The Vietnam War Chapter 22 - Section 1

Background on Vietnam 1800’s = France controlled Indochina Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia Natives in those areas became discontent with French rule Many Vietnamese revolutionaries fled to communist China

Background on Vietnam

Vietnamese began to organize under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh Minh helped create the Indochinese Communist Party Japanese took control of Vietnam Ho Chi Minh moved to Vietnam and help create the Vietminh (the organization’s purpose was to free Vietnam from foreign rule)

Ho Chi Minh Later in Life

Background on Vietnam August The end of WWII The Allied Powers defeated Japan, and they were forced to withdraw from Vietnam Ho Chi Minh saw this as his chance to seize control of Vietnam and keep all foreign powers out September 2, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam an independent nation

Background on Vietnam Near the end of France sent troops back into Vietnam They gained the southern half of the country back Minh vowed to fight from the northern half to free the south from French rule The United States entered the struggle for Vietnam

Background on Vietnam President Truman sent $15 million in aid to France Over the next 4 years, the US sent $1 billion to aid France in defeating Ho Chi Minh (a man the US sent aid to help resist Japan) Eisenhower took office with the goal of supplying more aid to France to ensure victory over the communists in Vietnam

Background on Vietnam = The US has settled for a stalemate in Korea Eisenhower gave a speech which explain the “domino theory” He compared countries on the brink of communism to dominoes ready to fall Despite all the aid, France could not retake Vietnam the Vietminh overran the French outpost at Dien Bien Phu in northwest Vietnam

Geneva Accords May - July 1954 = The countries of France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States, China, Laos, and Cambodia met in Geneva, Switzerland Tried to establish a peace agreement The Geneva Accords - temporarily divided Vietnam along the 17th Parallel. North = Communists led by Ho Chi Minh (Hanoi) South = Nationalists (Saigon)

Diem Cancels Elections Ho Chi Minh was widely popular in North Vietnam He broke up large farms and gave land to peasants Ngo Dinh Diem = South Vietnam’s President Diem did not favor a nation wide election in 1956 because he feared Ho Chi Minh would win the entire country’s support The US also felt the communists would win the election

Diem Cancels Elections The US sent aid and promised military training to Diem if he could provide a stable government in South Vietnam Diem failed to uphold the promise - he became corrupt By Group opposed to Communism = Vietcong (NLF - National Liberation Front)

Ho Chi Minh Trail Ho Chi Minh supported the Vietcong He began supplying arms to the Vietcong Set of paths known as the Ho Chin Minh Trial The US did nothing to stop the arms supply or the surprise attacks on the South Vietnam, they let it up to Diem

Kennedy and Vietnam Kennedy chose to supply the South Vietnamese and train their troops rather than send Americans to war By ,000 US military personnel were in Vietnam Diem took extra measures to prevent attacks by moving all villagers into protected areas The villagers were angered and resented the move

Johnson and Vietnam The US realized Diem had to go for South Vietnam to remain stable The US backed an overthrow of the Diem regime, but did not support the assassination of Diem The same year, Kennedy was also assassinated Johnson became the President and Vietnam became his problem

Johnson and Vietnam Diem’s death brought more chaos in South Vietnam Other leaders attempted to take over South Vietnam, but each made the country more unstable Johnson believed something had to be done to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution North Vietnamese patrol boat fired on the USS Maddox which was patrolling the Gulf of Tonkin off the North Vietnam coast The torpedo missed, but the Maddox fired back and damaged the patrol boat Two days later the Maddox and another destroyer were off the coast of North Vietnam Bad weather affected visibility, but the crew claimed they heard shots. The US ships fired back, but there was no return fire

Johnson Takes Charge Johnson asked Congress for the power to take “all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the United States...” Tonkin Gulf Resolution gave Johnson broad military power in Vietnam Johnson did not tell Congress or the public the US had been carrying out secret raids against North Vietnam The Maddox was in the area to collect information for the raids Johnson prepared the Tonkin Gulf Resolution months before

Johnson Uses Force Feb Johnson used his new powers to respond to a Vietnam attack which killed 8 Americans “Operation Rolling Thunder” = First sustained bombing attack of North Vietnam March The US began sending troops to South Vietnam June more than 50,000 US soldiers were battling the Vietcong