Vietnam War 1955-1975. Vocabulary Viet Cong – National Liberation Front (NLF) or North Vietnamese...
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Transcript of Vietnam War 1955-1975. Vocabulary Viet Cong – National Liberation Front (NLF) or North Vietnamese...
Vocabulary
• Viet Cong – National Liberation Front (NLF) or North Vietnamese Communist
• Ho Chi Minh – communist Revolutionary leader of North Vietnam
• Domino Theory – if one state in a region falls to communism surrounding nations will too
• Attrition – military strategy of wearing down the enemy by continual loss of personnel and material
Vietnam War
• Cold War proxy war fought from 1955 to 1975
• Occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia
• Second Indochina War
First Indochina War
• 1946-1954– North Vietnam supported by
USSR and China– South Vietnam supported by USA
and France• Viet Cong (Communist) fought
guerilla war against anti-communist forces
• Peace treaty ending war divided Vietnam along 17th Parallel
Truman Doctrine
• Containment policy continues• Eisenhower pledges firm support to S.Vietnam– Sends advisors to train their military
• S. Vietnam cracks down on communist sympathizers – Arrest 100,000 people – torture and execution
• 1961 JKF advised to increase support
Domino Theory
• if one Southeast Asian nation fell to communism, many would follow
• Kennedy increases aid to Vietnam– 1962 : 9,000 troops present in Vietnam
War Escalates
• South Vietnam leaders toppled in a coup and killed (CIA involved)– Three weeks before JFK assassinated
• President Lyndon Johnson persuaded to increase U.S. military and economic support
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
• 8/2/1964 USS Maddox was attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats
• 8/4/1964 second attack on U.S. ships in Gulf• Incident used as excuse to rapidly increase
U.S. involvement in conflict– 8/4 event was false radar images– 8/2 event never happened!
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
• Gave LBJ authorization to use our military in SE Asia
• Not a declaration of war• Resolution authorizing the president to do
“whatever” necessary to SE Asian nations suffering from communist aggression. – Rapid escalation of the war - President could do
anything he wanted!
Escalation
• March 1965 – LBJ decides to send more troops– American public in support– June 1965: 82,000– July 1965: immediate dispatch 100,000– 1966: another 100,000– November 1967: 500,000
• War of attrition – to kill as many enemy troops as possible – not to secure territoy
First Televised War
• Most Americans watch Vietnam war on the TV news
• Constant horrific images of the war • Oct 1967 mass antiwar protest in Washington
D.C• Government is facing loss of public support– 15,000 American soldiers lost
Tet Offensive
• 1967 Viet Cong sought to strike a decisive blow to U.S
• It was a coordinated series of attacks on 100 cities and towns – Unable to hold them against American counterattack
• Shocked American public who had been told we were winning war
• 1968 – LBJ’s approval falling – US enters peace talks– He does not seek re-election ~ Richard Nixon elected
Vietnam War Ends
• Richard Nixon continues peace talks while escalating the bombing of North Vietnam
• Anti-war protest grow especially on college campuses
• 500,000 men become ‘draft dodgers’ by fleeing to Canada
• Nixon ends the draft and institutes an all volunteer army that we have today
Vietnam War Ends
• 1973 America begins pulling troops out – Congress limits funds to fight war
• Fighting continues until 1975 when Saigon fell to the Communist
Evacuation of the American Embassy
Vietnam War Ends
• U.S. Casualties 58,303• 303,000 wounded• South & North Vietnam united as a communist
nation – Communism not contained• 1986 – Vietnam introduces free-market
economic reforms• 1990s re-established diplomatic ties with U.S.
Vietnam War Ends
• America did not loose the Vietnam war from a military perspective but rather it was lost in the court of public opinion.