L21 Vietnam causes course timeline

Quiz¨
Timeline
Analyse causes
Evaluate US strategies

Vietnam War timeline.

Yea Events
r
187 Vietnam became a French
7 colony

193 Communist Party Vietnam

0 formed by Ho Chi Minh
194 Japan invaded Vietnam.
0
194 Ho Chi Minh establish the
1 Viet Minh freedom fighters

194 Japan surrendered. Ho Chi

5 Minh proclaimed the
Democratic Republic of
Vietnam (North Vietnam)

194 The First Indochina War

6 started between Viet Minh
and the French

195 France Defeated in Dien

4 Bien Phu

195 Geneva conference:

4 Vietnam divided 17th
parallel. Supposed
elections cancelled by
USA. (bc, Ho Chi Minh is
expected to win)

195 USA support Ngo Dinh

5 Diem. Train Vietnam
Soldiers. Civil war NOR –
SOU.
Second Indochina War =
Vietnam War begins
196 National Front for the
0 Liberation of Vietnam (NFL)
= Viet Cong: Formed in
south Vietnam

196 US military strategies:

2 Strategic Hamlets
Agent Orange. (Operation
Ranch Hand 1962-71).
Kennedy: 11.500 military
advisers
196 Ngo Dien Diem overthrown.,
3 Kennedy assassinated.
15.000 military advisers in
VIE.
196 Gulf of Tonkin Incident: US
4 grounds for inserting
regular US troops.
Military rule South Vietnam.
196 US military strategies
5 upgraded
Rolling Thunder
First US combat troops
Search and Destroy
196 Nguyen Van Thieu elected
6 president of South Vietnam
196 Tet Offensive
8 My Lai Massacre
196 Vietnamization policy
9
197 Kent State University: 4
0 shot. Anti-Vietnam
protests.
420.000 US troops
197 Easter Offensive: NV
2 crossed DMZ to attach SV.
Nixon massive bombing as
response. Kissinger “peace
is at hand”
197 Paris Peace Accords: USA
3 out. Cease-fire.
Nixon: “Peace with honor”
197 Nor Vie defeat SOU Vie.
5
197 The Socialist Republic of
6 Vietnam.

Causes of the Vietnam War

Long term Short term

1877 French colony 1954 French defeat
Japan invasion 1954 Geneva 17th parallel
1941 Vietminh Cancelled elections
 1945 Japan surrender 1964: Gulf of Tonkin
1945 North Vietnam founded 1965: USMC is sent to Vietnam

1946-55: French Indochina war

All these are Vietnamese causes All these are US causes

And the “real” causes not even
mentioned:
1949: CHI
1950: KOR
1955:VIE

The VC was fighting a war of liberation The USA was fighting a Cold War
against Communists, an international
enemy

1. Analyse the differences in long term and short-term causes, when seen from the
perspective of each participant.

Long term causes:

Americans: fight against international communism, ideology

Short term causes: Vietnamese see Americans as invaders, they are fighting against
imperialists

2. Evaluate the political and social attitude of the USA towards Vietnam. (p. 354-5).
How is it in the beginning, when does it change, and why?

The Vietnam War: Strengths and weaknesses of the combatting sides

Military: Why was it not possible for the USA to defeat Vietnam?

Qualities the US army the Viet Cong

of a
successful
army
Good and Soldiers indoctrinated to believe Very committed soldiers and
committed that communism is the cancer of common people, committed to
soldiers earth, and it must be fought protecting their families
against to maintain democracy
 and freedom around the world.
The soldiers were from low
classes, usually poor and were
forced into fighting by
conscription.
3 months training before going to
war, eventually dropped to 8
weeks at the height of the war. 1
year service obligatory.
“you didn’t trust anybody”
referring to Vietnamese people in
villages- American soldier

Last generation weaponry like Booby traps, rifles,

Types of the Mr Garand semi-automatic
Weaponry weapon, pistol 1911-A1, M1A1,
M14
Use of helicopters
M84A3 armored tank
AC-130 Ground attack aircraft
Bombers in the north
Access to Largely and well equipped,
supplies and chemical pesticides, agent
equipment orange, agent blue

Strategic Hamlets? Booby traps

Fortified villages for protecting local Ambush
populations to gain local consensous Raids on American bases
sabotage
Ranch Hand?
Spraying of agent orange to destroy
vegetation and expose vietcongs

Effective Rolling Thunder?

tactics Bombing campaign in north Vietnam

Search and destroy?

Going out to enemy bases and
destroying their ability to operate
properly. Heavy casualties

Vietnamization?
Training south Vietnamese
troops and withdraw US marines
to put the burden of the
continuation of war on the
Vietnamese
Support from Population very divided on Initially spread between the north
 support and against us military and south to their respective
the
intervention and south controlling power. After US
Vietnamese
Vietnamese authority massacres executions on civilians,
population?
Vietnamese population support
shifted in favour of the north
Vietnamese
Motivated and Due to nationalism, fighting Land being invaded by foreign
committed communism evil, patriotism, power, threat of invasion
soldiers drafted and conscription.

Other Containment policy, asymetric

war

Vietnamese oppressed by the French, given the lowest jobs, may 1940 France lost
Vietnam due to European invasion from Germany, Japan overtook Vietnam since axis
pact, French returned and desired to resume their colonial, Vietnamese fighting against
French oppression, france defeated in 1954 in JienBiengfu,north Vietnam. Geneva
conference Vietnam supposed to hold elections but Eisenhower prevented elections
and decided to keep division in the 17th parallel. US 1955, at the height of the conflict
there were 560 thousand soldiers in Vietnam

Inexperienced soldiers from the American cities, not used to jungle, not used to
environment. Unpatrolled, extremely tired soldiers, and
Leeches, crocodiles, snakes, spiders, scorpions
Tripwires and traps in the jungle
Guerrilla tactics: little war, enemy is larger than yourself, ambush, sabotage, booby
traps
Grenades takes 3.3 seconds to detonate, explosive wire,
Problem for large army is it has to be very organized, so easy for Vietcong to ambush
Americans
Tunnels entries small enough so only Vietcong could enter
Punjitraps
Napalm weapon
Search and destroy
Agent orange – chemical agent to force the trees leaves to fall off
Agent blue – pesticide to destroy rice fiels
Traps: cheap, easy replicable, easy to make,
Rolling thunder, bombers releasing bombs in north Vietnam
1968 Ted offensive (Vietnamese new year) Vietcong launches organized attack in 100
different US bases
William Kalley Vietnam
Vietnam and cuba both became communist, both third world countries, bay of pigs
failure due to lack of knowledge on the terrain, same as vietnam failure reason, both
against capitalistic USA