american involvement in vietnam

why did the USA become increasingly involved in Vietnam?

• Containment

• US politics

• Pressure from big businesses in the USA

• Domino effect

Domino effect

• US Politicians believed that if Communism was not resisted in Vietnam, they thought that other countries in South Asia would become Communist.

• Countries thought to be at threat were Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos and Thailand

• American politicians thought the USSR and China wanted to spread Communism throughout Asia

US politics

• The American people were in favour of a tough line on Communism and voted for presidential candidates who promised a Hawkish (militarily strong) foreign policy.

• During the 1960 election, Kennedy promised to continue the foreign policies of President Eisenhower

Pressure from big businesses in the USA

• Some big business pushed for war so they could benefit from huge weapons contracts from the government

• Eisenhower called the relationship between the military and big business the “military-industrial complex”

Containment

• Containment meant stopping the spread of Communism wherever it seemed likely to develop

Eisenhower, 1954 – 1961

• 1954- increased US military advisors in the South to 900 men- supported and trained the army

• 1955- US supported the establishment of South Vietnam under President Diem, a corrupt anti – Communist

• Diem’s regime received $1.6 billion in financial support in the 1950s

• 1957-Viet Cong, began waging a guerrilla war against the South Vietnamese regime supported by North Vietnam

Kennedy, 1961 – 1963

• 1961- Arranged for South Vietnamese to recieve money to increase their army by 20,000 men

• 1962- Strategic Hamlets Program: wanted to limit influence of Vietcong on peasants

• Peasants moved to new villages in areas controlled by South Vietnamese army

• Ensured 0 influence by VC and maintain control over them

• BUT peasants didn’t want to move and felt forced

• Membership of the National Liberal Front (VC) increased by 300%- controlled 20% of South Villages

• 1962- Increased military advisors to 12,000

Problem during Kennedy’s time

• 1963- Due, a monk committed suicide in protest to South Vietnamese government

• Government responded by arresting thousands of Buddhist monks

• Diem was overthrown by a military coup and killed

Johnson, 1963 – 1968

• 1964- North Vietnamese patrol boats fired upon US warships in the Gulf of Tonkin.

• Johnson used the incident as an excuse to launch a full-scale war

• 1965- US launched ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’, a massive bombing offensive against North Vietnam

• ‘The Draft’- policy used to conscript men to USA army using a lottery system

• Over 2 million men were drafted into Vietnam

VC tactics

• The VC used guerrilla tactics

  o No uniforms- blended into the local peasant population.

  o No clear supply bases or headquarters. They were supplied by the local population

• Ho Chi Minh trail- allowed the VC to launch surprise attacks since USA couldn’t pin point its location

  o Hit and run ambush tactics- disappeared into the jungle or tunnel networks.

  o 51% of American casualties were to small arms fire in ambushes

  o Booby traps and mines were used extensively. They caused 11% of American casualties

  o Attacking at close range to minimise the chances of artillery fire or air cover being used

  o Supporting and respecting the local population, while punishing those who supported the South Vietnamese government.

Why did they use the VC tactics?

• VC outnumbered - lacked modern artillery, tanks, air power

• Faced certain defeat if facing the Americans in open battle.

• High morale, willing to take casualties,

• Knowledge of the language, culture and terrain and support of locals

Why were the tactics effective?

• Minimised the American advantages in numbers, equipment and firepower

• Wore down American morale.

  o Soldiers rarely saw the enemy, but were in constant fear of attack

what were the US tactics?

• Aerial bombing

• Chemical warfare

• Search and destroy

Aerial bombing

• Operation Rolling Thunder was launched in 1965. Military targets in North Vietnam and supply routes were all very heavily bombed

• SUCCESS

  o The North Vietnamese war effort and supply routes were disrupted by the bombing

  o Intensive bombing in 1970-72 forced the North Vietnamese to negotiate and end the war in 1972

• FAILURES

  o North Vietnamese supply routes, such as the Ho Chi Minh trail, were resilient to bombing. Bicycles and carts could still carry supplies on knocked out roads.

  o The Viet Cong did not need many supplies to stay operational

  o Expensive, in 1967 it cost $400,000 to kill one Viet Cong fighter

  o Many civilians died in the bombing raids. 2/3 of the bombs fell on South Vietnam.

  o They blamed America and were more likely to support the Viet Cong

Chemical weapons

• Agent Orange and Napalm were used to clear the jungle of cover that could be used by the Viet Cong

• Many civilians were killed or suffering serious burns due to the use of chemical weapons

• Long term exposure caused cancer and birth defects amongst the Vietnamese and former US soldiers

Search and destroy

• Raids were often based on poor intelligence and innocent villages were mistaken for Viet Cong positions

• Civilian casualties were very high. Six bodies were counted for every Viet Cong weapon found

• Search and destroy was very unpopular.

• The raids pushed many South Vietnamese peasants into supporting the VC

what were the US military problems in Vietnam?

• Neighbouring countries

• ‘Hearts and minds’

• Low morale and experience

Neighbouring countries

• Cambodia and Laos supported the Viet Cong, allowing supplies to travel through their territory and sheltering fugitives

• The Americans bombed Cambodia and Laos, but they did not want to broaden the war to invade other countries

Hearts and minds

• American success relied upon getting support from the people of South Vietnam - winning over their hearts and minds

• However, American tactics stressed killing as many enemy as possible to wear them down.

• Bombing, chemical weapons and search and destroy killed many civilians, which pushed people towards supporting the VC

Low morale and experience

• The American Army became increasingly reliant on young, inexperienced conscripts (people compelled to join the army). The average age was 19 years old.

• Most US soldiers knew little about Vietnam and were not committed to the cause they were fighting for. The Viet Cong were fighting in their own country for a cause they believed in

• Relations between officers and men were strained.

• There was evidence of “fragging”: troops murdering their own officers. 3% of officer deaths were due to fragging

• Many soldiers took drugs. 18% of casualties were non-combat related

  o Including disease

  o Suicide

  o Traffic accidents

  o Drug abuse.

• 500,000 incidents of desertion

Why did the war become unpopular in the USA?

• Cost

• Media

• Civil rights

• My Lai Massacre

Cost

• $20-$30 billion a year

• $400,000 per Viet Cong member killed.

• President Johnson had to cut back on spending on social reforms at home

• Americans started to feel it was not worth the sacrifice

Media

• Vietnam was the first war to be covered by television news.

• Shocking images of warfare were shown, in colour, for the first time in peoples’ living rooms

Civil rights

• Many white young people were able to postpone the draft because they went to university.

• 30% of those drafted were African Americans compared to 19% whites

• 22% of US casualties were African Americans, but they made up only 11% of the whole force

• Many African Americans opposed fighting for the freedom of the Vietnamese people when they were not free from discrimination and poverty at home

My Lai Massacre

• • In March 1968, a unit of American soldiers destroyed a small village called My Lai, killing 300 to 400 civilians.

• Most were women and children.

• Some were raped before being killed

• The incident caused outrage when it became public in 1969, increasing public opposition to the war

What was the result of the war becoming unpopular in the USA?

• Morale plummeted in the army, as they fought on without public support

• However, public opinion had little effect on Johnson’s policy until the 1968 Tet Offensive, when he became convinced that US involvement in Vietnam had to end

when was the Tet offensive?

1968

events of the Tet offensive

• During the Tet New Year celebrations, Viet Cong fighters launched a surprise attack against 100 South Vietnamese cities and US bases

• One Viet Cong unit raided the US Embassy in Saigon

• Militarily it was a disaster for the Communists.

• US forces fell back at first, but soon won back all that they had lost.

• The Viet Cong suffered severe casualties.

• Around 60,000 Communist troops died

results of the Tet offensive

• The American public was shocked that the army had been taken by surprise, given the number of US troops in the country. They thought they were winning militarily

• Use of artillery and air power to regain the cities caused much destruction and many civilian deaths

• Journalists questioned whether the war could be won

• Turning point in the war. President Johnson’s approval rating fell by 12%.

• He became convinced the war was unwinnable

when did the war end?

1973

why did the war end?

• USSR and China

• Bombing

• ‘Vietnamisation’

• Negotiations

USSR and China

• Nixon built stronger relations with the USSR and China.

• He wanted a new approach to the war and to find ‘peace with honour’

• USSR and China urged the North Vietnamese to negotiate

Bombing

• Nixon increased aerial bombing to show the USA was still willing to fight.

• US forces raided enemy bases in Cambodia, which met with considerable criticism at home and internationally

Vietnamisation

• South Vietnamese armed forces were built up to allow US troops to return home.

• 310,000 left between April 1969 and 1971

• USA still supported South Vietnamese with resources and money but didn’t partake in fighting

What went wrong at the end of the war?

• 🇺🇸 1970 – Nixon’s Negotiations with North Vietnam

• ✈ 1970 – Bombing and Ground Invasion of Cambodia

• May 4 1970- 🎓 Kent State University

• 🕊 1973 – Paris Peace Accords

• 🟥 1975 – Fall of Saigon

🇺🇸 1970 – Nixon’s Negotiations with North Vietnam Break Down

• Nixon had been trying to negotiate peace with North Vietnam.

• Talks collapsed, possibly due to a lack of trust or unwillingness from the North Vietnamese to compromise.

• Led Nixon to change tactics and escalate the war effort.

✈ 1970 – Bombing and Ground Invasion of Cambodia

• Nixon began secretly bombing enemy bases in Cambodia, hoping to weaken enemy supply lines (Ho Chi Minh Trail).

• He wanted to pressure North Vietnam into peace talks.

• It didn't work and caused major backlash when the public found out.

• After bombing failed, Nixon sent U.S. troops into Cambodia to destroy Viet Cong bases.

• Caused protests and outrage in the U.S.

🎓Anti- War protests

• 1970- Kent State University Students protested after the Cambodia invasion.

• National Guard troops opened fire on unarmed protesters.

• 4 students killed, 9 injured.

• Turning point in public opinion

• Groups like the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) organised marches and demonstrations on college campuses.

Paris Peace Accords, 1973

• National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger began negotiating with the North Vietnamese in 1969

• Signed in 1973

• Intended to establish peace in Vietnam.

• Nixon was the US president at the time of the signing.

• Ceasefire in Vietnam.

• U.S. troops would withdraw.

• Prisoners of war would be exchanged.

• Free elections in the South.

Fall of Saigon, 1975

• Without U.S. military support, South Vietnam couldn’t hold off the North.

• North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon (renamed Ho Chi Minh City).

• South Vietnam surrendered → Vietnam was unified under Communist rule.

• The U.S. failed to contain communism in Vietnam.