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47 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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The US decision to fight in the Vietnam War |
March of 1965 |
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culmination of.... |
two decades of gradually increasing commitment - opposing the spread of Communism - through Asia |
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began with... |
US support for the French - First Indochina War |
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continued after... |
French withdrawal and partition of Vietnam |
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partition of Vietnam |
1954 |
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sparked a civil war between |
Communist North and US-backed South |
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Gulf of Tonkin incident prompted |
US government to begin - bombing campaigns - send ground troops into Vietnam |
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Vietnam War |
(1954-75) |
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Which... |
brutalised both soldiers and civilians considerable political upheaval in the USA. |
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ultimate consequences |
Communist Victory reunification of Vietnam. |
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After defeat of Nazis, |
U.S. feared Communist expansion - Rusia - Eastern Europe - Asia |
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relations between - the Soviet Union - the United States |
between cautious cooperation and superpower rivalry |
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distinct differences in the political systems |
prevented:
- reaching a mutual understanding on key issues |
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The Domino Theory, |
- governed much of U.S. foreign policy 1950s - communist victory chain reaction - justify its support of a non-communist regime in South Vietnam - against the communist government NV - increasing involvement - fear significant financial support of French |
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between 1946 and 54 |
over $2 billion in assistance. |
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After removal of French, |
divided into north and south |
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The 1954 Partition of Vietnam |
- split the country - Communist North - Non - Communist South - 17th Parallel - temporary measure |
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Geneva Conference |
understanding that reunification elections would take place in two years. |
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In their stand against communism and it’s spread, |
Eisenhower wrote Diem in september 1954 promising support to south through: - financial aid - up to 15,000 ‘advisors’ |
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‘advisors’ which began arriving |
Following month to help train South Vietnamese troops. |
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August the 2nd 1964 |
Information was received from the Headquarters US Pacific fleet indicating the US destroyer the USS Maddox had been attacked near North Vietnam by three North Vietnamese patrol boats. |
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Torpedos |
reportedly fired upon the destroyer |
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pacific fleet responded through |
air support, managing to sink one boat and damage the two others, all without any US casualties. |
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Congress passed |
the 'Gulf of Tonkin Resolution' Giving: President power to 'take all necessary steps' to secure the peace and security of South East Asia Meaning: Johnson could send troops into Vietnam without Congress' approval |
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1964 elections |
Johnson campaigned promised not to 'send American boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys should be doing for themselves'. He knew sending troops would likely to be necessary |
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In March the following year (1965) |
Operation Rolling Thunder, a massive bombing campaign against North Vietnam targets Following further attacks by Viet Cong on South Vietnamese troops and their US 'advisors', Johnson committed ground troops to Vietnam, landing 3,500 marines at Da Nang. |
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Vietnam was.... |
- longest war in American history - most unpopular American war of the 20th century. |
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Resulted in... (deaths) |
nearly 60,000 American deaths and in an estimated 2 million Vietnamese deaths |
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1965 (escalation) |
President Lyndon Johnson escalated the war, commencing air strikes on North Vietnam and committing ground forces --which numbered 536,000 in 1968. |
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1968 |
Tet Offensive by the North Vietnamese turned many Americans against the war. |
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President, Richard Nixon, |
Vietnamization withdrawing American troops South Vietnam greater responsibility slow flow of NV soldiers + supplies into SV Communist supply bases in Cambodia destroyed more antiwar protests. |
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1968 to 1973 |
efforts made to end conflict through diplomacy |
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January 1973 |
agreement reached U.S. forces withdrawn from Vietnam U.S. prisoners of war were released |
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April 1975 |
South Vietnam surrendered to the North, Vietnam reunited. |
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effects on the American veterans who fought from the 1950s to the 1970s (1) |
groups against the war Vietnam Veterans Against the War. “It was organized to voice the growing opposition among returning servicemen and women to the still-raging war in Indochina, and grew rapidly to a membership of over 30,000 throughout the United States as well as active duty GIs stationed in Vietnam.’’ |
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effects on the American veterans who fought from the 1950s to the 1970s (2) |
lukewarm welcome public vented frustration with the government on soldiers American public viewed the Vietnam conflict as a disaster POWs generated sympathy anger and frustration - villages in Viet |
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effects on the American veterans who fought from the 1950s to the 1970s (3) |
Some 15 to 25 percent of Vietnam veterans (between 500,000 and 700,000) suffered from a stress-related impairment known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) nearly no aid veterans and loved ones bad stereotypical depictions more suicides than war deaths guilt and shame over participation in war |
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Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C |
1982 American culture acknowledge sacrifice and suffering good soldiers in a bad war |
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political impact (seperate paragraph) |
Sunday, March 31, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he would not run again for president “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.” He later reflected: "If I left that war and let the Communists take over South Vietnam," "then I would be seen as a coward and my nation would be seen as an appeaser, and we would both find it impossible to accomplish anything for anybody anywhere on the entire globe." |
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Protest movements |
began on university campuses and became more widespread poll claimed that 71 percent of Americans believed the United States had “made a mistake” in sending troops to Vietnam and that 58 percent found the war “immoral.” |
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Consequences |
More than 58,000 American soldiers were killed while more than 150,000 others wounded combat units were withdrawn by 1973 The summer of 1974 - Nixon resigned - congress cut military and economic aid by 30 percent Thieu’s government, corrupt and inefficient inflation, unemployment, apathy, and an enormous desertion rate in the army |
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North Victory (1) |
Early march 1975 the North Vietnamese launched the first phase of what was expected to be a two-year offensive to secure South Vietnam. Sth army collapsed in less than two months last U.S. military unit left Vietnam. |
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North Victory (2) |
Two years after US departure April 30 1975 South Vietnamese government surrendered NVA tank occupied Saigon without a struggle. |
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Reunited |
Vietnam was reunited under communist rule on July 2, 1976, the country was officially united as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam with its capital in Hanoi. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. The 30-year struggle for control was finally over. |
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Today |
Vietnam is still considered communist today but has a more liberal view. |
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Agent Orange |
large parts of its countryside were scarred by bombs and defoliation, while 19 million + gallons of herbicides was used over 4.5 million acres of land in Vietnam from 1961 to 1972. Veteran health problems - exposure future generations - consequences |
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conclusion |
The US decision to fight in the Vietnam War in March of 1965 = the culmination of two decades of gradually increasing commitment to opposing the spread of Communism through Asia, clear impact Brutalising - political upheaval - military demoralized - citizens divided - defeat - longest and most controversial war - Communist victory and the reunification - resumed diplomatic relations in 1995. |
