Vietnam War (1955 – 1975)

Before the WWII, Vietnam was ruled by France but during the war it was
conquered by the Japanese and, as a result, an anti – Japanese resistance
movement emerged.

In 1930, an Indochinese Communist Party inspired Vietnam people to fight the

Japanese. By the time the WWII ended, Vietnam was independent.

In 1945, the French came back because they wanted to rule Vietnam again.
There was a nine-year war between the North and the South (controlled by the
French). The north had support from China and the French were supported by
the USA. Finally, in 1954 the French were pulled out of Vietnam.

In 1954, the USA prevented the elections in Vietnam from taking place
because they were afraid that Communism would win. By that time, the
president of the USA was Eisenhower who was convinced that the USSR and
China wanted to spread communism all over Asia. In 1955 the USA supported
South Vietnam leader because he was anti – communism.

The national front for the liberation of south Vietnam was set up in 1960. It
was also called Viet Cong. It started a guerrilla war against the South
Vietnamese government. USA helped the South government by sending
supplies.

In 1962, President Kennedy sent soldiers to help the South Vietnamese army
fight the Viet Cong.

In 1963, Kennedy was killed and Johnson came to power. He was willing to
commit the USA to a much bigger conflict in Vietnam.

In 1965, the USA started an operation that included bombing campaigns

against North Vietnam (cities, factories, etc) during 3 years. Also, troops were
sent and the war between the USA and Vietnam officially started.

Guerrillas were a nightmare for the USA because they had no uniform, no
base camp and used to work in small groups. Besides, they would attack and
then disappear, so the USA soldiers in constant fear of being ambushed.

The Viet Cong depended on supplies that came from the North. The USA and
the South of Vietnam used to bomb the railways to cut down the supplies.

The main USA tactic was bombing. They had chemical weapons such us
Napalm (burns through skin to bone) and Agent Orange that they would spray
from the places to destroy the jungle where the Viet Cong hid.

USA also had the policy of search and destroy.

At first, the USA troops were professional soldiers, but then they started to
need more and more people to fight so as soon as young men left school or
college they could be called up into the army. They had no experience. The
majority of them were from poor and immigrant families. They didn’t want to
fight, they just wanted to get home alive since they were not fighting for their
country as the Viet Cong did.

President Johnson knew that the war couldn’t be won militarily. He reduced
the bombing campaigns and began negotiations for peace.

In 1968, President Nixon was elected. He worked to end the USA involvement
in Vietnam.
He improved relationships with China and the USSR.
He withdrew troops from Vietnam.
Peace negotiations with North Vietnam started.
At the same time, he increased the bombing against North Vietnam to show
that he was not weak.