1965 - 1975

Why did the United States fight in Vietnam?

Why did the United States lose the war?

Why did an antiwar movement become so strong in the United States?

How did the war change the United States?

Essential Questions

War in Indochina: Origins

Did not begin as war against communism

• Began as a war of decolonization

In WWII Ho Chi Minh (communist) began to resist the Japanese occupation

When the war was over, the French thought Indochina would be there’s again

War broke out between the Ho Chi Minh and the Communists and the French forces

Dien Bien Phu

Battle between the French and Viet Minh (communist)

French were defeated May 1954 This was the end of the war between the French

forces and the Vietnamese The Geneva Agreement of 1954 gave

independence to Laos and Cambodia Vietnam was divided temporarily at the 17th

parallelNorth South

CommunistHo Chi Minh

DemocraticNgo Dinh Diem

The Domino Theory If Vietnam fell to the

communism would Laos and Cambodia be next?

Containment- this policy requires American action wherever democracy is threatened

SEATO- block communism from Southeast Asia- USA is obligated to uphold their treaty commitments

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

1962-Kennedy put in 11,000 troops Early 1963-Began loosing faith and wanted to

start pulling out troops 1963- assassinated- Johnson took over and the

war escalated 1964- North Vietnamese “torpedoed” an

American destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin Congress gave Johnson “all necessary powers”

to take “all necessary measures” Johnson put in 200,000 troops in 1965 Increased it to 600,000 in 1968

LBJ

Why did the Americans think they would win?

American tactics Operation Rolling

Thunder• Bombing N.

Vietnamese towns to destroy morale

Search and Destroy• Looking for the

Vietcong in villages. If Vietcong presence was suspected, the village was destroyed

Tactics Cont.Chemical weapons…

Agent Orange

Napalm

The next two slides contain photos of people harmed by chemical weapons

Napalm

A fluid that burns through almost anything. The Americans hoped it would hit Vietcong bases. In fact, it often hit civilians.

Agent Orange

• Destroyed crops and trees• Attacked the human body and led to

birth defects

Vietnamese Tactics

Viet Cong guerillas (South)AKA: Victor Charles, Charlie

North Vietnamese Army (NVA)

The Tunnel System

Ho Chi Minh Trail

A jungle path60 tonnes a day

carried to the Vietcong in the south.

Essential to Vietnamese Victory