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By:
William Torres
Vietnam War
Second Indochina war
 Fallowed first Indochina war
a) between communist (north) supported
by communist allies
b) against South Vietnam (supported by the
U.S. (anti-communist nations)
 Cold war
a) military conflict
b) in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia

Viet Cong

Vietnamese communist controlled front
a) fought guerrilla war ( irregular
warfare)
(where they use ambushes and
raids)
b) U.S. and south Vietnamese relied on
air superiority and overwhelming fire
power
c) search and destroy
Why the U.S entered war?
To prevent communist takeover
 Strategy of containment
 Combat units were deployed
 U.S. ground forces were withdrawn
(Vietnamization)
 Fighting continued

1949
France began it’s conquest of Indochina
(in late 1850’s)
 France completed pacification in 1893
 Treaty of Hue
a) 1884
b) formed basis of French colonial rule
in Vietnam

In W.W. II French were defeated by
Germans
 Meaning they became allies with
German and Italian axis powers
 French wanted and searched for power
 But were resisted by ultimate power
 Japanese

This continued
 Until Germans were forced out of
France
 French Indochina started secret talks
with Free France
 Japanese could not trust France any
more

Independence Democratic Republic of
Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh leader of Viet declared
 Independence Democratic Republic of
Vietnam
 He began a speech paraphrasing the
Declaration of Independence ( All men
are created equal...)

Major allies
 United States
 United Kingdom
 And Soviet Union
 All agreed land belonged to France
 France did not have weapons, ships and
soldiers to take Vietnam

British troops would occupy the south
 While Nationalist Chinese would move
in from the North
 When British landed they aided the
French since there was not enough
troops to take Vietnam themselves

Guerilla War
Viet Minh started a Guerilla war against
the French
 First Indochina war
 War spread to Laos and Cambodia
 Chinese communist aided there allies

U.S. Aides French
U.S. created MAAG ( Military Assistance
and Advisory Group)
 U.S. supplied small arms
 U.S. spent $1 billion on the war and
shouldered the war paying 80% of the
war

There were talks between Americans
and French, and use of three Nuclear
weapon was considered
 There was Operation Vulture sending 60
B 29’s from U.S. bases
 Supported by 150 fighters to bomb Viet
Minh (commander Vo Nguyen Giap’s
positions)

U.S carriers sailed to the Gulf of Tonkin
 According to Nixon the plan involved
drawling up three tactical nuclear
weapons for the French
 Nixon, "We might have to put in
American boys”

Battle of Dien Bien Phu
Marked the end of French involvement
in Indochina
 French Union garrison surrendered
 Geneva Conference
 French came to agreement with Viet
Minh
 Independence to Cambodia and
Vietnam

Vietnam
Temporarily partitioned at the 17th
parallel
 Civilians were free
 Northerners (mostly Catholics) fled to
the south
 Frightened by communism

Propaganda
Using American Propaganda
 Such as
The Virgin Mary is heading South
 U.S. funded $93 million for relocation
program

Geneva Conference (1954)
Domino Theory – if one country fell all
surrounding countries would also
 By Eisenhower
 Security of Cambodia and Laos were
those that were threatened by overflow
of communism in Vietnam

Insurgency in the South
Ho Chi Minh ,”do not engage in military
operations that will lead to defeat”
 Be selective in your violence
 If assassination is necessary
 Use a knife, not rifle, bomb, or grenade
use only a knife

Assassin
Make sure peasants know why killing
has occurred
 Armed propaganda

Assassination continues…
Le Duan was a communist leader that
was working in the south
 He returned to Hanoi
 400 government officials were killed
 Violence had increased greatly
 20% of South Vietnam’s village chiefs
were assassinated

John F. Kennedy’s Administration
John F. Kennedy won 1960 election
 He took over despite warnings from
Eisenhower

Green Berets
Special forces employed by Kennedy
 Effective in brush fire war in Vietnam

South Vietnamese Military
Quality of South Vietnamese military
remained poor
a) bad leadership
b) corruption
c) political promotions
 Guerrilla attacks rose

Kennedy increased military assistance
 John Kenneth warned Kennedy of the
danger, we shall replace French as a
colonial force
 Government refused to undertake land
reform
 Farmers paying high rents

Nations’ Agreement
July 23, 1963 Fourteen nations signed
agreement promising the neutrality of
Laos
 Including : People’s Republic of China,
South Vietnam, Soviet Union, North
Vietnam and United States

Coup and Assassinations
Diem was not able to defeat
communism, might make a deal with ho
Chi Minh
 Robert F. Kennedy stated
 “Diem wouldn’t make even the slightest
concessions and he was difficult to
reason with”

Protest broke out on ban of Buddhist
flag
 U.S. officials began discussing of regime
change
 United States Department in favor of
encouraging coup
 While defense Department favored
Diem

Why the U.S. exits the war??
They realized it was just a stalemate
 U.S. started sending less troops
 Congress stopped funding the war effort
and all troops were to leave Vietnam in
60 days

Case-Church amendment
Passed by U.S. Congress
 Prohibited use of U.S. military (after
August 15,1973)
 Unless president’s approval in advance

Capture of Saigon
Captured by North Vietnamese April
1975
 Marked the end of the war
 A year later North and South Vietnam
were reunified

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