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The Vietnam War – Causes

The Vietnam War – Causes. Background: How did the USA first get involved in Vietnam?. Vietnam is in South-East Asia. It was part of an old French Colony called Indo-China During WW2 the Japanese captured it from the French The Vietnamese resistance was led by the communist Ho Chi Minh (left)

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The Vietnam War – Causes

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  1. The Vietnam War – Causes

  2. Background: How did the USA first get involved in Vietnam? • Vietnam is in South-East Asia. • It was part of an old French Colony called Indo-China • During WW2 the Japanese captured it from the French • The Vietnamese resistance was led by the communist Ho Chi Minh (left) • 1945: They resisted the French when they tried to re-establish control • 1946: War broke out between the two groups • Vietnam was 9000 miles from the USA, yet they decided to get involved by pouring $500 million a year into the French war effort. • Why???

  3. (b) Specific causes: 1. The Defeat at Dien Bien Phu • a. French defeated at Dien Bien Phu in 1954; • b. Geneva Agreement: • i. divides Vietnam into • a Northern zone (communist – Ho Chi Minh, capital=Hanoi) and • a southern zone (democratic – Ngo Dinh Diem, capital=Saigon) • ii. Arranges for elections to take place in both zones.

  4. (b) Specific causes: 2. The American reaction • SEATO: • Fearing that the communists would win a massive amount of votes with the Buddhist peasant population who were disgusted by the materialism of the Dinh Diem government, the US • - refuses to allow these elections to take place • - forms the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) to protect the independence of Vietnam.

  5. (b) Specific causes: 2. The American reaction • Containment / Domino Theory • Truman (President 1945-53) = “Containment” = Europe • Eisenhower (President 1953-61) = “Domino Theory” = Asia • “You knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly” • (South Vietnam > Cambodia > Laos > Thailand > Burma > India > ??? • Ho Chi Minh responds with a guerrilla campaign against the south.

  6. The Domino Theory Illustrated

  7. Main Task:“Do you think that the USA was justified in interfering in the affairs of Vietnam? Explain your answer”.

  8. Discussion point from this work:“To what extent were the USA paranoid about the threat posed by communism after WW2?”

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