1 / 15

Vietnam

Vietnam. Indochina. Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) was conquered by the French in the 1800s The Japanese overran Indochina during WWII but met resistance in Vietnam. Indochina (continued). Guerrilla forces wanted to be free of foreign rule and were a challenge to European powers

xandy
Download Presentation

Vietnam

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Vietnam

  2. Indochina • Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) was conquered by the French in the 1800s • The Japanese overran Indochina during WWII but met resistance in Vietnam

  3. Indochina (continued) • Guerrilla forces wanted to be free of foreign rule and were a challenge to European powers • In 1946 the French wanted to reestablish their authority in Indochina

  4. Indochina (continued) • In Vietnam the French faced guerrilla forces led by Ho Chi Minh—a nationalist and a communist • A Vietnamese victory at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 convinced the French to leave Vietnam • Cambodia and Laos had already gained independence

  5. The Struggle Over Vietnam • After 1954 the struggle over Vietnam became a part of the Cold War • Ho Chi Minh’s communists controlled North Vietnam • Ngo Dinh Diem led a non-communist government supported by the U.S. in South Vietnam

  6. Vietnam and the Cold War • The U.S. saw the situation in Vietnam in the context of the Cold War • They believed in the domino theory—that other countries in Southeast Asia would fall to communism if communism spread to South Vietnam

  7. The War Intensifies • Ho Chi Minh was determined to reunite Vietnam under communist rule • He aided the Viet Cong, the communist rebels attempting to overthrow South Vietnam’s government • The U.S. was drawn into the war as the struggle over Vietnam turned into a major Cold War conflict

  8. U.S. Involvement in Vietnam • Under President Kennedy, the U.S. had committed military advisors to Vietnam • Later, President Johnson wanted to continue Kennedy’s position in Vietnam but this became difficult

  9. The Situation in Vietnam Escalates • In August 1964 2 U.S. navy destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin reported that they were fired upon by North Vietnamese gunboats

  10. Situation Escalates (continued) • On August 7, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution • This allowed President Johnson to take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression in Southeast Asia

  11. Situation Escalates (continued) • Eventually more than 500,000 U.S. troops were committed to the war in Vietnam • The U.S. had a very hard time fighting a successful war due to guerrilla warfare used by the Viet Cong

  12. Tet Offensive • In 1968 guerrilla forces attacked U.S. and South Vietnamese forces in an unexpected assault • This took place during the Tet, the Vietnamese New Year

  13. Withdraw from Vietnam • President Johnson decided not to run for a second term in 1968 due to domestic problems in the U.S. and the lack of success in Vietnam • President Nixon finally was able to negotiate a cease-fire and in 1973 signed the Paris Peace Accord • The U.S. agreed to withdraw its troops

  14. North Vietnam Wins the War • 2 years after U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam the North Vietnamese conquered South Vietnam

  15. Southeast Asia After the War • After the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam Cambodia and Laos fell to communism • It appeared that the domino theory that they U.S. feared became a reality

More Related