Eduardo Kern, Ivica Tomic, Brittney Nurmi

History 12

Ms. Ryant

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Vietnam Wars (Cold War):

1946-54 (FIRST INDOCHINA WAR against France), 1961-75 (USSR & North Vietnam against USA and South Vietnam)
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Before war:
- Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were French colonies (known as French Indo-China), taken over by the Japanese during WWII; made colonies as well by the Japanese. - Vietnamese people did not like the French rule nor the Japanese rule, so they began an independence movement called The League for Vietnamese Independence or Vietminh aiming to drive Japanese out of Vietnam. Leader: Ho Chi Minh. - After Japans defeat on WWII, Ho Chi Minh declared the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, but French wouldnt give up their former colony without any fighting. The French underestimated the strength and determination of the Vietminh and when they realized a real war was at hand.

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First Indochina War: French defeat (1946-54)

- Vietnam received aid from China (from 1950 and onwards). France received an overwhelming war aid from the Americans (in 1954, they received $1000 million dollars of military aid); - Despite the heavy war aid from USA, the French had despised their enemys potential and suffered a crushing defeat in the battle of Dien Bien Phu (fortified camp held by the French deep in Vietminh territory). Vietminh General Giap besieged the camp for 2 months (March to May); There were only 3,000 survivors out of the 16,500 French soldiers. -The battle was a major stroke to the French that lost their will to fight on and finished the war within 2 months with a cease-fire agreement.

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Inter-wars and the set up for the second war:

- in the Geneva Agreements of 1954 the states of Laos and Cambodia were made independent and Vietnam was divided along the 17th parallel (The dividing line between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. It was buffered by a demilitarized zone [DMZ in the map], between the two countries.) -The division of Vietnam would be temporary; Ho Chi Minhs government was recognized in the North and the Americans backed up South Vietnams government. This model was supposed to last till 1956, when elections to create a united Vietnam would happen. These elections never actually happened. The leader of the south government was Ngo Dinh Diem. His rule was corrupt and tyrannical, and the elections never happened in the south, neither the USA pressed them to be held because they were afraid that Ho Chi Minh would win and communism would spread to the southern side of the 17th parallel as well; Diem was a catholic and his policies angered the Buddhists.

-No reforms were made and the people grew angry on Diems government. The land remained in the hands of the landlords. Soon a communist guerrilla army arose against Diem, called the National Liberation Front (NLF). It began being supported by peasants, Buddhists and the people that didnt liked the American rules; afterwards it was supported by the North Vietnams govt. -American President Eisenhower began to be worried with another domino falling into the USSR communist trap.

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The Americans into the war (1961-75):

-Vietnam War goes within the concept of the Cold War, where the USSR supported the government of North Vietnam whereas the USA backed up the South Vietnamese forces, without a real explicit conflict between USA and USSR. -As soon as John F. Kennedy took over as US president in 1961 he reinforced hugely the military supplies as well as increased the number of advisers of the MACV to 16.000; - Safe Villages were developed where the Americans tried to keep out and protect people from all the communists and that were quickly spread through the south. However, communists were already spread throughout the villages and it was very difficult to identify who was communist and who wasnt (the NLF wore no uniform during the guerrilla war). - By 1964 the south Vietnam had 40% of their villages commanded by the communists, receiving assistance from the north troops of Ho Chi Minh. -Communists in Vietnam became known as the Vietcong, or simply VC; The VC had increasing support from the peasants, and Diems unpopularity was another setback for the US intentions. - Diem was executed in 1963 by the South Vietnamese Army and the fact was welcomed by the US, who probably helped setting the murder. - Diems death was of no help to the Americans because the men that succeeded him were no more honest or efficient than him. - JFK was murdered in 1963 and Lyndon Johnson (JFK successor) changed sharply the position regarding the Vietnam War: he believed the war could be won quickly with a massive increase in American involvement. - The US forced in Vietnam increased from 23.000 at the of 1964 to 165.000 in November 1965, and two years later number had increased to 500.000 -America began a huge bombing campaign in North Vietnam (despite the fact that the US wasnt never officially at war its government). In the seven years that the bombing lasted, US dropped more bombs that both sides in WWII.1967 was good year for the US advances and they conquered reasonable size of communist ground. - VC in the south received aid from the northern government through the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which was repeatedly bombed by the US. -The VC had the ground advantage, they had already developed trails and traps, underground tunnels and they could easily disappear in between civilians if anything happened; -At the end of January 1968 the Vietcong forces launched a large scale offensive, known as the Tet Offensive. This offensive proved to be less effective than the VC expected, for though they won much ground at first, they were quickly beaten back and loss 40.000 soldiers, compared to only 4.000 loss of American and south Vietnamese forces. - Though the Tet Offensive wasnt efficient, it changed public opinion regarding the war at the US grounds Americans realized that even if the war was won, it would take many years and be a costly war. The VC regained control of the rural south. end the

with the a

- In 1969 the Americans had lost 14.000 men and the war was costing $2000 million a month. -Johnson decided not to run for the re-election in 1968 because he knew he had no chance of winning due to the way the war was going, and Nixon assumed the presidency. Although Nixon did not promise to end the war, his policy of Vietnamisation and the Nixon Doctrine gave the US a way out of the war and decreased American expenses and casualties. - While Vietnamisation began the Americans started bombing North Vietnam once again (Johnson stopped the bombings in march 1968). In 1970 Nixon ordered the bombing of the neutral Cambodia as an attempt to destroy the Ho Chi Minh Trail; (the press and the American population were not aware of this bombing campaign, what resulted in the scandal of the Pentagon Papers). - Nixon believed the US could bomb the North Vietnamese into a peace agreement, allowing the US to exit the war without looking beaten. Vietcong never surrendered. -in 1972 there were only 47.000 remaining American soldiers in Vietnam. Nixon continued with Vietnamisation even though the South Vietnamese had no conditions of waging war against the VC on their own. -Nixon was reelected in 1972 with a massive majority; -in 1973 a cease fire was agreed with the VC and North Vietnamese. American troops would be totally withdrawn and communism would not extend their control beyond areas already occupied by them. -The U.S. government continued to fund the South Vietnamese army, but this funding quickly decreased. -After the Americans were out of the war, the North Vietnamese forces stepped up their attacks on the South and finally launched an all-out offensive in the spring of 1975. -On April 30, 1975, the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese, who reunited the country under Communist rule as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, ending the Vietnam War. -The ARVN collapsed and its men gave up and went back to civilian life. The ARVN proved to be ineffective in several conflicts against the Vietcong. -the number of VC, North Vietnamese and civilians killed in the war is estimate 1 million, while South Vietnamese and civilians sum to 600.000; Over 50.000 American troops lost their lives. -Vietnams jungle was severely destroyed by Americans, who poisoned the jungle through the Agent Orange. -North Vietnam had suffered widespread destruction from the American consecutive bombings.

Important terms (not specified in the notes): -Vietnam War was the first publicized war, so that the American people could sit down and watch how the war was going in Vietnamese ground. American people and the press played a major role by protesting and making pressure to the US at first send troops home to withdraw the war. -French Indo-China: term for the area encompassing present-day Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. -Domino Theory: by President Eisenhower; it was the idea that if one nation fell to Communism, the surrounding nations
would be likely to fall to Communism as well, starting a chain reaction in which nations fell like dominoes in a line. The domino theory guided U.S. foreign policy for years and was used to justify U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

- Nixon Doctrine: A proclamation issued by Nixon in 1969 that the United States would no longer send troops to fight
Communist revolutions abroad.

-Vietnamisation: President Nixons 1969 plan that called for withdrawing almost all of the 500,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam
over the next year and handing over more responsibility and training the South Vietnamese army to wage the war.

-Pentagon Papers: Secret U.S. government reports to detail U.S. involvement in Vietnam since World War II. Because the
Pentagon Papers revealed that the U.S. government had lied about numerous secret operations in Vietnam, the American public grew even more distrustful of the government. -

Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN): South Vietnamese army backed by the USA

-MACV: Acronym for the group of U.S. military advisors during Vietnam War, sent by JFK to train the ARVN, commanded by Westmoreland from 1964 and on;

- General Giap: Major figure of the Vietminh army during the first war, kept involved with the army in the second war, against
the USA

-General Westmoreland: The American commander in Vietnam Wars. -Napalm: A flammable, sprayable, gasoline-based gel that the U.S. military used extensively as a weapon in Vietnam. Napalm
inflicted devastating burns, killing and maiming many Vietnamese soldiers and civilians.

-Agent Orange: A chemical herbicide and defoliant that U.S. forces sprayed extensively in order to kill vegetation in the
Vietnamese jungle and expose Viet Cong hideouts. Agent Orange inflicted immense damage on Vietnams natural environment and led to decades of unforeseen health problems among Vietnamese civilians and U.S. military forces.

-Ho Chi Minh Trail: The Ho Chi Minh Trail was a complex web of different jungle paths that enabled communist troops to
travel from North Vietnam to areas close to Saigon

- The Vietnam War was the first real helicopter war. A helicopter could be equipped with guns, grenade launchers,
rockets, or even guided missiles, and provide rapid and wide-ranging fire against an adversary on the ground. The Huey (photo below) was the most symbolic weapon of the Vietnam War.

US Presidents: Dwight Eisenhower John F. Kennedy Lyndon Johnson Richard Nixon Major Vietnamese leader: Ho Chi Minh