Complete IDs off of textbook online - handwritten still. Not from list on Google Classroom, from textbook for each section of the Vietnam section of the online book. Link posted in Google Classroom.

• Terms used to classify the post-WWII world.

  • First world - seen as the “best” countries of the world.

  • Second World - seen as secondary to the best countries of the world.

  • Third World - seen as the worst countries in the world.

    • This is where Vietnam was.

    • Today we call them “underdeveloped” or “developing” countries.

    • These came from former colonies from large empires in the Imperialist Era. The French had a colony in Vietnam.

      • People in these countries wanted freedom. It was something they were unfamiliar with or something they hadn’t experienced in a long time.

• After WWII, people couldn’t even identify where Vietnam was on a map. During the war, most people couldn’t still and didn’t care. Hell, even before this lesson I didn’t know where Vietnam was.

  • Three of the countries in the peninsula used to be French. “French-Indo China.”

  • Vietnam was on the right and is shaped like a J. It is very narrow. Strange looking.

  • It’s right next to Laos and Cambodia. They both got their independence and Vietnam did not because it was communist. It was voted on in 1954.

• Viets are the ethnicity of the people that live there. Nam means south.

• The US had no concern to understand the culture of the people that were there. This is something that is very common in history and in colonization.

• Vietnam’s culture

  • They were Buddhist.

  • They had an emperor in ancient times. However, the head of the family transcended the emperor.

    • The village was where people’s loyalties lied.

    • There were hundreds of thousands of independent groups.

    • It was hard to unify them and get them on the same page.

  • Industry in the North, Agriculture in the South.

  • The main crop grown was rice.

  • They have 6 feet of rain a year. For reference, we have 43-47 inches.

  • It was a jungle. Very thick and dense. Soldiers would get jungle rot and their feet would just fall off.

    • The Vietnamese was very familiar with the jungle. We weren’t.

• 208 BC - The Chinese emperors came in and took over Vietnam. They stayed there for one thousand years until 939 AD.

• In the 1700s, the Vietnamese had a civil war.

• In the 1860’s, the French take over.

• Ho Chi Minh

  • One of the greatest revolutionary leaders in world history.

  • Born on May 19th, 1890 during French rule of Vietnam.

    • The French treated them like shit. They were oppressive and brutal.

    • They tried to convert them to Catholicism and made them stupid. Less people could read.

  • He was in Europe and studied Democracy. He understood the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He also studied Communism in the Soviet Union (Moscow.)

  • He decided that communism was better for his people than democracy.

    • This could be because Democratic leaders consistently let him down.

  • He wanted an independent Vietnam.

  • His revolutionary name meant the “giver of light”

  • He was very soft spoken and quiet.

• WWII

  • The French are kicked out of Vietnam in August of 1940. This is when the Japanese enter.

    • This was again, awful.

  • May 12th, 1942 - John Donovan dies in Vietnam. He was the first American to die in Vietnam. We were helping them at the time to fight the Japanese.

  • September 2nd, 1945 - we leave Vietnam… temporarily I guess.

    • Japan surrenders. Ho declared an independent Vietnam the same day.

      • His declaration sounded very similar to ours.

• There were many different groups in Vietnam, but they all had the same enemy and desired freedom.

• Potsdam Conference (July of 1945)

  • This decided that the bombs would be dropped on Japan.

  • They also decided to split Vietnam along the 17th parallel.

    • They wanted Communists to the North. The British were given control of the Democratic section of the country in the South.

• French and Vietnam Post-WWII

  • The French wanted their colony back because they still believed it was their territory since it was theirs before Japan invaded, they also needed access to the markets and materials to rebuild their economy, and they wanted access a military presence in the region to stop the spread of Communism.

  • There’s a colonial war with the Vietnamese and the French to keep control of the colony. The French were defeated in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu.

    • The French wanted the US to help them fight. They wanted to reinforce the valley Dien Bien Phu. They proposed this to Eisenhower but he told them they were stupid.

    • The French followed through with it anyway and shot down into the valley. The French surrender.

• Geneva Convention

  • Decided that the Vietnamese would elect their leader in 1956.

  • From 54-56, Ho and the communists get the north and Ngo Dnh Diem gets the south.

    • We got along with Ngo Dnh Diem and Eisenhower shook his hand!

    • That being said we were aware he was corrupt as hell. He was a devout catholic and stole money. But he was the best option for them at that time.

• US Responses (By president)

  • Truman

    • Gave 23 million dollars to the French.

    • Put military advisory presence in Vietnam. (55 of them.)

    • We trained the military there and helped them fight.

  • Eisenhower (1952-1960)

    • US was paying 80% of the cost of the war between French and Vietnam in 1954.

      • It was later 1 billion dollars we threw into the war.

    • “We will either sink or swim with Diem.”

    • 1500 Advisors were in Vietnam under Eisenhower.

    • They never had elections because Ho would have won.

  • John F Kennedy (1960-1963)

    • “In the final analysis it’s their war to win or lose.”

      • However we were heavily funding and involved.

    • 16,000 advisors in Vietnam under Kennedy.

    • We still don’t have ground troops.

  • Lyndon B Johnson (1963 - 1968)

    • “We’re not going to send american boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away to do what Asian boys aught to do for themselves.” This was his campaign promise during the election.

    • We start getting fighters and soldiers in the war.

    • We had 500,000 soldiers in Vietnam.

• Domino Theory

  • Coined by Eisenhower.

  • The theory was that if one country turned communist, the countries around it would fall under communism as well and the wave would push around the world.

  • We didn’t want Communism to reach the US. Of course, Vietnam went communist and nothing really happened. But people were very concerned.

    • Ho didn’t want this and he just wanted to vibe and have a good time.

• In November of 1963, Diem and his brother were assassinated.

  • There were photos of protest that went viral. A Buddhist monk burned himself alive for the press.

  • He wanted to be able to practice their religion of Buddhism.

  • Diem was SO BAD people burned themselves alive.

    • These images went across the US and people started to question us supporting Diem.

    • The Soviets capitalize on this and the fact we were supporting it.

• Kennedy was assassinated at the end of 1963.

• After this, there were seven different democratic governments in the south.

• More bombs were dropped in Northern Vietnam in the Vietnam war than during all of WWII.

• Tonkin Gulf Resolution - August 7th, 1964

  • Two destroyers were on patrol around Vietnam (Gulf of Tonkin.) They claimed they were shot at by northern Vietnamese gun boats. There were planes that said they didn’t see any torpedoes in the water, but the ships said they saw them and were trying to avoid them. No ships were hit.

  • LBJ and American people were mad that our ships were hit. LBJ went to congress and leaves out some details and says that since we were attacked, we should respond.

  • Johnson ordered Air Strikes to drop bombs in Northern Vietnam. He seeks permission from congress to authorize an attack. Many had doubts but only two senators spoke up about them.

  • The TGR gave the president the authority to take all necessary measures to respond to attacks on the United States military. This is way too much power for one dude to have.

• In 1965 - Johnson authorized a bombing campaign in Northern Vietnam. Rolling Thunder.

  • This is a critical turning point. We are committed and start to see the Vietnamese on the offensive.

    • Of course, some of these are against US soldiers.

  • This lasted three years and in the end did nothing. The Northern Vietnamese stayed strong.

• 1965 - 1971 - Operation Ranch Hand

  • Defoliation - they wanted to destroy the jungle.

  • A lot of the forests destroyed hasn’t grown back yet.

  • It took three days to kill the trees and forest.

  • We also dropped chemicals on their food sources.

  • Agent Orange - contained dioxin and was dropped to destroy forests. Was very effective but caused long lasting damage to forests and damage to human bodies including cancer and birth defects of future children. The government was later sued because they knew it was causing cancer.

  • 107 million acres and 40% of their crops.

• Amount of soldiers in Vietnam

  • 1965 - 184,000

  • 1967 - 485,000

  • 1969 - 540,000

  • (16,000 already died by 1969.)

  • Most of the people were urban poor people. There were a larger amount of black Americans and other minority groups. People who were in college and rich people didn’t have to join the draft.

  • Many of these people got addicted to drugs during and after the war.

• Vietnam Protests

  • The government was lying to people and the baby boomers put pressure on them to get out of a place we should have never been in in the first place.

  • John and Yoko launched an anti-war campaign starting in 1971. They wrote a little song about it.

  • Credibility gap - growing distrust of the government.

  • “Hey Hey LBJ, How many kids did you kill today?”

  • The youth organized and protested and pushed for change.

  • Protesting crossed demographics.

  • People who fought in the Spanish Civil War also protested the US being in Vietnam.

• Credibility Gap - lack of trust in the government

  • Before this, people believed everything the government said.

  • This grows after the Kennedy Assassination by findings of the Warren Commission.

    • They were tasked with figuring out who killed Kennedy and why.

    • The person who shot Kennedy was a communist - he was shot dead on live TV while awaiting his trial. We couldn’t examine him because he was killed. The guy that killed Oswald had ties to the Mafia and owned a strip club around Dallas.

    • All of these crazy ass theories came up because of this.

    • The Warren Commission said that Oswald did it on his own but people didn’t believe it and believed it was the Soviets and Castro in Cuba.

• Tet Offensive

  • 14,000 civilians, 45,000 communists killed

  • As opposed to fighting in jungles, they fought in the cities.

  • January 1968 - both sides agreed to an armistice. It was around a big Vietnamese holiday, Tet, their celebration of the new year. At the end of January the Communists launched an all-out assault on southern cities. The US and SV were caught off guard.

  • The US wins this battle.

  • However, the generals get on the television and ask for 200,000 more troops. But, since this was on television, people watched the battle ensue. The camera crews were going along with the soldiers and the average american household could watch it happen.

    • This led to a lot of questions about the government.

    • The public lost support to the government to keep the war going.

• This was a major turning point in the public’s perception of war. Korea begins this, but Vietnam pushes it farther. People question why we were fighting a war. After this, the US looks for ways to get out.

• LBJ decreased the bombings of North Vietnam.

• Eugene McCarthy

  • “Children’s Crusade” - he organized and gave legitimacy to college kids.

  • College kids were being criticized for their age and he supported them.

  • The hippies supported him too.

  • The other McCarthy is dead. Not this guy. Different dude.

• Doves and Hawks

  • Doves - Advocates to get out to the war.

    • McCarthy and Robert Kennedy.

      • They both were democrats.

      • People wanted them to be president.

    • Robert Kennedy was shot on June 5th, 1968.

      • The person who shot him was arrested and talked about it and had his reasons so he didn’t have some crazy conspiracy following his death.

    • JFK had plans to withdraw from Vietnam by 1965.

  • Hawks - Support the US being in the war.

    • Lyndon B Johnson was a democrat as well.

• Woodstock gave some legitimacy to the hippies because the whole weekend there was no fighting.

• March 31st, 1968 - Johnson surprised everyone by saying that the US would get out of Vietnam. His family didn’t even know that he was going to do this. He also announced he would not be running for re-election. He was eligible for a second term due to when Kennedy died.

• The bombing of Cambodia - March 1969 (Nixon!)

  • Cambodia doesn’t have much to do with the war because they’re independent, but the supplies were travelling through there to get to Vietnam.

  • Nixon wanted to prevent the supplies from going to the communists in the south. He bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail. There were large communist sections in the south where we were supposed to be

  • Nixon just like did things without approval from congress. Tonkin Gulf.

  • They would bomb cities and the next day they would be back in action.

• Kent State Affair - May 5 1970

  • A protest against the bombing of Cambodia. The national guard was called in to keep order. No one knows what really happened and who shot first and why, but there were students who died.

  • This causes the credibility gap to grow into discontent and hatred.

• The Hard Hat Riots - May 8 1970

  • New York City, no deaths. There were many arrests and injuries but no death.

  • They were construction workers who protested the flag being at half mast because of the kids being killed at Kent State. The mayor had raised his flag half mast.

  • They supported Vietnam being in the war and had the attitude of “Love it or leave it.”

  • They clashed with Vietnam Protesters and shit hit the fan.

• Jackson State College - Jackson, Mississippi May 15, 1970

  • This is more a civil rights issue. There was a civil rights protest on the campus and the police shot at the students. No one knows why the police shot to that extent to unarmed students.

  • There were two young black men who lost their lives by the police for protesting.

  • Although it was more civil rights based, it was still the government killing innocent people.

• Pentagon Papers

  • A report by the state department that analyzed US policy in Vietnam. It was an internal report that was meant for the government only. In 1971, it got leaked to the papers. It was very critical of the Johnson and Kennedy administrations. Nixon is still president at this time.

  • Nixon tried to block it from being published but it was leaked to the New York Times.

  • This causes the credibility gap to grow because it opposed what the government was telling people. The papers revealed that the US had no intention of leaving until communism was gone.

• Nixon looks for an exit

  • “Vietnamization” - He wanted to slowly turn the fight over to the south Vietnamese and retract.

  • “Win With Honor” - Promised the american people something that was unattainable. There was no peace with honor or victory.

  • 1972: B-52 strikes - Nixon tried to bomb northern Vietnam to the negotiating table.

  • 1973: Paris Peace Accords - Didn’t produce any results. This was one of many negotiations. But they all ended due to petty and stupid reasons.

• The Fall of Saigon - Gerald Ford is president now. Nixon left due to Watergate.

  • The communists stormed the capital of Saigon and the US embassy evacuated. As the communists invaded people were trying to take as much people out to safety as possible.

    • When in trouble in foreign nations, find the embassy!

  • The official at the embassy admitted that it was the most embarrassing scene he’s ever heard.

• April 30, 1975 - 12 noon - the last helicopter took off and the war was over. After this, Vietnam was full communist, in the 80’s they developed a free market.

• The war is considered by historians to be a horrible miscalculation by the government. Ho Chi Minh died in 1969 and he didn’t see the end of the war.