History Lecture: 4/2/15

Vietnam (1945-1975) NOT A WAR TECHNICALLY

Key Terms: Ho Chi Minh, Vietminh vs. Vietcong, My Lai, Kent State
I.

Why Vietnam?
A. France and Japan
1. France
a. Vietnam was originally imperialized by the French in the
1870s & 1880s
(1) Cambodia and Laos were also imperialized at this time
(2) Called these three mushed together areas French
Indo-China
b. Set up their own government in collaboration with the
Vietnamese
c. Brought new religions, food, languages, architecture,
ideologies
d. Beginning in the early 1900s, the Vietnamese were already
forming nationalist movements in efforts to gain
independence from France
e. French deny Vietnamese independence after WWI
2. Japan
a. Japanese occupy Vietnam during WWII
b. Vietnamese nationalists fight Japanese
(1) U.S. joins forces with Vietnam
(a) Supply guns, money, troops
(b) Guerilla Warfare
c. 1945 WWII ends
(1) Japanese are out
(2) Vietnamese nationalists declare independence
(a) Copy our Declaration of Independence
(b) Appeals to United Nations, who decline to
recognize them
B. Ho Chi Minh
1. In his early-twenties he had money saved by working for the French
a. Goes to Paris to get education
b. Learns about nationalism and revolutions
(1) People running their own country
2. Appeals to the Treaty of Versailles in order to become a DemocraticCapitalist Nation
a. Declined
3. Travels to Soviet Union for support
a. Learns about communism and socialism then travels back to
Vietnam
4. Two Parts to his mission
a. Spread Communism to the Vietnamese people in order to
achieve independence
b. Spy on the French

5. We send our supplies to Ho Chi Minh to fight Japanese, though he is

spreading communism
C. Geneva Accords
1. France and Vietnam are at war over who is going to be in charge
(1945-1954)
a. 80% of the money for Frances fight comes from the United
State
2. After 9 years, France quits
a. Dien Bien Phu
(1) The French are Massacred
b. Sues Vietnam for peace
3. Treaty written by the United States for peace between France and
Vietnam
a. Creates 2 independent Vietnamese countries
(1) North Vietnam
(a) Communist
(b) Led by Ho Chi Minh
(2) South Vietnam
(a) Democratic Capitalist
(b) Leader chosen by United States
b. After 2 years, South Vietnam will be independent and will be
able to hold their own elections
II. Civil War
A. Ngo Dinh Diem
1. Becomes president of South Vietnam in 1954
2. Catholic (10% of Vietnam)
3. Served for French government during French-Vietnam War
a. We know he is not a communist
4. Has two years to get country set up into a Democratic Capitalist
routine
5. When people disagree, he arrests, tortures, and kills them
6. United States cancels the 1956 election
a. The country isnt quite stable yet
B. Vietminh vs. Vietcong
1. Vietminh
a. Ho Chi Minh supporters
b. North-Vietnamese communists who are going to start
attacking South Vietnam in order to reunite North and South
Vietnam
2. Vietcong
a. South Vietnamese communists
b. By 1954, we are supplying a lot to South Vietnam (not troops
yet)
C. JFK and Vietnam
1. Buddhist Monks
a. Become very violent in their protests
b. Diem begins shutting down Monasteries and kicking monks
out
c. Saigon (Capitol City)

(1) Monks wage very violent protests

2. November 1963
a. Collection of South Vietnamese army generals capture and
execute Diem
b. Those generals are now in charge
c. Two weeks later, JFK is assassinated
D. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
1. Lyndon B. Johnson
a. August 1964
(1) Navy was running training exercises here next to
North Vietnam and China
(2) Vietnamese fishing boat armed with torpedoes rams
into one of our vessels
b. Report of second attack not verified
(1) Johnson tells Congress not to declare war, just needed
authorization to use military force to protect military
personnel in Vietnam
(2) Congress agreed
2. Gives President the power to do whatever he deems necessary to
protect military personnel in Vietnam
a. Approximately 40 to 50,000 military personnel
b. Johnson increase that to 250,000 in one year
3. United States becomes South Vietnamese army to fight against
Vietminh and Vietcong
III. A Different Kind of War
A. Guerilla Warfare
1. Homefield advantage
2. Vietminh and Vietcong dig hundreds of miles of tunnels
B. Napalm and Agent Orange
1. Napalm
a. Jello-d gasoline
b. Dropped out of airplanes
c. Lands on children, soldiers
2. Agent Orange
a. Acid burns the jungle away
C. Tet Offensive
1. Vietminh and Vietcong join forces
2. Vietnamese New Year (Tet)
a. Viet- spread rumor that there will be a gathering of bad-guys
outside of Saigon
(1) Americans leave and the Viet- come in
3. Month-long battle US troops reclaim Saigon
a. 2,000 American deaths 20,000 Viet- deaths 5-10,000
civilian deaths
b. This battle was aired every night on TV
D. My Lai
1. March 1968

IV. Peace
A.

B.

C.

D.

a. Americans are given information that in My Lai at a certain

time the village will be full of Vietcong and no civilians would
be there
b. When they arrived, no Vietcong are there and it is solely the
elderly, women, and children
(1) Rape, torture and execution of 500 villagers
c. Soldiers who participated go on with their routine
2. Photographer took pictures and hid personal picture
a. 2 years later, sold images of My Lai for $40,000
b. 20 people are arrested and put on trial
(1) 8 convicted
(2) 2 year sentence
c. Support for war drops
3. Lyndon B. Johnson does not run
a. Robert Kennedy tries, but is shot
b. Richard Nixon takes the presidency
with Honor
Cambodia and Laos
1. 2 separate independent countries who are not communist
2. Do not stop the supplies that are coming from North into South
Vietnam
3. Richard Nixon authorizes the bombing of Cambodia and Laos in
order to get out of Vietnam
a. Cambodia becomes so destabilized, it allows gangsters to
take over Khmer Rouge
(1) Wipe out 2 Million Cambodians because they are in
the way
4. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge decide to run Cambodia in the name
of Communism because the US is against it and is bombing their
country
Kent State (March 4th, 1970) Ohio
1. Holds protest against bombing in Cambodia and Laos
2. Governor of Ohio believes in the war and if you disagree you are unAmerican
a. Sends in National Guard who shoot at the protesters
b. At the end of the day, 4 are dead
(1) 2 were regular students who were innocent bystanders
Vietnamization
1. 1972 Nixon opens up negotiations with North Vietnam to end the
war which we were not in
2. We are going to train the South Vietnamese to do the fighting, so
that the Americans can go home
3. By 1973 a peace treaty between North Vietnam and the U.S. is
signed
a. U.S. has 2 years to get everyone out of South Vietnam
b. In that time, the North would leave the South alone
1975 American Embassy
1. The last American soldiers are out along with rich civilians
a. Civilians know that they are going to die

b. Become refugees in the United States

2. 6 months later
a. North Vietnam takes over South Vietnam
b. Becomes a single Vietnam that is communist
V. Legacy
A. Communism must be stopped, wherever we find it