The Vietnam war years

1
The Vietnam war years

• Chapter 22 Notes

2
Moving Towards Conflict

• From late 1800s-WWII, France ruled most of
  Indochina

3
Moving Towards Conflict

• Indochinese Communist Party established 1930
• Began a number of revolts under Ho Chi Minh
• Sentenced to death, but fled to Soviet Union
  planned independence movement
• Vietminhorganized to gain independence
• 1940Japanese took control of Vietnam
• 1945Allies victory forced Japan out of Vietnam
• Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent but
  French still wanted control
• U.S. got involvedTruman sent nearly 15 million
  in economic aid to France

4
Moving Towards Conflict

• 1953Eisenhower continues support of France
• Why? Domino Theory
• French forced to surrender May 1954
• Geneva AccordsJuly 1954
• France, Great Britain, Soviet Union, U.S., China,
  Laos, Cambodia, Vietminh, South Vietnam met
  about peace agreement
• Temporarily divided Vietnam at 17th parallel
• NorthHo Chi Minh
• SouthNgo Dinh Diem

5
Moving Towards Conflict

• Ho Chi Minh won popularity in the North by
  breaking up large estates and redistributing land
  to peasants
• National hero for fighting Japanese French
• Vietcongcommunist opposition in the South
• Began attacks on Diem government
• Ho Chi Minh supplied arms to the group along the
  border of Vietnam, Laos, CambodiaHo Chi Minh
  Trail (pg 733)

6
Moving Towards Conflict

• Diem government proved to be corrupt oppressive
  (Buddhism)
• Kennedy (1961) continued to aid Diem the South
• November 1, 1963U.S. supported coup overthrew
  Diem
• Succeeding rulers failed South Vietnam prove
  unstable
• Vietcong influence spread

7
Moving Towards Conflict

• August 2, 1964North Vietnamese patrol boat fired
  a torpedo at an American destroyer while
  patrolling the Gulf of Tonkin
• The attack on the ship led LBJ to launch bombing
  strikes on North Vietnam
• Gulf of Tonkin ResolutionGave LBJ power to wage
  war on North Vietnam
• Operation Rolling Thunder1st bombing of North
  Vietnam
• March 19651st American combat troops arrive in
  South Vietnam

8
Summarize

• Why did the U.S. support Frances efforts in
  Vietnam?
• Why was the Diem regime unpopular?
• How did the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution lead to
  greater U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War?

9
U.S. Involvement Escalation

• 1965, LBJ began sending tens of thousands of U.S.
  Soldiers to fight in Vietnam
• Congress the American public strongly supported
  the decision
• 1965 poll showed 61 supported U.S. involvement
• By the end of 1965, U.S. sent more than 180,000
  troops
• Some believed that aggressive deployment was the
  only way to win
• By 1967, 500,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam

10
U.S. Involvement Escalation

• U.S. leaders felt that superior weaponry would
  lead to victory in Vietnam but the jungle terrain
  enemy guerilla tactics evened the playing field
  
• Hit Run, Ambush,
• lived among general population,
• booby traps land mines, tunnel system (pg 738)
• U.S. tried to lay traps, Vietcong disassembled
  reused
• U.S. goalkeep VC from winning the support of
  Vietnams rural population (so they would have
  nowhere to hide)

11
Vietcong Tunnel System
12
U.S. Involvement Escalation

• Napalmgasoline based bomb used to set fire to
  the jungle
• Agent Orangeleaf killing, toxic chemical
• Killed civilians ruined surroundings
• Search Destroyuprooting civilians with
  suspected ties to VC, killing livestock burning
  villages
• We had to destroy the town in order to save it.

13
U.S. Involvement Escalation

• Failure to make any ground defeated morale
• War was hurting the economy back home
• LBJ proposed tax increase to help fund war keep
  inflation in check
• Cost him 6 billion reduction in Great Society
  programs
• First living room war
• Combat footage appeared on nightly news
• Westmoreland claimed victory was near, but
  Americans saw the truth
• Credibility gap was widened

14
Summarize

• Why did U.S. forces have difficulty fighting the
  Vietcong?
• In what way did the U.S. underestimate the
  Vietcong?
• What factors led to the low morale of U.S.
  troops?
• What led to growing concern in America about the
  war?

15
A Nation Divided

• Most soldiers fighting in Vietnam were called
  into combat by the draft
• All males had to register when they turned 18
• Many tried to dodge the draft
• Sympathetic doctors gave medical exemptions
• Changed residence to stand before more lenient
  draft board
• Some joined National Guard or Coast Guard to
  secure deferment
• Most common was attending college

16
A Nation Divided

• American youth became more political vocal
  throughout the 1960sNew Left
• Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)charged
  that corporations and large government
  institutions had taken over the U.S.
• Called for restoration of democracy greater
  individual freedom
• Free Speech Movement (FSM)Began at Cal Berkley
• Grew out of clash between faculty students
• Criticized powerful business government

17
A Nation Divided

• 1966LBJ changed college deferment stating that
  you must be in good academic standing
• Reasons for protest?
• Vietnam was a civil war America should stay out
• Oppressive South no better than Communists
• U.S. could not police entire globe
• Morally unjust

18
A Nation Divided

• Spring 1967Protestors gathered in Central Park
  to burn draft cards
• People wanted to protest, but still be loyal
• Draft resistance continued until Nixon phased out
  the draft in the 1970s
• More than 200,000 men accused of draft offenses
  nearly 4,000 imprisoned.
• About 10,000 fled to Canada

19
A Nation Divided

• October 1967Demonstration at the Lincoln
  Memorial
• Drew over 75,000 protestors
• 30,000 locked arms and marched to the Pentagon
• to disrupt the center of the American war
  machine
• Doves V. Hawks
• Country still divided
• Many saw protests as acts of disloyalty

20
Summarize

• What concerns about American democratic society
  did the New Left voice?
• What reasons did protestors oppose the war?
• What were the key issues that divided America?