Section C
The Historical Background
Vietnam and the French
Before WW2, Vietnam had belonged to France but during WW2 the Japanese
took control.
After WW2, the French tried to regain Vietnam. When it became clear that the
Viet Minh were supported by communist China, the Americans led by
President Truman and President Eisenhower gave the French money to
help them win. ($500 million per year)
The Vietnamese forces were known as the Viet Minh and were communist.
They were led by Ho Chi Minh. They used Guerrilla warfare. The conflict
between the Vietminh and the French dragged on between 1946-1954. There
were over 90 000 French casualties.
The decisive battle took place at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 where a large French
force was defeated by the Viet Minh.
There was then a ceasefire and a peace conference in Geneva and the
country was spilt into two. The conference declared that there were to be free
elections within two years to try and help re unite the country.
How did the Americans get more involved?
In 1955 the Americans helped Ngo Dinh Diem set up the Republic of South
Vietnam. They supported him because he was bitterly anti communist but he
was effectively a brutal dictator. Diem’s regime was very corrupt and he
appointed family members or friends to positions in high places.
The north was now a communist country under the control of Ho Chi Minh
and friendly with the USSR and China. The south was an anti communist
country led by Nago Dinh Diem and friendly with America. It was mainly
Buddhist but was run by the Catholic minority who oppressed Buddhists.
The American’s supported Diem’s government in South Vietnam with
hundreds of millions of dollars in the 1950’s. Many South Vietnamese
peasants hated Diem’s government and joined an anti government force
called the Viet Cong. The Viet Cong received help from communist North
Vietnam and its members wanted to see a unified and communist Vietnam.
President Kennedy, elected in 1961 was the first person who placed
Americans in Vietnam which he called special military advisers. After a while
there were 11000 Americans in the country.
After President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Lyndon Johnson
became President. After the Gulf of Tonkin incident (see next page) he got
the US Congress to pass the Tonkin Gulf Resolution which gave Johnson the
power ‘to take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression and
achieve peace and security’ This effectively meant he could send soldiers to
war in Vietnam and on 8th March 1965 3500 US Marine combat troops came
ashore in Da Nang. America was now at war in Vietnam.
Task
Write a short summary in your own words about the historical background to the USA’s
involvement in Vietnam.
Make sure that you mention the French and the ways in which the American’s first got involved. Try and do it
from memory.
Why did America get involved?
America got involved in a issue almost half way across the world for several
reasons:
1. President Eisenhower believed in something called the “Domino theory”.
He was convinced that the USSR and China were trying to spread
communism around the world. The Domino Theory stated that if one country
in Asia fell to communism, then other countries would fall to communism as
well. This was partly because communist countries had a duty to help others
to become communist.
2. They got involved to stop the South Vietnam becoming communist
specifically because over 40% of South Vietnam was controlled by the Viet
Cong (South Vietnamese communist Guerrillas)
3. The ARVN's (South Vietnamese Army) weakness
It was obvious the South Vietnamese could not resist the Vietcong without
help.
In 1963, the American commander reported that the ARVN - the South
Vietnamese army - were "ill-equipped local militia who more often than not
were killed asleep in their defensive positions."
US advisers believed that good government and an efficient, large-scale war
would defeat the Vietcong.
4. The “Tonkin Incident” in 1964. This was when a North Vietnamese
torpedo boat attacked an American Destroyer, the USS Madox in the Gulf of
Tonkin. There was no major damage, but this gave President Johnson the
excuse that he needed to send in the troops.
Task
Produce a spider diagram of all of the different reasons why the USA got
involved in Vietnam. Identify which reason you think to be the most important.
Why did America get involved in
Vietnam? Try and do this from
memory.
What were the Tactics of the Viet Cong?
The Viet Cong was a South Vietnamese organisation helped strongly by North
Vietnam and other communist countries. Their sole focus was to unite and
create a Communist North and South Vietnam.
 The North Vietnamese were supplied by neighbouring communist
nations e.g. China and the Soviet Union. They gave North Vietnam $2
billion worth of weapons and combat materials.
A Vietcong fighter
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The tactics of the Viet Cong had been passed down for generations.
Their predecessors the Viet Minh had been fighting the French before
the war even started. The tactics used were brutal and vicious mainly
because they didn’t fight by the book, they used guerrilla warfare
seeking and destroying vulnerable enemy targets and small significant
American bases.
The Viet Cong dug large networks of underground tunnels to hide
from frontal assaults. They would use mines and booby traps to
demoralise an already fatigued enemy.
They could be very ruthless and would kill peasants from villages who
didn’t support them.
They used the Hoh Chi Minh trail to get supplies from North to South
Their biggest strength was simply that they refused to give in. No
matter what the Americans threw at them they just carried on.
The Tet offensive in 1968. The Tet offensive was where the Viet Cong
launched a well prepared full scale military offensive against the
Americans to try and capture key strategic points surrounding Vietnam.
It took place during the Buddhist celebration of Tet and caught the
Americans by surprise.
What were the tactics used by the Americans?
The USA used bigger and bolder tactics. Using expensive equipment and
weapons, such as tanks, helicopters and large bombs. They also used
chemical weapons such as napalm and agent orange, to defoliate the
thick Vietnamese jungles to help reveal Vietcong positions.
Also the Americans set up strategic villages behind barbed wire, to try and
stop the Vietcong passing through villages and blending in to the
backgrounds.
Bombing – On the 7th February 1965 the USA launched Operation Rolling
Thunder. This involved massive bombing raids on military and industrial
targets in North Vietnam and even South Vietnam. This disrupted the
North’ s war effort massively.
Search and Destroy – Raids launched from helicopters. American soldiers
raided supposed Vietcong villages to kill Vietcong members. Many
Vietcong were killed in these raids but often innocent villages were also
killed. Many American soldiers also walked into traps and many were
killed. One such search and destroy raid was at Mai Lai. American
soldiers raided a village and opened fire on innocent civilians killing
many of them.
American soldiers were dying due to the lack of understanding the
surrounding Vietnamese area. The Americans were fighting an enemy they
couldn’t see therefore they were making slow progress.
Task
Produce a guide book for American soldiers who are about to go out to Vietnam. I must contain details on the
Vietcong tactics they will encounter and the type of tactics they will be using themselves. Make some notes below
to help you.
Why did America end up leaving Vietnam?
American tactics weren’t working. Because of the tactics of the Viet Cong
the American’s were making slow progress. They weren’t being beaten
but they weren’t winning either.
Vietnam was the first full media war. Images of war were sent back to
America by Television. Public opinion in America started to go strongly
against the war and a massive peace movement was formed. America is
a democracy so what the people think really counts.
In March 1968 the Mai Lai massacre took place in the Quang Ngai region of
South Vietnam by. It was a search and destroy mission carried out by
Charlie company of the US army that turned into a massacre of
innocent civilians. Between 300-400 civilians were killed, many who
were machined gunned whilst they lay in ditches. The massacre was
kept quiet for a while and even treated as a success by the army.
However, 12 months later a letter was sent to government officials in
Washington by a soldier who knew many of the soldiers who had taken
part. Photographs then emerged of the massacre and this led to one of
the officer’s of Charlie company, Lieutenant William Calley being
charged with the mass murder of 22 of the civilians in September 1969.
He was sentenced to 20 years hard labour in March 1971 but was
released in November 1973. The revelations about what had happened
at Mai Lai deeply shocked Americans and in November 1969 700 000
anti war protestors demonstrated in Washington DC
The cost of the war in both money ($30 billion yearly) and in men (58000 US
troops killed) led to the Americans having to think seriously about getting
out.
The aid North Vietnam and the Viet Cong was getting off of China and
Soviet Union ($2 billion) meant that the Vietcong had access to new
weapons and material all the time. It was clear that the Viet Cong were
prepared to accept massive losses in terms of men.
Task List all of the reasons why America left Vietnam from memory.
What do you think was the most important reason why America left
Vietnam and why?
How did America get out of Vietnam?
After the Tet offensive of 1968 President Johnson concluded that the war
could not be won militarily. He instructed his officials to begin negotiating with
the North Vietnamese. He also said that he would not seek re election as
President which was an admission of his failure.
In January 1969, Richard Nixon became President of the USA. He was
looking for a way to pull America out of Vietnam whilst at the same time not
making it look like a defeat for the USA. He followed three major strategies to
try and do this.
1. He sent his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger to negotiate a
peace deal with the North Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho
2. He followed a policy of Vietnamisation. This was where the Americans
would pull their troops out of Vietnam but at the same time pay for the South
Vietnamese to increase massively the strength of their own armed forces.
3. Nixon increased the bombing against North Vietnam to show that he was
not weak. He also invaded Viet Cong bases the neighbouring country of
Cambodia.
In 1972 the North Vietnamese launched a major offensive against South
Vietnam but were unable to win.
In early 1973 the South Vietnamese President Thieu and the North
Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho signed a peace agreement. By the end of
the year the last American soldiers left Vietnam. Nixon saw it as peace with
honour. He promised to send the South Vietnamese financial help but the
American Congress wouldn’t allow it.
In 1974, the North Vietnamese launched another major attack on the South
and by 1976 the South had lost. Vietnam became one communist country and
American policy had failed.
Create a spider diagram showing how
America got out of Vietnam.
Task
Put together a timeline of all of the events detailed in this sheet. Make sure you include key individuals such as Presidents.
WW2
and
before
1976
Revision Questions
1. Which country controlled Vietnam before WW2?
2. Which country controlled Vietnam during WW2?
3. What was the Vietminh and who was its leader?
4. Who did America help install as the President of South Vietnam?
5. Was he a well liked leader?
6. What was the domino theory?
7. What happened at the Gulf of Tonkin?
8. Which American President first sent Americans to Vietnam?
9. When and where did the first American combat troops enter Vietnam?
10. What was the Viet Cong?
11. Who supported them?
12. Why did America and South Vietnam fear the Viet Cong so much?
13. What were their main tactics?
14. What were America’s main tactics during the Vietnam war?
15. What happened at Mai Lai?
16. Which American officer was put on trial for the events at Mai Lai?
17. Why did many Americans not support the war?
18. What were the main reasons why America left the Vietnam war?
19. What was Vietnamisation?
20. What was the name of the North Vietnams chief negotiator?
21. What was the name of the American negotiator?
22. Was the American policy in Vietnam a success or a failure? Explain
your answer
Practice exam questions
Use the space below to bullet point your answers. Give yourself half and hour to do
a 4,6,10 question.
Who were the Vietcong? (4)
Explain why the USA became involved in Vietnam. (6)
Explain why the American forces were pulled out of Vietnam in 1973. (6)
The following were all equally important reasons for the American withdrawal
from Vietnam:
i) The financial cost of the war;
Ii) the military tactics of the Vietcong;
Iii) the failure of US military tactics.
How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer referring only to
(i), (ii), and (iii). (10)
‘The main reasons American troops were withdrawn from Vietnam was the
success of the Vietcong.’ How far do you agree with this statement? (10)
A Chinese poster which says
‘US imperialism get out of
South Vietnam’
Study source A
What is the message of this poster.
Use the details on the source and your
own knowledge to help you answer.