Transcript Anti-War Protests Vietnam War

Anti-War Protests
Vietnam War
Unit 2 History
TIO
Vietnam War Re-Cap
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French Colony
Japanese control WWII
Division of Vietnam post-WWII
– Chinese nationalists moved into the north to disarm the
Japanese
– British took the south 1945
– Split in 2 along the 17th parallel
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First [French] IndoChina War 1946 - 1954
Second IndoChina War/Vietnam War 1954 - 1975
Vietminh and National Liberation Front vs. South
USA President influences:
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Kennedy 1961-1963
Johnson 1963-1969
Nixon 1969-1974
Ford 1975-end of war
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The ongoing and escalating war in Vietnam was the focus of many
of the major protests during the sixties. At the time of the
Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, United States military
forces in Vietnam numbered less than 15,000. Under President
Lyndon Johnson the numbers grew dramatically, and by 1966 more
than 500,000 troops were deployed in the area. Media reports from
overseas became increasingly gruesome, and television
transmissions showed the death and destruction created by the
relentless bombing campaigns of U.S. forces. The nightly news
reports counted the dead, and many major literary and political
figures began to speak out openly against keeping U.S. troops in
Vietnam. Escalation had not achieved the promised results. On
January 30, 1968, the North Vietnam army overran Saigon, making
a daring predawn attack on the United States Embassy. On
November 30, 1969, newspapers reported that U.S. Army troops
had massacred up to six hundred men, women, and children in a
remote village called My Lai. Opposition to the war grew from many
quarters, as the nation began to take a hard look at the United
States' involvement in Vietnam.
Anti-War Movement
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First time a war was shown to the public
Very strong in the USA, as it gained momentum from the
Civil Rights Movement but was evident elsewhere,
especially in France and Australia
– 70000 people protested in Australia’s capital cities in 1970, which
helped change the government policies
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1945 First protests against U.S. involvement in Vietnam
take place in 1945, when U.S Merchant Marine sailors
condemn the U.S. government for the use of U.S.
merchant ships to transport French troops whose
express purpose is to "subjugate the native population"
of Vietnam. These protesters oppose the "recolonization"
of Vietnam.
Anti-War Movement
1963 the first coordinated war protests
occur in London and Australia
 Many see it as a consequence of a change
in ‘times’. Students led a lot of the protests
 As the war progressed the support of the
public declined
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Reasons for opposition
Opposition to the draft;
 Moral arguments;
 Legal arguments against U.S. intervention;
 Racial equality;
 environmental issues; and
 reaction to the media portrayal of the
devastation in Southeast Asia.
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Australia’s antiwar movement
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Protest was not simply between generations i.e. the
young and the old, it was more complex.
First protests were small and non-violent. They were
organised by already established anti-war movements.
They were made up of middle aged and middle class
people and young radicals who favoured extreme
change.
Church leaders were divided. Reverend Allan Walker of
the Methodist Central Mission in Sydney was a leading
critic.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) was
divided e.g. in 1965 it passed a resolution expressing
concern rather than taking industrial action.
Australia’s antiwar movement
Forms of Protest
 Teach-ins took place from 1965. Speakers holding a variety of opinions
debated the issues. Leading speakers against the war included Dr Jim
Cairns, a Shadow Minister in the Labor Opposition in Federal Parliament and
Morris West, a prominent author and influential Roman Catholic.
 The Youth Campaign Against Conscription (YCAC) – university students who
organised marches and demonstrations.
 Save Our Sons(SOS) movement (1965) largely middle-aged women held
silent protest vigils.
 Seamen’s Union in 1965 refused to carry war materials to Vietnam.
 From 1966 protests became more radical. Young men burned their draft
cards and protests saw clashes between the demonstrators and the police.
 Some young men decided to go to jail rather than be conscripted. The
courts could exempt those who could prove they were pacifists (opposed to
all wars on religious or moral grounds).
Australia’s antiwar movement
Grounds for opposition to the Vietnam War
 It was believed that Australians were being sent to fight for an
unpopular and corrupt dictatorship.
 It was a civil war and we had no business being there.
 It was immoral to send young conscripts who were too young to
vote. You had to be 21 at that time to vote.
 Television coverage showed the horrors of war eg use of napalm,
execution of old people, women and children. Famous image of
Saigon’s Police Chief executing a Viet Cong dead in the street.
 Fire free zones – places where Vietnamese villages were bombed ad
machined gunned without restriction.
 "Mai Lai Massacre" in 1968 where 120 Vietnamese were slaughtered
shocked the world.
 The question was, "Did we have to kill them, in order to save them?
Could they have been any worse off under communism?"
Australia’s antiwar movement
The Final Stages
 Protests increased and became more directed towards
symbols of the United States in Australia.
 Public opinion began to change in August 1969 55% of
Australians favoured withdrawing the troops.
 During 1970 and 1971 huge public protests called the
Vietnam Moratoriums (stop the war) saw hundreds of
thousands of people take to the streets in protest.
 These protest finished when Gough Whitlam and his
Labor Government were elected in 1972 on a promise to
bring home the troops. (By this time most had already
come home).
US Anti-war movement
Vietnamisation
In 1969 Nixon announced that the withdrawal of
American troops was a priority. In a policy
known as ‘Vietnamisation’ the number of United
States combat troops was gradually reduced and
their places were taken by soldiers in an
expanded South Vietnamese army. But the
United States continued to provide assistance by
supplying weapons, further training for the
South Vietnamese army, and naval and aerial
support for South Vietnamese soldiers on
operations.
Vietnamisation
The biggest mistake was the failure to go about a fair
dinkum approach of boosting the South Vietnamese
Army in the early stages, giving them a fair allocation of
helicopters and artillery and the like, and above all else
comprehensive training. Subsequently, after the Tet
Offensive in 1968 and after President Nixon replaced
President Johnson in early 1969, the catch-cry went up
that ‘Vietnamisation would turn things around’ and a
huge effort was attempted, finally, to boost the South
Vietnamese Army. It was too little, too late.’
[Tim Fischer, 1 RAR in Vietnam: our war – our peace, Department of Veterans’ Affairs, pp. 128-129]
Vietnamisation
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…meant that the Army of the Republic of South Vietnam (ARVN)
would double in size, necessitating additional military trainers and
resulting in an expanded role for the Australian Army Training Team
Vietnam (AATTV) whose numbers increased in the final phase of the
war. However, the ARVN was ill-equipped and unable to match the
North Vietnamese Army in the field. Early in 1971 Australia’s Joint
Intelligence Organisation, reporting on the progress of
Vietnamisation, described the ARVN as ‘uneven in quality’ and
suffering from poor leadership. Australian military officials in Phuoc
Tuy and Saigon reported that the local ARVN would meet significant
difficulties once the Australian Task Force’s battalions left. To add to
the gloomy outlook, few South Vietnamese had any confidence in
their own government, which was regarded as corrupt and
incompetent.
Police Riot 1968 Chicago
The 1968 Democratic National Convention of the U.S. Democratic
Party was held in Chicago, Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968.
Because Democratic President Lyndon Johnson had announced he would
not seek a second term, the purpose of the convention was to select a new
nominee to run as the Democratic Party’s candidate for the office.
 The convention was held during a year of violence, political turbulence, and
civil unrest, particularly riots in more than 100 cities following the
assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4. The convention also
followed the assassination of Democratic presidential hopeful Senator
Robert F. Kennedy, who had been shot on June 5.
 A few thousand people participated in the demonstrations; most of those
were local, or had come to support their favorite Democratic candidates.
They were swept into the protests by events more than by intention.
Outnumbered by law enforcement by five to one, 589 people would be
arrested while the Democrats met in August, and many more injured.
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Police Riot 1968 Chicago
The major battles were fought in Lincoln Park, three miles north of the city
center, when the police tried to enforce evening curfews. A legal rally in
Grant Park ended when the police clubbed a teenager who was lowering an
American flag, and others who tried to protect him.
 The Mayor called out 7,500 members of the Illinois National Guard to
reinforce the 12,000 police officers. Wednesday night they tried to remove
everyone -- mostly party volunteers, candidate supporters and tourists -from the front of the Hilton hotel, which was the convention headquarters.
While the nominating speeches were being given at the amphitheatre
several miles away, these unlucky people were pushed through plate glass
windows when caught between Guard and police as they dispersed the
crowd.
 When these images were played on monitors at the convention itself -about an hour later -- they disrupted the proceedings far more than the
demonstrators could have had they succeeded in their efforts to march.
"The whole world is watching" became more than just a slogan. What an
official report later described as a "police riot" did more damage to
Chicago's reputation and the fortunes of the Democratic Party than anything
the protestors could have done.
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http://www.thoughtequity.com/video/clip/
5110043AA9011_011.do
1970 Kent State Ohio
Escalation of protests started May 1. There was a civil protest at the
university, a student burnt the constitution and another their draft card.
Students were unruly and a state of emergency was called that night.
Bottles were thrown at police, tear gas was used, buildings were set on fire
and threats were made.
 The Kent State shootings – also known as the May 4 massacre or
Kent State massacre – occurred at Kent State University, and involved
the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National
Guard. The guardsmen fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing
four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent
paralysis.
 Some of the students who were shot had been protesting against the
American invasion of Cambodia, which President Nixon announced in a
television address on April 30. Other students who were shot had been
walking nearby or observing the protest from a distance.
 There was a significant national response to the shootings: hundreds of
universities, colleges, and high schools closed throughout the United States
due to a strike of four million students, and the event further affected the
public opinion – at an already socially contentious time – over the role of
the United States in the Vietnam War.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Midj9Ki49s&feature=related
Christmas Bombings Reaction 1972
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What Nixon commanded in 1972 he would have
condemned in 1969.
Area bombers – no precision
The operation was conducted from 18–29 December
1972, leading to several of informal names such as "The
December Raids" and "The Christmas Bombings".
It saw the largest heavy bomber strikes launched by the
US Air Force since the end of World War II.
Linebacker II was a resumption of the Operation
Linebacker bombings conducted from May to October,
with the emphasis of the new campaign shifted to
attacks by B-5 Stratofortress bombers rather than
tactical fighter aircraft. Over 1,600 civilians died in Hanoi
and Haiphong in the raids.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wfWb
TIpWFU&feature=related
Protest Chants
"Hey, hey LBJ, how many kids have
you killed today?"
 Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh! The NLF is going
to win!“
 The chant "One, two, three, four! We
don't want your f***ing war!" was
chanted repeatedly at demonstrations
throughout the U.S. in the late 1960s and
early 1970s.
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"Draft beer, not boys"
"Hell no, we won't go"
 "Bring our boys home"
 "Make love, not war“
 "Eighteen today, dead tomorrow“
 "Love our country", "America, love it or leave it"
and "No glory like old glory" are examples of pro-war
slogans.
 "America, change it or lose it" was chanted in
response to the pro-war "Love it or leave it".
 "Johnson lied. People died." referred to The Gulf of
Tonkin Incident
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Reference List
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http://www.camdenh.schools.nsw.edu.au/pages/Faculties/History/yr10topics/antiviet.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Democratic_National_Convention
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kent_State_massacre.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Linebacker_II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_U.S._involvement_in_the_Vi
etnam_War
http://www.historysmiths.com.au/CentFedPlayKit/events/young/1970_vietn
am%20war%20protest.htm
http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/jofreeman/photos/convention5.html
http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/jofreeman/photos/convention68.html
http://vietnam-war.commemoration.gov.au/vietnamisation-pulling-out/
http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/sixties/viet.html