Vietnam- 1945-1975
Three Decades Of Conflict
Vietnam on the Map
Supporting a WWII Ally Sets the Stage for New Conflict
• France controlled “French Indochina”, the name for their colony in Asia from 18871940. This included present-day Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.
• During WWII, Japan controlled most of the Vietnamese portion of French Indochina.
• After the war, the US supported France’s efforts to reclaim its colony, against the
advice of Lt. Colonel Dewey, the Intelligence officer sent to Vietnam to assess the
situation.
Ho Chi Minh and the Indochinese
Communist Party
French rule of Indochina was repressive and harsh, and many
rebel groups were formed. Rebels often fled to China when pursued
by the French. These rebels started to band together under
Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese rebel turned communist, in 1924. At that
time, The Indochinese Communist Party was formed. The aim of the
party was to create an independent, communist Vietnam. Minh
initially looked up to the US, and even patterned the Vietnamese Declaration
of Independence after the US’ Declaration, but became disillusioned
when the US supported the French recovery of Indochina.
France Looses Control
In 1945, France retook Southern Vietnam. Minh and his forces held on to the
northern section. Despite millions of dollars in US aid and US military advisors,
France is unable to combat the aggressive, guerilla tactics of the Vietminh. The
French loose spectacularly at an outpost called Dien Bien Phu, and subsequently
surrender in May of 1954.
The Geneva Accords
After the French fell in Vietnam, several European nations, The US, the Soviet
Union, Cambodia, Laos, and China all met in Geneva, Switzerland to discuss
Vietnam’s future. The country was temporarily split along the 17th parallel, with
North Vietnam controlled by the communists, and South Vietnam controlled by a
nationalist regime. Elections that would determine the final fate of the country
were set for 1956.
Ngo Din Diem- A new Player in the South
The President of the Southern half of Vietnam was Ngo Din Diem. Diem's rule was
authoritarian and nepotistic. His most trusted official was his brother, Ngô Đình
Nhu, leader of the primary pro-Diem Can Lao political party, who was an opium
addict and admirer of Adolf Hitler. He modeled the Can Lao secret police's
marching style and torture styles on Nazi designs. Diem was also fanatically
Catholic, and tried to suppress the Buddhist majority in South Vietnam. Diem’s
government was marked by corruption, and was wildly unpopular. Diem canceled
the elections in 1956 that would have determined the fate of Vietnam.
Open Civil War Between North and
South
After the cancellation of elections in 1956, an all-out civil war between the north
and south begins. The north used both the North Vietnamese Army, as well as the
Vietcong, a communist group based in the south, to fight the war. The north used
the same guerilla tactics as they used with the French. The South Vietnamese Army
was unable to fight the northern guerilla tactics effectively. The Diem regime called
for more US help in stabilizing the region.
Eisenhower and Vietnam
President Eisenhower was afraid that the spread of communism
was out of control. In order to contain communism, the spread
had to be stopped. The “Domino Theory” was a popular way of
describing the communist threat. If one “domino” or country fell
to communism, it would take down others. Therefore, Eisenhower
pledged to support the unpopular Diem regime in an effort to keep the “domino”
Vietnam from falling. Eisenhower continued to funnel money to the regime, and
offered some American military advisers.
Kennedy and Vietnam
Kennedy continued to support Diem’s regime, despite its
corruption, because he did not want to look like he wasn’t
anti-communist enough. He dramatically increased the
number of American advisors in Vietnam. By 1963, the
Diem regime had become so out of control, Kennedy authorized a US-led coup to
overthrow him. On November 1, 1963, Diem was assassinated, allegedly without
Kennedy’s consent. Shortly before his death, Kennedy announced he was withdrawing
the US from Vietnam.
Johnson and Vietnam
Lyndon Johnson was responsible for the largest escalation in Vietnam. In August
1964, a North Vietnamese patrol boat allegedly fired a torpedo at a US destroyer in
the Gulf of Tonkin, off of the shore of North Vietnam. Johnson used this incident to
pass the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which gave him the authority to retaliate against
North Vietnam. By mid 1965, under “Operation Rolling Thunder”, Johnson had
increased the number of US troops in Vietnam to 50,000. By 1967, that number
was about 500,000.
Tet Offensive- A Turning Point
In 1968, during the Vietnamese Lunar New Year’s celebration,
Known as Tet, the North launched a string of attacks on South
Vietnamese population centers and US military bases. Because
many people were in the cities for the holiday, the fear factor
was high. Though the offensive lasted a month, it did little in the
way of strategically undermining US forces. What iti did do, though,
was strike a phsycological blow at the soldiers, as well as Americans at home.
Nixon and Vietnam
After Tet, the popularity of the war dropped dramatically. Richard Nixon ran on the
promise to remove America from Vietnam. After taking office, Nixon began
removing troops from Vietnam, but at the same time, increased the bombing of
North Vietnam. Nixon also invaded neighboring Cambodia without consulting with
Congress, which cost him political support. In 1973, the last US combat troops left
Vietnam. In 1975, South Vietnam officially lost to North Vietnam, with the Fall of
Saigon and the evacuation of the US Embassy there the final US involvement of the
war.