- After WW II the French fought to maintain their control of their former

territories in Indochina against their independence movement led by the

Communist leader Ho Chi Minh
- French defeated at Dien Bien Phu in May 1954
- Vietnam separated into two party: the Communist North and the
non-Communist South
- Between 1955 and 1960 the North tried to take over the South
- The North was supported by China and Russia
- Fearing a Communist takeover and the spread of Communism the Us grew more
and more wary of the progress
- Elections in 1956 should unify the two republics but they never took place
 The US thought that this could bring Communist influences into the
South´s government
- 1959: the US formed the NLF or Vietcong as a guerilla movement in the South
- 1961: in response to the guerilla war the US began sending military advisors to
support the South´s government
- North Vietnam and USSR supported the NLF with arms and supplies
- 1964: the US approved the Gulf of Tonking Resolution, which gave support
to President Johnson to escalate US involvement in the war—> sent Marines
- The air war escalated as well
- US used the herbicide “Agent Orange” to destroy the nature of the country
and to infect the people with cancer
- Movement of opposition to the war starting in 1964, especially on
college campuses ( many young men feared being sent to Vietnam)
- July 1965: after planes were shot down President Johnson announced an order
that increased the number of US troops from 75000 to 125000
- Continued escalation of American involvement came as the Johnson
administration assured the American public that the next round of troop
increases would bring victory
- But the Tet-Offensive shattered the Americans´ faith
 Convinced many Americans that victory was impossible
 Increasing sense among many people that the government was
misleading the American people about a war without a clear beginning
or end.
 By the end of 1965 60 % of American soldiers were casualties
- American people became polarized over the war ( pro: Domino Theory)
- The growing anti-war movement alarmed many in the US- government
- 1968: when a suspect Vietcong officer was shot dead in front of the media,
the US realized that the South Vietnam government needed a solid base of
support if it was to survive the insurgency
 Constructing schools, public buildings, roads
 Conducting medical programs. Hygiene and other training for civilians
 These policies included the emphasis on “body count” as a way of
measuring military success on the battlefield, the bombing of villages and
the killing of civilians as such locations as in the My Lai Massacre in 1968
- The massacre was only stopped after two American soldiers in a helicopter
spotted the carnage and intervened to prevent the Americans from killing
more civilians
- On the 31th March 1968 President Johnson made a surprising announcement
to pull out troops of Vietnam
- 1969: US representative Kissinger and North Vietnam representative Xuan Thuy
began peace negotiations but they failed
- Nixon was elected President, he claimed to have a secret plan to end the war
- He began his policy of slow disengagement from the war
- Build up the South Vietnam Army so that it could fought the war on its own
( Vietnamization)
- Gradual troop withdrawal from Vietnam
- Nixon, however, continued to use air power to bomb the enemy
- 1970: Nixon ordered a military incursion into Cambodia in order to destroy
NLF sanctuaries bordering on South Vietnam  more protests
- 1971: South Vietnam troops invaded Laos with American air and artillery support
- 1972: US halted heavy bombing on North Vietnam
- 15.01.1973: President Nixon announced the suspension of offensive action in
North Vietnam which was later followed by a withdrawal of US troops
- 27.01.1973: Paris Peace Accords signed
- In early 1975 North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam and united both, South and North to
form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam