Notes: Conflict in Vietnam
North Vietnam attempted to forcibly install communism in South
Vietnam
WHY would the US want to get involved?
- Containment!
Concern over domino effect causes the US to become involved
What is the domino theory?
- The belief that if one country falls to Communism,
the others will follow.
-The US helps South Vietnam
-Soviet Union aids North Vietnam
- This is an example of PROXY WAR
-US builds up its
military under
President John
Kennedy
-Kennedy is
Scale of combat in Vietnam grows during the ‘60’s
Which years saw the largest increase in troops?
- 1965-1968
assassinated in 1963.
Lyndon Johnson
becomes
President and
intensifies
military buildup.
War is long and difficult.
EX: -Guerilla warfare
EX: -Agent Orange (Chemical weapons)
There was support for the American military and conduct of the war
among many Americans
BUT
Others opposed the war and began actively
protesting against it, especially on college campuses.
President Nixon created a plan to remove US troops from Vietnam and
replace them with South Vietnamese troops.
The North proved to be too strong with the help of the Soviets and this
plan failed.
The conflict in Vietnam ended in a cease-fire in which US troops
withdrew.
Cease-fire means an agreement to remove troops and end fighting.
The north and south merged under communist control in 1975.