The Vietnam War

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  • Created by: Shannon
  • Created on: 19-03-14 15:46
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  • The Vietnam War
    • USA
      • Feared a global communist takeover
        • Loss of China to Communism (Truman)
        • Supports any anti-communist regime, even corrupt dictatorships
          • Diem in power of S.Vietnam
            • Highly unpopular
            • Replaces "puppet" Emperor Bai Dai
      • Created SEATO
        • Alternative legality to Geneva Accords
        • Refused to carry out planned national elections to unify Vietnam
          • Knew Ho Chi Minh would win
            • Had won the hearts and minds of the people
          • Fuelled the Viet Cong
      • Presidential support increases during the wars course
        • 1) Truman - supports France
          • Containment
        • 2) Eisenhower - provides economic aid
          • Domino theory
        • 3) Kennedy - provides military aid
          • Increased military presence
        • 4) Johnson allows American troops to participate in the war
          • US troops retaliate against Vietnamese civillians
            • Use of napalm
            • Mai Lai massacre 1968
              • 347 unarmed civilians were beaten and killed
            • Difficulty in distinguishing between friend & foe.
          • Needed the support of congress in order to escalate
            • Gulf of Tonkin resolution
              • Used by Johnson as justification for the escalation of the war
      • Getting out of Vietnam
        • Nixon - 'peace with honour'
          • Why?
            • The Tet Offensive showed that the Vietnam War was not going well
            • The Sino-Soviet split shattered the threat of a monolithic communist bloc.
            • The political and dramatic impact of being a world peacemaker appealed to Nixon
          • Peace settlement with Thieu in power of S.Vietnam 1973
            • Paris Peace Accords
            • Americans withdraw
          • Vietnamisation
            • Power given back to the S.Vietnamese
      • Anti-war protests
        • Johnson loses confidence in the war
          • Refuses to stand for presidency again
        • Development of 'new left' parties
          • Kent state & Jackson state
            • Student protestors killed
      • First televised war
    • Origins
      • French colonisation in 1874 - aimed to convert buddhists to catholics
      • Vietnamese people suffered as poor labourers
        • Indo-vietnamese party developed
          • Rebellion broke out
          • Start of Communist movement
        • French exploited workers & resources for profit
      • 1954: French lose the battle at Dienbienphu
        • Geneva Accords signed
        • French withdraw
        • Americans refused to provide air suport
        • Vietnam divided along 17th parallel
          • N.Vietnam in Communist control
            • Proposed unification of Vietnam in 1956
          • S.Vietnam in Capitalist control
            • Proposed unification of Vietnam in 1956
      • Japans takeover in WWII weakens european colonial power
    • Viet Minh & Viet Cong
      • Guerilla attacks
        • Viet Cong in jungles
        • Used tactics unfamiliar to US
          • Hit & run
        • Persistent and skilled
      • Created the Ho Chi Minh trial to transport goods between the North & South
        • Through neighbouring Loas and Cambodia
          • Nixon alpproves of a bombing campaign
      • The Tet Offensive - 1968
        • Attacked S.Vietnam
        • Street combat
          • US won
            • Although the incident lost them the war
        • Westmoreland had just claimed that America was winning
          • Undermined American involvement
          • Judged the success of the war based on body counts
        • Opposition to the war increases
          • Communists are seen as being stronger than ever
      • Supported by the Soviet Union
        • Provided aid and arms
      • Vietminh in North, Viet Cong in South
        • Separate groups, but their ideologies are the same
      • The end of the war
        • 1975: North Vietnamese take over Saigon

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