Vietnam WarGuided Notes

  • PRESIDENT TRUMAN
  • Situation in Indochina was part of Cold War struggle against communism
  • Decided to support France in an effort to block Communist expansion in Europe
  • PRESIDENT EISENHOWER
  • Domino Theory: ______

______

  • U.S. sent ______, ______, ______and ______to ______forces in Vietnam
  • THE GENEVA CONFERENCE
  • Goal: ______
  • Meeting of representatives from France, Vietnam, Cambodia, Great Britain, Laos, China, Soviet Union and U.S. gathered in Geneva, Switzerland
  • Geneva Accords were signed ______
  • Vietnam would temporarily be divided at the ______
  • GENEVA ACCORDS
  • Vietminh would control the northern part of Vietnam
  • French would withdraw from the country
  • A demilitarized zone along the 17th parallel would act as a buffer zone to prevent fighting between the north and the south
  • CONFLICT IN VIETNAM
  • Civil war breaks out
  • In 1960 Vietminh in South Vietnam formed the National Liberation Front
  • Their military forces were called the ______, meaning Vietnamese Communists
  • Pres. ______decides to intervene
  • U.S. began supplying ______with ______and ______
  • PRESIDENT KENNEDY
  • Believed in the ______
  • Wanted to show off ______
  • Hesitated to send troops so he sent more ______
  • THE TONKIN GULF RESOLUTION
  • Pres. ______became convinced that only expanded U.S. military involvement would prevent a ______
  • The TonkinGulf Resolution
  • ______
  • approved by Congress on ______
  • PRESIDENT JOHNSON
  • Did not want to appear ______on communism
  • TonkinGulf Resolution: ______

______

  • Operation Rolling Thunder
  • ______- more troops to Vietnam
  • determination despite unpopularity
  • AIR WAR
  • ______(March 1965)
  • Pres. ______wanted to weaken the enemy’s ability and will to fight and wanted to assure South Vietnam of his commitment to its independence
  • This bombing campaign led many South Vietnamese to join the Vietcong
  • GROUND WAR
  • In response to ______tactics, U.S. ground troops in South Vietnam undertook search and destroy missions to drive enemy forces out of their hideouts
  • U.S. troops inflicted enormous casualties on communist forces
  • ______
  • THE DRAFT
  • As the American forces in Vietnam increased, U.S. government depended on the draft
  • 1969 lottery system implemented for the draft (men were drafted based on birth dates; drawn at random)
  • draft ended in 1973
  • 1958: THE TET OFFENSIVE
  • A series of coordinated attacks throughout South Vietnam
  • The Vietcong assault on the U.S. Embassy marked the start; showed that no part of South Vietnam was safe from attack
  • Shattered American beliefs that Communist forces were weakening and that the U.S. would soon win the war
  • PRESIDENT NIXON/END OF THE WAR
  • Pres. ______pledged he would ______the war if elected
  • ______: process of turning over more of the fighting in Vietnam to the South Vietnamese while gradually bringing home some U.S. ground troops
  • My Lai Massacre – mass murder of civilian women and children of South Vietnam conducted by U.S. army March 16, 1968
  • Caused outrage and reduced U.S. support for the war at home
  • Invasion of Cambodia – U.S. had already been conducting bombing raids for over 1 year
  • Happened as Pres. Nixon was promising de-escalation
  • After all attempts to bomb the North Vietnamese into concessions failed, Pres. Nixon agreed to remove all U.S. troops and help rebuild Vietnam
  • CAUSES OF VIETNAM WAR
  • Vietnam’s desire for freedom from colonial rule
  • U.S. fears of the spread of communism (the domino theory)
  • South Vietnam’s failure to comply with the Geneva Accords
  • Efforts by North Vietnam to reunite the nation under communist rule
  • U.S. support for the anti-communist government of South Vietnam

Describe each president’s war policy.
EISENHOWER
730-732

KENNEDY
732-734

JOHNSON
734-751

NIXON
753-759