Kaarten: Chapter 7: The Vietnam War (1957 - 1975) | Quizlet

What did Vietnam look like before and after WWII?

Before WWII:

- It was part of Indochina :Laos - Cambodja + Vietnam

= French colony

During WWII: conquered by the Japanese

After WWII:

- Communist resistance fighters in Vietnam => trying to fight off the Japanese out of Vietnam

- Led by Ho Chi Minh

1945: The independence of Vietnam (= Japanese left)

1957: War with France

=>France invades Vietnam bc it wants its colony back

What was the result of the war with France?

Two new states are created:

1) North Vietnam:

- led by Ho Chi Minh

- Communist

- Supported by the East

2) South Vietnam: France

- Led by Diem

- Anti-communist

- Ruthless dictator => supported by the West simply because he wasn't communist

- Authoritarian and repressive

=> didn't like Buddhism because he was catholic

=> Buddhists were repressed

What are the causes of the Vietnam War?

The situation in South Vietnam:

- The rise of:

1) the NLF (political party)

- 'National Liberation Front'

2) and Viet Cong (resistance fighters)

- Viet Cong : armed branch of the NLF

- communist resistance movement -> that wants communism in South Vietnam

- Supported by North Vietnam and the SU

South Vietnam is in danger of falling in communist hands!!!

- The USA is going to act

- Fear for the domino effect: if Vietnam turns communist all of the other Asian countries will become communist (Laos, Cambodia...)

Result: Proxy war!

a) North Vietnam: supported by SU

b) South Vietnam : supported by USA

What happened during the Vietnam War?

Before 1964 : no official intervention of USA

- Military advisors -> send to there secretly to help them how they can manage the conflict

1964: Gulf of Tonkin incident

- American war ship attacked by North Vietnam patrol boats

= false flag operation : operations that are completely fake -> you claim that something happened so that you can take action

-> story was made up

-> SO that: USA can officially enter the war

Who fights whom?

South Vietnam

- Supported by : USA + West

o President Eisenhower

o President Kennedy

o Johnson

o Nixon

VS

North Vietnam

- Supported by:

SU:

o Krushchev

o Brezhnev

- China

o Mao

What were the characteristics of the war for the USA?

USA:

1) "Search and destroy' tactic

= soldiers searching villages for the Viet Cong

- War crimes

2) Agent Orange

= chemical dropped by plane that destroys everything on his path : trees-> so that the Viet Congs cannot hide in the trees

- 15% of Vietnamese territories

- Long term effects: cancer, birth defects

3)Napalm

= a chemical firebomb = that you can't put down

What were the characteristics of the war for Viet Kong and North Vietnam?

North Vietnam and Viet Cong => had their own tactics

Guerilla warfare

- Nonprofessional fighters vs professional army

- Hit and run tactics: they attacked the US soldiers from everywhere and the American soldiers didn't know from where

- 'Rat tunnels" = where they lived

- Booby traps

Result: one of the reasons for the end of the war

How did the Vietnam War end?

The end of the war:

- 1968: The TET offensive

= the simultaneous attack by the Viet Cong of all major cities in South Vietnam

- The USA lost face => 4 years of fighting but no changes!!!!!

- 'This war is hopeless!'

Reason 1: army doesn't believe in it any more

Reason 2: 1969 - 1973: Growing criticism from the home front

- Role of television news: "The war into your living room

- "Body Bags" -> people are scared to find their sons

- War crimes -> they thought the army was doing good things (bringing democracies etc.)

One war crime was SO important that it stopped the war:

e.g. The My Lai Massacre

- Entire village was massacred

- The army tried to cover it up (the pilot goes to the media)

- Journalists revealed the story

- Huge public backlash: American citizens

Result of all this: Anti War protests (worldwide)

- Influence of the "Hippie movement" => peace ( reaction to it -> start of the movement)

What happened next?

1969: 'Vietnamization' policy

= USA decided to retreat from Vietnam (but never acknowledged the fact that they lost)

=> we have trained the army -> they are ready now

- But kept supporting South Vietnam

1975: South Vietnam surrenders

- They are united into one Vietnam = became a communist state

- Laos and Cambodia became communist as well (the domino effect = became true)

What were the results of the war for the USA?

- 60 000 American KIA

- Psychological problems and the rise of drugs (came home) = tried numbing their emotions with drugs / alcohol

- Improvement for the black Americans => first time that they fought together in the Vietnam War

- Politically: international humiliation:

= USA was a military superpower <-> defeated by 'rice farmers'

- Political trauma: the USA would not go to war until 2001 (9/11)

- Antiestablishment movement: hippies => direct reaction to Vietnam War

What were the results of the war for Vietnam?

2-3 million deaths

- Lasting effects of Agent Orange

§ cancer, birth deficiencies

§ Environmental problems