Beginnings of the Vietnam War with the U.S.

Poll

After watching the film from yesterday, which side are you more sympathetic towards?

• Ho Chi Minh's quest for an independent Vietnam

• The French's desire to hang on to a colony

• The U.S. desire to implement Containment in Vietnam

Slide 1

VIETNAM

, 1946

-

75

(the

10 000 Day War

)

Scott Masters

Crestwood College

Where is Vietnam?

Why Did the United States

Fight a War in Vietnam?

•

Basically to hold the line against

the spread of world

Communism. America paid for

the war the French fought against

Communist Vietnam as a part of

the Truman Doctrine (1947) “to

help free peoples to maintain

their free institutions and their

national integrity against …

totalitarian regimes.” In the

1950’s, America became involved

again.

Longest and Most Unpopular War

•

The Vietnam War was the longest

and 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 or

younger.

–

304,000 were wounded.

–

75,000 were severely disabled.

–

The United States spent over $200

billion dollars on the war.

Conflict Between France & Vietnam

•

The Vietnam War grew out of

the long conflict between

France and Vietnam.

–

In July 1954, after one hundred

years of colonial rule, a defeated

France was forced to leave

Vietnam.

–

Nationalist forces under the

direction of General Vo Nguyen

Giap defeated the allied French

troops at the remote mountain

outpost of Dien Bien Phu in the

northwest corner of Vietnam.

Slide 2

⚫

PHASE 1

-

A WAR OF

COLONIAL INDEPENDENCE

AGAINST THE FRENCH

⚫

Vietnam had been a French

colony under the name of

French Indochina

(along with

Cambodia and

Laos)

⚫

Vietnam began to fight for its

independence from France

during WW II ( when France

was preoccupied with

European conflict)

⚫

the Vietnamese revolutionary

leader was

Ho Chi Minh

, a

Communist

⚫

wanted to be the leader of

an independent, communist

Vietnam; Ho received support

from both the USSR and “Red”

China

Slide 3

⚫

this colonial war raged from

1946

-

54, culminating in the

French defeat at

Dienbienphu

⚫

Fr. decided it wanted out and

called a peace conference in

Geneva, Switzerland (attended

by France, Vietnam, the US,

and the USSR)

⚫

the decision of the conference

was to partition Vietnam into a

communist North led by Ho

and a “democratic” South

Vietnam led by

Ngo Dinh Diem

⚫

the settlement was an

outgrowth of basic Cold War

tensions between the

Americans and Soviets and

clearly reflected the US policy

of

containment

with respect to

Soviet communist

expansionism

⚫

the US had come to see South

Vietnam as a “

domino

” that

they couldn’t afford to lose

The Geneva Peace Accords

•

The Geneva Peace Accords,

signed by France and Vietnam

in the summer of 1954,

provided for the temporary

partition of Vietnam at the 17th

parallel, with national elections

in 1956 to reunify the country.

•

In the North, a communist

regime, supported

by the Soviet

Union and the People's Republic

of China,

set up its headquarters

in Hanoi under the leadership

of Ho Chi Minh.

Opposition to Geneva Accords

•

The United States prevented the elections that were

promised under the Geneva conference because it knew

that the Communists would win.

–

Secretary of State John Foster Dulles thought the Geneva

Accords granted too much power to the Communist Party of

Vietnam.

–

He and President Dwight D.

Eisenhower supported the creation of a

counter

-

revolutionary alternative south

of the 17th parallel.

•

This was accomplished through

formation of the Southeast Asia

Treaty Organization (SEATO).

The Domino Theory

•

American policymakers developed the “Domino Theory”

as 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 even

Australia could be at risk”.

A New Nation in the South

•

Using SEATO for political cover, the

Eisenhower administration helped create

a new nation in southern Vietnam.

•

In 1955, with the help of massive

amounts of American military, political,

and economic aid, the government of

the Republic of Vietnam (South

Vietnam) was born.

•

The following year, Ngo Dinh Diem, a

staunchly anti

-

Communist figure from

the South, won a dubious election that

made him president of South Vietnam

The Kennedy Response

•

As Kennedy weighed the merits of

these recommendations, some of

his other advisers urged the

president to withdraw from

Vietnam altogether.

•

In typical Kennedy fashion, the

president chose a middle route.

–

Instead of a large

-

scale military

buildup or a negotiated settlement,

the United States would increase the

level of its military involvement in

South Vietnam through more

machinery and advisers, but no

military troops.

South Vietnam Under Diem

•

Diem claimed that his newly created

government was under attack from

Communists 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 those

who sought to bring his government

down and arrested thousands.

–

He passed a repressive series of acts

known as Law 10/59 that made it legal

to hold suspected Communists in jail

without bringing formal charges.

Opposition to Diem

•

The outcry against Diem's harsh and oppressive actions

was immediate.

–

Buddhist monks and nuns were joined by students, business

people, intellectuals, and peasants in opposition to Diem’s

corrupt rule.

–

The more these forces attacked Diem's troops and secret police,

the more Diem complained that the Communists were trying to

take South Vietnam by force. This was "a hostile act of

aggression by North Vietnam against peace

-

loving and

democratic South Vietnam."

Buddhist Self

-

Immolations

•

Diem's brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, had

raided the Buddhist pagodas of South

Vietnam, claiming that they had harbored

the Communists that were creating the

political instability.

•

The result was massive protests on the

streets of Saigon that led Buddhist monks

to self

-

immolation.

•

The pictures of the monks engulfed in

flames made world headlines and caused

considerable consternation in Washington.

Multiple Choice

Why did the Buddhist monk commit self-immolation?

• He was protesting the U.S. being in Vietnam

• He was protesting against Ngo Dinh Diem's brother's actions of destroying Buddhist temples

• He was protesting against Ho Chi Minh implementing Communism as a form of government

• He was protesting having to do school work the day after coming back from Spring Break.

Military Coup

•

By late September, the Buddhist

protest 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 American

Embassy in Saigon with plans to overthrow Diem.

•

With Washington's tacit approval, Diem and his brother were

captured and later killed.

•

Three weeks later, President Kennedy was assassinated on the

streets of Dallas.