Vietnam War
Notes:
- Originally a French colony (Indochina)
- Ho Chi Minh and his communist supporters resisted Japanese occupation during WWII
- After WWII the French reoccupied
- Ho Chi Minh fought the French and defeated them in 1954 (Dien Bien Phu)
- Laos, Cambodia granted independence
- Vietnam divided along the 17th parallel
- South Vietnam was led by a Catholic named Ngo Dinh Diem
- The mainly Buddhist south had opposition in the form of the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Viet Cong (a guerrilla force)
- The North (Ho Chi Minh) supported both of these groups
- The north never accepted the Geneva agreement of 1954
- U.S. saw this as another situation in which containment was necessary (SEATO)
- The U.S. had supported the French (military advisors)
- Kennedy increased troops in 1962 from 500-10,000
- CIA overthrows Diem in 1963 (corruptness)
- A fabricated incident was set up; an American destroyer (USS Maddox) was torpedoed
- Led President Johnson to install the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
- Lead to the commitment of regular ground troops and air support
- 200,000 troops in 1965 - 600,000 in 1968
- The National Liberation Front (NLF) supported by the North
- Sent supplies on a route from the north through Cambodia, Laos and behind lines into south Vietnam
- The U.S. refused to fight on Cambodia or Laotian territory so supplies remained safe
- Offensive launched by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) in 1968
- Surprises Americans
- Is played up as a major victory for the North although very little is achieved
- Public relations victory
- Anti-war demonstrations increase as a result
- Anti-war demonstrations became very popular in the U.S.
- President Nixon was elected in 1968 on a peace platform (Tricky Dicky)
- Nixon wanted to find a way out honourably
- Developed Vietnamization with help of Henry Kissinger and Henry Cabot-Lodge
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