Vietnam 1954-72

Vietnam 1954-72

Background
1. Before WW2, Vietnam ruled by France
2. In 1942, Japan invaded & treated the Vietnamese in a brutal way
3. Strong resistance movement was set up by Ho Chi Minh.
4. Ho Chi Minh had lived in Europe & studied Communism.
5. In August 1945, Japan was defeated & the French returned to rule
6. Ho Chi Minh & supporters fought for independence
7. Despite being supported by USA, the French were defeated at battle of Dien Bien Phu
8. A Peace Treaty was signed, & France pulled out of Vietnam
9. Vietnam was divided in two, Communist North & Non-Communist South
1954-64: The USA supports Diem
1. USA supported Diem with money, equipment & military advisers who trained South Vietnamese troops
2. Advisers were soldiers, but not combat troops
3. Diem's regime was corrupt - unpopular with Vietnamese peasants
4. Result - Communists in South V (Vietcong) built up support - got help from Ho Chi Minh
5. In early 60s, Vietcong started attacking South V army, & government buildings & officials, inc Americans
6. Used hit-and-run guerrilla tactics - very effective
7. By 1962, Vietcong controlled much of countryside
8. During 1963 & 1964, guerrilla war continued & tension rose between North & South
9. Trigger came in 1964 when North Vietnamese gunboats attacked American warships off Vietnam coast
10. Lyndon Johnson sent hundreds of thousands of young Americans to fight
11. People thought no way the Vietcong could stand up to this!
Why did the USA become increasingly involved in Vietnam?
1. Containment
  1. Stopping the advance of communism wherever it looked like it was gaining ground
  2. E.g. USA supported the French in Vietnam
  3. They thought the Vietnamese were allied to Communist China
  4. Also wanted to keep the support of France against Communism in Europe
2. Domino Theory
  1. Closely linked to containment
  2. President Eisenhower wa convinced that China & USSR were planning to spread communism throughout Asia
  3. If Vietnam fell to Communsim, then Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand and possibly India might too
  4. USA determined to resist the spread of communism in Vietnam, which they saw as first domino in the row
3. American Politics
  1. In 1950s and 1960s, during eletion time, it was a sure vote winner to talk tough about communism
  2. Sure vote loser to look weak on communism.
  3. In 1960 election campaign, John F Kennedy promised to continue the tough politics of Eisenhower
4. Military-Industrial Complex
  1. In 1961, Eisenhower warned that America had developed a powerful 'military-industrial complex'
  2. Government gave huge budgets to the military commanders
  3. These budgets were spent on weapons contracts which went to huge corporations
  4. Both, military & big businesses gained from conflict
  5. Eisenhower didn't accuse business & military leaders for anything, but in last speech as President, he warned American people not to let these groups become too influential
Tactics
1. Vietcong
  1. Vietcong Soldiers
    1. 170,000 soldiers with weapons supplied by Communist China & USSR.
    2. Used guerrilla warfare.
    3. Lead by Ho Chi Minh
    4. Successes
      1. Very effective
      2. US soldiers lived in constant fear of attack or ambush
      3. Difficult to identify, to find & to fight - wore down morale of US soldiers
    5. No failures
  2. Guerrilla Warfare
    1. Launched surprise attacks on enemy camps
    2. Used tunnels & underground to hide
    3. No uniform - difficult for US soldiers to identify Vietcong soldiers
    4. Success
      1. Americans were not strong enough to defeat Vietcong
    5. No failures
2. Americans
  1. Bombing
    1. Bombed Vietcong strongholds, supply lines & cities in North V
    2. Successes
      1. Vietcong supply lines disrupted
      2. North's industry & military production badly damaged
      3. Extensive bombing of North encouraged Communist leaders to seek end to war
    3. Failures
      1. North's effort slowed, but not stopped
      2. Vietcong used underground passaged which bombing didn't affect
      3. Cost was huge - communists destroyed 14,000 US & South's aircraft
  2. Chemical Weapons
    1. US developed Agent Orange - used to destroy jungle foliage in order to find Vietcong fighters
    2. Napalm - highly inflammable & burnt everything which it came into contact with
    3. Failure
      1. Napalm was very controversial - many civilians suffered extensive burns
  3. Search and Destroy
    1. To deal with guerrilla tactics - US & South Vietnamese used helicopters to land quickly near Vietnamese villages & kill hiding Vietcong fighters
    2. Success
      1. Many Vietcong soldiers killed
    3. Failures
      1. Vietcong often set traps for inexperience US soldiers
      2. Sometimes wrong villages were attacked & burned as intelligence was often inadequate & out of date
      3. Large no. of Vietnamese civilian casualties
      4. Made US soldiers very unpopular with local civilians - encouraged many to join Vietcong

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