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VietnamThe Cold War

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What we will learn today

What we will learn today:

1. Why was there a problem in Vietnam?

2. Why did the USA get involved?

3. The impact of the Vietnam War at home in the USA.

4. The consequences of the war.

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Key terms and people

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The location of Vietnam

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Why was there a problem in Vietnam?

Before World War II, Vietnam was a French colony. During the war, Vietnam had been occupied by the Japanese.

The Vietminh, led by Ho Chi Minh, had been fighting for independence. During World War II, they led resistance against the Japanese.

In 1954, the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu and withdrew.

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Ho Chi Minh wanted to control all of Vietnam. Communist supporters in the south formed the Vietcong to fight Diem.

North Vietnam(Communist)

South Vietnam(Capitalist)

Ho Chi Minh set up a communist government.

A supposedly democratic government was set up, supported by the USA

The Geneva Conference temporarily divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel.

Elections were meant to be held in South Vietnam in 1956.

The leader of South Vietnam, Diem, refused to hold elections.

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Civil War

North Vietnam(Communist)

South Vietnam(Capitalist)

North Vietnam was larger and more populous and had the support of the Soviets.

The USA in particular was frightened that South Vietnam would be taken over by communism, so decided to get involved.

TASK:

Consider why the USA got involved in Vietnam.

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Why did the USA get involved?

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The Vietcong

Why do you think the Vietcong was so popular?

The Vietcong and North Vietnamese troops were used to fighting in Vietnam. They had developed guerrilla warfare against both the French and the Japanese.

This meant leaving mines and booby traps, ambushing troops and then ‘melting away’ into the jungle.

The Vietcong called the war the ‘People’s War’. The whole population was expected to drive out the USA.

Many women were members of the Vietcong – women were be promoted on equal terms with men.

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Guerrilla warfare

Why were the Vietcong’s tunnel networks so successful? How did it make the war harder for the USA?

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The forces in Vietnam

By 1965, nearly 400,000 Americans, Australians and New Zealanders were fighting in Vietnam.

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The pacification programme

The USA realized that because of the tactics of the Vietcong, they could not win by military might alone.

This was known as the battle for ‘hearts and minds’

The USA had to convince the Vietnamese people to support them. To do this, the US tried to help make the peasants more prosperous and loyal.

They trained teams of South Vietnamese who went out into the countryside to increase resistance to the Vietcong.

The teams also supervised the building of health centres and schools, and organized the supply of seed, tools and animals to help farmers. Wells were also dug.

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US technology

In a battle for ‘hearts and minds’ how effective do you think this ‘advanced’ technology was?

Napalm – produced from jellied petrol – was used in flame throwers and bombs. It caused extensive and horrific burns.

Agent Orange – a strong chemical weed killer – was used to try and destroy the jungle cover of the Vietcong. It was later found to cause cancer and deformities.

B52 Bombers – used to ‘carpet bomb’ areas of enemy territory, destroying everything. 3,500 helicopters were used for transport and aerial attack.

Faced with guerrilla warfare, the USA tried to use their superior technology to defeat their enemy.

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North Vietnamese ‘technology’

Compared with US soldiers who would storm into houses and even pose for photos with dead Vietnamese soldiers, this had an immense impact.

Create a diagram giving four reasons why the USA didn’t get support from Vietnamese peasants.

The North Vietnamese had their share of technology too, including heavy artillery, rockets, flame-throwers, Soviet PT76 tanks and MiGs. These were supplied by the USSR.

Manpower was the major ‘technology’. The majority of supplies were ferried on cargo bicycles along the Ho Chi Minh trail into South Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh cleverly instructed his soldiers to treat all locals with great respect and do everything to gain their trust.

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Key events in the war

Click on the arrows to move through the timeline.

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Impact of Vietnam on the USA

The fight for civil rights in USA joined with the growing campaign against war in Vietnam.

12% of the USA was black, but 16% of draftees were black.

Huge numbers of US servicemen were being killed or severely wounded in a far off country.

Media reporting brought the war into US households. There were daily images of ‘good US boys’ dying far away from home.

Many strongly questioned US involvement in Vietnam – what was the point of all the death and destruction?

There were horrific images of children and innocent civilians badly burned and injured by US weapons. Innocent people were being killed and injured.

Civil rights

Images of fighting

Death toll

Public opposition

Images of innocent children

Refusal to serveBy 1968, conscription was the only way to get soldiers. Even then, many protested and burned their draft cards.

Impact

By the late 1960s, US public opinion was strongly against the war.

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How did the Vietnam War end?

The USA finally pulled out of Vietnam due to massive opposition from the general public in the USA. By the time a ceasefire was agreed in 1973, over 50,000 US troops and over 2,000,000 Vietnamese had been killed in Vietnam.

1. What did the Vietnam War actually achieve?2. What lessons do you think the USA learnt?3. Was the Domino Theory correct?

In 1975 the communist armies also triumphed in Laos and Cambodia, helped and encouraged by the North Vietnamese. Communism was now dominant in South-East Asia.

The last US troops finally left in 1973, but fighting continued until 1975 when North Vietnam took over South Vietnam, and united the two countries.

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Consequences of Vietnam

More bombs were dropped in the Vietnam War than in the whole of World War II.

Over 2,000,000 Vietnamese men, women and children were killed and many more maimed and left homeless.

Even into the 1990s refugee ‘boat people’ fled in leaky vessels from the brutal governments set up in this part of Asia.

Vast tracts of tropical rainforest and important farmland were destroyed by napalm. Feeding the population became a major problem.

Some 700,000 US soldiers suffered ‘flash-backs’ and psychological effects.

What had it achieved?

Loss in confidence in US government – it had sent thousands of young men to their deaths.