Vietnam War

1955-1975

▪ Indochina – French colony in the 19thcentury, seized by

Japan in 1940

▪ Ho Chi Minh – Led movement against Japan & declared

Vietnam independent

▪ 1sts Indochina War – France v. Vietnam for 8 years

▪ Geneva Accords – 1954

▪ Laos and Cambodia independent.

▪ Vietnam divided: North – Under Ho Chi Minh/Communist and

South – Ngo Dinh Diem

Multiple Choice

Which peace agreement lead to the division of Vietnam into: 1. Communist North Vietnam and 2. Democratic South Vietnam?

• Geneva Accords

• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

• Treaty of Versailles

• Paris Peace Agreement

▪ November 1, 1955 – April 30, 1975 (20 year war)

▪ Diem refused to hold free elections in 1956

▪ Vietcong – South Vietnamese Communists

▪ Attacked and began guerrilla warfare

Multiple Choice

Who were the Vietcong?

• Communists in South Vietnam

• Chinese living in North Vietnam

• Communists living in North Vietnam

• Democrats in South Vietnam

▪ U.S. supported South Vietnam

1.

Domino Theory

2.

Protect against communism

3.

SEATO

4.

Win war easily

▪ 1961 – JFK sends helicopters and 400

Green Berets to South Vietnam

▪ JFK dies and LBJ becomes President

▪ Golf of Tonkin Resolution – gives LBJ

extraordinary powers to take any
measures to stop N.V.

Multiple Choice

What principle, described by President Eisenhower, became associated with American involvement in Southeast Asia?

• Brinkmanship

• Domino Theory

• MAD

• Mutual Assured Destruction

Multiple Choice

The attack in the Gulf of Tonkin led to vast escalation of the U.S. presence in Vietnam.

• True

• False

Fill in the Blanks

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave President Johnson

(more or less?) power to do whatever he needed to defend against North Vietnam.

▪ 1965 – First U.S combat soldiers in South

Vietnam

▪ U.S. bombings increased

▪ New Technology:

▪ Napalm – gasoline mixed with gel that sticks

to skin as it burns

▪ Agent Orange – Herbicide destroyed jungles

and farms

▪ “Search and Destroy” missions

▪ My Lai Massacre – men, women, and children

killed in My Lai

Multiple Choice

What challenges did the US have in Vietnam?

• Unable to distinguish between Vietcong and the South Vietnamese

• They couldn't transport military supplies to Vietnam

• Weather conditions made the war hard to fight

• Lack of troops to fight in the war

Multiple Choice

American soldiers were confused to discover that many South Vietnamese people did not appreciate their efforts.

• True

• False

▪ Doves – Against war – War was immoral

▪ Hawkes – For war – Stop Communism

▪ 1sttelevised war – Credibility gap

▪ Pentagon Papers – Secret gov. study of U.S.

involved in Vietnam War

▪ New “Youth Culture”– hippies, LSD, student

led movements

▪ Hated the draft – Conscientious objectors

were excused

▪ Protest at Kent State University – four

students killed, nine wounded

Multiple Choice

In the United States, television was instrumental in

• promoting understanding between Americans and the Vietnamese.

• developing enthusiasm for the American war effort in Vietnam.

• bringing the brutality of the war into people’s living rooms.

• revealing the contents of classified military documents

Multiple Choice

People who opposed fighting the war on moral or religious grounds were known as

• freedom fighters

• men of honor

• Vietcong

• Conscientious objectors

Multiple Choice

Which of these are a long-term effect of events such as this that took place throughout the 1960s?

• Government leaders refocused government policies to serve social needs

• Americans became more willing to question government decisions

• Future was suffered from low levels of public support

• Young people began voting at rates higher than other groups

▪ Turning Point : Tet Offensive – Vietcong

seized major South Vietnam cities

▪ 1968 – Paris Peace talks begin when LBJ

pauses bombings

▪ 1968 – Nixon becomes President

▪ Vietnamization – replace American troops

with South Vietnamese

Facts:

▪ 1968 – over 500,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam

▪ $25 billion a year

Multiple Choice

What is the 1968 Tet Offensive?

• When Vietcong captured major South Vietnam cities leading to heavy US losses

• When South Vietnam captured major North Vietnam cities leading to heavy US losses

• It was the establishment of the Vietnam New Year

Fill in the Blanks

President Nixon implemented the policy of Vietnamization to replace

troops with South Vietnamese troops in Vietnam.

▪ 1973 – Dr. Henry Kissinger signed

the Paris Peace Accords with North
Vietnam

▪ Cease-fire agreement: remove all U.S.

troops

▪ U.S. continue military and economic aid

to South Vietnam

▪ 1975 – South Vietnam and Cambodia

fall to Communists

▪ Vietnam was united again under

Communist rule

Multiple Choice

The U.S. pulls out of the Vietnam War in 1973, but continue to support the South Vietnamese with economic/military aid.

• True

• False

Fill in the Blanks

When South Vietnam and Cambodia fall to Communism in 1975, we see the

theory in action.

Multiple Choice

The Vietnam War ends in 1975 when South Vietnam captures the city of Saigon and unites the country.

• True

• False

▪ Vietnam: more than a million Vietnamese killed; Villages, cities, farms destroyed

▪ U.S.: 58,000 Americans killed; Others injured or PTSD.

▪ War expenses ended many “Great Society” programs

▪ War Powers Act – limited President’s power to send troops overseas without

Congressional approval

▪ Khmer Rouge – Cambodian Communists in power murdered between 2-4 million

Cambodians

Multiple Choice

Which act was passed to limit the powers of the president during war time?

• War Powers Act

• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

• Limiting Powers Act

• Presidential Powers Act

Multiple Choice

Which of the following was NOT a consequence of the Vietnam War?

• Growing mistrust of government and leaders

• Vietnam unified as a Communist country

• US hesitate to help Cambodia and Laos from Communism

• US won the Vietnam War and reclaimed control of Southeast Asia

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is NOT a lasting legacy of the Vietnam War?

• The death of more than 58,000 Americans

• The death of more than a million Vietnamese

• The renewed commitment by all Americans to destroy communism

• Disillusion by many of the returning Vietnam Vets