Vietnam War
The french connection
- French had gained control of Indochina in a series of colonial wars in the mid-late 1800s.
- During WWII Vichy France worked with Japanese forces in controlling Indochina during WWII.
- After Japanese surrender, the French fought to retain control of their former colony against the Viet Minh independence movement, led by Communist party leader Ho Chi Minh.
- After the Viet Minh defeated the French colonial army at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the French withdrew, and the colony was granted independence.
Combodia, Loess, Indochina, Vietnam. Considered to be french Indochina (communist.)
Vietnam was partioned temporarily into a Northern and a Southern zone of Viet-nam at the 17th parallel.
The North was to be ruled by Ho Chi Minh, while the south would be under the control of Emperor Bao Dai.
In 1955, Prime Ministe Ngo Dinh Diem became president of a new South Vietnamese republic.
Geneva Conference
- The Geneva Conference of 1954 set up elections to unify the country by July, 1956.
- Such elections were never held because neither side wanted to lose.
Who fought in the Vietnam War
- The US Armed Forces.
- The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN- The south Vietnamese Army)
The NLF, a group of South Vietnamese guerrilla fighters (Vietcong)
-The people's Army of Vietnam (PAVN- The North Vietnamese Army, Pronounced Palvin.)
Escalation
- President Truman began US involvement by sending money to help the French.
- President Eisenhower continued US support by sending military advisors to give temporary support to Diem's government in the South.
- President Kennedy continued sending advisors as well as special operation forces (green berets).
- President Johnson sent more and more combat forces.
Kennedy and Vietnam- Kennedy strongly believed that if South Vietnam was a stable and democratic country, it would keep communism out.
- Aid to the South was often made on the condition that the government would undertake certain political reforms.
- South Vietnamese President Diem did not work well with the US.
- He would often go through the motions of these US prescribed reforms, but ended up embarrassing the US.
-Diem did not believe that US ides of democracy were suited for his government.
- With CIA backing Diem was overthrown by the SC military and killed due to his actions and beliefs.
Diem vs. the Buddhists
The Buddhist crisis in other words, was a series of repressive acts between the Buddhist monks and the South Vietnamese. Happened on May 8th, there were many shootings and killings that happened. There was to be a ban of the Buddhist flag. Diam was pro catholic and didn't trust the Buddhist people.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution- Several US ships were supposedly attacked by North Vietnamese torpedoes in the Gulf of Tonkin.
- Most experts today do no think the ships were attacked.
- This was Johnson's Ploy to get more involved in Vietnam.
- On August 7. 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving President Johnson power....It passed and was for Johnson and helped support him.- Only two people in congress voted against it.
What did the Resolution really do?
- On August 36, 1964 President Johnson was nominated as the Democratic candidate for the presidency of the US.
- Johnson was defeated by Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election.
- President Johnson and General William Westmoreland kept saying that with more troops we will win the war.
- Most Americans tended to believe this at first.
- The American public's faith was shattered, on January 30, 1968, when the enemy, supposedly on the verge of collapse, mounted the Tet Offensive in which nearly every city in South Vietnam was attacked. Named after the lunar new year festival which is the most important Vietnam holiday in South Vietnam.
- Although we crushed the enemy militarily, the surprising huge offensive attack from an enemy that was supposedly amost defeated convinced many Americans that victory was impossible.
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