30:1 Moving Toward Conflict

French Vietnam

• Colony• Rice/rubber plantation• Oppression of Vietnamese

Ho Chi Minh

• Resisted French rule• Founded Indochinese Communist Party 1930• Exiled to USSR/China

Vietminh

• Japanese occupation 1940-1945• Vietminh Goals: win independence• Sept. 2, 1945 (VJ Day) Vietnam declared

independence

France wants it back!

• 1950 French Indochina War• Truman foreign policy-containment• US supports France/ally in war on communism

Eisenhower’s Domino Theory

• Contain communism• Sink or Swim with Ngo Dinh Diem

Geneva Accords 1954

• Dien Bien Phu falls• French Quit May 1954• Vietnam divided 17th parallel• Reunification elections 1956

North VietnamHo Chi Minh

Communist-Hanoi

South VietnamNgo Dinh Diem

Nationalist-Saigon

Ho Chi Minh v. Ngo Dinh Diem

Oppressive OppressiveCommunist corruptLand reform no land reformNational hero Catholic

1957 Vietcong

• South Vietnam Communist Opposition Group• Oppose Ngo Dinh Diem• Guerilla Attacks

Ho Chi Minh Trail

• Cambodia, Laos• Supply route for Vietcong

Ngo Dinh Diem’s Assassination

• Land reform• Hamlet program• Buddhist demonstration• November 1, 1963• JFK’s Assassination

LBJ and Vietnam

• U.S. will not be an appeaser

Tonkin Gulf Resolution

• August 2, 1964 USS Maddox• August 4, 1964 USS Maddox• LBJ bombs North Vietnam• August 7, 1964-Congress gave LBJ broad

military powers in Vietnam

Operation Rolling Thunder

• Feb. 1965 First sustained bombing of North Vietnam

• June 1965-50,000 U.S. troops in SV

30:2 U.S. Involvement and Escalation

Johnson commits troops

• Campaign platform?• Secretary of State-Dean Rusk• Secretary of Defense-Robert McNamara• Congress/public support

General William Westmoreland

• American commander• Questions ARNV abilities• 1967-500,000

Vietcong Tactic

• Jungle• Guerilla• General population• Tunnels• Land mines and booby traps

U.S. Strategy: War of Attrition

• Break morale• Continuous harassment• Body count

Winning “Hearts and Minds”?

• Theory• Napalm• Agent orange• Search and destroy missions

Sinking Morale of U.S. troops

• Causes: guerrilla warfare, jungle, not winning• Effects: drugs, violence

Great Society Suffers

• Inflation• Tax revenue spent on war/not domestic reform

“Living Room War”

• American v. Vietnamese deaths• Credibility gap