"Follow me if I advance! Kill me if I retreat! Revenge me if I die!" Ngo Dinh Diem
- Originally a French colony (Indochina)
- Ho Chi Min and his communist supporters resisted Japanese occupation during WWII
- After WWII the French reoccupied
- Ho Chi Minh fought the French and defeated them in 1954 (Dien Bien Phu)
- Laos, Cambodia granted independence
- Vietnam divided along the 17th parallel
- South Vietnam was led by a Catholic named Ngo Dinh Diem
- The mainly Buddhist south had opposition in the form of the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Viet Cong (a guerrilla force)
- The North (Ho Chi Minh) supported both of these groups
- The north never accepted the Geneva agreement of 1954
- Ho Chi Min and his communist supporters resisted Japanese occupation during WWII
- After WWII the French reoccupied
- Ho Chi Minh fought the French and defeated them in 1954 (Dien Bien Phu)
- Laos, Cambodia granted independence
- Vietnam divided along the 17th parallel
- South Vietnam was led by a Catholic named Ngo Dinh Diem
- The mainly Buddhist south had opposition in the form of the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Viet Cong (a guerrilla force)
- The North (Ho Chi Minh) supported both of these groups
- The north never accepted the Geneva agreement of 1954
- U.S. saw this as another situation in which containment was necessary (SEATO)
- The U.S. had supported the French (military advisors)
- Kennedy increased troops in 1962 from 500-10,000
- CIA overthrows Diem in 1963 (corruptness)
- The U.S. had supported the French (military advisors)
- Kennedy increased troops in 1962 from 500-10,000
- CIA overthrows Diem in 1963 (corruptness)
- A fabricated incident was set up; an American destroyer (USS Maddox) was torpedoed
- Led President Johnson to install the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
- Lead to the commitment of regular ground troops and air support
- 200,000 troops in 1965 - 600,000 in 1968
Summary:
Vietnam was a French colony, Indochina. Japanese tried to take oever Vietnam during WWII.
Ho chi Minh and his men pushed the Japanese. After the WWII the French took back again, but were pushes defeated by Ho Chi Minh in the battle of Dien Bien Phu. Following Vietnam was divided by the 17th parallel. The South being run by Ngo Dinh Die and the North by Ho Chi Minh. The United States afraid of the expansion of communism; they knew containment was necessary. They could not start a war with no reason so they set up an incident that would give them reason to go to war with Vietnam, The Gulf of Tonkin incident.
- Led President Johnson to install the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
- Lead to the commitment of regular ground troops and air support
- 200,000 troops in 1965 - 600,000 in 1968
Summary:
Vietnam was a French colony, Indochina. Japanese tried to take oever Vietnam during WWII.
Ho chi Minh and his men pushed the Japanese. After the WWII the French took back again, but were pushes defeated by Ho Chi Minh in the battle of Dien Bien Phu. Following Vietnam was divided by the 17th parallel. The South being run by Ngo Dinh Die and the North by Ho Chi Minh. The United States afraid of the expansion of communism; they knew containment was necessary. They could not start a war with no reason so they set up an incident that would give them reason to go to war with Vietnam, The Gulf of Tonkin incident.