History Revision - Vietnam War

Origins of Conflict
1. 1939 - Vietnam was part of French Indo-China
  1. Included Laos and Cambodia as well
    1. French rule was harsh
  2. 1930's - Uprisings led by Nationalist Party of Vietnam
    1. Attempts crushed by French
    2. 1940 - Japan invades and occupies Indo-China
      1. Ideal opportunity for Vietnamese to gain independence
        Overthrow French
      2. 1941 - Leading Vietnamese communists : Ho Chi Minh and Nguyen Vo Giap set up League for independence of Vietnam/Vietminh
        Aim: Establish independence from French and Japanese rule
        US intelligence helped train and equip Vietminh
        1944 - Ready to begin guerilla operations against the Japanese in North Vietnam
        Small scale attacks
        Successful
        Gained support for Vietminh
        August 1945 - The Vietminh had 5000 guerilla fighters
        Japanese defeated in WW2
        Forced to evacuate all conquests
        Including Vietnam
        September 1945 - Ho Chi Minh occupied Hanoi and Saigon
        Claimed Vietnam to be independent
        Democratic republic
        At first US didn't want to see restoration of old colonial empires
        Sympathised with Ho Chi Minh and idea of an independent Vietnam
        New independent republic was short lived
        Weeks later French moved 50000 troops into Indo-China
        Quickly restored control over South Vietnam
        Vietminh were not strong here
        Drove Ho Chi Minh and followers into jungles of the North
        Next 5 years Ho Chi Minh would establish guerilla warfare against the French
        1949 - Chinese Communist Party won its civil war
        Led by Mao Zedong
        Established comunist government
        Led to 2 major developments in Vietnam
        Mao supported Vietminh
        Gave them military supplies
        USA now feared communism sweeping across Asia
        Switched support to helping French
        1950 - US President Truman sent French $15 million of supplies
        Over 4 years USA gave French $3 billion
        1951 - Vietminh moved away from guerilla warfare and moved to bigger attacks on well defended French positions
        Battle for Vietnamese independence took place in the French garrison
        Dien Bien Phu
        French had tried to trap Vietminh by camping at Dien Bien phu
        Vietminh surrounded camp and set up gun positions of hills nearby
        Prevented French from getting supplies
        May 1954 - French Surrendered
        Two months later an armistice was signed
        French agreed to leave Indo-China
        165000 French troops had been at Dien Bien Phu, only 3000 survived
USA Involvement
1. During the 50's the USA became more involved in Vietnam
  1. Part of their policy of containment
    1. Stopping the spread of communism
2. Geneva Agreement
  1. After Bien Dien Phu USA, Britain, France, USSR, China and Vietnam met in Geneva
    1. In Switzerland, neutral territory
    2. Decide the fate of Vietnam
  2. Points that were agreed
    1. Vietnam to be temporarily divide along the 17th parallel into North and South Vietnam
    2. North Vietnam would be ruled by Ho Chi Minh
      1. South Vietnam would be ruled Ngo Dinh Dien
    3. Vietnam forces would pull out of the South
      1. French forces would pull out of the North
    4. There would early elections in July 1956
      1. Elect government for the whole of Vietnam
        Reunite Vietnam
3. The Domino Theory
  1. President Eisenhower believed in this theory
    1. Wanted to stop the spread of communism to South of Vietnam
      1. Feared joint elections
        Didn't want Ho Chi Minh to win
        He was a communist
        His popularity had grown in the South
      2. Fears shared with China
        If Vietnam became communist, so would Laos, Cambodia and other coutries
4. Support for Ngo Dinh Dien
  1. Eisenhower determined to maintain South Vietnam set up
    1. This meant that they would need to prop Ngo Dinh Dien
      1. He was elected official president of South Vietnam
        Elections were rigged
        65000 people from Saigon voted for Ngo Dinh Dien
        Saigon only had a population of 45000
        USA knew that the elections were rigged but did nothing
        They needed Dien as president
  2. No intention to sticking to the Geneva agreement about a reunification vote
    1. Dien refused the election in the South because he knew that he had the support of the USA
      1. As long as he stopped the spread of communism
      2. USA sent said and military advisers to train the South Vietnamese
5. Unpopular Dien Government
  1. Dien had served in the French administrarions
    1. Because of this he was unpopular and a bad president
  2. He was a Catholic and most Vietnamese were Buddhists
    1. Persecuted Buddhists
      1. Stopped them from flying the Buddhist flag on Buddha's birthday
        In protest, Quang Duc a Buddhist, set himself on fire against Dien's religious policies
        Madame Nhu, Diem's sister, said she wished there would be more of these "barbecues"
    2. Filled government with Catholic landowners
  3. His government was harsh and ruled as a dictator
    1. His main focus was to hunt down Vietminh supporters
      1. Send them to prison camps and "re-educate" them
        Those who would not change would be executed
  4. Eisenhower encouraged him to give land to the peasants
    1. He did the opposite
      1. He took the land from the peasants and gave it to his followers
        The few peasants that did have land had to pay for it in installments
        He'd make them pay higher taxes and work for free during some parts of the year
Methods used by the Vietcong
1. Manly used guerilla tactics in the south
  1. Strength of US resources and equipment
    1. NVA and Vietcong no match for USA and ARVN in open warfare
  2. Support from peasants in South
  3. Essential supplies coming from the North
    1. Ho Chi Minh triail
      1. 40000 Vietnamese worked on trail
  4. Knowledge of jungles in the South
2. Guerilla tactics
  1. Ho Chi Minh studied these from Mao Zedong
    1. 1930's and 1940's
      1. Successful struggle against Chinese Nationalist Party
  2. Used against Japanese during WW2
    1. Against French in years after
  3. Retreat when attacked
    1. Raid when the enemy camps
      1. Attack when the enemy tires
        Pursue when the enemy retreats
  4. Attacks dependent on peasantry support
    1. Vietcong expected to be nice to villagers
      1. Would often help peasants during busy times
        Contrasts "search and destroy" tactics
      2. Could be ruthless when necessary
        Kill peasants when they opposed them
        Tax collectors, police, teachers and other South Vietnamese government officials
        Between 1966 - 1971 Vietcong estimated to have killed 27000 civilians
3. Effectiveness of guerilla attacks
  1. Aim : wear down enemy soldiers and wreck their morale
    1. Very effective
      1. US troops lived in constant fear of ambushes and booby traps
        11% of deaths caused by booby traps
        Cheap and easy to make
        Sharpened bamboo stakes hidden by leaves and twigs easily pierced boots
  2. Vietcong almost impossible to detect
    1. Didn't wear uniforms
      1. No bases or headquarters
        Worked in small groups and not easily distinguishable from peasants and villagers
    2. Attacked and disappeared into the jungle
      1. Villages
      2. Underground tunnels
4. Importance of the underground tunnels
  1. Vietcong feared US bomb raids
    1. Dug deep tunnels around Saigon
      1. 320 kilometers
  2. Self contained
    1. Had booby traps
      1. refuge from bombs and guerilla fighters
  3. Death trap to US and ARVN
Vietcong's stengths
1. Almost unlimited supply of soldiers
  1. North Vietnam used conscription
    1. Each year Hanoi sent 100000 troops to South
2. Fought for 2 causes
  1. Communism
    1. Wanted to fight for liberation in the South
  2. Reunification of Vietnam
3. Prepared for a heavy body count
  1. Between 500000 and 900000 died in the war
4. Knew the terrain
  1. Skilled in guerilla warfare
    1. And jungle warfare
5. Won support from peasants in the south
  1. Alienated by government and US search and destroy tacticts
6. Supplied by USSR and China
  1. Necessary equipment for war
  2. USSR provided 8000 anti aircraft guns
    1. 200 anti aircraft missile sites
  3. Total assistance between both the countries = $2 billion
    1. Between 1965 and 1968
7. Vietcong bases were well hidden
  1. Booby trapped to harm US soldiers
Vietcong weakness
1. Not everyone in North Vietnam backed the idea of war
  1. There had always been hostility between the North and South
2. Lack of air power and military resources
  1. Compared to US

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History Revision - Vietnam War

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	Created by noelfielding11 about 10 years ago