and rice paddies, and were under constant stress because of the nature of the war. uÊ Many resorted to heavy drug use, and there were many incidents of men assassinating their own officers. uÊ Soldiers did not know how to trust, as guerrillas hid inside friendly villages (often underground) and then ambushed the àmericans. uÊ In the most famous incident of brutality, U.S. soldiers massacred an entire village ʹ mostly old people and children ʹ at  *, and photos were published in U.S. media. uÊ chere was resistance to the war inside Vietnam as well, notably from Buddhist Monks who resented the Catholic regime in the South and wanted to unite the country in Buddhism. uÊ Several times, Monks committed suicide publically by self-immolation, which shocked and horrified the U.S. publi c as well.

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 uÊ che turning point of the war for the àmericans took place in 1968, during the Vietnamese holidays of c
. uÊ 84,000 North Vietnamese àrmy supported by Viet Cong from the south attacked simultaneously, in over100 locations, includ ing Saigon. uÊ àlthough the [ffensive failed logistically, and with huge causalities for the North, for the first time in history, color cV footage was shot by the U.S. embassy being attacked, and bloody battles raging around the Capitol, including U.S. wound ed and dead soldiers. uÊ chis footage turned public opinion in the U.S. against the war entirely. uÊ 10,000 NVà (North Vietnamese àrmy) supply trucks are en route at any given time. uÊ che North Vietnamese temporarily gave up home of taking control of the South, waiting until 1972 to try again, but the U.S, pursued a withdrawal plan that they called ¦
#' uÊ Gradually, responsibility for fighting against the North was turned over to the South Vietnamese àrmy. uÊ 1969, [ver the next few years, the South Vietna mese àrmy will grow in accordance with ¦
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  uÊ Why did the U.S. fight so hard, losing over 40,000 men, to try to keep Vietnam from becoming Communist? uÊ che reason was something called the ¦ac
 ' ʹ If Vietnam ͞fell,͟ the entire region would become destabilized, and Laos, Cambodia, chailand, and other might also become ͞infected͟ by Communism. uÊ 


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  uÊ June 27,1969 ʹ ë  magazine displays portrait photos of all 242 àmericans killed in Vietnam during the previous week. uÊ che photos have a stunning impact on àmericans nationwide as they view the once smiling young faces of the dead. uÊ ¦                 
 

 ʹHo Chi Minh uÊ November 15, 1969 ʹ che ͚Mobilization͛ peace demonstrations draw ¼ of a million people in Washington for the largest anti -war protest in U.S. history.

uÊ Khmer Rouge (Cambodian Communists) led by an unknown figure named ! , who eagerly capitalized on the enormous prestige. uÊ Cambodia in 1970 becomes communist. uÊ Pol Pot began a radical experiment to create an agrarian utopia, resulting in the deaths of 25% of the country͛s population (2,000,000 persons) from starvation, overwork and systematic executions. uÊ May 4, 1970 ʹ àt Kent State University in [hio, National Guardsmen shoot and kill four student protesters and wounded nine. uÊ In response to the killings, over 400 colleges and universities across àmerica shut down. In Washington, nearly 100,000 protesters surrounded various government buildings including the White House and historical monuments. [n an impulse, President Nixon exits the White House and pays a late night surprise visit to the Lincoln Memorial and chats with young protesters. uÊ June 24, 1970 ʹ che U.S. Senate repeals the 1964 r!c&
! . uÊ aecember 22, 1970 ʹ che Cooper-Church amendment to the U.S. defense appropriations bill forbids the use of any U.S. ground forces in Laos or Cambodia. uÊ àmerican troop levels drop by end of 1970. auring the year of 1970, an estimated 60,000 soldiers experimented with drugs, according to the U.S. command. chere were also over 200 incidents of ͞fragging͟ in which unpopular officers were attacked with fragmentation grenades by men under their command. In addition, many units are now plagued by racial unrest, reflecting the disharmony back home. uÊ January 27, 1973 ʹ c
  



 $ are signed yb the U.S., North Vietnam, South Vietnam and the Viet Cong. Under the terms, the U.S. agrees to immediately halt all military activities with withdraw all remaining military personnel within 60 days. uÊ che North Vietnamese agree to an immediate cease-fire and the release of all àmerican P[Ws (Prisoners of War) within 60 days. àn estimated 150,000 North Vietnamese soldiers presently in South Vietnam are allowed to remain. uÊ Vietnam is still divided. South Vietnam is considered to be one cou ntry with two governments, one led by President chieu, the other led by Viet Cong, pending future reconciliation. uÊ March 29, 1973 ʹ the last remaining àmerican troops withdraw from Vietnam as President Nixon declares ͞the day we have all worked and prayed for has finally come.͟ uÊ àmerica͛s longest war, and its first defeat, thus concludes. auring 15 years of military involvement, over 2 million àmericans erved in Vietnam with 500,000 seeing actual combat. oÊ 47,244 were killed in action oÊ Including 8000 airmen oÊ 10,446 non -combat deaths oÊ 2400 àmerican P[Ws/MIàs were unaccounted for as of 1973.

uÊ June 19, 1973 ʹ che U.S. Congress passes the Case-Church àmendment which forbids any further U.S. military involvement in Southeast àsia. uÊ che àmendment paves the way for North Vietnam to wage yet another invasion of the South, this time without fear of U.S. bombing. uÊ November 7, 1973 ʹ Congress passes the War Powers Resolution requiring the President to obtain the support of Congress within 90 days of sending àmerican troops abroad. uÊ September 1974 ʹ U.S. cuts funding to South Vietnam that results in the South Vietnamese àrmy being under-funded and results in a decline of military readiness and morale. uÊ January 8, 1975 ʹ North Vietnam invades South Vietnam again. uÊ By now, the Soviet supplied North Vietnamese àrmy is the 5 th largest in the world. uÊ South Korea collapses after 55 days