The-Vietnam-War-越南战争

WhereisVietnam?WhyDidtheUnitedStatesFightaWarinVietnam?•BasicallytoholdthelineagainstthespreadofworldCommunism.AmericapaidforthewartheFrenchfoughtagainstCommunistVietnamasapartoftheTrumanDoctrine(1947)“tohelpfreepeoplestomaintaintheirfreeinstitutionsandtheirnationalintegrityagainst…totalitarianregimes.”Inthe1950’s,Americabecameinvolvedagain.LongestandMostUnpopularWar•TheVietnamWarwasthelongestandmostunpopularwarinAmericanhistory.Duringthewar:–58,000Americanslosttheirlives.•Theoldestmankilledwas62yearsold;theyoungest,16.•61%ofthemenkilledwere21oryounger.–304,000werewounded.–75,000wereseverelydisabled.–TheUnitedStatesspentover$200billiondollarsonthewar.ConflictBetweenFrance&Vietnam•TheVietnamWargrewoutofthelongconflictbetweenFranceandVietnam.–InJuly1954,afteronehundredyearsofcolonialrule,adefeatedFrancewasforcedtoleaveVietnam.–NationalistforcesunderthedirectionofGeneralVoNguyenGiapdefeatedthealliedFrenchtroopsattheremotemountainoutpostofDienBienPhuinthenorthwestcornerofVietnam.TheGenevaPeaceAccords•TheGenevaPeaceAccords,signedbyFranceandVietnaminthesummerof1954,providedforthetemporarypartitionofVietnamatthe17thparallel,withnationalelectionsin1956toreunifythecountry.•IntheNorth,acommunistregime,supportedbytheSovietUnionandthePeople'sRepublicofChina,setupitsheadquartersinHanoiundertheleadershipofHoChiMinh.OppositiontoGenevaAccords•TheUnitedStatespreventedtheelectionsthatwerepromisedundertheGenevaconferencebecauseitknewthattheCommunistswouldwin.–SecretaryofStateJohnFosterDullesthoughttheGenevaAccordsgrantedtoomuchpowertotheCommunistPartyofVietnam.–HeandPresidentDwightD.Eisenhowersupportedthecreationofacounter-revolutionaryalternativesouthofthe17thparallel.•ThiswasaccomplishedthroughformationoftheSoutheastAsiaTreatyOrganization(SEATO).ANewNationintheSouth•UsingSEATOforpoliticalcover,theEisenhoweradministrationhelpedcreateanewnationinsouthernVietnam.•In1955,withthehelpofmassiveamountsofAmericanmilitary,political,andeconomicaid,thegovernmentoftheRepublicofVietnam(SouthVietnam)wasborn.•Thefollowingyear,NgoDinhDiem,astaunchlyanti-CommunistfigurefromtheSouth,wonadubiouselectionthatmadehimpresidentofSouthVietnamTheDominoTheory•Americanpolicymakersdevelopedthe“DominoTheory”asajustificationfortheinvolvement.Thistheorystated,“IfSouthVietnamfallstotheCommunist,Laos,Cambodia,Thailand,Burma,IndiaandPakistanwouldalsofalllikedominos.ThePacificIslandsandevenAustraliacouldbeatrisk”.SouthVietnamUnderDiem•DiemclaimedthathisnewlycreatedgovernmentwasunderattackfromCommunistsinthenorth.•Inlate1957,withAmericanmilitaryaid,Diembegantocounterattack.–HeusedthehelpoftheCIA(throughOperationPhoenix)toidentifythosewhosoughttobringhisgovernmentdownandarrestedthousands.–HepassedarepressiveseriesofactsknownasLaw10/59thatmadeitlegaltoholdsuspectedCommunistsinjailwithoutbringingformalcharges.OppositiontoDiem•TheoutcryagainstDiem'sharshandoppressiveactionswasimmediate.–Buddhistmonksandnunswerejoinedbystudents,businesspeople,intellectuals,andpeasantsinoppositiontoDiem’scorruptrule.–ThemoretheseforcesattackedDiem'stroopsandsecretpolice,themoreDiemcomplainedthattheCommunistsweretryingtotakeSouthVietnambyforce.ThiswasahostileactofaggressionbyNorthVietnamagainstpeace-lovinganddemocraticSouthVietnam.TheNationalLiberationFront•TheCommunistssupportedthecreationofabroad-basedunitedfronttohelpmobilizesouthernersinoppositiontothegovernmentinSouthVietnam.•OnDecember20,1960,theNationalLiberationFront(NLF)wasborn.–ItbroughttogetherCommunistsandnon-Communistsinanumbrellaorganizationthathadlimited,butimportantgoals–AnyonecouldjoinaslongastheyopposedNgoDinhDiemandwantedtounifyVietnam.WashingtonWhitePapers•InaseriesofgovernmentWhitePapers,WashingtoninsidersdenouncedtheNLF,claimingthatitwasmerelyapuppetofHanoi.TheycalledittheVietCong,aderogatoryandslangtermmeaningVietnameseCommunist.•TheNLF,ontheotherhand,arguedthatitwasautonomousandindependentoftheCommunistsinHanoiandthatitwasmadeupmostlyofnon-Communists.Manyanti-waractivistssupportedtheNLF'sclaims.December1961WhitePaper•In1961,PresidentKennedysentateamtoVietnamtoreportonconditionsintheSouthandtoassessfutureAmericanaidrequirements.•Thereport,knownastheDecember1961WhitePaper,arguedfor:–Anincreaseinmilitary,technical,andeconomicaid–Theintroductionoflarge-scaleAmericanadviserstohelpstabilizetheDiemregimeandcrushtheNLF.TheKennedyResponse•AsKennedyweighedthemeritsoftheserecommendations,someofhisotheradvisersurgedthepresidenttowithdrawfromVietnamaltogether.•IntypicalKennedyfashion,thepresidentchoseamiddleroute.–Insteadofalarge-scalemilitarybuilduporanegotiatedsettlement,theUnitedStateswouldincreasethelevelofitsmilitaryinvolvementinSouthVietnamthroughmoremachineryandadvisers,butnomilitarytroops.TheStrategicHamletProgram•TocounteracttheNLF'ssuccessinthecountryside,WashingtonandSaigonlaunchedanambitiousmilitaryeffortintheruralareas.–CalledtheStrategicHamletProgram,thenewcounterinsurgencyplanroundedupvillagersandplacedtheminsafehamletscontrolledbythegovernmentofSouthVietnam.–TheideawastoisolatetheNLFfromvillagers,itsbaseofsu