Download Cold War Roots of the Conflict

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Cold War Roots
of the Conflict
MAIN IDEA
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
The United States entered the
Vietnam War to stop the spread
of communism.
The United States still becomes
involved in foreign struggles for
political reasons.
TERMS & NAMES
Ngo Dinh Diem
Viet Cong
French Indochina
Ho Chi Minh Trail
Ho Chi Minh
Cuban missile crisis
domino theory
ONE AMERICAN’S STORY
Edward Lansdale, a U.S. military officer, went to South Vietnam in
June 1954. His mission: to stop the spread of communism in
Vietnam. He would try to do this by helping the non-Communist
government of South Vietnam resist being taken over by
Communist North Vietnam.
Lansdale became a trusted adviser to Ngo Dinh Diem
(uhng•oh dihn zih•ehm), the leader of South Vietnam. At
Lansdale’s urging, the United States helped support Diem’s
unpopular government. Within a year, Lansdale reported, “The
Free Vietnamese are now becoming unified and learning how to
cope with the Communist enemy.”
Lansdale was too optimistic. U.S. involvement in Vietnam grew
into the longest war the United States ever fought—and one in
which it failed. In this section, you will learn how the United States
first became involved in Vietnam.
Edward Lansdale was one of the
earliest U.S. military advisers sent
to Vietnam.
Vietnam After World War II
Taking Notes
From the late 1800s until World War II, France ruled Vietnam as part of
its colony of French Indochina. The colony also included neighboring
Laos (LAH•ohs) and Cambodia. (See the map on page 837.) During this
colonial period, France increased its wealth by exporting rice and rubber
from Vietnam. But Vietnamese peasants lost their land and grew poor.
The Vietnamese never accepted French rule. Various groups of
nationalists, who wanted Vietnam to become an independent nation,
staged revolts against the French. In 1930, a revolutionary leader named
Ho Chi Minh (hoh chee mihn) united three Communist groups to form
the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP). This new party called for an
independent Vietnam controlled by peasants and other workers.
Use your chart to
take notes about
reasons for and
against U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Reasons for
Reasons against
French alliance
U.S. interests
Domino theory
Draft
Nation building
Social programs
Cold War crises
Vietnamese civilians
U.S. weaponry
Domestic unrest
The Vietnam War Years
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The Indochinese Communist Party organized
protests by peasants against the French government.
The French responded by arresting suspected
Communists and executing a number of leaders. Ho
Chi Minh, who was living in China, was sentenced to
death without being present.
In 1940, during World War II, Japan took over
Indochina. The next year, Ho Chi Minh secretly
returned to Vietnam and hid in a jungle camp. Under
his direction, the ICP joined with other nationalists
to form an organization called the Viet Minh. The
Viet Minh trained soldiers to fight to make Vietnam
independent of all foreign rulers. Because Japan was
an enemy of the United States in World War II, the
U.S. government aided Ho Chi Minh and the Viet
Minh in their fight against the Japanese.
After the Japanese surrendered to the Allies in
August 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam’s independence before a cheering crowd in Hanoi. But
France soon tried to regain control of Vietnam. Ho
Chi Minh sought a peaceful solution to the conflict
with France.
Ho Chi Minh
speaks to a French
audience in 1946.
If they force us into war, we will fight. The struggle will be atrocious
[terrible], but the Vietnamese people will suffer anything rather than
renounce [give up] their freedom.
In 1946, war broke out between the Viet Minh and France. The
French bombed Haiphong, and the Viet Minh attacked Hanoi.
Truman and Eisenhower Aid the French
As France fought to hold on to power in Vietnam, the United States
struggled against the Soviet Union in the Cold War. President Truman
followed a policy of containment, working to prevent the spread of
communism in Western Europe.
In the fall of 1949, Communists gained control of China. This event
made American leaders worry about the spread of communism in Asia.
When France asked the United States for aid to help them fight the Viet
Minh, the United States agreed. One reason was that U.S. leaders needed
French support in opposing the Soviets in Europe. Another reason was
that the United States did not want Vietnam to become Communist.
The United States entered the conflict in Vietnam in 1950, when
President Truman offered $10 million in military aid to the French.
After Dwight D. Eisenhower became president in 1953, he continued
aiding the French war effort in Vietnam.
CHAPTER 30
A. Analyzing
Causes What
was the original
source of the
conflict in
Vietnam?
A V O I C E F R O M T H E PA S T
Ho Chi Minh, quoted in Vietnam: A History by Stanley Karnow
836
A. Answer
The Vietnamese
wanted independence from
French colonial
rule.
B. Reading a
Map Use the map
on page 837 to
find Haiphong
and Hanoi.
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Both Truman and Eisenhower used the domino theory to explain the
need to support anti-Communists in Vietnam. According to this theory,
if a country fell to communism, nearby countries would also topple, like
a row of dominoes standing on end. U.S. leaders feared that if Vietnam
became Communist, the rest of Southeast Asia would follow.
C. Analyzing
Points of View
Why did Truman
and Eisenhower
support the
French in
Vietnam?
C. Answer
They wanted
French support
against the
Soviets in Europe,
and they did not
want Vietnam to
have a Communist government.
Dividing North and South
Even with limited U.S. support, France could not defeat the Viet Minh.
In 1954, the Viet Minh overran French forces at Dien Bien Phu, in
northwestern Vietnam. In May 1954, France met with the Viet Minh
for peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland. The two sides reached an agreement called the Geneva Accords. This agreement divided Vietnam into
North and South along the 17th parallel, or at 17˚N latitude.
Surrounding this line was a demilitarized zone, or DMZ. The split was
meant to be temporary, however. The two sides agreed to hold elections
in 1956 for a single government that would reunify the country.
Until then, the Geneva Accords allowed for separate governments in
the North and the South. Ho Chi Minh and the Communists controlled North Vietnam. Ngo Dinh Diem, an anti-Communist, became
prime minister and, later, president of South Vietnam. Thousands of
anti-Communists from the North fled to the South. The United States
provided ships for their transportation.
Skillbuilder
Answers
1. China
2. Hanoi,
Haiphong, and
Dien Bien Phu are
in North Vietnam.
Hue, Da Nang, and
Saigon are in South
Vietnam.
Vietnam, 1959–1975
Re
CHINA
dR
.
Dien Bien Phu
BURMA
Haiphong
Hanoi
NORTH
VIETNAM
LAOS
20°N
Hainan
Island
Gulf of
Tonkin
M
on
Ch
ek
Ho
Vientiane
inh
R.
iM
g
DMZ
Tra
Hue
Da Nang
1 975
1959–
il (
THAILAND
PACIFIC
OCEAN
)
INDIAN
OCEAN
South
China
Sea
Bangkok
SOUTH
VIETNAM
CAMBODIA
250 Miles
0
Camranh
Bay
Phnom
Penh
Saigon
0
100°E
500 Kilometers
Mekong
Delta
110°E
Gulf of
Thailand
10°N
North Vietnamese Communists carry supplies to South
Vietnamese Communist rebels.
GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER Interpreting Maps
1. Location What country lies along the northern
border of North Vietnam?
2. Location What cities on the map are in North
Vietnam? In South Vietnam?
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Ho Chi Minh enjoyed great popularity in North Vietnam, while
Diem had little support from the people of South Vietnam. As a result,
Diem refused to hold national elections in 1956. President Eisenhower
supported him, later saying, “If the elections had been held in 1956, Ho
Chi Minh would have won 80% of the vote.”
Instead, Eisenhower sent more aid and advisers to South Vietnam to
help the Diem government. U.S. advisers described their mission as
“nation-building.”
The Viet Cong Oppose Diem
In spite of U.S. aid, Diem did not establish a democratic government in
South Vietnam. Instead, his government was corrupt. In the countryside,
for example, he let landlords take back land given to peasants. In addition,
he jailed, tortured, and killed opponents.
Diem’s opponents included South Vietnamese Communists. In 1960,
they joined with other dissatisfied South Vietnamese to form the
National Liberation Front. Diem ridiculed the group by calling them
the Viet Cong, for Vietnamese Communists. This name became the
commonly used term for the group.
The Viet Cong fought to overthrow the Diem government and reunite
the country under Communist rule. North Vietnam supported the Viet
Cong, sending soldiers and supplies along a network of paths called the
Ho Chi Minh Trail. This supply line wove through the jungles and
mountains of neighboring Laos and Cambodia. By 1963, when John F.
Kennedy was in the White House, the Viet Cong were close to victory.
Kennedy Faces Communist Threats
A woman in West
Berlin talks across
the Berlin Wall
to her mother in
East Berlin.
838
President Kennedy continued to send military advisers and equipment to South Vietnam. By late 1963, the United States had more
than 16,000 military personnel there. Kennedy faced a number of
Cold War crises that influenced him to keep supporting the fight
against communism in Vietnam.
The first was the Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961. An army of
Cuban exiles, trained by the United States, invaded Cuba. They planned
to overthrow the country’s Communist leader,
Fidel Castro. Cuban troops easily crushed the
invasion, humiliating the United States.
Then in June 1961, the Soviet Union threatened
to close off Western access to West Berlin because
so many East Germans were fleeing there to escape
communism. Tensions rose when Kennedy insisted
on West Berlin’s independence. The Soviets and
East Germans then built the Berlin Wall, a heavily
guarded barrier dividing West Berlin from
Communist East Berlin and East Germany. The
wall, which made it harder for East Germans to
flee, became a symbol of Communist oppression.
D. Making
Inferences Why
was the Diem
government
unpopular?
D. Answer
Diem let landlords
take back peasants’ land, and he
jailed, tortured,
and killed his
opponents.
E. Reading a
Map Find the
Ho Chi Minh Trail
on the map on
page 837.
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F. Analyzing
Causes What
Cold War crises
made Kennedy
increase his
commitment to
fight communism
in Asia?
F. Answer
The Bay of Pigs
invasion, the
Berlin Wall, and
the Cuban missile
crisis made
Kennedy fear
Communist
power.
Vocabulary
coup (koo): a
sudden takeover
by a small group
Section
1
The Cuban missile crisis in October 1962 was
Kennedy’s most serious confrontation with the Soviets.
Fidel Castro, believing the United States planned
another attack on Cuba, had asked for more Soviet military aid. The United States learned that the Soviets had
put nuclear missiles in Cuba. These missiles could reach
U.S. cities within minutes. Kennedy weighed his
choices. “The greatest danger of all,” he told the country, “would be to do nothing.” In a frightening showdown between the two superpowers, the Soviets agreed
to remove the missiles, and the United States promised
not to invade Cuba.
These Cold War crises fed American fears that the
Soviet Union might become the strongest world power. In
this climate of fear and suspicion, the United States made
a greater effort to contain communism in Asia by sending
more money and military advisers to South Vietnam.
The Diem Government Falls
As U.S. aid increased, so did South Vietnamese opposition to Diem. American officials told Diem to make
political, economic, and military reforms. But he refused.
The Kennedy administration lost faith in Diem. With
U.S. support, a military coup overthrew Diem on
November 1, 1963. Against Kennedy’s wishes, the coup’s
leaders killed Diem. In a terrible and unrelated turn of
events, President Kennedy was assassinated three weeks
later. Vice-President Lyndon Johnson became president.
He deepened U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, as
you will see in the next section.
JOHN F. KENNEDY
1917–1963
In 1960, at age 43, John F.
Kennedy became the youngest
U.S. president ever elected.
Handsome and energetic, he
inspired belief in the country’s
capabilities.
Many Americans regard the
Cuban missile crisis as Kennedy’s
finest moment of leadership. This
conflict brought the United States
to the brink of nuclear war.
Kennedy considered bombing the
Soviet missile sites in Cuba and
invading the country before
deciding it was safer to blockade
Cuba and keep bargaining with
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.
How did the missile crisis
show Kennedy’s leadership?
Assessment
1. Terms & Names
2. Using Graphics
3. Main Ideas
4. Critical Thinking
Explain the
significance of:
Review the section and identify a key event for each year
on the time line.
a. What were Ho Chi Minh’s
goals for Vietnam?
Evaluating How did U.S.
support of the Diem government involve a conflict of
values?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ngo Dinh Diem
French Indochina
Ho Chi Minh
domino theory
Viet Cong
Ho Chi Minh Trail
Cuban missile crisis
1930
1945
1940
1950
1946
1960
1954
What event brought the
United States into the
Vietnam conflict?
1963
b. How did the Cold War
affect American decisions
regarding Vietnam?
c. What level of involvement
did the Truman, Eisenhower,
and Kennedy administrations
have in Vietnam?
THINK ABOUT
• American beliefs in
democracy and individual
rights
• the actions of the Diem
government
ACTIVITY OPTIONS
SPEECH
ART
Record imaginary radio interviews with Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Dinh Diem about
Vietnam, or construct signs that their supporters might carry in a demonstration.
The Vietnam War Years
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