Chapter 22 The Vietnam War Years 1

Why did the U.S. get involved in the Vietnam War???? 2

Map of Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh

Eisenhower’s Domino Theory

Vietcong Rebel Forces

How did Americans respond to Vietnam?

How did Americans respond? Draft Selective Service System = required men to serve in war. Draft dodging “working-class” war

How did Americans respond? Doves v. Hawks Doves = against war Hawks = supported war

How did Americans respond? New Left Political Youth movement = college students that demanded change in gov’t/society

8. How did the Vietnam War end? What kind of effect did it have? By 1973, war was over for U.S. 1975 = S.Vietnam surrenders to N.Vietnam. 58,000 Americans killed 303,000 wounded Vietnamese deaths = 2 million

End of Vietnam…who was to blame for defeat???

“We Didn’t Start the Fire” Billy Joel Let's look at the various events that we have discussed in class recently....

Vietnam is a long, thin country on a peninsula in southeast Asia Vietnam is a long, thin country on a peninsula in southeast Asia. From the late 1800s until World War II, France ruled Vietnam. The French treated the Vietnamese badly. As a result, the Vietnamese often rebelled. The Communist Party in Vietnam organized many of the rebellions. The group’s leader was Ho Chi Minh. Vietnamese Communists combined with other groups to form an organization called the Vietminh. The Vietminh’s goal was to achieve independence for Vietnam.

VIETNAM

Communist leader of North Vietnam

Ans--Ho Chi Minh

Communist group led by Ho Chi Minh

Ans--Vietminh

The United States supported France during the war The United States supported France during the war. America considered the Vietminh to be Communists. The United States, like other western nations, was determined to stop the spread of communism. President Eisenhower explained his country’s policy with what became known as the domino theory. Eisenhower compared many of the world’s smaller nations to dominoes. If one nation fell to communism, the rest also would fall.

Eisenhower’s explanation for stopping communism in Asia   Eisenhower’s explanation for stopping communism in Asia

Ans--Domino Theory

Several countries met with the French and the Vietminh to negotiate a peace agreement. The agreement was known as the Geneva Accords. It temporarily split Vietnam in half. The Vietminh controlled North Vietnam. The anti-Communist nationalists controlled South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh ruled North Vietnam. Ngo Dinh Diem led South Vietnam. America hoped that Diem could turn South Vietnam into a strong, independent nation. Diem, however, turned out to be a terrible ruler. His administration was corrupt. He also refused to allow opposing views.

Peace agreement that split Vietnam in two

Ans--Geneva Accords

Leader of South Vietnam

Ans--Ngo Dinh Diem

By 1957, a rebel group had formed in the South By 1957, a rebel group had formed in the South. The group was known as the Vietcong. It fought against Diem’s rule. Ho Chi Minh supported the Vietcong from the North. He supplied arms to the group along a network of paths that ran between North and South Vietnam. Together, these paths became known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Communist rebel group in South Vietnam

Ans--Vietcong

Network of paths running between North and South Vietnam

Ans--Ho Chi Minh Trail

In August 1964, Johnson received reports of an incident in the Gulf of Tonkin off North Vietnam. A North Vietnamese patrol boat allegedly had fired torpedoes at a U.S. destroyer. President Johnson responded by bombing North Vietnam. He also asked Congress for special military powers to stop any future North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces. As a result, Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. The resolution granted Johnson broad military powers in Vietnam. In February 1965, President Johnson used his new power. He launched a major bombing attack on North Vietnam’s cities.

Passed by Congress that allowed President Johnson to fight in Vietnam.

Ans--Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

In 1965, Johnson began sending U. S In 1965, Johnson began sending U.S. troops to Vietnam to fight the Vietcong. The president’s advisers supported sending in troops. They included Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and Secretary of State Dean Rusk. These men believed that America had to help defeat communism in Vietnam. Much of the public also agreed with Johnson’s decision. The American commander in South Vietnam was General William Westmoreland. Westmoreland was not impressed by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) as a fighting force. He asked for even more troops. By 1967, almost 500,000 American soldiers were fighting in Vietnam.

Commander of US troops in Vietnam

Ans--William Westmoreland

The South Vietnamese military forces

Ans--Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)

The United States believed that its superior weaponry would lead to a quick victory over the Vietcong. However, several factors turned the war into a bloody stalemate. The Vietcong did not have advanced weapons. As a result, they used hit-and-run ambush tactics. The second factor was the Vietcong’s refusal to surrender. The third factor was the American troops’ inability to win the support of the Vietnamese peasants. U.S. planes dropped napalm, a gasoline-based bomb that set fire to the jungle. They did this to expose Vietcong tunnels and hideouts. They also sprayed Agent Orange. This was a leaf-killing chemical that destroyed the landscape. Both of these weapons wounded villagers and ruined villages. American soldiers also turned the peasants against them by conducting search-and-destroy missions. During these missions, soldiers destroyed villages they believed supported the Vietcong.

Gasoline-based explosive

Ans--Napalm

Chemical that destroyed jungle foliage

Ans--Agent Orange

The number of U. S. troops in Vietnam continued to increase The number of U.S. troops in Vietnam continued to increase. So did the cost of the war. As a result, the nation’s economy began to suffer. President Johnson had to cut spending for his Great Society programs. By 1967, many Americans still supported the war. However, the images of the war on television began to change that. The Johnson administration told the American people that the war was going well. But television told the opposite story. Each night, Americans watched the brutal scenes of the war on their television screens. This led to a credibility gap in the Johnson administration. A growing number of people no longer believed what the president was saying.

US public no longer believed the Johnson administration

Ans--Credibility Gap

Most soldiers who fought in Vietnam were called into combat under the country’s Selective Service System, or draft. Because the war was growing unpopular, thousands of men tried to avoid the draft. One of the most common ways to avoid the draft was to attend college. Many university students during the 1960s were white and financially well-off. As a result, a large number who fought in Vietnam were lower-class whites or minorities. Nearly 80 percent of American soldiers came from lower economic levels. Thus, Vietnam was known as a working-class war.

System for calling people to military service

Ans--Draft

By the 1960s, American college students had become politically active By the 1960s, American college students had become politically active. The growing youth movement of the 1960s was known as the New Left. The New Left did not call for socialism. However, it did demand sweeping changes in American society. One of the better known New Left groups was Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). This organization called for greater individual freedom in America. Another New Left group was the Free Speech Movement (FSM). This group was formed at the University of California at Berkeley. It grew out of a fight between students and administrators over free speech on campus.

Across America, college students rose up in protest against the war Across America, college students rose up in protest against the war. They did so for various reasons. The most common reason was that the conflict in Vietnam was a civil war between the North and South. By 1967, Americans were divided into two main groups. Those who wanted the United States to withdraw from the war were called doves. Those who supported the war were called hawks.

American individual who called for America to withdraw from Vietnam

Ans--Dove

American individual who supported the war effort

Ans--Hawk

January 30 was the Vietnamese equivalent of New Year’s Eve January 30 was the Vietnamese equivalent of New Year’s Eve. It was the beginning of festivities known as Tet. During the Tet holiday in 1968, a week-long truce was called. Many peasants crowded into South Vietnam’s cities to celebrate the holiday. However, many of the peasants turned out to be Vietcong rebels. The rebels launched a massive attack on nearly 100 towns and cities in South Vietnam. They also attacked 12 U.S. air bases. The attacks were known as the Tet offensive. The Tet offensive shattered America’s confidence in the war. The enemy now seemed everywhere. Many Americans began to think that the war was unwinnable. The Tet offensive also hurt President Johnson’s popularity. By the end of February 1968, nearly 60 percent of the public disapproved of Johnson’s handling of the war.

Series of Vietcong attacks during the 1968 Tet holiday

Ans--Tet Offensive

Even before the Tet offensive, an antiwar group in the Democratic Party had taken steps to unseat Johnson. The group looked for someone to challenge Johnson in the 1968 primary election. They asked Robert Kennedy, a senator from New York. Kennedy declined. However, Minnesota senator Eugene McCarthy agreed. He would run against Johnson on a platform to end the Vietnam War. McCarthy surprised many people by nearly beating Johnson in the New Hampshire Democratic primary. Suddenly, Johnson appeared politically weak. As a result, Robert Kennedy declared himself a presidential candidate. The Democratic Party was now badly divided. President Johnson decided to address the nation on television. He announced that he would not seek reelection as president. Several more incidents stunned the nation. On April 4, a gunman killed civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Two months later, an assassin gunned down and killed Robert Kennedy.

About 10,000 antiwar protesters came to Chicago About 10,000 antiwar protesters came to Chicago. Some protesters wanted to pressure the Democrats to create an antiwar platform. Others wanted to voice their opposition to Humphrey. Still others wanted to create violence to discredit the Democratic Party. The violence in Chicago highlighted the Democrats’ division. The Republicans were more unified. They nominated former Vice-President Richard Nixon for president. Nixon campaigned on a platform of law and order. He also assured the American people that he would end the Vietnam War. With National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, he came up with a plan to end the war. Their plan was known as Vietnamization. It called for the gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops and for the South Vietnamese to do more of the fighting. To win support for his war policies, Nixon appealed to what he called the silent majority. These were mainstream Americans who quietly supported the president’s strategy.

Republican President of the US, elected in 1968

Ans—Richard Nixon

President Nixon’s plan for ending America’s involvement in the war

Ans--Vietnamization

Those mainstream Americans who supported Nixon’s policies

Ans--Silent Majority

The war continued to divide the country The war continued to divide the country. In November of 1969, Americans learned of a shocking event. U.S. troops had massacred more than 100 unarmed Vietnamese in the village of My Lai. A protest at Kent State University in Ohio turned tragic. To restore order on the campus, the local mayor called in the National Guard. Some students began throwing rocks at the guards. The guards fired into a crowd of protesters. Four students were killed. Support for the war declined even further in June of 1971. The Pentagon Papers were documents that showed that the past U.S. presidents had never drawn up any plans to withdraw from Vietnam.

Site of massacre of Vietnamese civilians by American soldiers

Ans--My Lai

Site of protest where National Guard killed four students

Ans—Kent State

Government documents that showed the gov Government documents that showed the gov. had no real plan for leaving Vietnam

Ans—Pentagon Papers

The Vietnam War cost both sides many lives The Vietnam War cost both sides many lives. In all, about 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam. Another 303,000 were wounded. Vietnamese deaths topped 2 million. In the United States, the war resulted in several policy changes. In November 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Act. This law prevented the president from committing troops in a foreign conflict without approval from Congress. In a larger sense, the war made Americans less willing to become involved in foreign wars. The war also left many Americans with a feeling of mistrust toward their government.

Act that forbids the president from mobilizing troops without Congressional approval

Ans—War Powers Act VS