Lecture Notes #10
Vietnam
Beginnings
 Longest war we’ve ever been in (1957-1975) (misleading)
 Indochina – the areas of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam
 Back in the late 1800s, the French gained control of these lands as they tried to create a colonial
empire
 During WWII, Japan conquered the region, so it was no longer French Indochina
 After WWII, (Japan lost), France attempted to reestablish control of the area
Ho Chi Minh
 Vietnamese nationalist who strongly opposed both the French and the Japanese occupation of
Indochina
 Ho’s Goal: to unite Vietnam as a communist nation free from foreign occupation or domination
 1956 – At Dien Bien Phu, Ho and his gang beat the French army in a battle that led to a peace
treaty calling for free elections
Two Vietnams
 In North Vietnam, Ho:
(1) established his communist government & censored all other political parties
(2) designed a system of land reform popular with peasants
(3) established legal reforms giving women equality with men
 US freaked out because of our containment policy – do anything to prevent the spread of
communism; or to “contain” communism
 So we decide to support an anti-communist government in the South
 South Vietnam leader – Ngo Dinh Diem; he’s not democratic, but he’s not communistic either
 Diem – autocratic leader (autocracy -)
 Back to those free elections, the US supported/encouraged Diem to refuse to participate because
we knew he would lose
 Diem was extremely unpopular; Ho was very popular
 In SV, there were Viet Cong = communist rebels who wanted to overthrow Diem and unify the
country under Ho’s rule
 1960 – Viet Cong are gaining strength, so JFK sends military advisers to support the unpopular
Diem & his government
Buddhist Opposition
 Diem discriminated against Buddhism (large majority of South Vietnam were Buddhists)
 Buddhist monks = set themselves on fire in roads to protest Diem government
 The burning monks led to greater resistance and chaos
 During the chaos, NV pounced and sent armies into SV
 1964 – Viet Cong rebels & Northern supporters controlled approx. 75% of SV population
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
 A minor scuffle between NV torpedo boats and 2 US ships led to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution = LBJ’s legal basis for increased military involvement in Vietnam
 The GTR was passed by Congress on the basis that we didn’t want another country to fall to
communism
 Domino Theory – that the fall of one nation to communism made the fall of neighboring countries
likely, just like dominoes falling in a row
America Goes to War
 March 1965 – LBJ sent a unit of US Marines to Vietnam = 1 st US ground troops in the war
 Once this happened, both sides increased their forces rapidly
 1965 = 65,000 American troops

1969 = 540,000+ American troops
Strategies
 Backtrack: To defeat both GM & JP in WWII, we used our massive firepower and technological
superiority to be victorious; we thought we could easily do the same in Vietnam
 Result: We launched an extensive bombing campaign in NV, sent planes to attack large troop
formations, attacked the Ho Chi Minh Trail – the enemy supply route through Indochina
 Firepower was not effective against guerilla warfare
 Guerilla Warfare = surprise attacking and retreating before the enemy could react with useful
counter measures
 Viet Cong would hide in the jungle terrain and utilize ambush attacks
 Advantage for them:
(1) knew the land
(2) had the support of the people
(3) could appear and vanish with ease
Course of the War
 1965-1967 = we fought to a draw
 Although US inflicted terrible casualties on the enemy armies and the civilian population, they
were not successful in
(1) getting the NV troops to withdraw
(2) winning the hearts & minds of the SV people
Reaction Back Home
 Heavy US casualties = increased resistance to the war
 Financial cost of the war was also beginning to be felt as new taxes were imposed, and some of
the social programs (from LBJ’s Great Society) were cut
 Hawks vs. Doves intensified & led to large demonstrations and opposition to the military draft in
the US
 Hawks = those who supported the war
 Doves = those who opposed the war