1+The+Vietnam+War

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Cause of the War:
 * After World War II the people of Vietnam felt that it would be a good time to try and get their independence.
 * Ho Chi Minh had asked for the United States help, but the United States didn't accept it and it forced him to turn to communism and toward his Moscow allies.
 * May 1950, President Harry S. Truman authorized a modest program of economic and military aid to the French, who were fighting to retain control of their Indochina colony, including Laos and Cambodia as well as Vietnam.
 * The Vietnamese Nationalist(Communist-led) Vietminh army defeated the French forces at Dienbienphu in 1954 the French created the 17 parallel which kept the communist in the North and the non-communist in the South. The United States stepped in and President Eisenhower undertook the South instead to help build them into a nation with there own government. The United States was giving the South military advisers to help train the South Vietnamese army.
 * After congress had given President Johnson the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, on February and March of 1965 he authorized the sustained bombing by U.S aircraft to target north of the 17 parallel. Then on March 8,1965 he dispatched 3,500 Marines to South Vietnam. The was showing that the United States was going to war, declaration or not.
 * Every U.S President wanted to contain the spread of communism because they were concerned with the domino affect. When China turned to communism in 1949 President Truman was worried that Vietnam would be the next Asian country to turn to communism.

Major Players: United States, South Vietnam and North Vietnam

Major Events:


 * In July of 1954, after one hundred years of colonial rule, France was defeated and was forced to leave Vietnam. Then the Vietnam delegates of the Geneva Conference agreed to the separation at the 17 parallel to allow France some land. But according to the terms of the Geneva Accords, Vietnam was suppose to have elections in 1956 to reunify the country, but the division would get rid of the elections.
 * During 1959 a specialized North Vietnamese Army unit Group 559 was formed to create a supply route from North Vietnam to Vietcong forces that were in the South. Group 559 developed a route along the Vietnamese/Cambodian border. This route eventually became known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
 * In Late 1961 President John F. Kennedy ordered more troops to help the South Vietnamese government in their war against the Vietcong guerrillas. The U.S. gave South Vietnam new equipment and more than 3,00 military advisors and support personnel.
 * On November 2,1963 there was a brutal murder of President Ngo Dinh Diem, who was South Vietnam President. along with his murder, his brother was killed also. The death of these the Diem brothers was a turning point of the war.
 * On August 7,1964 the U.S congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. This Resolution was approved and supported by congress for President Johnson to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attacks against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression. President Johnson wanted to stop the spread of communism.
 * On January 30,1968 The North Vietnamese join forces with the Vietcong to launch the Tet Offensive, which was attacking approximately one hundred South Vietnamese cities and towns. The Tet offensive was a serious of violent attacks that were staged and carried out by the Vietcong on 5 major South Vietnamese cities and many hamlets in the countryside. The North Vietnamese leaders decided that if they wanted to win the war, they would have to put together an all out military attack. Ho Chi Minh was nearing death and something had to be done before their leader died.
 * January 31,1968 the attacks began, which overran 5 major cities in South Vietnam. It took American forces weeks to recapture those cities but it proved to be turning point in the war. After these attacks the U.S began to realize that they were not going to win the war. Even loyal supporters of the war began to think if the U.S should start to withdraw from the war.
 * December 1968 the number of U.S troops that are in Vietnam reaches 540,000.
 * July of 1969 President Nixon ordered the first U.S troops withdrawals from Vietnam.
 * September 3, 1969 the communist revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh dies at age 79.
 * November 13,1969 The American public learns of the Mai Lai massacre. A group of men from the 11th Brigade came into the village of Mai Lai and were very frustrated. They got orders to find the Vietcong and destroy them. The American soldiers knew they were in the wrong village but after being very angered, they decided to burn it down, rape women, and kill roughly 300 men, women, and children. Afterwards, some men were convicted of murder and put in jail.
 * April 30,1970 President Nixon announces that the U.S troops will attack the enemy located in Cambodia, which sparked a nationwide protests, especially on college campuses.
 * In April of 1970 President Nixon sent troops to destroy North Vietnam bases in Cambodia. The bombing was a secret and Nixon did not want American citizens to find out or other countries. Laos, which was another country bordering Vietnam was also invaded by the U.S troops. The invasion increased supports for the communists.
 * On January 27, 1973 a peace agreement was signed, which involved the U.S., North Vietnam, South Vietnam and NLF. The agreement provided for the end of hostilities, also that the U.S would withdrawal, they would return prisoners of the war and the formation of a four nation international control commission to ensure peace.
 * On March 23, 1973 The last U.S troops are withdrawn from Vietnam.
 * April 30, 1975 The Fall of Saigon when the South Vietnamese government announced its unconditional surrender to the Vietcong. President Duong Van Minh announced on the radio, that he waned the South Vietnamese forces lay down their arms and he asked the Vietcong to halt all hostilities. The Vietcong came into Saigon with their red and blue flags raised, immediately Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. The Provisional Revolutionary Government in Paris promised a policy of non-alignment and the peaceful reunification of Vietnam. Most of the U.S troops were out, but President ordered U.S ships to remain indefinitely off the Vietnamese coast to pick up any refugees.
 * July 2, 1976 Vietnam is unified as a communist country, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Outcome & Effects:
 * Protests from people all over America
 * 58,000 soldiers died and 150,000 were wounded
 * Fall of South Vietnam to the Communist North
 * Spread of Communism to South Vietnam
 * Health hazards due to the use of the chemical Agent Orange used to remove leaves from trees

Timelines: Megan-http://www.xtimeline.com/evt/list.aspx?id=125987 Andrew-http://www.xtimeline.com/timeline/Vietnam-War-Timeline-11aguinan Maura- http://www.xtimeline.com/timeline/Vietnam-War-mwilkerson

media type="file" key="Vietnam Podcast_Andrew_Megan_Maura.m4a" Work Cited: http://vietnamwar3.tripod.com/id1.html http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0861796.html http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/VNcambodia.htm http://history1900s.about.com/od/vietnamwar/a/vietnamtimeline.htm http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1862.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/trenches/my_lai.html http://modern-us-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/origin_causes_of_the_vietnam_war http://www.english.illinois.edu/MAPS/vietnam/causes.htm http://www.historynet.com/the-assassination-of-ngo-dinh-diem.htm http://www.hbci.com/~tgort/tonkin.htm http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/timeline/index1.html
 * http://www.vietnam-war.info/battles/fall_of_saigon.php**