Sec 4 Vietnam War Case Study

31 CASE STUDY VIETNAM WAR

32 French Vietnam in 1945-1954 The Vietnam War in 1954-1975 REASONS FOR THE AUGUST REVOLUTION (1945) Famine in 1944 A famine took place in Vietnam that caused the deaths of 2 million people. The famine was caused by crop failure and mismanagement by the French (who were under the Japanese at the time). The Role of the Viet Minh The Viet Minh organised the people through ‘Liberation Committees’ to garner support for the August Revolution. WHY WAR BROKE OUT BETWEEN FRANCE AND VIETNAM Failure of the Fontainebleau Conference (1946) The French were unwilling to grant the Vietnamese any promise of independence as Vietnam was too valuable to the French in producing rice, rubber and tin. Trigger: The Haiphong Incident In Nov 1946, the dispute between the French and Vietnamese over a ship suspected of carrying arms to the Viet Minh, resulting in 6000 Vietnamese deaths KEY DATES AND EVENTS 1954 Jul 1954 Dec 1960 Domino Theory ● The US believed in Domino Theory: if one country fell to communism, others would follow. ● The US was also concerned about Ho Chi Minh's communist ties. Weakness of Diem: ● Diem favoured Catholics in Buddhist nation, leading to resentment. ● USA supported Diem with advisors and aid, and got involved in Vietnam to bolster Diem's regime against communism. Jun 1963 Nov 1963 4 Aug 1964 7 Aug 1964 Mar 1965 30 Jan 1968 Mar 1968 Nov 1968 1970 23 Jan 1973 29 Mar 1973 Poor leadership and military planning ● French forces were not trained in guerrilla warfare. ● Poor military decisions that disadvantaged them, especially during the battle at Dien Bien Phu. French inability to win support ● They placed Emperor Bao Dai as their representative but he was not charismatic and his reputation was undermined by years of collaboration with the French. ● Formed a government made of people who were involved in corruption and other crimes. Support from the Chinese ● China equipped the Viet Minh with machine guns, ammunition and communication equipment. Strong public support for the Viet Minh ● The Viet Minh took land from landlords and redistributed it to the villagers. ● They also ran education campaigns to increase literacy. ● The villagers provided the Viet Minh with supplies, intelligence reports, and manpower to fight the French. Effective military strategies of the Vietnamese ● Under the leadership of General Vo Nguyen Giap, the Viet Minh were able to use guerrilla warfare effectively. Why did South Vietnam fall to Communism? The US stopped helping South Vietnam Nixon’s policy of ‘Vietnamisation’ aimed to reduce US involvement. By 1973, US Congress passed the Case-Church Amendment and the War Powers Resolution, limiting US involvement in Vietnam. Ineffectiveness of ARVN Corruption took away funds that could have been used to buy supplies and ammunition Strengths of North Vietnamese Army The NVA had a large supply of soldiers with high morale. T