Vietnam Background
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1885 - Vietnam = part of French colony of Indochina
1940 - Japan conquered Vietnam while France was preoccupied with Hitler during WWII
1945 - Japan defeat by US
○ Vietnam nationalists (Communist Ho Chi Minh) believed Vietnam could become
independent
○ But French returned to maintain control of Vietnam
1946 - French Indochina War (French vs Viet Minh)
Truman (1945 - 53): Economic Aid
Aid to French
Financial
● Gave over $2 billion
Military
● Great deal of military equipment
Reason for
French Aid
#1 Fear of Communism
● Soviet Domination
○ French asserted that Ho = part of world-wide Communist conspiracy that
was likely to lead to Soviet domination everywhere
○ Truman responded positively to their request for French aid
○ Truman believed that what was at interest in Vietnam was the expansion
of Communism rather than its independence
● Communist Expansion
○ August 1949 - 1st Soviet nuclear test (atomic bomb)
○ October 1949 - Fall of China to Communism
○ 1950 - North Korea attacked South Korea
Made Truman fear further Communist expansion in Asia
#2 Domestic Political Considerations
● Republicans’ attack
○ Under attack for having ‘lost’ China to Communism
○ Feb. 1950 - McCarthy convinced many Americans that there were traitors
in the Truman State Department
∴ Truman believed French were invaluable allies who were fighting against Communism
Significance
The extent of Truman’s commitment was limited as he was simply supporting the
French
Eisenhower (1953-61): Nation Building / Domino Theory
Aid to French
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Reasons for
French Aid
Initially continued to aid
○ Armaments with $385 million
○ US bombers accompaied by 200 American technicians
1954 - Battle at Dien Bien Phu
○ French requested US strike
○ Ike rejected because…
■ He thought French was “a hopeless, helpless mass of
protoplasm”
■ He x want the world opinion to replace French colonialism with
American colonialism
■ He failed to get British support that Congress required
#1 Same reasons as Truman
#2 Own concerns
● Ike x want to ‘lose’ Vietnam as Truman had ‘lost’ China
● French soldiers = preferable over American soldiers to fight Communists
● Rejected Truman’s Containment and Advocated the rollback of Communism
#3 Domino Theory
● 1954 - Ike articulated Domino Theory: if Vietnam fell to Communism,
neighboring countries might follow like dominoes, leading to loss of raw
materials and millions of people to the Communist world
The Geneva
Accords (1954)
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(Vietnam ver.
of 신탁통치)
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1954 - France and Viet Minh (NV) signed the Geneva Accords
○ France get out of Indochina
○ North = Communists | South = Non-Communists
○ X allowed to make military alliances with foreign powers
○ 1956 - Democratic elections for single government in a reunified
Vietnam would be held
REJECTED by Ngo Dinh Diem (SV) and the US
○ X want Vietnam to be under Communist control
○ Although the US saw itself as defending democracy in the Cold War, it
rejected the idea of national elections (1956) as he KNEW Ho Chi Minh
would win 80% votes
SEATO
Ike incorporated Vietnam into SEATO, a defensive alliance of USA, UK, France,
Australia, New Zealand, and PAkistan to protect South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos
Nation Building
in SV (195461)
Emphasized military solutions while some Americans advocated land reform
● Gave Diem $7 billion
● Military equipment
● About 1000 military and civilian advisers
FAILED
Failed
Diem
Opposition
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Diem = upper-class Catholic with little empathy with Buddhist peasants
Regime = repressive and unpopular
Ike nearly withdrew support
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Viet Cong (Ho’s southern supporters) rise up against Diem after 1960
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ARVN (Diem’s army) contained opponents → some of whom rebelled against
him in 1960
Significance
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Failed to stop North Vietnam becoming a Communist state during Ike
presidency
But, Ike’s artificial creation of the “independent” state of South Vietnam =
example of the rollback of communism
Overall, Ike massively increased the commitment inherited from Truman
Perspectives
a. Praised Ike for handling the Vietnam problem well by not aiding French at DBP
and not sending in US ground troops
b. 1955 - 1961 → as Ike made USA the guarantor of SV independent state and
committed to defending unpopular leader Diem → proved to being a short step
of putting American soldiers into Vietnam
요점 정리
Kennedy (1961-3): Domino Theory / Commitment Trap
Aid to SV
“Quantitative change in the nature of involvement”
USA provided
1. Money
2. Weaponry
3. Helicopters
4. 20,000 advisers
Reason for US
involvement
#1 Communism
● Containment - Kennedy believed Communism sought world domination
and had to be contained for the sake of US security
“3Cs” !!
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Domino Theory - Kennedy believed in the domino theory → considered
Vietnam ‘a proving ground for democracy… a test of American
responsibility and determination in Asia’
#2 Commitment & Credibility
● Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara
● Secretary of State Dean Rusk
- They are both great believers in the US commitment to Vietnam
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Told Kennedy that USA was already committed to help SV before
his presidency → US departure would “undermine the credibility of
American commitments everywhere”
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JCS
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Warned Kenendy that “any reversal of US policy could have
disastrous effects, not only on our relationship with SV, but with
the rest of our Asian and other allies as well”
#3 Domestic Political Considerations
● Presidential popularity
○
More affected than Truman & Ike
Militantly anti-Communist presidential campaign rhetoric
designed to win votes → limited his foreign policy options
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○ Kennedy felt obliged to be assertive in foreign affairs
Fear of bitter divisions in American public if x involved in Vietnam
○ Since ‘extreme elements’ would make him retreat
○ Kennedy x wanted to be accused of ‘losing’ Vietnam in the way
that Truman ‘lost’ to China
Domino Theory
Believed that vulnerable nations without help would fall one after another (like
dominoes) to external communist aggression
Battle of Ap Bac
Ap Bac
1. Jan 1963 - 2000 ARVN troops (that accompanied 113 American armored
carriers, American-operated helicopters and bombers, and bombers) refused to
attack 350 Viet Cong
Significance
Ap Bac demonstrated…
1. The weakness of ARVN
2. The extent of US involvement in the fighting in Vietnam
3. The uneasy relationship between ARVN and US forces
Effect (after battle)
- American officials estimated that only Saigon only controlled 49% of
population
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JCS, National Security Council, Secretary of Defense McNamara
recommended putting US ground troops into Vietnam → Kennedy = “X”
Diem’s End
Cause
1. Some Kennedy Administration members x liked Diem’s emphasis on
military defeat of Communists → requested reform
2. Diem refused to reform
3. Spring 1963 - Catholic-Buddhist Flag Controversy
a. Diem allowed the flying of Catholic flags in honor of his brother
b. However banned for the celebration of Buddha’s birthday
c. 10,000 Buddhists protested
d. Diem sent soldiers, killing 7 Buddhists and prompting several
others to burn themselves to death in protest
Effect
1. US’ skepticism towards Diem increased
a. Increased American press criticism of his military and political
ineptitude
b. Damaged relationship with Kennedy (as it proved his lack of
awareness in the Catholic-Buddhist tensions and shocked him)
2. US vitally encouraged ARVN generals when planning coup
3. Diem = overthrown and killed
Significance
Commitment Trap
Kennedy’s action was the exemplar how successive US presidents (Ike,
Truman) were under commitment trap for Vietnam → although uncertain about
the wisdom of US involvement, he increased his commitment to Vietnam that he
then helped to overthrow!!
After getting rid of Diem
1. X improve situation
2. Merely confirmed the tendency to believe that in absence of any other
constructive ideas, increased force would somehow do the trick
3. US commander in Vietnam (General Westmoreland) → “US conspiracy in
the death of Diem ‘morally locked us in Vietnam’, greatly increasing
America’s obligation to subsequent Saigon governments”
요점 정리
Ike의 꼬리를 Truman이 물고 Truman 의 꼬리를 Kennedy가 물어서 베트남에
개입했지만 나중에 오히려 Kennedy 는 자기가 militarily 도와준 Diem을 향한
쿠데타를 도와주어 Diem을 타도함
Johnson (1963-9): Escalation
Background
Aided 20,000 American advisers in Vietnam, but the Saigon regime had still not
defeated the Communists
Reasons for
US Involvement
Continuation
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X questioned → MUST continue the involvement
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Believed in Containment and Domino Theory
Abhorred the idea of appeasing an aggressive enemy
Inherited involvement in a war
As a commander-in-chief, the president commanding the US armed
forces, felt a sense of duty to listen to the generals who wanted to
continue and intensity the only war they had to win
Intensely patriotic, Johnson felt it was a question of national honor for the
US to continue its commitment to its SV ally and to stick by SEATO
Americans had always won its wars and defeat by what he called NV a
‘damn little pissant country’
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Domestic Political Reasons
● Emotionally / Constitutionally
○ Felt obligated to follow after assassinated President Kennedy of
his policies and advisers
○ Retained Kennedy men such as McNamara and Rusk
○ X fresh new ideas
● PERSPECTIVE - Although doubts about SV viability were present, many
in the administration believed that the USA would somehow triumph
● Johnson x want to be the first US president to lose a war
Escalation
Process
● To escalate involvement, Johnson needed congressional support
● Aug 1964 - Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving
Johnson the power to fit in Vietnam
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이 GoT resolution 으로 armed 돼서 Johnson took the war to the North
Effect
● American aircraft bombed NV for the 1st time
● Escalation made Johnson look tough
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Public approval rating rose from 42 → 72%
● Won Nov. 1964 presidential election (landslide victory)
Significance
● GoT Resolution and election victory suggested a nation united behind its
president in his Vietnam policy
● Although Congress only passed the resolution after ‘attack’ on US ships
in NV waters
● Voters thought Johnson’s opponent was the candidate more likely to get
the USA into war
In short
Johnson escalated US involvement in Vietnam because Diem’s successors
were even less effective than Diem in creating a viable SV state. In 1964, it was
estimated that Communists controlled half the country
Working Group Recommendations
1. Autumn 1964 - Johnson brought together the Working Group to study
Vietnam and make suggestions for future policies
2. Consists of Defense Department, the State Department, the CIA, JCS
a. Claimed an independent and anti-Communist SV was vital to US
b. Reiterated the Domino theory
c. “National prestige, credibility, and honor” were at stake
d. Emphasized that escalation was necessary due to Saigon gov
e. Suggested heavier bombing
Safety of American Personnel
Cause
● Viet Cong seemed able to strike at will at Americans in SV
● Nov.1964 - 100 Viet Cong attacked and greatly damaged a US airbase
near Saigon + JCS demanded retaliatory air strikes on NV
● Feb. 1965 - Viet Cong attacked a huge American camp near Pleiku
○ 8 Americans killed
○ 100 Americans wounded
● Johnson = FURIOUS + his advisers urged retaliation
Effect
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Apr. 1965 - Johnson’s speech → summed up the reasons why the USA
had to continue and escalate its commitment to Vietnam
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R#1: USA needed to fight if it wanted to live securely in a free
world
R#2: NV was a puppet of expansionists in Moscow and Beijing
who wanted to conquer all of Asia, and appeasing them could
lead to WWIII
R#3: Since Ike and Kennedy had helped build and defend South
Vietnam, abandonment would dishonor the US and cause allies
to doubt its word and credibility
‘Escalating’ Involvements
1st Great
Escalatory Step
Rolling Thunder
1. It sustained air strikes of intensity with US bombing of NV
from Mar. 1965 - Nov. 1968
2. It happened in the hopes of…
a. Taking men and materials to the South
b. Securing position of Americans in SV
c. Decreasing infiltration from the North
d. Demoralizing Hanoi
e. Revitalizing the unpopular Saigon regime
3. 67% of Americans approved of bombing
2nd Great
Escalatory Step
Sending Ground Troops
1. General Westmoreland repeatedly requested more troops to assist those
already there and he though more were needed to secure victory
2. By late 1965 - 200,000 American soldiers in Vietnam
↓
By early 1968 - 500,000
Significance of
1st and 2nd GES
Perspectives
Johnson dramatically changed the nature of the war
1. (–) The dramatic escalation of war under Johnson led many
contemporaries and historians to blame him for US involvement
2. (+)
a. He inherited a long-standing commitment to Vietnam where the
US invested a great deal of (1) money, (2) prestige, and (3)
credibility
b. Congress - repeatedly agreed to finance the war
c. Polls - majority of the public was supporting him
Schools Interpretation
Orthodox
George Herring
Saw the USA containing Communist aggression and expansionism in Vietnam, and as
having little choice but to do so
Revisionist
Gabriel Kolko
Emphasized aggressive and acquisitive US economic policies:
“The markets and raw materials in South East Asia motivated American interest in
Vietnam. Vietnam became important because a Communist, nationalist revolution there
posted a threat to the global capitalist system. If this revolution succeeded, others might
follow.”
Post-Revisionist
David Anderson
Saw the USA as motivated by a variety of reasons: “geopolitical strategy, economics,
domestic US politics, and cultural arrogance”
Reason for Continuing and Escalating Involvement Theories
Quagmire Theory
Belief that the USA got slowly and increasingly trapped in Vietnam due to
ignorance, overconfidence, and credibility concerns
Stalemate Theory
Belief that the USA continued to fight an unwinnable war in Vietnam, simply to
avoid being seen to be defeated
Commitment
Trap Theory
Many historians argue that inherited commitment to Vietnam made it harder for
the next president to exit without the nation and its leader losing face
Nixon - Vietnamization