Vietnam & Afghanistan
Failures of the Cold War
World History
Mr. Meester
Vocabulary
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Vietnam War
Ho Chi Minh
Domino Theory
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Afghanistan War
Mujahedin
Post World War ll Vietnam

Conflict began in Vietnam following the
defeat of the Japanese in WWll.
– The French tried to regain colonial control,
the Vietnamese want to be independent.
– The Vietnamese were lead by Ho Chi Minh.
 He was a war hero as well as a nationalist &
communist
– Ho Chi Minh defeated the French at the
Battle of Dienbienphu.
Ho Chi Minh
1890-1969
Vietnam Divided

In 1954 Vietnam became part of the
Cold War, and was split in two.
– The North was communist backed by the
USSR & lead by Ho Chi Minh.
– The South was supported by the US &
lead by dictator, Ngo Dinh Diem.

Free elections were to determine the
true leader of Vietnam
– They were never held because the US
feared Ho Chi Minh would win
War Begins

The US feared the Domino Theory:
– If one country fell to communism then
the entire region was likely to fall.
– The US sent the South weapons, supplies,
& military advisors early on

Ho Chi Minh was determined unite the
country
– The North had a regular army (NVA) &
southern guerilla forces (Viet Cong)
Gulf of Tonkin Incident

In the summer of 1964, the North
attacked the US Destroyer Maddox
– President Johnson told Congress the
attack was unprovoked (It wasn’t)

Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution
– Authorized the President to take any
action necessary to win in Vietnam
 Over 500,000 troops are sent to fight
Fighting in Vietnam

Guerilla Warfare: Vietnam was a
jungle & this lead to hit & run tactics.
 Operation Rolling Thunder: US
bombed V.C. supply lines for 7 years.
 Napalm: a highly flammable jellied
gasoline used to burn the jungle
vegetation that helped the V.C. hide.
 Agent Orange: a highly toxic spray
that killed off any foliage it touched.
Affects of War
US Planes dropping Agent Orange
A Napalm Explosion
Birth Defects caused by Agent Orange
Results of Napalm on Jungle
The War Stalls
The bombings & popularity of Ho Chi Minh
caused hostility toward US forces.
 The Ho Chi Minh Trail is created in Laos &
Cambodia

– It supplied the VC
– US is reluctant to attack for some time

The VC, used a large amount of women and
children, making it difficult to tell who the
enemy was.
– A stalemate resulted.
The Tet Offensive

Tet is the Vietnamese New Year.
– The most important holiday of the year

The North launched a surprise attack
on US positions in the South.
– The North lost many of their best troops
and failed to gain any land.

But it did cause public opinion to
change in America against the war.
America Withdraws

As time pasted & casualties increased
so did Anti-war protests in the US.
– In 1973, even though the US seldom lost
a battle in Vietnam, President Nixon
withdrew US troops.

2 years after the US withdrawal the
North Vietnamese Army captured the
Southern capital of Saigon.
– It is renamed Ho Chi Minh City
Southeast Asia
After the War

After the war some dominos fell;
Cambodia & Laos went communist.
– The Khmer Rouge took control of
Cambodia
 Pol Pot killed millions of his own people
But most of the region was still free
 Many Vietnamese people tried to
flee. Vietnam itself suffered greatly
from a US lead trade embargo.

Soviets Invade Afghanistan

In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded
the Islamic country of Afghanistan.
– The USSR attempted to modernize the
country & aid the communist
government.

Afghan Chiefs & Muslim Leaders
joined forces and revolted against
their Soviet rulers.
Fighting in Afghanistan
Rough mountainous terrain made for
difficult combat conditions for the
USSR.
 Mujahedin: Afghan fighters who used
guerrilla tactics to fight the USSR.

– The US provided supplies, weapons and
training for Afghan fighters.
– Muslims from around the region went to
Afghanistan to fight the Soviets.
Two Men Trained by the US to
Fight in Afghanistan
Osama Bin Laden & Ayan Al-Zawahiri
The War Ends

The USSR fought for almost 8 years
in Afghanistan
– Failed to defeat the Mujahedin.

Like Vietnam the high cost of the war
cause morale problems at home.
– In 1987 Soviet leader, Mikhail
Gorbachev announced the start of the
Russian withdrawal.