Transcript Chapter 30: The Vietnam War Years Section 1: Cold War Roots of

Chapter 30: The Vietnam War Years
Section 1: Cold War Roots of the Conflict
From the late 1800’s until WWII,
France was in control of Vietnam
(which was part of French Indochina)



Like any other colony, the
French were increasing
their wealth.
And Vietnamese people
were getting poorer and
losing their rights.
They did have some
revolts, but most were
not effective
But in 1930, a new leader named Ho Chi Minh (9)
called for an independent Vietnam



He organized the
Indochinese Communist
Party (ICP)
The French responded by
arresting and killing some
of the ICP leaders.
They couldn’t catch Ho
Chi Minh, but sentenced
him to death anyways.
During WWII, Japan controlled Indochina - and
the U.S. helped Ho Chi Minh fight the Japanese.



When WWII was over,
the French tried to regain
control.
In the meantime, Ho Chi
Minh had formed a group
called the Viet Minh - and
they were saying Vietnam
was now independent.
War broke out between
the French and the Viet
Minh.
Remember, the Viet Minh were a
communist group


And the United States
had a “containment
policy” towards
communism.
The United States
agreed to help France
and offered them
money and military
aid.
The U.S. had a “domino theory” (16) about
communism

That if one country
fell to communism,
the ones around it
would also fall.
France could not defeat the Viet
Minh and in peace talks…




It was decided Vietnam
would be split in two.
Ho Chi Minh and the
communists would
control the North
Ngo Dinh Diem (5) and
the anti-communists
would control the South.
There would eventually
be elections to re-unify
the country.
Ho Chi Minh was very popular in North
Vietnam – and even in the South


If there were
elections he would
win, so Diem decided
not to hold the
elections in the South.
He actually had a very
evil government - he
jailed, tortured and
executed his
opponents.
There were some South Vietnamese
communists who opposed Diem

Diem made fun of them and
called them Viet Cong (22)
(meant Vietnamese communists)


The Viet Cong fought to
overthrow Diem – and were
supported by North
Vietnamese communists.
They sent supplies along a
network of paths called the
“Ho Chi Minh Trail.”
The Soviet Union decided to build
the Berlin Wall

Which became a symbol of communism and it’
o
And… in October, 1962
in the most serious Soviet confrontation ever…
The Cuban Missile Crisis (28)


The United States learned
the Russians had put
nuclear missiles in Cuba –
and they were bringing
more.
In a huge “showdown,”
the Soviets took back the
missiles (the new ones),
and the U.S. promised to
not invade Cuba.
Back in Vietnam at this time…
T
h
e
U
,
S
.
t
o
l
d
D
i
e
m
h
e
h
to make some changes.
He refused.
a
d