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10th American History
Unit V – A Nation Facing Challenges
Chapter 19 – Section 1 – The War Develops
Vietnam Veterans Memorial – 1:24
The War Develops
The Main Idea
Concern about the spread of communism led the United
States to become increasingly violent in Vietnam.
Reading Focus
• How did Southeast Asia’s colonial history produce increased
tensions in Vietnam?
• What policies did Presidents Truman and Eisenhower pursue in
Vietnam after World War II?
• What events and conditions caused growing conflicts between
North Vietnam and South Vietnam?
• Why did Presidents Kennedy and Johnson increase U.S.
involvement in Vietnam?
Southeast Asia’s Colonial History
• France gained control of Vietnam by 1883 despite fierce resistance
from the Vietnamese.
• The French combined Vietnam with Laos and Cambodia to form
French Indochina.
• Ho Chi Minh led a growing nationalist movement in Vietnam.
• During World War II, the Japanese army occupied French
Indochina.
• A group called the League for the Independence of Vietnam, or the
Vietminh, fought the Japanese.
• After World War II, the Vietminh declared independence, but the
French quickly moved in to reclaim Vietnam.
Colonial Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh
• Real name is Nguyen That
Thanh; Ho Chi Minh means
“He Who Enlightens.”
• Participated in tax revolts
against the French.
• Joined the French Communist
Party.
• Believed that a Communist
revolution was a way Vietnam
could be free of foreign rulers.
World War II
• Japan occupied French
Indochina.
• Ho Chi Minh organized the
Vietminh to fight the Japanese.
• Japan surrendered to the Allies
in 1945, and the Vietminh
declared Vietnam to be
independent.
• Ho Chi Minh hoped for U.S.
support of their independence.
• The French reclaimed Vietnam
after World War II.
What policies did Presidents Truman and
Eisenhower pursue in Vietnam after WW II?
•
Saw Vietnam in terms of the Cold War struggle against
communism
•
Supported France; unwilling to back the Vietminh
because many were Communists
•
Communists seized China in 1949.
•
Communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950.
•
Communist-led revolts in Indonesia, Malaya, and the
Philippines
•
Believed in the domino theory
•
Sent arms, ammunition, supplies, and money to the
French forces in Vietnam.
Truman
Events
Eisenhower
Vietnam and World War II
• By 1940 Japan had conquered
French Indochina.
• The Vietnamese resistance
leader by 1945 was Ho Chi
Minh
• Ho would lead the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam in 1945
• However, the French began to
demand the return of their
former colonies and replace Ho
with a puppet government
• In 1948, the French re-installed
Bao Dai as head of state of
Vietnam, which now comprised
of central and south Vietnam.
Ho Chi Mihn
Emperor Bao Dai
French-Indochina War
• Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh begin to fight the
French.
• The U.S regard Ho Chi Minh as communist and
move to support the French
• The French struggle was going badly. The
turnover of French governments left France
unable to prosecute the war with any consistent
policy. France was increasingly unable to afford
the conflict in Indochina.
• Chinese communists meanwhile increased help to
Viet Mihn
French in Indo-China - :57 min.
Colonial Vietnam
• How did Southeast Asia’s colonial history
produce increased tensions in Vietnam?
• Recall – By what name do we know Nguyen
That Thanh?
• Analyze – How did the experience of the
Vietminh during World War II prepare it for war
with France?
• Evaluate – Why did Ho Chi Minh expect the
United States to support Vietnam’s bid for
independence?
Vietnam after World War II
The Domino Theory
• Domino theory—the belief that
communism would spread to
neighboring countries if Vietnam
fell to communism
• To avoid this, the United States
supported the French during the
Vietnam War.
• By 1954 the United States was
paying more than 75 percent of
the cost of the war.
• The French continued to lose
battle after battle.
• Vietminh used guerrilla tactics
effectively.
France Defeated
• French soldiers made a last stand
at Dien Bien Phu.
• French forces hoped for a U.S.
rescue, but Eisenhower did not
want to send U.S. soldiers to Asia
so soon after Korea.
• The French surrendered on May
7, 1954.
• After eight years of fighting, the
two sides had lost nearly 300,000
soldiers.
• The Vietminh had learned how to
fight a guerilla war against an
enemy with superior weapons and
technology.
Dien Bien Phu- "57 Days of Hell".
•
•
•
•
Began March 13, 1954
Fought near the village of Dien Bien
Phu in northern Vietnam and became
the last battle between the French and
the Vietnamese in the First Indochina
War.
After seven years of bloody conflict,
the French made their last stand at
Dien Bien Phu, where they were
engaged by the forces of General Vo
Nguyen Giap. But contemporary
military tactics were unable to defeat
successive human wave attacks and
the subsequent siege of the base; the
French were defeated with
devastating losses
At least 2,200 members of the 20,000strong French forces died during the
battle. Of the 100,000 or so
Vietnamese involved, there were an
estimated 8,000 killed and another
15,000 wounded, almost half of the
attacking force.
The Siege of Dien Bien Phu: A French Military Disaster (03:50)
The Geneva Conference
The goal of the Geneva Conference was to work out a
peace agreement and arrange for Indochina’s future.
According to the Geneva Accords, Vietnam was
temporarily divided at the 17th parallel.
Vietminh forces controlled the North and the French
would withdraw from the country.
General elections were to be held in July 1956 and would
reunify the country under one government.
The United States never fully supported the peace
agreements fearing that Ho Chi Minh and the
Communists would win the nationwide election.
Geneva Conference
• The on July 21, 1954 recognized the 17th parallel as a
"provisional military demarcation line" temporarily dividing
the country into two states, Communist North Vietnam and proWestern South Vietnam.
• The Geneva Accords promised elections in 1956 to determine a
national government for a united Vietnam. However only
France and the North Vietnamese government (DRV) signed the
document. The U.S. and the government in Saigon refused to
abide by the agreement, believing that the election would result
in an easy victory for Ho Chi Minh. Emperor Bao Dai from his
home in France appointed Ngo Dinh Diem as Prime Minister of
South Vietnam. With American support, in 1955 Diem used a
referendum to remove the former Emperor and declare himself
as president of the Republic of Vietnam
• Thus the competition for the whole of Vietnam began; Diem's
military was unable to prevail in the civil war which escalated,
as a result of international intervention, into the Vietnam War.
Vietnam after World War II
• What policies did Presidents Truman and
Eisenhower pursue in Vietnam after World
War II?
• Recall – What events in Asia after World
War II increased American fears of
communism?
• Make Judgments – Was the domino
theory a good basis for American policy?
Vietnam after World War II
• Identify – What happened at Dien Bien
Phu?
• Make Inferences – What useful
experience did the Vietnamese take away
from Dien Bien Phu?
• Evaluate – Why did the United States not
support the Geneva Accords?
Conflict between North Vietnam
and South Vietnam
• President Eisenhower hoped to prevent communism from
spreading to South Vietnam.
• South Vietnam’s leader was Ngo Dinh Diem.
• North Vietnam’s leader was Ho Chi Mihn.
• While Ho Chi Minh became more and more popular in North
Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem’s corrupt and brutal leadership began to
anger many South Vietnamese.
• By the late 1950s a civil war broke out in South Vietnam.
• And by 1960, Ho Chi Minh expanded the effort to unify North and
South Vietnam under a Communist government.
Growing Conflict in Vietnam
Vietnam’s Leaders
• Ngo Dinh Diem became the
president of South Vietnam in
1954.
• Diem’s government was corrupt,
brutal, and unpopular from the
start.
• He favored Catholics and the
wealthy.
• Diem cancelled the 1956 election
that would unify Vietnam under
one government.
• Ho Chi Minh’s leadership in North
Vietnam was totalitarian and
repressive.
• He gave land to peasants, which
made him popular.
A Civil War
• Diem’s opponents in South
Vietnam began to revolt.
• North Vietnam supplied weapons
to Vietminh rebels in South
Vietnam.
• The Vietminh in South Vietnam
formed the National Liberation
Front and called their military
forces the Vietcong.
• The Vietcong assassinated many
South Vietnamese leaders and
soon controlled much of the
countryside.
• In 1960 Ho Chi Minh sent the
North Vietnamese Army into the
country to fight with the Vietcong.
Growing Conflict in Vietnam
• What events and conditions caused
growing conflicts between North Vietnam
and South Vietnam?
• Identify – Who was the South Vietnamese
leader?
• Explain – Why was Ngo Dihn Diem so
popular with the American Government?
Growing Conflict in Vietnam
• Recall – Why did Ngo Dinh Diem
refuse to allow the 1956
elections?
• Analyze – How did Diem
Catholicism affect the South
Vietnamese?
Growing Conflict in Vietnam
• Identify – Who were the
Vietcong?
• Evaluate – do you believe that
Eisenhower’s decision to send
U.S. troops to Vietnam was wise?
U.S. Involvement in Vietnam
•
Eisenhower •
Kennedy
Johnson
Began sending money and weapons to South Vietnam
Military advisors sent to train South Vietnamese army
•
Believed in the Domino Theory
•
Increased the number of military advisors and army
special forces, or Green Berets
•
Advisors were not to take part in combat, but many did
•
Believed an expanded U.S. effort was the only way to
prevent a Communist victory in Vietnam
•
Asked Congress to pass the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
U.S Involvement in
French Indochina
War- Eisenhower
Former General Dwight
D. Eisenhower became
President of the United
States and first
advanced the so-called
domino theory, warning
that if America did not
support France in
stopping the
Communists in
Indochina, all of the
Eastern, India and
Southeastern Asia would
fall to the "Communist
Bloc".
•
•
•
1950- U.S. begins to help the French with money and arms.
1953- Eisehower asks for $60 million in aid to French.
1954- The U.S. is paying for 80% of the war between the
French and the Vietnamese communists.
U.S Involvement in French
Indochina War- Truman
• President Harry Truman
began covertly
authorizing support for
the French in their
attempt to retake
Indochina, giving
money and supplies in
an effort to suppress
the rebellion, and in
July 1950 he
announced publicly that
the U.S. was doing so.
Kennedy and Indochina
•
•
•
•
•
•
Laos and the coalition government (Pathet Lao)
Problems in Vietnam
1956 National Elections- Geneva Accords
Civil War
President Diem
Government Opposition- many groups, Buddhists,
Communists all joined the NLF- National Liberation
Front (“Vietcong” nicknamed by Diem)
• Overthrow of Diem- “Coup”, and military junta.
• Kennedy sending supplies, money and advisors
(16,000 by 1963.)
Increasing U.S. Involvement
Diem’s Overthrow
• Diem’s government continued to
grow more and more unpopular.
• He arrested and killed Buddhist
protesters.
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
• To increase the American military
effort in Vietnam, Johnson needed
to obtain authority from Congress.
• U.S. leaders said they would
withdraw support if Diem did not
change his ways.
• Johnson asked Congress for this
authority claiming that the USS
Maddox had been attacked by
North Vietnamese torpedo boats
in the Gulf of Tonkin.
• Diem refused to change his stand
against Buddhists, and the United
States began to support a plot to
overthrow Diem.
• Johnson claimed this attack was
unprovoked, but really the
Maddox had been on a spying
mission and had fired first.
• In November 1963 the South
Vietnamese plotters murdered
Diem.
• The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was
passed on August 7.
The Tonkin Gulf Incident
During the night of 4 August a second
attack was believed to have taken place
against both the Maddox and the Turner
Joy, leading to retaliatory strikes on
North Vietnam by U.S. carrier planes.
U.S.S. Maddox
U.S.S. Maddox- On 2 August
1964, while on patrol in the
Gulf of Tonkin, she was
attacked by North Vietnamese
motor torpedo boats- torpedoes
and machine gunfire.
U.S.S. Turner Joy
Orders were to conduct some electronic
eavesdropping, monitoring North
Vietnamese radio traffic, and to
support South Vietnamese patrol boat
raids on North Vietnamese Coastal
Radar.
Most historians are nearly certain that
no communist attack had occurred.
U.S.S. Maddox
U.S.S. Turner Joy
•
•
•
Tonkin
Gulf
ResolutionJan
7,
1964
The resolution passes unanimously in
the House, and by a margin of 82-2 in
the Senate. The Resolution allows
Johnson to wage all out war against
North Vietnam without ever securing
a formal Declaration of War from
Congress.
Resolved by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States
of America in Congress assembled,
That the Congress approves and
supports the determination of the
President, as Commander in Chief, to
take all necessary measures to repel
any armed attack against the forces of
the United States and to prevent
further aggression.
Johnson did not believe the
Commander in Chief needed this
resolution (approval)
America and the Vietnam War – 5:26
Increasing U.S. Involvement
• Why did Presidents Kennedy and
Johnson increase U.S.
involvement in Vietnam?
• Identify – Who were the Green
Berets?
• Explain – Why did Buddhist
monks begin to kill themselves
publicly?
Increasing U.S. Involvement
• Recall – What happened to Ngo
Dinh Diem?
• Predict – What would have
happened to South Vietnam
following Diem’s death if the
United States had not expanded
its military role?
Increasing U.S. Involvement
• Recall – What was the Gulf of
Tonkin incident?
• Evaluate – How did the Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution help Johnson’s
war plans?