Transcript Vietnam War

Vietnam War – Part I
French Reoccupation to JFK
French Indo-China
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French Indo-China
(Vietnam, Cambodia, and
Laos) had been part of the
French Empire since the
late 19th century
During the mid-1930s,
serious disturbances took
place under the leadership
of Communists because of
the World War and
Depression
During WWII, Japan
occupied the country
French Indo-China
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The League for the
Independence of Vietnam,
known as the Viet Minh, was
organized in 1941 in order to
resist occupation
It was led by Ho Chi Minh
and the Communists
They were armed by the
Americans to fight the
Japanese
Ho Chi Minh,1945
French Indo-China
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In the areas they
controlled, the Viet Minh:
 Relieved a famine by
commandeering the
supplies hoarded by
wealthy profiteers to
put the price of food
up
 Ending high rents and
high interest rates on
loans
 Redistributed land
 Gained popularity
among peasants
French Indo-China
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On the surrender of the
Japanese, Chinese troops
occupied the north and
British the south
On 2 September 1945,
after Emperor Bao Dai's
abdication, Ho Chí Minh
read the Declaration of
Independence of
Vietnam
French Indo-China
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The British handed over Indo-China to the French
In November 1946, the French ordered Ho Chi
Minh’s government to leave Hanoi
When they refused, the French bombarded Hanoi
and Haiphong, killing 6,000
Ho and the Viet Minh were forced into a war for
independence
The French, wishing to keep control of the rice
and rubber of the south, set up Bo Dai as leader
of a puppet government
French Indo-China
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The Viet Minh fought a guerilla war against the
French
The Communist Chinese supported the Viet Minh
with arms and equipment
The Eisenhower Administration began to help the
French with money, equipment, and “advisers”
By 1954, the U.S. had supplied 300,000 small arms
and spent $1 billion in support of the French military
effort and was shouldering 80 percent of the cost of
the war.
The Vietminh received crucial support from the
Soviet Union and China. Chinese support in the
Border Campaign of 1950 allowed supplies to come
from China into Vietnam.
French Indo-China
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By 1954, the French had
lost control of the
countryside
The French were
decisively defeated in
1954 when a French
army was surrounded
and forced to surrender
in a 50-day siege in Dien
Bien Phu
Wounded French Legionnaire during the siege
at Dien Bien Phu
Reasons for the French Defeat
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Ho and the Viet Minh had the support of the
people
The Viet Minh were masters of guerilla warfare
From 1950, the Viet Minh were supplied by China
The French were war-weary and failed to run the
war effectively
The French were experiencing problems in other
parts of the world
Significance of the Indo-China War
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The war was seen by the Americans as a
proxy war:
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Ho Chi Minh was the Soviets
French were the Americans
Geneva Peace Conference
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1954 a peace conference was convened in Geneva
Switzerland. USSR, UK, France, USA, China, and
Indo-China
The terms of the Geneva Agreement of 1954 were:
 Laos and Cambodia were to be independent
 Vietnam was to be temporarily divided into two
states at the 17th parallel
 Ho Chin Minh’s government was recognized in
the north
 An American puppet regime under Ngo Dinh
Diem was set up in the south
 In 1956, elections were to be held throughout
Vietnam, after which it was to be united
Problems In Laos
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Once Laos was freed from the French in
1954, the Eisenhower administration
flooded money to the country to
prevent communism from taking a
foothold (can you say- Marshall Plan)
The U.S. feared that if communism was
present in Laos, it would spread to
neighboring countries (domino effect)
A Laotian civil war raged, and Kennedy
considered sending in American troops
He decided that he had insufficient
forces to send to Laos and keep a
significant number in Europe
A 14-power Geneva conference ended
the fighting in 1962
Flexible Response
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Kennedy wanted an
alternative policy to
Eisenhower’s New Look
and massive retaliation
Kennedy didn’t like that in
a crisis, he had the
options of humiliation or
nuclear incineration (i.e.
massive retaliation)
With Defense Secretary
McNamara, he pushed the
strategy of “flexible
response,” developing an
array of military options
that depended on the
gravity of the crisis at
hand
Flexible Response
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Part of the strategy meant being able to fight multiple
wars simultaneously; specifically, the US should have
the peacetime capability to fight two large regional
wars and a small brushfire war at the same time.
Kennedy increased spending on conventional military
forces and bolstered the Special Forces (Green
Berets) – an elite anti-guerrilla group trained to
survive on anything and kill efficiently
Consequences of “Flexible Response”
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Made it easier to engage militarily, lowered the level at
which diplomacy would give way to shooting
Provided a mechanism for a progressive and endless
increase of the use of force
Increase recruiting, investment, and research for the US
force posture
Lack of Support for Diem
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Since Ngo Dinh Diem
had begun ruling South
Vietnam in 1954, he
lacked support:
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He imprisoned
government critics
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Nepotism, filled
government positions
with members of his
own family
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U.S. money that was
supposed to go to
economic reforms
went to the military
and corrupt officials
Lack of Support for Diem
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Broke the Geneva
agreement by not
holding elections
The U.S. continued to
supported him, since
they expected that Ho
would win any genuine
elections
Diem was a Catholic in a
largely Buddhist country
He was seen as an
American puppet
He blocked demands for
land reform, which was
being carried out in the
north under Ho
June 11, 1963, Thich Quang Duc, a
Buddhist monk from Vietnam, burned
himself to death at a busy intersection in
downtown Saigon to bring attention to
the repressive policies of the Catholic
Diem regime that controlled the South
Vietnamese government at the time.
Photograph by Malcolm Browne.
National Liberation Front (NLF)
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In 1960, groups formed the
NLF in south Vietnam, known
as the Viet Cong (VC) to the
Americans
VC was composed of some
former Vietminh and
“regroupees” Communist
from north that settled in
south
Demanded a democratic
coalition government which
would negotiate a peaceful
union of Vietnam
When this was refused, a
guerilla war began in the
south, waged by the Viet
Cong (VC)
Attempting to Gain Support
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America tried to involve her allies in the effort to
maintain the Republic of Vietnam. Australia, New
Zealand, Thailand, and the Philippines sent troops
Local peasants were moved into “fortified villages”
where they could be controlled by the ARVN (South
Vietnamese Army). They were, in effect,
concentration camps
By 1963, Kennedy had ordered 15,000 American
men and equipment to Vietnam
Kennedy realized that Diem would never reform
The Kennedy administration told the South
Vietnamese military that they wouldn’t object to a
coup
Military Government
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Diem was overthrown by
the ARVN generals and
murdered on 11/2/1963
The new military
government in South
Vietnam was in trouble
The ruling generals
bickered among
themselves and failed to
direct the South
Vietnamese army
effectively
Nguyen Van Thieu
survived the longest
(1967-1975)
Viet Cong Gain Territory and Support
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Meanwhile, the Viet Cong
gained control of more
territory and earned the
loyalty of an increasing
number of South
Vietnamese
Ho Chi Minh and the
North Vietnamese aided
the Viet Cong throughout
the struggle