Developments of the Vietnam War, 1964-1976

• Start of the Vietnam War

  • From Aug 1964, USA began direct military intervention in Vietnam and deployed hundreds of thousands of troops there

  • USA also had massive superiority in military equipment

  • From March 1965 – end of 1967, fought along the border between North and South Vietnam

  • From 1965-1967, war was going reasonably well for the USA. But neither side was able to win

  • Viet Cong controlled the countryside while USA controlled the cities,

  towns and their own bases.
• North Vietnam Strategy


  • Due to their inferiority in military equipment, Viet Cong & North Vietnam used guerilla tactics.

  • Avoided large-scale battles

  • Did not wear uniforms, hid among local peasants to attack and then

  disappeared into the jungles, villages and tunnels.

  • Able to avoid US attacks and neutralize their advantage in

  firepower.
• American strategy

  • Used superior air power to launch strategic bombing campaigns.

  • Aimed to disrupt North Vietnamese supply lines.

  • Operation Rolling Thunder (1965-1968) bombed North Vietnamese cities, factories and army bases.

  • More US bombs were dropped on North Vietnam than in Germany or

  Japan in WWII!
• Support from civilians


  • Ho emphasized the importance of winning over the local population.

  • Viet Cong was expected to respect and help the peasants

  • The help of the peasants were crucial for Viet Cong to avoid capture by the US and SV forces.

  • USA’s “Search and Destroy” missions to hunt down the Viet Cong led to

  many civilian deaths

  • Use of defoliants (Agent Orange) and napalm as weapons caused widespread damage to crops and the countryside.

  • These tactics led to resentment against the USA, and the locals supported the Viet Cong instead.
• Soldiers’ morale


  • Although North Vietnamese and Viet Cong lost many troops (~1

  million), they remained determined to fight

  • Saw the war as a war for national liberation & reunification

  • Wanted to get rid of all foreign dominance

  • Morale was high among US troops at the start of the war, but it soon fell as the war dragged on.

  • Many US troops were young and inexperienced and did not understand why they had to fight in a faraway war.

  • Media portrayal of war atrocities further lowered morale.
• The Turning point : Tet offensive, 1968


  
  

  • During the Vietnamese New Year (Tet) holiday, Viet Cong fighters launched a surprise attack

  • Attacked over 100 cities and military bases at once with 80,000 troops

  • Had used Ho Chi Minh trail to move equipment and troops from the north to the south.

  • Military defeat for the Communists as the US and South Vietnamese forces quickly retook the territory captured in the offensive

  • Viet Cong lost 10,000 experienced fighters. But it made USA reconsider their efforts in Vietnam – realized they could not win the war.
• Role of the media


  • VW was widely covered in the media

  • Media at first cooperated with US government, helped to

  win domestic support for the war

  • After Tet offensive, media began to criticize the US war effort, many journalists believed the war could not be won

  • Media published graphic photographs and reports of US atrocities in Vietnam

  • E.g. the My Lai massacre, where hundreds of South Vietnamese civilians were murdered by US troops.

  • Fuelled anti-war sentiments in USA, major protests broke out

  • In 1968, there were over 100 demonstrations by 40,000 students

  against the war.
• US decided to Withdraw


  • After Tet Offensive, Johnson concluded that the war could not be won.

  • Started exploring peace talks

  • Announced he would not stand for re-election, replaced by Richard Nixon after election in 1968

  • Nixon himself was in big political trouble over the Watergate scandal, and faced pressure from Congress to end the war as soon as possible.

  • Nixon worked to end US involvement in Vietnam through Vietnamisation.
• US Withdrawal from VW - Vietnamisation


  • Nixon worked to end US involvement in Vietnam through Vietnamisation

  • He handed responsibility for the war to South Vietnamese forces and withdrawing US troops.

  • Sudden withdrawal of US troops would mean certain victory for the Communists, so USA withdrawal took a long time.

  • The Vietnamisation policy planned to gradually bring troops home, train South Vietnamese soldiers, and increase the financial aid sent to South Vietnam.

  • This allows USA to withdraw from the war with honour intact and from a favourable position.
• Paris peace accords 1973


  • 1972, 400,000 US troops left Vietnam

  • Peace talks began in 1968, but was marked by many disagreements

  • Nguyen Van Thieu, the president of South Vietnam, had refused to cooperate, but was forced to by the USA

  • Jan 1973, all parties signed the Paris Peace Accords to establish a ceasefire, allow a 60-day period for withdrawal of all American troops, and the return of US prisoners

  • March 1973, the last US forces left Vietnam

  • Although Nixon’s replacement, Gerald Ford wanted to continue sending financial aid to Vietnam, it was rejected by Congress.
• Fall of Saigon


  • Without the US military, and with little popular support, the South

  Vietnamese government was short-lived.

  • Dec 1974, North Vietnam launched a major military offensive

  • In Apr 1975, President Thieu resigned and fled the capital

  • Saigon soon fell to the Communists and South Vietnam surrendered
• Vietnam reunified


  
  

  • After 30 years of conflict, Communists were victorious and Vietnam was finally reunified.

  • Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City

  • In 1976, Vietnam became known as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, under Communist Party Chairman Le Duan.

  • USSR remained its ally and source of aid.