1 / 14

The Vietnam War – Causes

The Vietnam War – Causes. Background: How did the USA first get involved in Vietnam?. Vietnam is in South-East Asia. It was part of an old French Colony called Indo-China During WW2 the Japanese captured it from the French The Vietnamese resistance was led by the communist Ho Chi Minh (left)

branden-hood
Download Presentation

The Vietnam War – Causes

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. The Vietnam War – Causes

  2. Background: How did the USA first get involved in Vietnam? • Vietnam is in South-East Asia. • It was part of an old French Colony called Indo-China • During WW2 the Japanese captured it from the French • The Vietnamese resistance was led by the communist Ho Chi Minh (left) • 1945: They resisted the French when they tried to re-establish control • 1946: War broke out between the two groups • Vietnam was 9000 miles from the USA, yet they decided to get involved by pouring $500 million a year into the French war effort. • Why???

  3. (a) General Causes • Produce a one-sided table in Word with 4 rows dealing with the following topics. • You have 15 minutes!

  4. Factual and Theoretical Assumptions that motivated American Involvement • Containment Version #1 – U.S. must stop communism in Vietnam to save France and NATO • France’s colonies make it stronger, hence a more solid NATO. • US must placate France in Indochina to gain cooperation in NATO.

  5. Containment Version #2 • The US must stop communism in Vietnam to contain Soviet or Chinese expansion. A communist victory in Vietnam will enhance the Soviet empire or Chinese empire and tilt the global balance of power in their favor. • Proxy Assumption – 1949-75 Ho Chi Minh as Moscow’s or Beijng’s puppet

  6. Containment Version #2 2. Domino Theory (4 versions) 1-A communist controlled Vietnam will send agents across the borders to subvert neighbors. 2-A communist controlled Vietnam will send armies across borders to conquer neighbors. 3-A communist victory in Vietnam will inspire revolutions elsewhere in Southeast Asia showing they can succeed and that the US will let them succeed. 4-A communist victory in Vietnam will position Vietnam to intimidate other Southeast Asian states into submission and alliance with Vietnam.

  7. Strategic Regional Assumptions • A. Southeast Asian bases matter; their transfer tips the global balance of power. • The West depends on Southeast Asian raw materials (crude oil, rice, coffee, rubber, tea, garments, shoes )

  8. Discussion point from this work:“To what extent were the USA paranoid about the threat posed by communism after WW2?”

  9. (b) Specific causes: 1. The Defeat at Dien Bien Phu • a. French defeated at Dien Bien Phu in 1954; • b. Geneva Agreement: • i. divides Vietnam into • a Northern zone (communist – Ho Chi Minh, capital=Hanoi) and • a southern zone (democratic – Ngo Dinh Diem, capital=Saigon) • ii. Arranges for elections to take place in both zones.

  10. (b) Specific causes: 2. The American reaction • SEATO: • Fearing that the communists would win a massive amount of votes with the Buddhist peasant population who were disgusted by the materialism of the Dinh Diem government, the US • - refuses to allow these elections to take place • - forms the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) to protect the independence of Vietnam.

  11. (b) Specific causes: 2. The American reaction • Containment / Domino Theory • Truman (President 1945-53) = “Containment” = Europe • Eisenhower (President 1953-61) = “Domino Theory” = Asia • “You knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly” • (South Vietnam > Cambodia > Laos > Thailand > Burma > India > ??? • Ho Chi Minh responds with a guerrilla campaign against the south.

  12. The Domino Theory Illustrated

  13. Main Task:“Do you think that the USA was justified in interfering in the affairs of Vietnam? Explain your answer”.

More Related