Transcript The Vietnam War 1960-1973

The Vietnam War
1960-1973
Chapter 28
A Distant War Divides a Nation
Section 1
Words to Know
• Domino Theory: Belief that if one country falls to
communism, others nearby will fall, one after the other
• Viet Cong: Communist Vietnamese in South Vietnam
• Guerrilla Warfare: Fighting by troops who are not
members of a regular army, using surprise attacks
• Depose: To remove from office
War in Vietnam
• France controlled Vietnam for
many years
• 1946: People of Vietnam fought
war against France
– Independence
– Ho Chi Minh: Leader
• Communist
• May 1954:
– Ho Chi Minh victorious
– War ended two months later
– Vietnam won independence
– Vietnam Divided into 2
Vietnam
• North and South Vietnam
• 1956: National elections were
to be held
– Vote for one leader
• Unite country
• Before Elections, Ho Chi Minh:
– Took over N. Vietnam
– Set up communist govt.
• Ngo Dinh Diem
– Lead S. Vietnam
– Against Communism
U.S.
• Worried Ho Chi Minh would
win elections
• Afraid communist govt. would
take over all Vietnam
– Then neighboring countries
– Domino Theory
• U.S. saw Minh’s communist
govt. as threat to all of Asia
An Unpopular Leader
•
•
1956:
– Dinh Diem called off national
elections
– Formed non-Communist
country in the south
– U.S. agreed with decision
– President Eisenhower
promised to help
Many people in south did not like
Diem
– Thought he was a dictator
– No freedom of speech
– Put people in prison who were
against him
– Restricted religion
1957
• Viet Cong: people who were
against Diem
– South Vietnamese
Communists
• 1959: Viet Cong joined N.
Vietnamese army to fight
Diem’s forces
– Beginning of Vietnam War
Help form the U.S.
• JFK 1961: continued to help S.
Vietnam
– Military advisors to train S.
Vietnamese
• Trainers were not
supposed to fight
• Some battles occurred
Warfare
• Fighting Viet Cong not easy
– Guerrilla warfare
– Surprise attacks then
disappear
• 1963: S. Vietnamese military
leaders deposed Diem
• Nov. 1, 1963: Diem killed by
his own generals
• Military took control of S.V.
• 3 weeks later, JFK assassinated
– LBJ now in control
Fighting Continues
• LBJ: Important to fight
Communism
– Thought north could be
defeated with U.S. help
• How to fight Communism was
the question
– Most Vietnamese people
lived in the south
– Farmed Mekong River delta
• Most supported Viet
Cong
Trail
• N. Vietnam sent supplies to Viet
Cong
– Used Ho Chi Minh trail
– Pg. 527
– U.S. believed they needed
more troops to win the war
The Gulf of Tonkin
• August 1964
– August 2, U.S. warship
attacked by N. Vietnamese
gunboats
– LBJ told American people
that U.S. would fight back
• LBJ: Asked Congress to give
him the power to send troops to
Vietnam
– Congress gave in
– LBJ could send troops to
Vietnam without declaring
war
Bombing of N. Vietnam
• 1964: LBJ Re-elected
– Americans liked stand
against Communism
• Promised that American
soldiers would not be sent to
Vietnam
– Plans were already
underway to bomb
N.Vietnam
Feb. 1965
• Viet Cong forces attacked
military base in S.V.
– 8 Americans killed
– LBJ ordered bombing to
begin
– Dropped 500 tons of bombs
a day on N.V.
• More than 3 years
– Made N.V. and V.C. want to
fight even more
• June `65: 50,000+ soldiers in
Vietnam