September 2, 1945
Declaration of Independence: Democratic Republic of Vietnam
by Ho Chi Minh
"All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness"
"Communist control of all of Southeast Asia would render the U.S. position in the Pacific offshore island chain precarious and would seriously jeopardize fundamental U.S. security interests in the Far East...
... Southeast Asia especially Malaya and Indonesia, is the principal world source of natural rubber and tin, and a producer of petroleum and other strategically important commodities."
"The Vietnamese people want to have a free government. Nothing is better than independence and liberty... the Americans are capitalists, a few people take power. But in the Soviet Union the power is in the hands of all the people."
-Vietcong, 1957
Americans in Vietnam
1955 - 100
1965 - 184,310
1966 - 385,300
1967 - 485,600
1968 - 536,100
"expand, equip, and train South Vietnam's forces and assign to them an ever-increasing combat role, at the same time steadily reducing the number of U.S. combat troops."
Americans turned against the war.
The tunnel system made it hard to know who we were fighting and where they were.
How could the world’s most powerful country lose the Vietnam War?
Vietnam Policy under Presidents Nixon and Ford
After discovering the area's natural resources like coal, tin, and rubber France decided to make Vietnam a colony .
Is it patriotic to protest one's government?
People settle in Vietnam between 2000 and 1400 B.C.E.
In the 1850s, France sent troops to Vietnam to protect the Catholic missionaries.
Vietnamization
Detente
1968-536,100
1970-334,600
1972-24,200
"Cooling Down"
In the 1600s, French missionaries arrive to convert the Vietnamese from Buddhism to Catholicisms.
1969-475,200
1971-158,800
The Vietnamese established their own dynasties and culture over the next 700 years.
The trail was a way to get supplies from the North to the Vietcong
The Ho Chi Minh Trail
A set of dirt paths through Cambodia and Laos ending in South Vietnam.
Part of the Chinese Empire from 100 B.C.E to around 930 A.D.
Bombing of Cambodia and Laos
The North Vietnamese Army Captures the the South's Capitol
What are American values?
1965 - 52%
1968 - 37%
Vietnam was re-unifed under a Communist government.
1969 - 32%
1966 - 48%
Americans still in Vietnam were evacuated from the country
1971 - 28%
1967 - 44%
... but that vote was canceled when it looked like the communists would win.
In 1956 a vote was to be held to re-unify the country under one...
The Fall of Saigon
Almost 1,000,000 people would leave Saigon within 2 years.
Vietnam Policy under
President's Eisenhower and Kennedy
Vietnam Policy under President Johnson
Guerrilla Warfare
Agent Orange
1975
Operation Rolling Thunder
My Lia Massacre
Napalm
Johnson wins the election in a landslide
Methods of Warfare
The former WW2 General sends 100 "advisers" to South Vietnam to help train troops.
The last American troops are removed from Vietnam
He warns against an Industrial Military Complex (permanent war machine).
The Draft
How do American's show their anger with the Government?
A turning point
Democrat John Kennedy
Presidential Election
"Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong"
17,000 U.S. Military Forces in Vietnam
“take all necessary measures to repel armed attacks against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.”
In 1954,
a peace treaty was signed that
split
Vietnam in two
1957
1969
1960
"How do you ask a man ..."
1967
1972
1971
1973
1959
1977
John F. Kennedy becomes President
Dwight Eisenhower's Farewell Address
1964
President Dwight Eisenhower
1954
Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
1963
1968
1961
The Credibility Gap
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
23,000 U.S. Military forces in Vietnam
President Johnson was determined not to "lose" Vietnam.
The Tet Offensive
About 650,000 of the 3,000,000 soldiers who fought in Vietnam were drafted.
Domino Theory
Diem is killed in a Coup attempt
Republican Richard Nixon
Nearly 125,000 moved to Canada to "dodge the draft"
"the communists are unable to mount a major offensive...I am absolutely certain that whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing...We have reached an important point when the end begins to come into view."
General
Westmoreland,
November 1967
31 Attacks on South Vietnamese cities by the North Vietnamese Army and the Vietcong during the
Tet holiday
ceasefire.
750-1,500 Americans are in Vietnam serving as Advisers
He does not want to look weak against communism after the Bay of Pigs so he increases American forces in Vietnam
Vietcong
were communist who fought against Diam and the U.S.A.
Not everyone in the South supported Diam. The
Richard Nixon, promising a secret plan to end the Vietnam war, wins the 1968 election.
Lyndon Johnson decided not to run for re-election in 1968.
Former Vice President Richard Nixon (R)
Vice President Hubert Humphries (D)
The South under capitalist
Ngo Dinh Diem
“If I’ve lost Cronkite,
I’ve lost America."
The North under Communist
Ho Chi Minh
1955
1965
Who has the right to rule?
Americans in Vietnam
1955 - 100
1962 - 12,000
1963 - 15,000
1964 - 23,310
1965 - 184,310
So Vietnam remained split, with the U.S. sending aid to the South.
How does war change our values?
"Without consent and support of the peasants, failure is inevitable."
-China's communist leader
Vietcong
Americans
In fighting for Independence, the Vietcong were more motivated to win .
Vietnamese citizens who wanted independence were called
Viet Minh
The United States did not back them because Ho Chi Minh was a communist...
Americans were not ready to fight a Guerrilla War in the Jungles. The Vietcong had been fighting one since 1941.
They helped the U.S. beat Japan during WWII.
After the war, Viet Minh like Ho Chi Minh hoped Vietnam would once again become independent...
... but France ignored Ho's declaration of independence and continued to rule.
Japan's occupation during World War II
...He wanted to confiscate land from the rich and divide it between the peasant farmers.
1946-1954:
The Viet Minh continued their war... now against the French.
After Germany took over France during World War II, Germany gave control of Vietnam to their ally Japan.
What are good reasons to fight a war?
Are there good reasons for countries to go to war?
The Vietnam War
How does war change our values?
What are good reasons to fight a war?
War is like ______________ because ______________.
The Vietnam War was like ______________ because ______________.
Who has the right to rule?
Is it patriotic to protest one's government?