The Vietnam War: 19541975

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The Vietnam War 1954-1975

• The War Unfolds

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VIETNAM - Beginnings

• The United States entered the Vietnam War to
  defeat Communist forces threatening South
  Vietnam.
• You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock
  over the first one, and what will happen to the
  last one is the certainty that will go over very
  quickly.
• President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1954)

3
What events led to the war between North Vietnam
and South Vietnam?

• End of World War II - Japanese occupation of
  Vietnam ended
• French Indochina - A French colony that France
  tried to regain control of after WWII
• Nationalist uprising against the French in the
  North (led by Nationalist Communists under Ho Chi
  Minh and General Giap)
• French defeated at Dien Bien Phu - 1954

4
What events led to the war between North Vietnam
and South Vietnam?

• Geneva Accords 1954 - divided Vietnam along the
  17th parallel
• North led by Ho Chi Minh
• South led by anti-Communist Ngo Dinh Diem
• Elections set for 1956 refused by South Vietnam -
  feared Communist unfairness and victory

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• The Vietnam War, 19541975

Although neighboring Laos and Cambodia were
officially neutral, both aided the North
Vietnamese and Viet Cong by providing access to
bases and the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a vital supply
route from North to South
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What events led to the war between North Vietnam
and South Vietnam?

• By 1960, President Eisenhower had pledged
  American support to Diem in the South
• US had 675 military advisors there
• US presence justified by the domino theory - if
  one country falls to communism, the rest will
  eventually fall too.

7
What were the Vietnam policies of President
Kennedy and Robert McNamara?

• JFK - determined to stop spread of communism
• McNamara (Sec. of Defense) developed flexible
  response
• Continued support of the South Vietnamese
  struggle against the North

8
The United States continued to support the
unpopular South Vietnamese government under Diem.

• South Vietnamese leader Diem - very unpopular,
  dictatorial
• Led to protests in the South by Buddhists
• Strategic hamlets - relocated Vietnamese farmers
• National Liberation Front formed in 1960 - a.k.a
  Viet Cong (VC) guerillas in the South -
  supported by North Vietnamese Army (NVA) supplies

9
Events in November 1963 dramatically changed
United States ambitions in Vietnam.

• Diem assassinated Nov. 1, 1963 in a military coup
• JFK assassinated Nov. 22, 1963
• Lyndon B. Johnson (VP) became president
• LBJ continued Vietnam policies of JFK

10
How did President Lyndon Johnson change the
course of the Vietnam War?

• Johnson feared Vietnam going Communist
• August 5, 1964 Tonkin Gulf Incident
• Congress passed Tonkin Gulf Resolution - Gave LBJ
  broad executive powers to wage war