What was the Vietnam War?
When
1945-1954
 The
fought the
in Vietnam.
 The US supported the
with supplies and money.
 The
lost.
 Vietnam was cut into North (communist) and South (anti-communist) Vietnam.
 If elections had been held throughout Vietnam,
(communist leader of the North) would
have won.
 When elections were not held, Ho Chi Minh took action.
1956-1960
 Along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, he sent North Vietnamese troops into
.
 To prevent this, the
sent military advisors to train the South Vietnamese army.
1965-1972
 South Vietnam was in serious danger of falling to
.
 In 1964, the U.S. began
North Vietnam.
 In 1965, the U.S. sent ground troops to fight the
in South Vietnam.
Where
Vietnam lies in Southeast Asia.


Hanoi was the capital of
.
There, Ho Chi Minh (leader of North Vietnam) directed the communist offensive against South Vietnam.



Saigon was the capital of
The Saigon government was
.
South Vietnam was in danger of falling to communism.
.
Why (The Causes)
1.

During the Cold War, the U.S. and Soviet Union were
.


The Soviet Union supported North Vietnam (
The U.S. supported South Vietnam (



During the Cold War, the U.S. followed a policy of
of communism.
Under the Truman Doctrine, the U.S. would help any country fight
In Vietnam, that mean the U.S. would help South Vietnam stop the spread of communism.


If Vietnam went communist, then all of
would go communist.
That is: Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
2.
).
).
3.
.
4.
What
What did the people of South Vietnam want?
1.
 Throughout the
, people were nationalists.
 They had been
of European empires.
 They wanted
.
 That meant no foreign armies occupying their soil.
 In South Vietnam, the
were nationalists.
2.
 Throughout the Third World,
wanted land reform - that is, they wanted their own farms.
 They did not want to pay high rents to absentee landlords.
What did the people of North Vietnam want?
3.
 Ho Chi Minh wanted to reunite the country under communism.
 To win support, he played up
and downplayed
 In 1960, Ho Chi Minh formed the
.
 The NLF consisted of
nationalists and
communists.
.




In the U.S., the NLF was called the
The Vietcong included communist supporters living in
Throughout the war, the Vietcong controlled the
That is, they distributed
to peasants.
.
.
because they carried out land reform.
Who
1. President
 In 1954, Ike refused to help the
in Vietnam, so they were defeated by the Vietcong.
 Ike said: “The U.S. should not fight a land war in
.”
2. President
 In 1962, he sent 16,000 “
” to South Vietnam.
3. President
 In 1964, he began
North Vietnam.
 In 1965, he sent in the first U.S.
to South Vietnam.
 By 1968, he had
troops in South Vietnam.
 That year, during the
, he lost the support of the American public and asked for peace talks.
4. President
 In 1968, he was elected to solve the Vietnam War.
 •In 1969, he began
=withdrawing U.S. troops and letting South Vietnamese take
more of a role in fighting.
 By 1972, he had withdrawn all U.S. combat troops.
 In 1973, he signed the
, ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
 In 1974, he resigned because of the
.
5. President
 In 1975, the communists invaded and defeated
.
 Ho Chi Minh’s goal was reached:
o Vietnam was reunited under
.
How
President Nixon used a brilliant strategy to end U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
The Soviet Union and China
President Nixon asked them to cut off
to communist North Vietnam.
President Nixon gave them what they wanted most
1. The Soviet Union wanted
- that is, a slow down the nuclear arms race.
2. China wanted diplomatic recognition - that is,
would no longer be regarded as “
“A decent interval”
In 1973, the
In 1975, South Vietnam fell to
.”
was signed and the U.S. was no longer involved in the Vietnam War.
.
The Results:
1. Vietnam—Vietcong victory
 In 1975, all of Vietnam went
.
 North and South Vietnam were
.
 The capital city of Saigon was renamed
.

people fled communist Vietnam by boat. Many of the “boat people” moved to the U.S.
2. Cambodia—Genocide
 In 1975, the
(communists) took over neighboring Cambodia.
 The communists evicted everyone from the cities and forced them into the countryside. There, millions died in
what was known as “
.”
3. The Costs—Blood & Treasure
 During the Vietnam War,
Americans served in Vietnam

Americans lost their lives.
 The cost of the war was
(in 2008 dollars).
 The U.S. has never paid off the cost of the Vietnam War (or any war since). It is still part of our national debt.
4. Limited warfare
 It is very difficult to wage a limited war against an enemy that is fighting an
war.
 The Vietcong were prepared to fight
.
 After more than eight years (1965-1972), the American people were no longer willing to support a war that
seemed to be
.