Eisenhower

• • The main reason why the US stayed in Vietnam after the Geneva Accords was the domino theory
  • This claimed that if one country became communist, the others around it would follow
  • President Eisenhower set up SEATO with 7 other countries in 1954 to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia
• Diem’s government didn’t have much support because:

  • Many of the people of South Vietnam believed in communism
  • There were other political and religious groups that used their own armies to oppose Diem
  • Diem favoured Catholics over the majority of the population who were Buddhist, giving them government jobs
  • He repressed Buddhists who participated in civil resistance against him
  • Diem had little respect for the villages
• • Eisenhower supported Diem’s weak government and helped to train the South Vietnamese army (the ARVN), rather than send US troops
  • He wanted to avoid starting a war with the USSR or China
  • In 1956 Diem refused to hold elections like the Geneva Accords had demanded
  • The US supported him as they were afraid that the communists would win the election
• Vietcong:

  • The Vietcong were communist groups that opposed Diem

  North Vietnam supported the VC, and in 1959 sent troops and weapons into the South using the Ho Chi Minh trail
• Ho Chi Minh trail:

  • The Ho Chi Minh trail was a trail that went from North Vietnam to South Vietnam, through Laos and Cambodia and was used to send supplies to the VC