-
Growth of Vietnamese Nationalism
There was a large fraction of Vietnamese citizens who felt that they needed to branch away from their
French colonial rule. This led to the creations of many political parties that pushed for independence. This also created political leaders that wanted to push for Vietnamese Nationalism, and one of the most prominent leaders of this time was Nguyen That Thanh or Ho Chi Minh. After spending years in Europe he returned to Indochina and helped form the Indochinese Communist Party. -
Ho Chi Minh's Return
He was exiled and spent several years in the Soviet Union and China. He returned in 1941 and at this time Japan had taken over his country. This prompted Ho Chi Minh to create a Nationalist group called the Vietminh which brought together Communists and Non-Communists to try to force Japan out of Indochina. The US even sent support to the Vietminh to try and help expel the Communist Japan out of their country. -
America Aids the French
Japan finally surrendered to the Allies and gave up control of Indochina. Ho Chi Minh was very quick to delair Vietnam's independence. France did not want to lose their colonial rule over Vietnam. This prompted France to send troops into Vietnam in 1946 and force the Vietminh into hiding. The Vietminh decided to fight back and they ended up regaining back and regained some of their territory. This made France ask for assistance from the U.S.. This sparked the Domino Theory. -
Defeat at Dien Bien Phu
Even with the support of America, France was struggling to combat the Guerrilla warfare tactics and their hit and run style of fighting. With the French failing to combat their attackers their role in the war became very unpopular with the French citizens. The French attempted to cut off the Vietminh's supply routes at Dien Bien Phu. The French were surrounded by the Vietminh and were bombarded by them. The result of this attack prompted France to finally leave Indochina. -
The Geneva Accords
The Geneva Accords were a series of decisions that were to be made about Vietnam and how it will be worked with. The first decision that was made, was to divide Vietnam along the 17th parallel. Ho Chi Minh controlled the North side of Vietnam and Ngo Dinh Diem controlled the anti-communist southern Vietnam. The next decision that was made was for America to become the main protectorate of South Vietnam, France eventually left and America took protectorate duties of Southern Vietnam. -
The Overthrow of Diem
American Citizens started to blame Diem, the leader of Southern Vietnam. He continued to show a strong distaste toward Buddhist even while his territory is being threatened. He even banned the presentation of the religious flag for the Buddha's birthday, this sparked multiple riots and protests. Diem did not like that so he sent the police force to stop them and ended up killing 9 of them. Self destruction got Americans attention too. -
The Overthrow of Diem (Continued)
The U.S. decided to send U.S. ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge to Vietnam in August of 1963. As soon as he landed he found that there were multiple Vietnamese generals who were plotting to overthrow Diem. He showed sympathy for them and launched a military coup that gained power on November 1, 1963. Soon after that Diem was overthrown he was executed, unfortunatly South Vietnam's government
weakened due to his execution. -
Johnson and Vietnam (Continued)
Congress soon agreed to and on the 7 of August the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed.
this allowed the President to use any resources he wanted to prevent any armed attack against the U.S.. -
Johnson and Vietnam
President Kennedy was assassinated a week after Diem and Lyndon B. Johnson took office. His main goal was to prevent the spread of Communism. On August 2 1964 Johnson stated that Vietnam had fired two torpedoes at U.S. Destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. Johnson soon asked Congress for the authority to defend American forces, and allies in South East Asia. -
A Bloody Stalemate
Over 180,00 troops were battling in Vietnam and in 1966 that number doubled. The U.S. went into Vietnam with plenty of confidence because the Vietcong had not nearly enough fire power as the U.S. had. Unfotunatly America was not prepared for their Vietcongs guerilla warfare tactics. They used things like ambushes, booby traps, and other greatly destructive tactics. The Vietcong camafloaged themselves with the public. They created a strong sense of paranoia in the U.S. troops. -
"Search and Destroy"
The U.S. utilized a chemical called Agent Orange in these search and destroy missions. It was dropped from U.S. planes in napalm bombs. This chemical was used to strip leaves from trees and shrubs. This chemical turned things like farmland into a wasteland. -
The Ho Chi Minh Trail
North Vietnam received a multitude of their supplies from the Soviets along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.