Tuesday, May 7

Vietnam Conflict 1950-1975.

The French Connection

France had gained control of Indochina in a series of colonial wars in the mid-late 1800's.
During WWII, Vichy France worked with Japanese forces in controlling Indochina.
After the Japanese surrender the French fought to gain more power over Vietnam
The eventually pull out and the Vietnamese think they gained their independence.

Geneva Conference-1954

Vietnam was partitioned temporarily into two parts north and south Vietnam, communist and non-communist.
The three powers came together Ho Chi Minh, Bao Dai, and Ngo Dihn Diem.
The Geneva Conference (1954) set up elections to unify the country by July, 1956.
Such election were never set up because they were afraid to lose.

Who Fought?

The US Armed Forces.
The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN- the South Vietnamese Army)
VS.
The NLF, a group of South Vietnamese guerrilla fighters(Vietcong)
The People's Army of Viet Nam (PAVN- the North Vietnamese Army, pronounced Pahvin)

Escalation-Truman through Johnson

President Truman began US involvement by sending money to help the French.
President Eisenhower continued US support bu sending military advisers to give temporary support to Diem's Government in the South
President Kennedy continued sending advisers as well as special operation forces (green berets)
President Johnson sent more and more combat forces.

Golf of Tonkin Resolution-

Several US ships were supposedly attacked by North Vietnamese boats.
Most experts today do not think the ships were attacked.
They think that Johnson set it up so he could wage war against North Vietnam.
On August 26, 1964, President Johnson was nominated as the Democratic candidate for presidency of the US.

War-

President Johnson and General Westmoreland kept saying with more troops we will win the war.
So they kept sending more and more troops.
Most Americans believed 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 every major city in South Vietnam was attacked.
Named after the lunar new year festival which is the most important Vietnamese holiday in South Vietnam.
Although we crushed the enemy military, the surprising huge offensive attack from an enemy that was supposedly almost defeated convinced many Americans that victory was impossible.
Americans realized that the government was lying to them.

Operation Rolling Thunder

We bombed them big time.
We did not want to invade them since we were afraid of what China and the SU would do.

Anti-War

Why people were so against the war?
- Tet Offensive.
- Pentagon Papers
  - Leaked out to the people by the NY Times.
  - Gave the actualities of the war.
  - Showed the government was lying.
- Injuring/killing innocent people (My Lai Massacre)
- Supporting a bad government in South.
- The power of the press.
- Make peace not war.
- Napalm attacks.
Kent St. Massacre
- Ohio.
- Students were protesting the war.
- The national government came to keep it quiet.
- The students had trapped the officers and someone started shooting.
- One of the biggest school shootings.
My Lai Massacre March 1968
- We didn't do this.
- Hundreds of people were raped.

How to get out?

Blogs