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Where is Vietnam?
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Why Did the United States
Fight a War in Vietnam?
Basically to hold the line againstthe spread of worldCommunism. America paid forthe war the French foughtagainst Communist Vietnam as apart of the Truman Doctrine(1947) to help free peoples to
maintain their free institutionsand their national integrityagainst totalitarian regimes.
In the 1950s, America became
involved again.
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Longest and Most Unpopular War
The Vietnam War was the longestand most unpopular war in
American history. During the war: 58,000 Americans lost their lives.
The oldest man killed was 62 years old;the youngest, 16.
61% of the men killed were 21 oryounger.
304,000 were wounded. 75,000 were severely disabled.
The United States spent over $200billion dollars on the war.
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Conflict Between France & Vietnam
The Vietnam War grew out ofthe long conflict betweenFrance and Vietnam.
In July 1954, after one hundredyears of colonial rule, a defeatedFrance was forced to leave
Vietnam.
Nationalist forces under the
direction of General Vo NguyenGiap defeated the allied Frenchtroops at the remote mountainoutpost of Dien Bien Phu in the
northwest corner of Vietnam.
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The Geneva Peace Accords
The Geneva Peace Accords,signed by France and Vietnamin the summer of 1954,provided for the temporary
partition of Vietnam at the 17thparallel, with national electionsin 1956 to reunify the country.
In the North, a communist
regime, supported by the SovietUnion and the People'sRepublic of China, set up itsheadquarters in Hanoi under
the leadership of Ho Chi Minh.
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Opposition to Geneva Accords
The United States prevented the elections that werepromised under the Geneva conference because it knewthat the Communists would win.
Secretary of State John Foster Dulles thought the Geneva
Accords granted too much power to the Communist Party ofVietnam.
He and President Dwight D.Eisenhower supported the creation of a
counter-revolutionary alternative southof the 17th parallel.
This was accomplished throughformation of the Southeast Asia
Treaty Organization (SEATO).
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A New Nation in the South
Using SEATO for political cover, theEisenhower administration helped createa new nation in southern Vietnam.
In 1955, with the help of massiveamounts of American military, political,and economic aid, the government of theRepublic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)
was born.
The following year, Ngo Dinh Diem, astaunchly anti-Communist figure fromthe South, won a dubious election thatmade him president of South Vietnam
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The Domino Theory
American policymakers developed the Domino Theoryas a justification for the involvement. This theory stated,If South Vietnam falls to the Communist, Laos,Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, India and Pakistan would
also fall like dominos. The Pacific Islands and evenAustralia could be at risk.
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South Vietnam Under Diem
Diem claimed that his newly createdgovernment was under attack fromCommunists in the north.
In late 1957, with American military
aid, Diem began to counterattack.He used the help of the CIA (through
Operation Phoenix) to identify thosewho sought to bring his government
down and arrested thousands.He passed a repressive series of acts
known as Law 10/59 that made it legalto hold suspected Communists in jail
without bringing formal charges.
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Opposition to Diem
The outcry against Diem's harsh and oppressive actionswas immediate.
Buddhist monks and nuns were joined by students, businesspeople, intellectuals, and peasants in opposition to Diems
corrupt rule.
The more these forces attacked Diem's troops and secretpolice, the more Diem complained that the Communists weretrying to take South Vietnam by force. This was "a hostile actof aggression by North Vietnam against peace-loving and
democratic South Vietnam."
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The National Liberation Front
The Communistssupported the creation ofa broad-based united frontto help mobilize
southerners in oppositionto the government inSouth Vietnam.
On December 20, 1960, the National Liberation Front
(NLF) was born. It brought together Communists and non-Communists in an
umbrella organization that had limited, but important goals
Anyone could join as long as they opposed Ngo Dinh Diem and
wanted to unify Vietnam.
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December 1961 White Paper
In 1961, President Kennedysent a team to Vietnam to reporton conditions in the South andto assess future American aidrequirements.
The report, known as the"December 1961 White Paper,"
argued for:An increase in military, technical, and economic aidThe introduction of large-scale American "advisers"
to help stabilize the Diem regime and crush the NLF.
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The Strategic Hamlet Program
To counteract the NLF's successin the countryside, Washingtonand Saigon launched anambitious military effort in therural areas.Called the Strategic Hamlet
Program, the newcounterinsurgency plan rounded
up villagers and placed them in"safe hamlets" controlled by thegovernment of South Vietnam.
The idea was to isolate the NLF
from villagers, its base of support
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NFL Successes
This culturally-insensitive planfurther alienated the peasants fromthe Saigon regime and produced
more recruits for the NLF. By the summer of 1963, because of
NLF successes and its own failures,it was clear that the government of
South Vietnam was on the verge ofpolitical collapse.
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Buddhist Self-Immolations
Diem's brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, hadraided the Buddhist pagodas of South
Vietnam, claiming that they had harbored
the Communists that were creating thepolitical instability.
The result was massive protests on thestreets of Saigon that led Buddhist monks
to self-immolation.
The pictures of the monks engulfed inflames made world headlines and caused
considerable consternation in Washington.
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Military Coup
By late September, the Buddhistprotest had created such disloca-tion in the south that the Kennedy
administration supported a coup. In 1963, some of Diem's own
generals approached the AmericanEmbassy in Saigon with plans to overthrow Diem.
With Washington's tacit approval, Diem and his brother werecaptured and later killed.
Three weeks later, President Kennedy was assassinated on the
streets of Dallas.
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Escalation of the Conflict At the time of the Kennedy and Diem
assassinations, there were 16,000military advisers in Vietnam.
The Kennedy administration hadmanaged to run the war from Washington
without the large-scale introduction ofAmerican combat troops.
The continuing political problems inSaigon, however, convinced the new
president, Lyndon Baines Johnson, thatmore aggressive action was needed.
After a dubious North Vietnamese raid on two U.S. ships inthe Gulf of Tonkin, the Johnson administration argued for
expansive war powers for the president.
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Attack on American Ships
In August 1964, in response toAmerican and South Vietnameseespionage along its coast, North
Vietnam launched an attack against
the C. Turner Joy and the U.S.S.Maddox, two American ships on callin the Gulf of Tonkin.
The first attack occurred on
August 2, 1964.A second attack was supposed to have
taken place on August 4, but authoritieshave recently concluded that no second
attack ever took place.
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The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Johnsonadministration used theAugust 4 attack toobtain a Congressional
resolution, now knownas the Gulf of TonkinResolution, that gavethe president broad war
powers. The Resolution was
followed by limitedreprisal air attacks
against North Vietnam.
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Operation Rolling Thunder
In early 1965, the NLF attacked two U.S. armyinstallations in South Vietnam, and as a result,Johnson ordered sustained bombing missionsover North Vietnam.
The bombing missions, known as OperationRolling Thunder, caused the Communist Party toreassess its own war strategy
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Phosphorous & Napalm Bombs
Operation Rolling
Thunder was backed up
by phosphorous and
napalm bombsthelatter causing dreadfulburns to thousand ofinnocent civilians.
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Operation Ranch Hand
When this failed to break down the jungle cover the USAFstarted Operation Ranch Hand the defoliation program,using Agent Orange.
This deadly chemical cocktail, containing dioxin, killed off millionsof acres of jungle to try to weaken the Vietcongbut left ahorrendous legacy in Vietnam.
The dioxin got into the food chain causing chromosome damageto humans. There were hundreds of cases of children born withdeformities.
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How did the North Vietnamese
Fight Back Against the U.S. Invaders?
The North Vietnamese used classic Maoistguerrilla tactics. Guerrillas must move through
the peasants like fish through sea, i.e., the
peasants will support them as much as they canwith shelter, food, weapons, storage, intelligence,recruits.
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North Vietnamese Tactics
In areas held by the NLF, theCommunists distributed theland to the peasants. (By 1973,the NLF held about half of
South Vietnam.) Their weapons were cheap
and reliable.The AK47 assault rifle out-performed the American M16
The portable rocket launcher took out many US vehicles & aircraft.
They recycleddud bombs dropped by the Americans. Deadlybooby-traps could inflict huge damage on young Americanconscripts!
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Tunnel Complexes
The Vietnamese built large tunnel complexessuch as the ones at Cu Chi near Saigon. Thisprotected them from the bombing raids by the
Americans and gave them cover for attacking theinvaders.
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Search & Destroy Tactics The United States countered
with Search and Destroytactics. In areas where the NLF
were thought to be operating,troops went in and checked for
weapons. If they found them,they rounded up the villagers and burned the villages down.
This often alienated the peasants from the American/South
Vietnamese cause.As one marine saidIf they werent Vietcong before we got there,
they sure as hell were by the time we left.
The NFL often helped the villagers re-build their homes and bury
their dead.
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Protracted War Strategy
After OperationRolling Thunder, theCommunist Party
moved to a protractedwar strategy: the ideawas to get the UnitedStates bogged down in
a war that it could notwin militarily and createunfavorable conditionsfor political victory.
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The War in America
The Vietnam War had a majorimpact on everyday life inAmerica, and the Johnsonadministration was forced toconsider domestic consequencesof its decisions daily.
Since there were not enoughvolunteers to continue to fight aprotracted war, the governmentinstituted a draft.
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Anti-War Sentiments
As the deaths mountedand Americanscontinued to leave for
Southeast Asia, theJohnson administrationwas met with the fullweight of American anti-
war sentiments.
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1968 Democratic Convention
One of the most famous incidentsin the anti-war movement was thepolice riot in Chicago during the1968 Democratic NationalConvention.
Hundreds of thousands of peoplecame to Chicago in August 1968
to protest American interventionin Vietnam and the leaders of theDemocratic Party who continuedto prosecute the war.
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The Tet Offensive By 1968, things had gone from bad to worse for the Johnson
administration. In late January, North Vietnam and the NLFlaunched coordinated attacks against major southern cities.
These attacks, known as the Tet Offensive, were designed toforce the Johnson administration to the bargaining table.
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The My Lai Massacre
A serious blow to U.S. credibility came with theexposure of the My Lai massacre (March 1968).
Hushed up at the time and only discovered by atenacious journalist, this involved the killing of400 men, women and children by US troops.
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A Secret Plan to End the War
In late March 1968, a disgracedLyndon Johnson announced that he
would not seek the DemocraticParty's re-nomination for president
and hinted that he would go to thebargaining table with theCommunists to end the war.
Negotiations began in the spring of
1968, but the Democratic Partycould not rescue the presidencyfrom Republican challenger RichardNixon who claimed he had a secret
plan to end the war.
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Vietnamization
Nixon's secret plan involved aprocess called Vietnamization.
This strategy brought American
troops home while increasingthe air war over North Vietnamand relying more on the South
Vietnamese army for groundattacks.
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Expansion to Laos & Cambodia
The Nixon years also saw the expansion of the war intoneighboring Laos and Cambodia, violating theinternational rights of these countries in secretcampaigns, as the White House tried desperately to rout
out Communist sanctuaries and supply routes.
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Campus Protests & Shootings
The intense bombingcampaigns andintervention in
Cambodia in lateApril 1970 sparkedintense campus
protests all acrossAmerica.
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Kent State
At Kent State inOhio, four studentswere killed by
National Guardsmenwho were called outto preserve order on
campus after days ofanti-Nixon protest.
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Jackson State
Shock waves crossed thenation as students atJackson State in Mississippi
were also shot and killed forpolitical reasons, promptingone mother to cry, "They
are killing our babies inVietnam and in our ownbackyard."
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The Christmas Bombings
In December 1972, the Nixon administration unleashed aseries of deadly bombing raids against targets in North
Vietnams largest cities, Hanoi and Haiphong.
These attacks, now known as the Christmas bombings,
brought immediate condemnation from the internationalcommunity and forced the Nixon administration toreconsider its tactics and negotiation strategy.
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The Paris Peace Agreement
In early January 1973, the Nixon
White House convinced Saigonthat they would not abandon theSouth Vietnamese army if theysigned the peace accord.
On January 23, therefore, the finaldraft was initialed, ending openhostilities between the UnitedStates and North Vietnam.
The Paris Peace Agreement didnot end the conflict in Vietnam,however, as Saigon continued tobattle Communist forces.
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The Fall to Communism
From March 1973 until the fall ofSaigon on April 30, 1975, the SouthVietnamese army tried desperately tosave the South from political and
military collapse. The end finally came when NorthVietnamese tanks rolled south alongNational Highway One.
On the morning of April 30,Communist forces captured thepresidential palace in Saigon, endingthe Vietnam War.
Wh Did h U i d S
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Why Did the United States
Lose the Vietnam War?
1. They underestimated the tenacity andorganization of the North Vietnamese and theNational Liberation Front.
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2. Despite droppingmore tonnage of highexplosive on Vietnamthan the whole ofWorld War II, the
Americans could notstop the movementof troops or supplies
to the south alongthe Ho Chi MinhTrail.
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3. The North Vietnameseconducted a Peoples
war in which everyoneplayed a part.
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4. At first, most Americans supported the war.But by 1970, the Peace Movement had
support from all parts of society and nogovernment could ignore it.
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7. America was not prepared to keep losing highnumbers of casualties for such limited progress
in a difficult jungle war, for which they werenot suited.
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8. The strength and resourcefulness of the NLF.For example, the highly complex Cu Chi
tunnel system the U.S. never shut down.
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S
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Sources
Battlefield Vietnam: A Brief Historyhttp://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/history/index.html
Vietnam Revision Guidehttp://www.learnhistory.org.uk/vietnam/ustactics.htm
http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/history/index.htmlhttp://www.learnhistory.org.uk/vietnam/ustactics.htmhttp://www.learnhistory.org.uk/vietnam/ustactics.htmhttp://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/history/index.html