chapter 9 - vietnam war Flashcards
first indochina war?
when WWII ended in 1945, as the french moved to reoccurs vietnam, they faced serious resistance by the vietnam minh. the tensions between the viet minh and the french intensified, and as the first indochina war broke out, viet minh utillsed underground warfare tactics, and carried out surprise raids against the french. after china became a communist state, they supported the viet minh by sending food and military advisors to support ho chi minh. as the war dragged out, the french attempted to lure the viet minh into open battle a dien bien phu, but the well-armed french forces was still defeated by the viet minh, with the viet minh cutting off many of their supply lines.
post first indochina war
french government lost interest in retaining vietnam as a colony as the cost if conflict surpassed the benefits. in may 1954, a conference was held in geneva, switzerland, where the viet minh demanded the removal of frenh troops and the recognition as a democratic country. vietnam was divided into two, with the north being communist under ho chi minh, and the south being non-communist under ngo dinh diem. the agreement was that elections would be held again in 1956 to establish a single government.
north vietnam in the 1950s
ho worked quickly to establish his control on NV. at the start of the regime, people fled the north in fear of communism, but this only strengthened the regime as it got rid of potential opponents. ho was recognised as a great leader and he quickly introduced sweeping land reforms which redistributed confiscated ands to peasants, which made him very popular. to ensure the stability of the regime, he was ruthless is dealing with opponents. for example, the land reforms faced violent resistance, leading to many political opponents being excuted. however, the north remained relatively politically stable nonetheless
south vietnam in the 1950s
by the end of the geneva conference, diem was appointed as prime minister of south vietnam. while he was a anti-communist, he was also a patriot that hoped to modernise vietnamese economy to stregthen the country against interference. at the start, he also introduced a few modernisation programmes and wanted to create a stronger national identity to localise democracy, but his regime became increasingly unpopular due to his authoritarian methods. in july 1955, he cancelled the vietnam-wde elections and held a refrendum, in which he rigged it for 98% of the voters to approve it, installing himself as president.his actions were supported by the US as diem was strongly anti-communist and was prepared to exile communists.
effects of the south’s unpopular regime
the US tried to pressure diem into land reforms so as to increase support for the regime and help counter the effects of communist propaganda. however, he was no interested as most of his supporters were of the landlord class. his regime was also corrupt and he blatantly practiced nepotism. he refused to hold any form of elections leading to multiple protests against his regime. some of his pro-catholic policies also antagonised the buddhist majority, leading to monks practicing self-immolation, making him even more unpopular. frustrated by his actions but having no other choice, the US continued to support diem’s actions, but the regime still remained weak and unstable.
south vietnam insurgency
after the cancellation of the promised 1966 reunification elections, many former viet minh workers started to wage a low level campaign against his regime. diem responded with harsh and responsive measures, with many executed and tortured. he tried to strike at the insurgents’ military bases, to which he had some success, but did not fully set the insurgency. in may 1959, a unit known as group 559 was set up to transport weapons and equipment to the viet cong, a term for the insurgents.the viet cong consisted of south vietnamese opponents and communist north vietnamese. they carried out over 1700 attacks, comprising of anyone that could be related to the south vietnaese government or anyone suspected of collaborating with the government
how did fighting escalate between the north and south
the viet cong stepped up guerilla warfare, choosing to avoid well-defended south vietnamese positions in urban areas and attacked the countryside and US air force supply bases. south vietnamese responded with the strategic hamlet programme where peasants were relocated to roti field villages away from the control and influence of the vie cong. this would allow the superior firepower of the US air force and south vietnamese army to destroy the viet cong without harming the civilians
why were other external players involved in the vietnam war?
china : after communist victory in china, mao saw US a his greatest threat as he was concerned about possible invasion by US allies. he believed that if vietnam became a non-communist country which allied with the US, chia was potentially vulnerable to attacks. thus, he was eager to support any state that created an anti-US buffer. furthermore, he wanted to show support for another communist state, feeling a bond of loyalty to ho. he also wanted to unite the chinese people, strengthening his position
USSR : initially, the USSR was cautious about getting involved in vietnam. while they had provided support to the formation of the viet cong, they were to as active in asia due to deteriorating relations with china, now as the sino-soviet split. this also meant that north vietnam had to account for both’s interests so as to gain aid from both countries. in the mid 1960s, USSR became more interested in vietnam as showing support to a fellow communist state would be able to assert USSR’s leadership. they started to send more support, like aircrafts and air defences.
US : convinced that china and USSR were planning to spread communism to asia, they were determined to resist communism that they would support anti-communists governments, in fear of the domino theory. this foreign policy was known as containment. in 1961, john f. kennedy took over as president, and he was cautious as he did not want the US to blunder into war. military advisors were sent to train the south vietnamese army and equipment was sent, under the military assistance command vietnam. 1963, he was assasinated and taken over by johnson, who also had to prevent a full US commitment while pursuing a contentment policy. his actions were heightened by the fact that the south lacked a strong leader seemed to favour a communist takeover, an there was growing tensions between the US and communist bloc due to developments like china exploding its first atomic bomb
outbreak of vietnam war
on 2 august 1964, north vietnamese patrol boats attacked the USS maddox in the gulf of tonkin. the gulf of tonkin incident led to US congress taking decisive actions, passing the gulf of tonkin resolution that gave johnson the power to take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression and achieve peace and security. this was the start of direct US military intervention, with the US sending troops to fight in vietnam.
US tactics against north vietnam during the war
while US had superior firepower and killed large numbers of viet cong, they failed to achieve a clear victory. due to their inferiority in military equipment, NV turned to using guerilla warfare, utilising the jungles and villages as cover to avoid large scale battles that were not in their favour. the US utilised their air force to engage in strategic bombing. dung operation rolling thunder, they bombed places like viet cong strongholds and army bases. to NV, ho knew that it was important to in over the population, and the viet cong were expected to respect civilians. in the US, their use of defoliants, like agent orange, and napalm to burn their forest cover resulted in numerous health problems for civilians. although the morale in the US was high initially, it fell as it progressed. conscription sent troops that were young and inexperienced. furthermore, the morale was worsened by the media’s portrayal of US involvement to be an unjust one.
tet offensive
on the vietnamese new year holiday in 1968, the viet cong fighters attacked over 100 cities and other military targets, using the ho chi minh trail to move war materials and fighters from the north to the south. the offensive was costly for the communists as the people of south vietnam did not join the viet cong as oped. however, it proved to be a turning point in the war as it raised difficult questions in the US. they had nearly 500,000 troops in vietnam and was spending $20 billion a year on the war, so why was it that the communists were abe to launch such a major offensive that took US forces by surprise? furthermore, in order to quickly retake the towns captured, they had to resort to using large amounts of artillery that resulted in the deaths of many civilians.
shifting sentiments in the US
initially the government wanted to win domestic support for the war. journalists accredited by MACV were allowed access to war zones, interviews and regular reports. in return, they were not expected to reveal any information that would benefit the enemy. however, during the tet offensive, the journalists abandoned their restrain and they were convinced that US could not win the war. a journalist publicly criticised US war effort on national television, and people speculate that this swung public opinion on US involvement. additional media coverage on the my lai massacre, in which US soldiers murdered numerous unarmed south vietnamese civilians, shocked the US public, with many people starting to protest against US involvement. the anti-war sentiments were fuelled by graphic images publicised in mainstream media.
impact of tet offensive
in the next elections, the main candidates all argued for an end to the war. richard nixon, elected in 1968, worked to end US involvement through vietnamisation. he withdrew troops from vietnam and all parties signed the paris peace accords to end the war and restore peace. ending direct military intervention, he promised continuing financial ad and military support to vietnam, but was refused by US congress. congress believed that US should not continue their involvement in the war, especially due to the corruption in SV’s regime. without US air power or military aid, the south vietnamese government could not survive for long. the north vietnamese launched a major military offensive against south vietnam. with the withdrawal of US and surrender of SV government, north vietnamese forces declared victory.
damage to cold war policy
the campaign against communism was portrayed by the media as a moral crusade. however, the war had demonstrated that the ideologies of the west were not superior. furthurmore, the atrocities committed by the US soldiers and use of chemical warfare had damaged their reputation. their failure to carry out containtment had led to their fear of the domino theory taking place, where laos and cambodia subsequently fell under communism rule. the instability of US to win the vietnam war stoked fears of the spread of communism, and this subsequently contributed too the formation of ASEAN. their failure led to them trying to improve relations with the communist world, and tried to seek greater understanding with the USSR, known as detente. in 1972, they signed the anti-ballistic missile treaty with USSR to reduce nuclear weapons. this was a result of a successful negotation known as strategic arms limitation talks
damage of american cold war policy
