Download Vietnam War (1954

Vietnam War
(1954-1975)
By: Tom Deebel and
Andre Briscoe
Background
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The Vietnam war went on from 1954 to 1975.
There were two sides during the war.
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The Vietcong and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) represented communism.
The USA and the South Vietnamese were anticommunism.
From 1950 to 1954, the US was giving financial aid (Truman Doctrine) to the French, who
initially had control over Vietnam.
Truman feared the domino theory would prove successful with Vietnam, making nearby
countries like Japan, the Philippines, and Australia would fall to communism.
More Background
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In May of 1954, the French surrendered to
North Vietnam.
Vietnam was then divided into two separate
countries, communist North Vietnam and South
Vietnam, a country against communism.
South Vietnam was getting backed up by the
United States.
Another treaty organization, similar to NATO
was created. This was called Southeast Asia
Treaty Organization (SEATO).
The US kept giving military and financial aid to
South Vietnam to resist the NVA.
Off to War
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In 1961, President Kennedy (elected in 1960)
decided to be more aggressive regarding
Vietnam, so he sent troops over.
The number of troops gradually climbed over
time.
JFK was later assassinated, and Lyndon Johnson
became president.
Shortly after, the USS Maddox was attacked, and
President Johnson decided to bomb North
Vietnam.
Then, Johnson passed the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution. This allowed President Johnson to
take harder military action in Southeast Asia.
Johnson continued bombing North Vietnam.
In the picture on the right, JFK is holding a press
conference about sending troops over to
Vietnam.
Keep Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’
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Johnson formulated a plan called “Operation
Rolling Thunder”. The US bombed North
Vietnam for eight weeks, thinking that they
would consider negotiating peace.
North Vietnam remained stubborn, and they
would not settle for peace.
In the Vietnam war, Napalm and Agent Orange
were also used. Napalm is a jelly version of
gasoline that clings easily to a surface. Agent
Orange is an herbicide, or in other words, a
substance that kills plants.
Guerilla Warfare
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In the Vietnam War, the NVA and the Vietcong
fought using guerilla warfare tactics.
They used mines, booby traps, and so on.
They also attacked our troops at night, when
they could not be seen.
They thought that if they fought us directly in
large battles and the US and South Vietnamese
knew where they were, they would easily be
defeated. They wanted to be elusive and hard to
find.
They would often hop out of thick plants to
attack using the element of surprise.
In summary, this war was quite different
because we did not necessarily know where are
enemy was located most of the time.
This war was also difficult to fight because we
did not have a clear enemy. Vietnamese citizens
were paid off by the NVA and the Vietcong to
kills Americans.
• http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=O_Sji9OhA
uI
Effects of the Vietnam War on Society
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For the Vietnam War, we used a draft, like in
World War 2.
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One had to sign up for the draft at the age of 18.
1.5 million people were drafted into the Vietnam War.
Taxes were being raised in order to compensate
for the amount of money the government was
spending on the war.
Inflation was also caused by the war (prices were
rising).
Johnson came up with a plan called the Great
Society Plan. With the help of this plan, he
wanted to reduce poverty in the US, improve the
education and medical care systems, and combat
against racism.
Our nation was split up into Hawks (for the
Vietnam War) and Doves (against the Vietnam
War).
Tet Offensive
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The North Vietnamese military launched an
attack by the name of the Tet Offensive in
January 1968.
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An offensive attack is an attack where one side is being
aggressive, and attacking the other side.
The communists fought hard, but they were
eventually defeated by the US and the South
Vietnamese.
This attack proved that the North Vietnamese
were still able to fight and they were still
somewhat strong.
After this event, the Secretary of Defense, Clark
Clifford, decided that it would be smart to not
send more troops over because that would hurt
our aching economy. Instead, he suggested that
we look more in the direction of making peace
with them.
This attack made Americans think that an end
was not anywhere in sight.
New Guy in Charge
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In the election of 1968, Nixon won the
presidency.
His theory for solving the war was called “peace
with honor”, which meant that he wanted to
bring an end to the war, but under honorable
terms.
The North Vietnamese did eventually offer
peace to Nixon, but Nixon declined because he
did not agree with their terms of peace.
Nixon then attempted something called
Vietnamization. This was the withdrawal of
troops from Vietnam while the South Vietnam
military would obtain more combat duties
against North Vietnam.
Shortly after, Nixon decided to authorize ground
attacks in Cambodia on NVA and Vietcong bases.
Their Way or the Highway
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North Vietnam still offered terms of peace, but
Nixon did not agree, so we did not accept them.
North Vietnam remained insistent , and they
were not willing to change theirs terms of
peace.
Eventually, in October 1972, we reached an
agreement concerning peace, but one month
later, the North Vietnamese backed out.
In return, we bombed them until they agreed to
the terms of peace.
Peace in Paris
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In January of 1973, the Paris Peace Accords was
signed by the United States, North Vietnam,
South Vietnam, and the Vietcong.
The terms of the treaty were as follows:
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US withdraws troops.
NVA will still remain in South Vietnam.
A noncommunist government will remain in effect in South
Vietnam.
No more fighting.
Unfortunately, fighting still occurred as the
communist North Vietnam easily took over
South Vietnam.
Vietnam was no longer divided and they
operated with a communist government.
To the right is Henry Kissinger (Secretary of
State) and Le Duc Tho (Vietnamese politician) in
1973 in Paris.
Works Cited
Battlefield:Vietnam | Guerrilla Tactics." PBS. Web. 25 May 2010.
<http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/guerrilla/index.html>.
Lapsansky-Werner, Emma J. United States History: Modern America. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall,
2009. Print.
"Vietnam War." The History Place. Web. 25 May 2010. <http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/>.
Picture links
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http://www.warchat.org/pictures/vietnam_war_map.gif
http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/98/71298-050-DAB83C4D.jpg
http://www.internationalist.org/vietnamnapalm1966www.jpg
http://www.alan.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/nixon.jpg
http://ehistory.osu.edu/vietnam/maps/images/010.jpg
http://neoneocon.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/vietnamization.gif
http://www.newspaperarchive.org/images/newspapers/peace_w_honor_paper.jpg
http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/46/21046-004-85FAD0A4.jpg
Video Link
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_Sji9OhAuI