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

▪ 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

▪ 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

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