Vietnam War

• • Vietnam was originally a FRENCH COLONY called INDOCHINA.
  • However, like KOREA it was invaded and occupied by the JAPANESE in World war 2. 
  • Many of the Vietnamese RESISTED the Japanese, fighting campaigns to free themselves. This Vietnamese army was called the VIET MINH. It was led by an inspirational leader HO CHI MINH 
• Vietnam was divided along the 17th parallel after the french defeat in 1954.

  • The north was led by the Viet Minh
  • The south was led by Ngo Dinh Diem
• Not all Southerners were happy with a divided Vietnam. Many wanted an end to the division of Vietnam.

  • They formed their own NATIONAL LIBERATION ARMY (or VIETCONG)
  • They were led by HO CHI MINH who was a COMMUNIST
  • They launched a series of GUERRILLA attacks against South Vietnam.
  • They did have support among many Vietnamese 
• • The South Vietnamese Government was regarded as CORRUPT and UNPOPULAR by many in South Vietnam.
  • Their leader NGO DINH DIEM was eventually overthrown and assassinated. 
• The American President KENNEDY was assassinated in Dallas Texas.  He was replaced by LYNDON JOHNSON
• in 1964 a US Navy destroyer USS Maddox was fired on by North Vietnamese Torpedo boats. The incident was pretty minor but what made this so important was that it led to PRESIDENT JOHNSON to ask CONGRESS for massive powers to increase the US military presence in Vietnam.
• Over the next 3 Years after the Tonkin resolution:

  • The amount of US soldiers increased massively to almost 500,000!
  • US attacks against the VIETCONG increased dramatically. 
  • The US used horrific chemical weapons to try and win this war:
  • AGENT ORANGE was used to get rid of trees and leaves where Viet Cong could hide. This destroyed Vietnamese livelihoods too. 
  • NAPALM horribly burned its victims when dropped. It was like Liquid petroleum and stuck to its victims burning them to death.
• • The US army was made up of many young and inexperienced CONSCRIPT SOLDIERS.
  • The Vietcong were using GUERRILLA tactics – as they did not wear uniforms they could blend in with the local peasant population. This was highly frustrating to the US who found it hard to distinguish between friend and enemy
  • The Vietcong developed a vast network of UNDERGROUND TUNNELS to support their soldiers
  • The US army lost the HEARTS AND MINDS (support) of many ordinary Vietnamese by their use of indiscriminate attacks in which civilians were killed
• The USA dropped 3 million tonnes of bombs in Vietnam which is more than all of WW2. This was called operation Rolling Thunder.

  3 million vietnamese were made homeless through incidents such as the my lai massacre
• Northern soldiers were sent to south Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh trail, it ran through Laos and Cambodia and gave supplies to soldiers in the south.
• In 1968 the viet cong launched the TET OFFENSIVE. Tet is a holiday in Vietnam and was chosen to suprise the USA. Saigon was attacked and repressed by the USA. They lost in a military sense but it damaged US public opinion of the war
• The Vietnam war ended in 1973 after a peace treaty was signed. US troops would leave and their POWs released. Nixon described it as 'peace with honour'. However within 2 years Vietnam was controlled by communists. The americans achieved very little at very high cost
• Consequences:

  • 2 million Vietnamese and 58,000 US troops dead
  • $120 billion spent
  • Containment had failed