US involment in Vietnam

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Why did French get involved in Indochina

  • Since 19th century Vietnam had been a French colony known as Indochina.
  • When France was defeated by Germany in 1940, Japan took control of Vietnam. During the war an anti - Japanease  resistant movment called the Viet Minh fought under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh (North communist) for Vietnamese independence.
  • At the end of WW2 the Viet Minh controlled the North of Vietnam and entered Hanoi in 1945and declared Vietnamese independence.
  • France wanted to regain Indochina as they wanted to regain their international prestige.
  • Also, Indochina was rich in natural resources such as rice and rubber.
  • After WW2 France tried to re-assert control in Vietnam but the Viet Minh fought France.
  • In 1949there was a communist revolution in China lead by Mao Tse-tung. America saw Hochi Minh as a puppet of Moa's communist China although this was not true.
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Reasons for French withdrawal

Dien Bein Phu

  • France set up a base to stop the vietnam supply trail and draw them into battle.
  • The veitmin surronded the French. Set up artillery around them camoflagerd in the jungle and used anti-aircraft guns to cut of the French supply.
  • France underestimated the Vietnamese strength and commintant
  • The French lost 3000 dead in the battle and 8000 more died in captivity . The Viet Minh forces had defeated the French in open battle with the help of modern weapons from the USSR and China.
  • A small Asian state had defeated a rich European state through: effective leadership, the right tactics and sheer determination.
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Vietnam after the French withdrew

  • At a peace conference in Genva, Vietnam was divided into North and south Vietnam ,along the 17th parrel,  until elections could be held. 
  • In south vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem was the leader he was supported by America because he was not communist.In the North Ho chi Minh ruled and he was very popular. Diem was part of the landlord class, which treated Vietnamese peasents with contempt. Diem was Christian and not very accepting of other religions whereas most peasents were Buddist. He lead a curropt regime and appointed family members as leaders and didn't hold any elections to vote people into congress.
  • The National Liberation Front (NFL) was supported by Ho Chi Minh it wanted to unify the country. It used Gurrila warfare against the South Vietnamese Goverment. The NFL planned to overthrow Diems goverment. Diem was asinate by his own troops in 1963.  
  • Vietcong because they were afraid of the Domino theory.USA were convinced that  China & USSR planned to spread Communism through Asia. If Vietnam fell to Communism then Laos, Cambodia and Thailand could fall. USA determined to resist spread of Communism & saw Vietnam as the first domino in the row.
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Reasons for US miltary involment

The Gulf of Tonkin incident:

  • 2 August, 1964, in the Gulf of Tonkin, the USS Maddox fired on North Vietnamese torpedo boats that were too close
  • On the 3rd/4th of august the sailors panicked, fearing they were under attack
  • Lyndon Johnson, the President didn't believe them though still told Congress that there had been deliberate attacks against US vessels from the North Vietnamese
  • 7th August, 1964, Congress authorised an escalation in US involvement. The event is thought to be an excuse
  • The Gulf of Tonkin resolution was passed to allow soldiers to allow soldiers to protect American Bases
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Tactics of the Vietcong/ North Vietnamese Army

Adapted the method of Guerrilla tactics due to there being a very unlikely chance of them defeating the US army through open warfare, due to the V being heavily outnumbered in troops and weapens.

Main tactics were to

  • retreat when the enemy attacked
  • raid the enemy camps or when the enemy tires and pursue when the enemy retreats.
  • not wear any uniform - hard to identify
  • Also had a complexed system of underground tunnels - a safe hiding place and provided booby traps for the US soldiers (lowering US soldiers morale)
  • Viet Cong soldiers tryed to be kind to peasents to win their hearts and minds but they were ruthless and prepared to kill any peasents who didn't co-operate. Compared to US soldiers who blew up villages to try to remove any Viet Cong soldiers.
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Tactics of the US army i

On 7 February 1965 the USA launched Operation Rolling Thunder - involved extensive bombing raids on military and industrial targets in North Vietnam. This lasted until 1972.

  • This soon included all places in North and South Vietnam and places in Laos and Combodia along the Ho Chi Minh trail. More bombs were dropped on North Vietnam than on Germany and Japan during WW2.
  • To some exstent the bombing was effective:
  • Disrupted supply routes and damaged NV war effort
  • Enabled USA to strike at communist forces even when it was reducing US ground forces in Vietnam after 1969.
  • 1970 - 1972 intense bombing campaigns against Hanoi (NV capital) and port of Haiphong forced NV to the negoiating table.
  • US air force couldn't defeat communism only slow them down. The Viet Cong continued to operate its supply lines. NV countined to launch a large assalt to SV, even after air raids in 1972.
  • Air warfare was very expensive. Communist shot down 14,000 US and SV aircrafts. In 1967 an American magasize calculated the cost to shoot down 1 Viet Cong fighter (which takes 75 bombs and 400 artillery shells) as $400,000
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Tactics of the US army ii

  • AGENT ORANGE was a powerful weapon developed by the USA; it was highly toxic 'weed killer'. It destroyed Jungle where Viet Cong hid. 82 million liters was used.
  • NAPALM was used to destroy Jungles where Guerillas lived. It also burnt through skin to the bone. Many civilians were killed by these.
  • BOMBING could not kill all the Guerilla Army. General Westmoreland (US commander) developed a search & destroy policy. US established very secure bases along the coasts in the south of the country. The Search and Destroy was then launched by helicopter from here. They would descend into a village and destroy any Viet Cong forces they found and then send a  body count report back to USA.There was some problems :
  • Raids were often based on inadequate reports
  • Inexperienced US troops often walked into traps
  • Innocent villagers were mistaken for Viet Cong.
  • Cilvilain deaths were very high compared to Viet Cong deaths (1:6)
  • Search & Destroy mission made them unpopular with peasents, pushing support towards Viet Cong.
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Reasons why America struugled to win in vietna

  • The Americans were mostly inexperienced soldiers whose tour of duty lasted for one year.  If they survived. they gradually acquired the necessary military skills only to be sent home again.
  • The Vietcong were experienced guerrilla force who knew the terrain and was supported by civilians and has a high moral.
  • It was an uncoventional war.
  • The Americans were not used to the envrioment ( jungles and swamps) unlike the vietcong who had gown up in this terrian.
  • They lacked the support of the Vietnamese, who were strongly nationalist and had no reason to support the Diem gov. and his successors.  The USA made no effort to win the VIetnamese over, and instead destroyed relations through the use of search and destroy missions.It was a US search and destroy mission, American soldiers killed 300 civilans while searching for Vietcong.  Only 3 guns were recovered and no Vietcong were found.  
  • American reliance on bombing raides was missguided.  N.Vietnamese did not have the kind of industrialised economy which could be destroyed by bombing
  • The Vietcong soliders were highly motivated unlike the Americans who in the end just wanted to go home.
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The Tet offensive 1968

The biggest attack lauched by the Vietcong.  Using the advantage of suprise, over 70,000 troops attacked 100 town in Vietnam, including Saigon, the Capitol.  Targets included the US embassy, the Presidential Palace and the Saigon radio station.  The Vietcong were driven back and suffered heavy losses.

How the Tet offensive proved to be a turning point:

  • Though military defeat, it was political success for Vietcong 
  • The Unexpected scale of the attack was a blow to US prestige
  • As a result the US lost the will to fight
  • Johnson lost alot of public confience and support and announced his decision not to stand for re-election.
  • Peace negotiations began though they made no progress until 1972.
  • The US adopted the policy of Vietnamisation in 1969, in which US troops were gradually withdrawn. 
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Public opinion

The Vietnam war needed public support to be successful.

  • The American media (TV, radio and newspaper) gave the war extensive coverage. Reporter also went on patrol with soldiers (no censorship).
  • On TV America and the world watched as horrific scenes of killing and torture were used in prisons and as chemical weapons such as Napalm injured children.
  • There were anti-war protests throughout America. One of the chants used was 'Hey, Hey, LBJ. How many kids have you killed today?'
  • At Kent state university in Ohio, 4 students were shot in a protest.
  • The American government came under extreme pressure in America and the world to end its involvement in the Vietnam War.
  • In March 1968 the My Lai Massacre occurred.

Public opinion was the main reason for the withdrawel from Vietnam as the Goverment needed money and soliders.

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Nixon's policies in Vietnam

  • Policy of Vietnamisation ment passing more responsabilty to S Vietnam gov.  Unfortunately the South had be dependant for too long and couldnt stand alone
  • 1970- Nixon expanded the war into Cambodia.  The bombing for neautral laos and Cambodia was a disaster as it increased support for communism in both countries
  • Bombing raides over N Vietnam cities were intensified- to compensate for the gradual loss of American troops and to pressurise N Vietnam to negotiate. 
  • By improving diplomatic relations with China and USSR, Nixon gained their supposrt in bringing the N Vietnamese to the peace talks.
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The watergate scandal

Early in the morning of June 17, 1972, several burglars were arrested inside the office of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), located in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. This was no ordinary robbery: The prowlers were connected to President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign, and they had been caught while attempting to wiretap phones and steal secret documents.Nixon took steps to cover it up afterwards, raising “hush money” for the burglars, trying to stop the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from investigating the crime, destroying evidence and firing uncooperative staff members. In August 1974, after his role in the Watergate conspiracy had finally come to light, the president resigned.

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The Fall of South Vietnam 1973 - 1975

1972 - NV launched a major offensive but were unable to conquer SV.

  • January 1973 - there was a peace conference in Paris. Le Duc Tho, Nixon and the SV president Thieu signed a peace agreement.
  • Nixon described the agreement as 'peace with honour'. Others disagreed but the US was now able to remove their troops.
  • Nixon had promised to keep supplying SV with finacial aid and militarty support but congress refused as they did not want to waste American money. There was evidence that the SV regime was corrupt and lacked the support of the majority of the public. Also Nixon was involved in the water gate scandal which lead him to resign. But the new president Gerald also failed to get support from the congress.
  • SV goverment coldn't last long without US support or the Vietnamese public support.
  • Decmeber 1974 - NV launched an attack on SV as they felt America was distracted with the Water gate scandal. The SV capital feel to communism in April 1975.
  • One of the worst images from the Vietnam war was V civilians trying to clamber aboard US helicopters.
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Impact of he Vietnam war

On the enviroment

  • Land and water - The war destroyed 5.4 million acres of forest

On the US soliders

  • Drugs - easily avaible 30% of US troops on Herion
  • Physical injuries - 75,000 American soliders severly disabled
  • Mental injuries - 30% of US soliders had PTSD. Many were not welcomed home

On the veitnamese

  • Injuries- Napalm left many civialans with horrific burns and disficment
  • Morals - Shant towns next to us bases were full of poverty, prostition and drug abuse
  • Rufugees - Around 5 million South Vietnamese people were displaced from their homes
  • Health effects of chemical exposure - The levels of dioxin ( The poison used in Agent orange) are three tims higher in Vietnamese citzens compared to American citzens
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