The Vietnam War

French Indochina French Indochina included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was ruled by the French until Japan took control during WWII. After WWII, the Japanese lost control of French Indochina. The Viet Minh were Vietnamese people who wanted Vietnam to become an independent country. Ho Chi Minh was their leader. He was a communist, but his goal was independence, not the spread of communism.

Southeast Asia

Vietnam is divided In 1954, Vietnam was divided into a northern and southern section, with the North supported by the USSR and China, and the South supported by the US. This was supposed to be temporary until elections were held in 1956 to decide the fate of a united Vietnam. Ngo Dinh Diem was the leader of South Vietnam He opposed communism but his government was corrupt For this reason, many South Vietnamese supported the Viet Cong

Ngo Dinh Diem

Ho Chi Minh ruled North Vietnam He had supporters in South Vietnam called Viet Cong Most of these Viet Cong were communists, but some simply supported overthrowing Diem’s government The US decided that the elections planned for 1956 would probably result in a loss for Diem’s loss and a win for Ho Chi Minh, so the elections never happened.

Ho Chi Minh

The Domino Theory In the 1950s, President Eisenhower proposed the Domino Theory If one county fell to communism, its neighbors would also He used this argument to support the idea of intervening in Vietnam

Lyndon Johnson At first, the US played an advisory role in South Vietnam Trained soldiers to fight the VC and army of North Vietnam Gulf of Tonkin Resolution August 1964—North Vietnamese forces attack US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin resolution to allow LBJ freedom to do whatever he sees as necessary in Vietnam Numbers of US troops sent to Vietnam increases dramatically

LBJ being sworn in on Air Force One following JFK’s assassination

Ho Chi Minh Trail The North Vietnamese used the Ho Chi Minh Trail to get supplies to VC in South Vietnam The trail ran through the neighboring countries of Laos and Cambodia

Ho Chi Minh

The Tide Turns In 1968, the North Vietnamese attacked the South in an incident known as the Tet Offensive Tet is the celebration of the Vietnamese New Year US/South Vietnamese forces had taken a break from the fighting to allow celebrations and the NVA used the opportunity to attack Although the North Vietnamese did not make any great gains, popular opinion turned against the war.

LBJ’s Legacy LBJ decided not to run for reelection in 1968 due to the unpopularity of the war. He was succeeded by Richard Nixon, who negotiated an end to the war in Fighting officially ended April 30, 1975, when the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon, fell to communist forces.

Fall of Saigon

Elsewhere in Asia Cambodia falls under the control of the Khmer Rouge, a communist organization led by Pol Pot. Millions will die in the Killing Fields of Cambodia in the 1970s and 1980s.