Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
I can
Create three essay plans for possible essay questions on Vietnam
BACKGROUND Between 1945 and 1964 the USA became involved in a struggle to prevent communist rebels taking over Vietnam. This was the American policy of containment. At the end of World War II Vietnam was a French colony known as Indochina. Communist rebels led by Ho Chi Minh were fighting for independence. The French were given over $3 billion to help them resist the communists. Despite this the French suffered defeat after defeat. In 1954 their forces were on the verge of collapse. A conference was held in Geneva and the French agreed to pull out of Indochina.
Indochina was split into three separate countries Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Vietnam was then split into North and South Vietnam The North under Ho Chi Minh became communist South was ruled by Ngo Dinh Diem a corrupt right wing dictator 1958 onwards -Diem came under increasing attacks from communist guerrillas in the south who later became known as the Vietcong 1963 President Kennedy sent 16,000 military advisers to help the South Vietnamese army. For the next ten years US involvement increased. 1968 over half a million American troops were in Vietnam and the war was costing $30 billion every year.
In 1964 in the Gulf of Tonkin, Vietcong gunboats attacked American ships and President Johnson ordered attacks on the Vietcong directly involving US forces in the war. (an excuse?) The land in Vietnam was unsuitable for tanks or large infantry battles and the US relied mainly on air strikes. Ground based search and destroy missions were not successful.
From 1965 the USA began operation Rolling Thunder. This involved carpet bombing of enemy towns, factories and supply lines and led to thousands of civilian deaths. US planes also dropped napalm and Agent Orange to destroy Vietcong hideouts in the forests.
Many thousands of American soldiers were being killed or wounded. Thousands of young Americans became draft dodgers by hiding or leaving the country Parents opposed the war because they did not want their sons to be killed in Vietnam. After 1968 President Nixon introduced a policy of Vietnamisation replacing US troops with South Vietnamese soldiers but this failed to hold back the Vietcong. In 1973, the US recognised it could not win and signed a peace agreement with North Vietnam. In 1975 the Vietcong finally defeated South Vietnam and the whole country became communist.
Condemnation of US tactics
In what ways did people show their opposition to the War in Vietnam?
2012 Q2
many of those conscripted avoided enlisting by draft dodging many protestors burned their draft cards to demonstrate their opposition to the war students protested against President Johnson slogans such as Hey! Hey! LBJ. How many kids did you kill today? large demonstrations against the war often leading to violent clashes
students held protests in many universities across the USA eg Kent State often students occupied universities prominent figures such as Mohammed Ali, Martin Luther King spoke out against the war many musicians of the time wrote and performed anti-Vietnam songs Vietnam veterans spoke out against the war the media presented evidence of cruelty by American soldiers, war crimes such as the My Lai massacre, tactics of defoliation.
I can
Create three essay plans for possible essay questions on Vietnam