Vietnam+Path


 * =**VIETNAM - THE PATH TO WAR **=

You all know that the United States was involved in a major military conflict during the Cold War ... but why? What was America's "path to war"? Using the resources below and Creating America, your task this evening is to write a description in YOUR OWN WORDS of the causes of American involvement in Southeast Asia. Pretend you are writing it as a summary for on online encyclopedia or textbook. Your description should ...

1940s- Ho Chi Minh forms vietminh party to liberate vietnam declares independence in 1945 from France Ho Chi Minh wants communism so USA banks french 9 year independence war, vietnam wins set up communist gov 1954- Vietnam is split temporarily by the geneve accords, with free elections
 * be between two and four paragraphs
 * continue the following terms - France, Ho Chi Minh, communism, Ngo Dinh Diem, military advisors, Gulf of Tonkin
 * be IN YOUR OWN WORDS (remember, it's easy to check this online)
 * contain two images THAT RELATE TO YOUR WRITING
 * Should end with the first Marines landing in Vietnam in 1965

Need some help? How about ... //Creating America// [|Into Vietnam (Overview)] from ABC-CLIO [|**Vietnam War** - the **Causes**] [|Timeline of the Vietnam War] [|Vietnam Online Timeline] Causes of the Vietnam War video below || In the 1940s, Ho Chi Minh formed the viet minh party to liberate vietnam. He wanted to declare independence from France and create a communist government, after the Japanese had left. This is exactly what he did in 1945. Following this would be a 9 year war for independence. The USA supported the French with money because they did not want communism to spread to vietnam, which was the goal of Ho Chi Minh. Ho Chi Minh would win the war. After this occurence, an international peace conference was held in swiltzerland. In the conference, it was decided to split vietnam along the 17th parallel. The French would go South to get ready to exit vietnam and the Viet Minh would go north. In 1956 they were planning on holding an election to vote for a new government that would rule a reunited Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh was the leader of the Northern part of Vietnam. Ngo Dinh Diem arose as prime minister of the south, he was against communism. He was certain that Ho Chi Minh's popularity would lead to him winning the election and a communist vietnam so, he refused to allow the scheduled vote in 1956. After this, the Viet Minh went back to war to reunite Vietnam. Diem asked the USA for support, knowing they were against communism, and got it. In 1960, president Dwight D. Eisenhower sent 900 military advisers, that number would rise to 11,000 by the end of 1962, under president John F. Kennedy.

Diem had a very corrupt an unpopular government and a fairly weak army, the ARVN. On the opposing side, the Viet Cong guerrilla fighters and the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam emerged to create a decent fighting force. They fought to reunite their country and dispose of the corrupt southern leader. Diem and the US thought they were dangerous communists. Diem was assassinated on November 1st, 1963 even with USA advisers knowing there was a plot beforehand. The South Viatnamese government remained unstable as the Viet Cong grew stronger and more popular. The ARVN outnumbered the Viet Cong 10:1 but still could not defeat them.

The USA feared that if Vietnam became communist, the domino effect would occur. Meaning, if Vietnam became communist, other countries in the region would do the same. Sending troops to vietnam was definitely a possibility. It became a greater possibility when North Vietnamese forces attacked the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin in August, 1964. President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered US war planes to begin bombing North Vietnamese targets. Congress then allowed him to take any steps he needed to defend the US forces and to defend South Vietnam against aggression. The first marines would land in Vietnam in 1965.