RAH – Unit IV
Introduction of Vietnam
Name:
Date:
VIETNAM: Moving Towards Conflict
 The Roots of American Involvement
French Rule
French exploit Indochina (Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam)
Communist Party Rebels
Indochinese Communist Party organizes independence movement against French
Vietminh Gain Independence
Despite massive U.S. aid, French ousted from Vietnam at the battle of Dien Bien Phu
Reflective Question: Why do you believe Ho Chi Minh was considered a people’s leader?
 Why did the United States aid the French?
Reasons for U.S. intervention 
Communism in Vietnam  Geneva Accords
Question to Consider
Do you think the U.S. supported North
Vietnam or South Vietnam? Why?
 A Divided Country
North Vietnam
South Vietnam
Government
Communist
Anti-Communist nationalists
Leader
Ho Chi Minh
Ngo Dinh Diem
Support
among
Vietnamese
 Won support by supporting
peasants and fighting Japanese
and French
 Little support
 Corrupt government with no support
of religions other than his own
 Attempted no land reform programs
 Communist Infiltration  Vietnam
Vietcong
Ho Chi Minh Trail
• Johnson and Vietnam
What events discussed in
RAH thus far have led to
Johnsons fear of losing
Vietnam to communism?
Big Picture
Question to
Consider
Enter
President • Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Johnson
After World War II, nationalist and communist
reels in the French colony of Vietnam fought for
their independence. A 1954 agreement ending
the colonial war split the country into
communist North Vietnam and democratic
South Vietnam. When France pulled out the
following year, the United States stepped in to
prop up South Vietnam. OVer the years,
American Involvement grew and led to the
introduction of U.S. ground forces.