civil rights

• what were the reasons for the growth of us involvement in vietnam?

  • 1954-45 - usa support for the french
  • 1954-60 - usa millitary equpment for south vietnam
  • 1961-63 - us millatary advisors and equipment to help south vietnam
  • 1964-68 - major us commitment of combat troops and bomber
• why did usa get involved with vietnam?

  • scared of comuninists
  • policy of containment which mean to stop stop spreading comunism
  • south vietnam was weak
  • they believed in the domino theory
• why did usa prevent elections forming?

  • scared that communists would win
  • usa made a policy which was "containment" and scared if vietnam became communist other countries in south asia would and this is called "domino theory"
  • Eisenhower beleived china and ussr were planning to spread communism in asia
  • Diems goverment was corrupt for rural populaton and buddhists need support from usa to stay strong.
• what and what was agreed at the geneeva agreement?

  • may 1954
  • they agreed vietnam would be split in half
  • ho chi minh owned south which was communist
  • ngo dinh diem owned south which was non communisy
• the geneva agreement - north

  • ho chi minh owned north
  • he wanted a united communist vietnam
  • was supported by russia and china because he fought against french
  • would have been able to win national election
• the geneva agreement - south

  • ngho dinh diem owned south
  • he was catholic and most vietnamese were buddhists
  • was unpopular because he was harsh to poor workers
  • he was anti - communist
• eisenhower polices and actions in vietnam

  • beleived in domino theory
  • tried to support french to keep control of vietnam but french lost battle of dien bien phu
  • gave diem bien phu money, weapons, and send $2 billion for aid from 1955 to 1960 and increased numbers of millatart advisors around 1000
  • eisenhower left office and fight had brok out between diem and viet cong.
• kennedy policies and actions in vietnam

  • became president in 1961 to 1963
  • agreed with domino theory and wanted to avoid direct millary involvement
  • sent more millatary advisors around 16000 by 1963 and some took part in combat operations.
  • set up strategic hamlet program to relocate vietnamese villagers to strenghthen villagers to stop vietcong recruiting them
  • changed tactic to search and destroy
• johnsons policies and actions in vietnam

  • became president in 1963 to 1969
  • gulf tonkin resolution occured and gave johnson power to act how he wants in vietnam
  • by 1967 there was 50 000 US troops in vietnam.
  • led to vietcong to be more orhanised with ho chi minh trail
  • in jan 1968 tet offensive occured - nva caught number of towns in south and took us months to recover.
  • in 1968 my lai assacre 1968 search and destroy mission lead to brutal klling of 500 vietnamese people. this made us horrified and wanted to end war
  • johnson after announced to seek peace
• nixon policies and actions in vietnam

  • vietnamisation handed fighting bac to the arvn which were people who needed training and equipment.
  • failed as arvn didnt receive support from usa.
  • fro 1968 troops came home and any were demoralised and wanted to leave.
  • in 1970 bombing and invasion of cambodia happend to stop communis from taking power
  • bombing of laos happend in 1971
  • bombing of north vietnam hapend in 1972 which was heavy which was 36000 tons of bombs and this led to ussr and china calling for peace deal.
• what were us tactics? part 1

  • usa had superior resourcce and technology. main proble was theire guerillla enemy vietcong hid in a forest.
  • attempt to find vietcong fighters and wasnt possible as they didn wear uniforms and looked like civillians and if suspected there was any they destroyed village and this led to deaths of innocent civillians.
  • operation rolling thunder occured which meant they bombed north vietnamese towns to destroy and hope they surrender.
• what were us tactics? part 2

  • when americans suspect they found vietcong base they will drop napalm which was a flamable fluid that burnt through everything.
  • vietcong hisd through a thick forest which deterined to find viet cong bases and americans sprayed agent orange onto forests and this caused more harm and killed crops and this led to starvation and cause birth defects.
• what were vietcong tactics?

  • vietcong were guerilla branch of north vietnmese army and used range of tactics to defeat usa and aim of guerilla warfare was to avoide large pitched battles and stay close with enemy to pick them off slowly.
  • tactics werent high tech and relied on knowing landscape. support of locals which as when vietovng woul help villagers recover from us attack when america was seen as enemy viet cong gained support from locals in south vietnam.
• what were vietcong tactics? part 2

  • booby traps were used whech was when they place trip wires or dig holes wire spikes and cover holes with leaves to deceive enemy or markers would be left in path to warn vietcong.
  • tunnels used by vietcong guerilla as hiding spot during combat and providing welfare and this frustrated americas who couldnt find their tunnels.
  • ho chi minh trial - network path which was hidden though jungle for vietcong soldier and vietnaese civillians. and viet cong used it to supply weapons without america finding out and americans would
• Dien bien phu

  • french defeated by viet minh at dien bien phu battle.
  • vietminh forces rapped soldiers in garrioson for 56 days
  • resulted in media atttettntion
  • outcomes of this defeat was formed in geneve argument to split vietnam in 2 zones.
• what happend at gulf of tonkin incident

  • johnson kept communism in vietnam
  • august 1964 north vietnamese patrol boats attacked us boats in gulf tonkin.
  • johnsin had permission to give a full war vietnam
  • 8th march 1965, 3500 us maarines landed at da nang.
  • by 1968 there was 536, 000 troops.
• reasons for growing oppositions

  • tv and media
  • the drafts
  • kenn state shooting
  • student movement
• wh did usa fail in vietnam?

  • didnt get support from locals cause they were seen as outsiders and their actions seen as brutal
  • they fought unseen army so made it more stressfuk and difficult to fight
  • vietcong were supported by hochi minh triail