Vietnam War

From Wikinfo

Jump to: navigation, search


Search for "Vietnam_War" on Wikipedia  • Wikimedia Commons • Wiktionary • Wikiquote • Wikibooks • Mediawiki Wikia • Wikitravel • Google Advanced Search • Yahoo Advanced Search • WorldCat Advanced Search • Amazon • Recent NY Times • Older NY Times.

For criticism see Criticism of Vietnam_War

Template:Use dmy dates

Vietnam War
Part of the Cold War
File:Bruce Crandall's UH-1D.jpg
A UH-1D helicopter climbs skyward after discharging a load of US infantrymen on a search and destroy mission.
Date September 26, 1959[1] – April 30, 1975
Location Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos
Result North Vietnamese Victory
Eventual communist takeover of South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
Territorial
changes 		Unification of North and South Vietnam
Belligerents
Anti-Communist forces:

 South Vietnam
 United States
 South Korea
 Australia
 Philippines
 New Zealand
File:Flag of the Khmer Republic.svg Khmer Republic
 Thailand
File:Flag of Laos (1952-1975).svg Kingdom of Laos
Flag of the Republic of China Republic of China

 Communist forces:

 North Vietnam
Template:Country data Republic of South Vietnam Viet Cong
File:Flag of Democratic Kampuchea.svg Khmer Rouge
Flag of Laos Pathet Lao
 People's Republic of China
File:Flag of the Soviet Union 1955.svg Soviet Union
 North Korea

Commanders
Flag of South Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
Flag of South Vietnam Nguyen Cao Ky
Flag of South Vietnam Ngô Đình Diệm
Flag of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson
Flag of the United States Richard Nixon
Flag of the United States William Westmoreland
Flag of the United States Creighton Abrams
...more 		Flag of North Vietnam Hồ Chí Minh
Flag of North Vietnam Lê Duẩn
Flag of North Vietnam Võ Nguyên Giáp
Template:Country data Republic of South Vietnam Trần Văn Trà
...more
Strength
~1,200,000 (1968)
South Vietnam: ~650,000
United States: 553,000 (1968)[2]
South Korea: 312,853,[3] New Zealand, Thailand, Philippines: 10,450[4]
Australia: 49,968 (1962–1973)[5] 		~520,000 (1968)
North Vietnam: ~340,000
PRC: 170,000 (1969)
Soviet Union: 3,000
North Korea: 300
Casualties and losses
Flag of South Vietnam South Vietnam 220,357 dead;[6] 1,170,000 wounded
Flag of the United States US 58,159 dead;[6] 2,000 missing; 303,635 wounded[7]
Flag of South Korea South Korea 4,960 dead; 10,962 wounded

File:Flag of Laos (1952-1975).svg Kingdom of Laos 30,000 killed, wounded unknown [8]
Flag of Australia Australia 520 dead;[6] 2,400* wounded
Flag of New Zealand New Zealand 37 dead; 187 wounded
Flag of Thailand Thailand 1,351 dead[6]

Total dead: 315,831
Total wounded: ~1,490,000+

Flag of North Vietnam
Error creating thumbnail: convert: Non-conforming drawing primitive definition `polygon'.
North Vietnam & NLF 1,176,000 dead/missing;[6]
600,000+ wounded[9]
Flag of the People's Republic of China P.R. China 1,446 dead; 4,200 wounded
File:Flag of the Soviet Union 1955.svg Soviet Union 16 dead[10]

Total dead: ~1,177,446
Total wounded: ~604,000+

South Vietnamese civilian dead: 1,581,000*[6]
Cambodian civilian dead: ~700,000*
North Vietnamese civilian dead: ~2,000,000[11]
Laotian civilian dead: ~50,000*


* = approximations, see Casualties below
For more information on casualties see Vietnam War casualties

v • d • e
Indochina Wars
v • d • e
Vietnam War
Ap Bac – Binh Gia – Pleiku – Song Be – Dong Xoai – Starlite – Gang Toi – Ia Drang – Hastings – Masher/White Wing – A Shau – Xa Cam My – Duc Co – Long Tan – Attleboro – Cedar Falls – Tra Binh Dong – Bribie – Junction City – Union – Hill 881 – Union II - Ong Thanh – Dak To – 1st Tet – Khe Sanh – 1st Saigon – Hue – Lang Vei – Lima Site 85 – Kham Duc – Dewey Canyon – 2nd Tet – Hamburger Hill – Binh Ba – Cambodia – Snuol – FSB Ripcord – Tailwind – Chenla I – Chenla II –Lam Son 719 – Ban Dong – FSB Mary Ann – Easter '72 – 1st Quang Tri – Loc Ninh – An Loc – Kontum – 2nd Quang Tri – Phuoc Long – Ho Chi Minh – Ban Me Thuot – Xuan Loc – Truong Sa – 2nd Saigon – SS Mayagüez
Air operations
Ranch Hand – Pierce Arrow – Barrel Roll – Pony Express – Flaming Dart – Rolling Thunder – Steel Tiger – Arc Light – Tiger Hound – Igloo White – Commando Hunt – Menu – Linebacker I – Linebacker II – Shed Light

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, was a Cold War military conflict that may be said to have occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from September 26, 1959[1] to April 30, 1975. The war was fought between the communist North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations.[12]

The Viet Cong, a lightly armed South Vietnamese communist-controlled common front, largely fought a guerrilla war against anti-communist forces in the region. The North Vietnamese Army engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large units into battle. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery and airstrikes.

The United States entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of containment. Military advisors arrived beginning in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with U.S. troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962.[13] U.S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965. Involvement peaked in 1968 at the time of the Tet Offensive. After this, U.S. ground forces were withdrawn as part of a policy called Vietnamization. Despite the Paris Peace Accords, signed by all parties in January 1973, fighting continued.

The Case-Church Amendment, passed by the U.S. Congress in response to the anti-war movement, prohibited direct U.S. military involvement after August 15, 1973. U.S. military and economic aid continued until 1975.[14] The capture of Saigon by North Vietnamese army in April 1975 marked the end of Vietnam War. North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year.

The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, including 3 to 4 million Vietnamese from both sides, 1.5 to 2 million Laotians and Cambodians, and 58,159 U.S. soldiers.[15]

Contents

Terminology

Further information: Etymology of the Vietnam War

Various names have been applied to the conflict. Vietnam War is the most commonly used name in English. It has also been called the Second Indochina War, and the Vietnam Conflict.

As there have been so many conflicts in Indochina, this conflict is known by the name of their chief opponent to distinguish it from the others.[16] Thus, in Vietnamese, the war is known as Chiến tranh Việt Nam (The Vietnam War), or as Kháng chiến chống Mỹ (Resistance War Against America), loosely translated as the American War.[17]

The main military organizations involved in the war were, on the side of the South, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and the U.S. military, and, on the side of the North, the Vietnam People's Army (VPA), or North Vietnamese Army (NVA), and the Vietcong, or National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF), a communist army based in the South.

Background to 1949

See also: History of Vietnam

France began its conquest of Indochina in 1859. In spite of military resistance, by 1888 the area of the current-day nations of Cambodia and Vietnam was made into the colony of French Indochina (Laos was added later).[18] Various Vietnamese opposition movements to the French rule existed during this period but none were ultimately as successful as the Viet Minh common front (openly controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnam) which was founded in 1941.[19]

During World War II, the French were defeated by the Germans in 1940. For French Indochina, this meant that the colonial authorities became Vichy French, allies of the German-Italian Axis powers. In turn this meant that the French collaborated with the Japanese forces after their invasion of French Indochina during 1940. The French continued to run affairs in the colony, but ultimate power resided in the hands of the Japanese.[19]

This situation continued until the German forces were expelled from France and the French Indochina colonial authorities started holding secret talks with the Free French. Fearing that they could no longer trust the French authorities the Japanese army interned them all on 9 March 1945 and assumed direct control themselves[20] through their puppet state of the Empire of Vietnam under Bảo Đại.

During 1944–1945, a famine struck northern Vietnam due to a combination of poor weather and Japanese exploitation. 1 million people died of starvation (out of a population of 10 million in the affected area).[21] Exploiting the administrative gap[22] that the internment of the French had created, the Viet Minh in March 1945 urged the population to ransack rice warehouses and refuse to pay their taxes. [23] Between 75 and 100 warehouses were consequently raided.[24] This rebellion against the effects of the famine and the authorities that were partially responsible for it, bolstered the Viet Minh's popularity and they recruited many members during this period.[22]

In August 1945, the Japanese had been defeated and surrendered unconditionally. In French Indochina this created a power vacuum as the French were still interned and the Japanese forces stood down.[24] Into this vacuum, the Viet Minh entered and grasped power across Vietnam in the "August Revolution"[24] (in large part supported by the Vietnamese population).[25]

On 2 September 1945, Ho Chi Minh (leader of the Viet Minh) declared the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam before a crowd of 500,000 in Hanoi.[24] In an overture to the Americans, he began his speech by paraphrasing the United States Declaration of Independence: All men are created equal. The Creator has given us certain inviolable Rights: the right to Life, the right to be Free, and the right to achieve Happiness.[24]

However, the major allied victors of World War II (the United Kingdom, the USA and the Soviet Union) all agreed that the area belonged to the French.[24] As the French did not have the ships, weapons or soldiers to immediately retake Vietnam, the major powers came to an agreement that British troops would occupy the south while Nationalist Chinese forces would move in from the north.[24] When the British landed they rearmed the interned French forces as well as parts of the surrendered Japanese forces to aid them in retaking south Vietnam as they did not have enough troops to do this themselves.[24]

Following the party line from Moscow, Ho Chi Minh initially attempted to negotiate with the French who were slowly re-establishing their control across the country.[26] In January 1946, the Viet Minh won elections across central and northern Vietnam.[27] The French landed in Hanoi by March 1946 and in November of that year they ousted the Viet Minh from the city.[28] Soon thereafter the Viet Minh began a guerrilla war against the French Union forces, beginning the First Indochina War.

The war spread to Laos and Cambodia where Communists organized the Pathet Lao and the Khmer Serai after the model of the Viet Minh.[29] Globally, the Cold War began in earnest which meant that the rapprochement that had existed between the Western powers and the Soviet Union during World War II disintegrated. The Viet Minh fight was hampered by a lack of weapons; this situation changed by 1949 when the Chinese Communists had largely won the Chinese Civil War and were free to provide arms to their Vietnamese allies.[29]

Exit of the French, 1950–1954

Main articles: First Indochina War and Operation Passage to Freedom

In January 1950, the communist nations, led by the People's Republic of China (PRC), recognized the Viet Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam as the government of Vietnam. Non-Communist nations recognized the French-backed State of Vietnam in Saigon led by former Emperor Bao Dai the following month.[30] The outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 convinced many Washington policymakers that the war in Indochina was an example of communist expansionism directed by the Kremlin.[31]

PRC military advisors began assisting the Viet Minh in July 1950.[32] PRC weapons, expertise, and laborers transformed the Viet Minh from a guerrilla force into a regular army.[33] In September, the U.S. created a Military Assistance and Advisory Group (MAAG) to screen French requests for aid, advise on strategy, and train Vietnamese soldiers.[34] By 1954, the U.S. had supplied 300,000 small arms and spent US$1 billion in support of the French military effort and was shouldering 80 percent of the cost of the war.[35]

There were also talks between the French and Americans in which the possible use of three tactical nuclear weapons was considered, though how seriously this was considered and by whom are even now vague and contradictory.[36][37] One version of plan for the proposed Operation Vulture envisioned sending 60 B-29s from US bases in the region, supported by as many as 150 fighters launched from US Seventh Fleet carriers, to bomb Viet Minh commander Vo Nguyen Giap’s positions. The plan included an option to use up to three atomic weapons on the Viet Minh positions. Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave this nuclear option his backing. US B-29s, B-36s, and B-47s could have executed a nuclear strike, as could carrier aircraft from the Seventh Fleet.[38]

U.S. carriers sailed to the Tonkin gulf, and reconnaissance flights over Dien Bien Phu were conducted during the negotiations. According to Richard Nixon the plan involved the Joint Chiefs of Staff drawing up plans to use 3 small tactical nuclear weapons in support of the French.[36] Vice president Richard Nixon, a so-called "hawk" on Vietnam, suggested that the U.S. might have to "put American boys in".[39] President Eisenhower made American participation contingent on British support, but London was opposed.[39] In the end, convinced that the political risks outweighed the possible benefits, Eisenhower decided against the intervention.[40]

The Viet Minh received crucial support from the Soviet Union and PRC. PRC support in the Border Campaign of 1950 allowed supplies to come from PRC into Vietnam. Throughout the conflict, U.S. intelligence estimates remained skeptical of French chances of success.[41]

The Battle of Dien Bien Phu marked the end of French involvement in Indochina. The Viet Minh and their mercurial commander Vo Nguyen Giap handed the French a stunning military defeat, and on 7 May 1954, the French Union garrison surrendered. At the Geneva Conference the French negotiated a ceasefire agreement with the Viet Minh. Independence was granted to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

Vietnam was temporarily partitioned at the 17th parallel, and under the terms of the Geneva Convention, civilians were to be given the opportunity to freely move between the two provisional states. Elections throughout the country were to be held, according to the Geneva accords, but were blocked by the South Vietnamese president, who feared a communist victory.[42] Around one million northerners, mainly Catholics, fled south, fearing persecution by the communists,[43] following an American propaganda campaign using slogans such as, "The Virgin Mary is heading south",[44] and aided by a U.S. funded $93 million relocation program, which included ferrying refugees with the Seventh Fleet.[45] It is estimated that as many as two million more would have left had they not been stopped by the Viet Minh.[46]

In the north, the Viet Minh established a socialist state—the Democratic Republic of Vietnam—and engaged in a drastic land reform program in which an estimated eight thousand perceived "class enemies" were executed.[47] In 1956 the Communist Party leaders of Hanoi admitted to "excesses" in implementing this program and restored a large amount of the land to the original owners.[48]

In the south a non-communist state was established under the Emperor Bao Dai, a former puppet of the French and the Japanese. Ngô Đình Diệm became his prime minister. In addition to the Catholics flowing south, up to 130,000 ‘Revolutionary Regroupees’, went north for "regroupment" expecting to return to the South within 2 years.[49] The Viet Minh left roughly 5,000 to 10,000 cadres in South Vietnam as a "politico-military substructure within the object of its irredentism."[50] The last French soldiers left Vietnam in April 1956.[33] The PRC completed their withdrawal from North Vietnam at around the same time.[32]

Diem era, 1955–1963

Main article: Ngo Dinh Diem
File:Ngo Dinh Diem at Washington - ARC 542189.jpg
President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles greet President Ngo Dinh Diem in Washington.
File:Gen-commons.jpg
The Geneva Conference, 1954

The Geneva Accords, concluded between France and the Viet Minh in 1954, partitioned Vietnam pending national elections (under international supervision) to be held by 20 July 1956.[51] Much as in Korea, the agreement stipulated that the two military zones were to be separated by a temporary demarcation line (known as the Demilitarized Zone or DMZ). In June 1955, Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem of the State of Vietnam (South Vietnam) announced that elections would not be held. South Vietnam had rejected the agreement from the beginning and was therefore not bound by it, he said. "How can we expect 'free elections' to be held in the Communist North?" Diem asked. President Dwight D. Eisenhower echoed senior U.S. experts [52] when he wrote that, in 1954, "80 per cent of the population would have voted for the Communist Ho Chi Minh" over Emperor Bao Dai.[53][54]

The Domino Theory, which argued that if one country fell to communist forces, then all of the surrounding countries would follow, was first proposed as policy by the Eisenhower administration.[55] It was, and is still, commonly hypothesized that it applied to Vietnam. John F. Kennedy, then a U.S. senator, said in a speech to the American Friends of Vietnam: "Burma, Thailand, India, Japan, the Philippines and obviously Laos and Cambodia are among those whose security would be threatened if the Red Tide of Communism overflowed into Vietnam."[56]

Rule

Main articles: State of Vietnam referendum, 1955, Operation Passage to Freedom, and Battle for Saigon

Ngo Dinh Diem was named premier of South Vietnam in 1954 by former emperor and Head of State Bao Dai. A devout Roman Catholic, he was fervently anti-communist and was "untainted" by any connection to the French. He was one of the few prominent Vietnamese nationalists who could claim both attributes. Historian Luu Doan Huynh notes, however, that "Diem represented narrow and extremist nationalism coupled with autocracy and nepotism."[57]

Robert McNamara wrote that the new American patrons were almost completely ignorant of Vietnamese culture. They knew little of the language or long history of the country.[30] There was a tendency to assign American motives to Vietnamese actions, and Diem warned that it was an illusion to believe that blindly copying Western methods would solve Vietnamese problems.[30]

In April and June 1955, Diem (against U.S. advice) cleared the decks of any political opposition by launching military operations against the Cao Dai religious sect, the Hoa Hao sect, and the Binh Xuyen organized crime group (which was allied with members of the secret police and some military elements). As broad-based opposition to his harsh tactics mounted, Diem increasingly sought to blame the communists.[58]

Beginning in the summer of 1955, he launched the "Denounce the Communists" campaign, during which communists and other anti-government elements were arrested, imprisoned, tortured, or executed. Diem instituted a policy of death penalty against any activity deemed communist in August 1956.[59] Opponents were labeled Viet Cong ("Vietnamese communist") by the regime to degrade their nationalist credentials. During this period refugees moved across the demarcation line in both directions. Around 52,000 Vietnamese civilians moved from south to north. However, 800,000 people fled north Vietnam to the south, mostly in aircraft and ships provided by France and the U.S.[60] CIA propaganda efforts increased the outflow with slogans such as "the Virgin Mary is going South." The northern, mainly Catholic refugees were meant to give Diem a strong anti-communist constituency.[61] Diem later went on to staff his administration's key posts mostly with northern and central Catholics. As a measure of the level of political repression, about 12,000 suspected opponents of Diem were killed in the years 1955–1957 and by the end of 1958 an estimated 40,000 political prisoners had been jailed.[62]

In a referendum on the future of the monarchy, Diem rigged the poll supervised by his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu and was accredited with 98.2 percent of the vote, including 133% in Saigon. His American advisers had recommended a more modest winning margin of "60 to 70 percent." Diem, however, viewed the election as a test of authority.[63] On 26 October 1955, Diem declared the new Republic of Vietnam, with himself as president.[64] The Republic of Vietnam was created largely because of the Eisenhower administration's desire for an anti-communist state in the region.[58]

As a wealthy Catholic, Diem was viewed by many ordinary Vietnamese as part of the old elite who had helped the French rule Vietnam. The majority of Vietnamese people were Buddhist, so his attack on the Buddhist community served only to deepen mistrust.

In May, Diem undertook a ten-day state visit to the United States. President Eisenhower pledged his continued support. A parade in New York City was held in his honor. Although Diem was openly praised, in private Secretary of State John Foster Dulles conceded that he had been selected because there were no better alternatives.[65]

Insurgency in the South, 1956–1960

Main article: Vietcong

The Sino-Soviet split led to a reduction in the influence of PRC, which had insisted in 1954 that the Viet Minh accept a division of the country. Trường Chinh, North Vietnam's pro-PRC party first secretary, was demoted and Hanoi authorized communists in South Vietnam to begin a low level insurgency in December 1956.[66] This insurgency in the south had begun in response to Diem's Denunciation of Communists campaign, in which thousands of local Viet Minh cadres and supporters had been executed or sent to concentration camps, and was in violation of the Northern Communist party line which had enjoined them not to start an insurrection, but rather engage in a political campaign, agitating for a free all-Vietnam election in accordance with the Geneva accords.[67]

Ho Chi Minh stated, "Do not engage in military operations; that will lead to defeat. Do not take land from a peasant. Emphasize nationalism rather than communism. Do not antagonize anyone if you can avoid it. Be selective in your violence. If an assassination is necessary, use a knife, not a rifle or grenade. It is too easy to kill innocent bystanders with guns and bombs, and accidental killing of the innocent bystanders will alienate peasants from the revolution. Once an assassination has taken place, make sure peasants know why the killing occurred." This strategy was referred to as "armed propaganda."[68]

Soon afterward, Lê Duẩn, a communist leader who had been working in the South, returned to Hanoi to accept the position of acting first secretary, effectively replacing Trường. Duẩn urged a military line and advocated increased assistance to the insurgency. Four hundred government officials were assassinated in 1957 alone, and the violence gradually increased. While the terror was originally aimed at local government officials, it soon broadened to include other symbols of the status quo, such as schoolteachers,[69][70] health workers,[71] and agricultural officials.[72]

According to one estimate, 20 percent of South Vietnam's village chiefs had been assassinated by the insurgents by 1958.[73] (The village chiefs were Diem appointees from outside the villages and were hated by the peasantry for their corruption and abuse.)[74] The insurgency sought to completely destroy government control in South Vietnam's rural villages and replace it with a shadow government.[75]

In January 1959, the North's Central Committee issued a secret resolution authorizing an "armed struggle". This authorized the southern communists to begin large-scale operations against the South Vietnamese military. North Vietnam supplied troops and supplies in earnest, and the infiltration of men and weapons from the north began along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. In May, South Vietnam enacted Law 10/59, which made political violence punishable by death and property confiscation.[76]

Observing the increasing unpopularity of the Diem regime, on 12 December 1960, Hanoi authorized the creation of the National Liberation Front as a common front controlled by the communist party in the South.

Successive American administrations, as Robert McNamara and others have noted, overestimated the control that Hanoi had over the NLF.[30] Diem's paranoia, repression, and incompetence progressively angered large segments of the population of South Vietnam.[77] According to a November 1960 report by the head of the US military advisory team, Lieutenant General Lionel C. McGarr, a "significant part" of the population in the south supported the communists.[78] The communists thus had a degree of popular support for their campaign to bring down Diem and reunify the country.

During John F. Kennedy's administration, 1960–1963

Main article: Strategic Hamlet Program

When John F. Kennedy won the 1960 U.S. presidential election, one major issue Kennedy raised was whether the Soviet space and missile programs had surpassed those of the U.S. As Kennedy took over, despite warnings from Eisenhower about Laos and Vietnam, Europe and Latin America "loomed larger than Asia on his sights."[79] In his inaugural address, Kennedy made the ambitious pledge to "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty."[80]

In June 1961, John F. Kennedy bitterly disagreed with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev when they met in Vienna over key U.S.-Soviet issues. The Legacy of the Korean War created the idea of a limited war.

Although Kennedy stressed long-range missile parity with the Soviets, he was also interested in using special forces for counterinsurgency warfare in Third World countries threatened by communist insurgencies. Although they were originally intended for use behind front lines after a conventional invasion of Europe, Kennedy believed that the guerrilla tactics employed by special forces such as the Green Berets would be effective in a "brush fire" war in Vietnam.

The Kennedy administration remained essentially committed to the Cold War foreign policy inherited from the Truman and Eisenhower administrations. In 1961, the USA had 50,000 troops based in Korea, and Kennedy faced a three-part crisis—the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion, the construction of the Berlin Wall, and a negotiated settlement between the pro-Western government of Laos and the Pathet Lao communist movement[81] These made Kennedy believe that another failure on the part of the United States to gain control and stop communist expansion would fatally damage U.S. credibility with its allies and his own reputation. Kennedy determined to "draw a line in the sand" and prevent a communist victory in Vietnam, saying, "Now we have a problem making our power credible and Vietnam looks like the place," to James Reston of The New York Times immediately after meeting Khrushchev in Vienna.[82][83]

In May 1961, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson visited Saigon and enthusiastically declared Diem the "Winston Churchill of Asia."[84] Asked why he had made the comment, Johnson replied, "Diem's the only boy we got out there."[65] Johnson assured Diem of more aid in molding a fighting force that could resist the communists.

Kennedy's policy toward South Vietnam rested on the assumption that Diem and his forces must ultimately defeat the guerrillas on their own. He was against the deployment of American combat troops and observed that "to introduce U.S. forces in large numbers there today, while it might have an initially favorable military impact, would almost certainly lead to adverse political and, in the long run, adverse military consequences."[85]

File:SVN1.jpg
South Vietnam, Military Regions, 1967

The quality of the South Vietnamese military, however, remained poor. Bad leadership, corruption, and political interference all played a part in emasculating the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). The frequency of guerrilla attacks rose as the insurgency gathered steam. While Hanoi's support for the NLF played a role, South Vietnamese governmental incompetence was at the core of the crisis.[86]

Kennedy advisers Maxwell Taylor and Walt Rostow recommended that U.S. troops be sent to South Vietnam disguised as flood relief workers. Kennedy rejected the idea but increased military assistance yet again. In April 1962, John Kenneth Galbraith warned Kennedy of the "danger we shall replace the French as a colonial force in the area and bleed as the French did."[87] By 1963, there were 16,000 American military personnel in South Vietnam, up from Eisenhower's 900 advisors.[88]

The Strategic Hamlet Program had been initiated in 1961. This joint U.S.-South Vietnamese program attempted to resettle the rural population into fortified camps. The aim was to isolate the population from the insurgents, provide education and health care, and strengthen the government's hold over the countryside. The Strategic Hamlets, however, were quickly infiltrated by the guerrillas. The peasants resented being uprooted from their ancestral villages. The government refused to undertake land reform, which left farmers paying high rents to a few wealthy landlords. Corruption dogged the program and intensified opposition. Government officials were targeted for assassination.

On 23 July 1962, fourteen nations, including the People's Republic of China, South Vietnam, the Soviet Union, North Vietnam and the United States, signed an agreement promising the neutrality of Laos.[89]

Continued at Vietnam War part 2

See also

Main article: Outline of the Vietnam War

References

Bibliography

Primary sources
  • Anonymous. We Had to Destroy it in Order to Save it. infamous quote from unidentified U.S. officer, illustrating the illogic which is sometime part of war.
  • Carter, Jimmy. By The President Of The United States Of America, A Proclamation Granting Pardon For Violations Of The Selective Service Act, 4 August 1964 To 28 March 1973 (21 January 1977)
  • Central Intelligence Agency. "Laos," CIA World Factbook
  • BBC News: On this Day in 1975: Saigon surrenders
  • Praeger, "America at War since 1945"
  • Church, George. Lessons From a Lost War TIME. 24 June 2001
  • Kolko, Gabriel The End of the Vietnam War, 30 Years Later
  • Eisenhower, Dwight D. Mandate for Change. (1963) a presidential political memoir
  • Ho, Chi Minh. "Vietnam Declaration of Independence," Selected Works. (1960–1962) selected writings
  • Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy. (1961)
  • International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos. (1962)
  • LeMay, General Curtis E. and Kantor, MacKinlay. Mission with LeMay (1965) autobiography of controversial former Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force
  • Kissinger, United States Secretary of State Henry A. "Lessons on Vietnam," (1975) secret memoranda to U.S. President Ford
  • McMahon, Robert J. Major Problems in the History of the Vietnam War: Documents and Essays (1995) textbook
  • Kim A. O'Connell, ed. Primary Source Accounts of the Vietnam War (2006)
  • McCain, John. Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir (1999) describes the early life and military career of John McCain, including as a naval aviator and POW during Vietnam War
  • Marshall, Kathryn. In the Combat Zone: An Oral History of American Women in Vietnam, 1966–1975 (1987)
  • Martin, John Bartlow. Was Kennedy Planning to Pull out of Vietnam? (1964) oral history for the John F. Kennedy Library, tape V, reel 1.
  • Myers, Thomas. Walking Point: American Narratives of Vietnam (1988)
  • Major General Spurgeon Neel. Medical Support of the U.S. Army in Vietnam 1965–1970 (Department of the Army 1991) official medical history; online complete text
  • Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Franklin Roosevelt Memorandum to Cordell Hull." (1995) in Major Problems in American Foreign Policy
  • Public Papers of the Presidents, 1965 (1966) official documents of U.S. presidents.
  • Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr.Robert Kennedy and His Times. (1978) a first hand account of the Kennedy administration by one of his principle advisors
  • Sinhanouk, Prince Norodom. "Cambodia Neutral: The Dictates of Necessity." Foreign Affairs. (1958) describes the geopolitical situation of Cambodia
  • Sorley, Lewis, A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last Years in Vietnam (1999), based upon still classified tape-recorded meetings of top level US commanders in Vietnam, ISBN 0-15-601309-6
  • Sun Tzu. The Art of War. (1963), ancient military treatise
  • Tang, Truong Nhu. A Vietcong Memoir (1985), revealing account by senior NLF official
  • Terry, Wallace, ed. Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans (1984)
  • The landmark series Vietnam: A Television History, first broadcast in 1983, is a special presentation of the award-winning PBS history series, American Experience.
  • The Pentagon Papers (Gravel ed. 5 vol 1971); combination of narrative and secret documents compiled by Pentagon. excerpts
  • U.S. Department of State. Foreign Relations of the United States (multivolume collection of official secret documents) vol 1: 1964; vol 2: 1965; vol 3: 1965; vol 4: 1966;
  • U.S. Department of Defense and the House Committee on Armed Services.U.S.-Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967. Washington, DC. Department of Defense and the House Committee on Armed Services, 1971, 12 volumes.
  • Vann, John Paul Quotes from Answers.com Lt. Colonel, U.S. Army, DFC, DSC, advisor to the ARVN 7th Division, early critic of the conduct of the war.
Secondary sources
  • Anderson, David L. Columbia Guide to the Vietnam War (2004).
  • Baker, Kevin. "Stabbed in the Back! The past and future of a right-wing myth," Harper's Magazine (June, 2006) "Stabbed in the back! The past and future of a right-wing myth (Harper's Magazine)". http://www.harpers.org/archive/2006/06/0081080. Retrieved on 11 June 2008. 
  • Angio, Joe. Nixon a Presidency Revealed (2007) The History Channel television documentary
  • Berman, Larry. Lyndon Johnson's War: The Road to Stalemate (1991).
  • Blaufarb, Douglas. The Counterinsurgency Era (1977) a history of the Kennedy Administration's involvement in South Vietnam.
  • Brigham, Robert K. Battlefield Vietnam: A Brief History a PBS interactive website
  • Buckley, Kevin. "Pacification’s Deadly Price", Newsweek, 19 June 1972.
  • Buzzanco, Bob. "25 Years After End of Vietnam War: Myths Keep Us From Coming To Terms With Vietnam," The Baltimore Sun (17 April 2000) "25 Years After End Of Vietnam War Myths Keep Us From Coming To Terms With Vietnam". http://www.commondreams.org/views/041700-106.htm. Retrieved on 11 June 2008. 
  • Church, Peter ed. A Short History of South-East Asia (2006).
  • Cooper, Chester L. The Lost Crusade: America in Vietnam (1970) a Washington insider's memoir of events.
  • Demma, Vincent H. "The U.S. Army in Vietnam." American Military History (1989) the official history of the United States Army. Available online
  • Duiker, William J. The Communist Road to Power in Vietnam (1996).
  • Duncanson, Dennis J. Government and Revolution in Vietnam (1968).
  • Fincher, Ernest Barksdale, The Vietnam War (1980).
  • Ford, Harold P. CIA and the Vietnam Policymakers: Three Episodes, 1962–1968. (1998).
  • Gerdes, Louise I. ed. Examining Issues Through Political Cartoons: The Vietnam War (2005).
  • Gettleman, Marvin E.; Franklin, Jane; Young, Marilyn Vietnam and America: A Documented History. (1995).
  • Hammond, William. Public Affairs: The Military and the Media, 1962–1968 (1987); Public Affairs: The Military and the Media, 1068–1973 (1995). full-scale history of the war by U.S. Army; much broader than title suggests.
  • Herring, George C. America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950–1975 (4th ed 2001), most widely used short history.
  • Hitchens, Christopher. The Vietnam Syndrome.
  • Karnow, Stanley. Vietnam: A History (1983), popular history by a former foreign correspondent; strong on Saigon's plans.
  • Kutler, Stanley ed. Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War (1996).
  • Leepson, Marc ed. Dictionary of the Vietnam War (1999) New York: Webster's New World.
  • Lewy, Guenter. America in Vietnam (1978), defends U.S. actions.
  • McMahon, Robert J. Major Problems in the History of the Vietnam War: Documents and Essays (1995) textbook.
  • McNamara, Robert, James Blight, Robert Brigham, Thomas Biersteker, Herbert Schandler, Argument Without End: In Search of Answers to the Vietnam Tragedy, (Public Affairs, 1999).
  • Moise, Edwin E. Historical Dictionary of the Vietnam War (2002).
  • Moss, George D. Vietnam (4th ed 2002) textbook.
  • Moyar, Mark. Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954–1965, (Cambridge University Press; 412 pages; 2006). A revisionist history that challenges the notion that U.S. involvement in Vietnam was misguided; defends the validity of the domino theory and disputes the notion that Ho Chi Minh was, at heart, a nationalist who would eventually turn against his Communist Chinese allies.
  • Nulty, Bernard.The Vietnam War (1998) New York: Barnes and Noble.
  • Palmer, Bruce, Jr. The Twenty-Five Year War (1984), narrative military history by a senior U.S. general.
  • Schell, Jonathan. The Time of Illusion (1976).
  • Schulzinger, Robert D. A Time for War: The United States and Vietnam, 1941–1975 (1997).
  • Spector, Ronald. After Tet: The Bloodiest Year in Vietnam (1992), very broad coverage of 1968.
  • Tucker, Spencer. ed. Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War (1998) 3 vol. reference set; also one-volume abridgement (2001).
  • Witz, James J. The Tet Offensive: Intelligence Failure in War (1991).
  • Young, Marilyn, B. The Vietnam Wars: 1945–1990. (1991).
  • Xiaoming, Zhang. "China's 1979 War With Vietnam: A Reassessment," China Quarterly. Issue no. 184, (December, 2005) "CJO - Abstract - China's 1979 War with Vietnam: A Reassessment". http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=358806. Retrieved on 11 June 2008. 
Further reading

Notes

  1. ^ a b Diem instituted a policy of death penalty against any communist activity in 1956. The Vietcong began an assassination campaign in early 1957. An article by French scholar Bernard Fall published in July 1958 concluded that a new war had begun. The first official large unit military action was on September 26, 1959, when the Vietcong ambushed two ARVN companies.[1]
  2. ^ "Vietnam War > Troops Strength". Historycentral.com. http://www.historycentral.com/Vietnam/Troop.html. Retrieved on 2009-10-17. 
  3. ^ Larsen, Stanley Robert; Collins, James Lawton, Jr. (1975), "CHAPTER VI, The Republic of Korea", Allied Participation in Vietnam, Department of the Army (published 1985), Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 74-28217, http://www.history.army.mil/books/Vietnam/allied/ch06.htm 
  4. ^ Appendix B: Timeline of Korean Involvement in Vietnam War, Center for Korean Studies, UC Berkeley, http://ieas.berkeley.edu/cks/k12/ROKTimeline.doc, retrieved on 4 October 2008 
  5. ^ Vietnam War 1962-72, Army History Unit, Australian Army, http://www.defence.gov.au/army/ahu/HISTORY/vietnam_war.htm, retrieved on 5 October 2008 
  6. ^ a b c d e f Aaron Ulrich (Editor); Edward FeuerHerd (Producer & Director). (2005 & 2006). Heart of Darkness: The Vietnam War Chronicles 1945-1975 (Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC) [Documentary]. Koch Vision. Event occurs at 321 minutes. ISBN 1-4172-2920-9.
  7. ^ Vietnam war-eyewitness booksW.; Iraq and Vietnam: Differences, Similarities and Insights, (2004: Strategic Studies Institute)]
  8. ^ "Vietnam War Casualties". Vietnamgear.com. 1995-04-03. http://www.vietnamgear.com/casualties.aspx. Retrieved on 2009-10-17. 
  9. ^ Soames, John. A History of the World, Routledge, 2005.
  10. ^ Dunnigan, James & Nofi, Albert: Dirty Little Secrets of the Vietnam War: Military Information You're Not Supposed to Know. St. Martin's Press, 2000, page 284. ISBN 031225282X
  11. ^ Philip Shenon, 20 Years After Victory (PDF)
  12. ^ "Vietnam War". Encyclopedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/628478/Vietnam-War. Retrieved on 5 March 2008. "Meanwhile, the United States, its military demoralized and its civilian electorate deeply divided, began a process of coming to terms with defeat in its longest and most controversial war" 
  13. ^ Vietnam War Statistics and Facts 1 25th Aviation Batallion website.
  14. ^ Kolko, Gabriel Anatomy of War, pages 457, 461 ff., ISBN 1898876673
  15. ^ Vietnamwar.com archive.org record
  16. ^ Moore, Harold. G and Joseph L. Galloway We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam (p.57).
  17. ^ "Asian-Nation: Asian American History, Demographics, & Issues:: The American / Viet Nam War". http://www.asian-nation.org/vietnam-war.shtml. Retrieved on 18 August 2008. "The Viet Nam War is also called 'The American War" ' by the Vietnamese" 
  18. ^ Neale, Jonathan The American War, page 3, ISBN 1898876673
  19. ^ a b Neale, Jonathan The American War, page 17, ISBN 1898876673
  20. ^ Neale, Jonathan The American War, page 18, ISBN 1898876673
  21. ^ Neale, Jonathan The American War, page 18–19, ISBN 1898876673
  22. ^ a b Kolko, Gabriel Anatomy of War, page 36, ISBN 1898876673
  23. ^ Neale, Jonathan The American War, page 19, ISBN 1898876673
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h Neale, Jonathan The American War, page 20, ISBN 1898876673
  25. ^ Kolko, Gabriel Anatomy of War, page 37, ISBN 1898876673
  26. ^ Neale, Jonathan The American War, page 24, ISBN 1898876673
  27. ^ Neale, Jonathan The American War, page 23–24 ISBN 1898876673
  28. ^ Neale, Jonathan The American War, page 24 ISBN 1898876673
  29. ^ a b Neale, Jonathan The American War, page 25 ISBN 1898876673
  30. ^ a b c d McNamara, Argument Without End pp 377–79
  31. ^ Pentagon Papers, Gravel, ed, Chapter 2, 'U.S. Involvement in the Franco-Viet Minh War', p. 54.
  32. ^ a b Ang, Cheng Guan, The Vietnam War from the Other Side, p. 14. Routledge (2002).
  33. ^ a b "The History Place - Vietnam War 1945-1960". http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1945.html. Retrieved on 11 June 2008. 
  34. ^ Herring, George C.: America's Longest War, p. 18.
  35. ^ Zinn, A People's History of the United States, p. 471.
  36. ^ a b Vietnam The Ten Thousand Day War, Thames 1981, Michael Maclear, page 57
  37. ^ Vietnam at War: The History: 1946-1975, ISBN 9780195067927, page 263
  38. ^ Dien Bien Phu, Air Force Magazine 87:8, August 2004
  39. ^ a b Vietnam, Routledge, 1999, Spencer Tucker, ISBN 9781857289220, page 76
  40. ^ The U.S. Navy: a history, Naval Institute Press, 1997, Nathan Miller, ISBN 9781557505958, pages 67-68
  41. ^ The Pentagon Papers. Gravel, ed. vol. 1, pp 391–404.
  42. ^ Press release by the Embassy of the Republic of Vietnam, quoted from the Washington D.C. press and Information Service, vol l. no. 18 (22 July 1955) and no. 20 (18 August 1955), in Chapter 19 of Gettleman, Franklin and Young, Vietnam and America: A Documented History, pp. 103–105]
  43. ^ Jacobs, pp. 45–55.
  44. ^ Two Viet-nams by Bernard B. Fall. Praeger, 1964
  45. ^ Vietnam Divided by B.S.N. Murti, Asian Publishing House, 1964.
  46. ^ Robert Turner, Vietnamese Communism: Its Origin and Development, 102 (Stanford Ca: Hoover Institution Press, 1975)
  47. ^ Christian G. Appy (2008) Vietnam: The Definitive Oral History, Told From All Sides. London, Ebury Press: 46
  48. ^ Christian G. Appy (2008) Vietnam: The Definitive Oral History, Told From All Sides. London, Ebury Press: 46–7
  49. ^ Anatomy of a war, Gabiel Kolko, Phoenix press 1994 , page 98
  50. ^ 1 Pentagon Papers (The Senator Gravel Edition), 247, 328 (Boston, Beacon Press, 1971)
  51. ^ Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities in Viet-Nam, 20 July 1954
  52. ^ Kolko, Gabriel, Anatomy of a War page 98, ISBN 1-56584-218-9
  53. ^ Dwight D. Eisenhower. Mandate for Change. Garden City, NJ. Doubleday & Company, 1963, p. 372.
  54. ^ Pentagon Papers
  55. ^ McNamara Argument Without End p. 19.
  56. ^ John F. Kennedy. "America's Stakes in Vietnam". Speech to the American Friends of Vietnam, June 1956.
  57. ^ McNamara Argument Without End p. 200–201.
  58. ^ a b Robert K. Brigham. Battlefield Vietnam: A Brief History.
  59. ^ The Pentagon Papers Gravel Edition Volume 1, Chapter 5, "Origins of the Insurgency in South Vietnam, 1954-1960"]
  60. ^ John Prados, "The Numbers Game: How Many Vietnamese Fled South In 1954?", The VVA Veteran, January/February 2005. Retrieved 21 January 2007.
  61. ^ Karnow Vietnam: A History p. 238.
  62. ^ Anatomy of a War by Gabriel Kolko, ISBN 1-56584-218-9, page 89
  63. ^ Karnow Vietnam: A History p. 239.
  64. ^ Gerdes (ed.) Examining Issues Through Political Cartoons: The Vietnam War p. 19.
  65. ^ a b ;Karnow Vietnam: A History p. 230.
  66. ^ James Olson and Randy Roberts, Where the Domino Fell: America and Vietnam, 1945-1990, p. 67 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1991)
  67. ^ Neil Sheehan (1988) A Bright Shining Lie. New York, Vintage: 184–93
  68. ^ Vo Nguyen Giap, "The Political and Military Line of Our Party", in The Military Art, pp. 179–80
  69. ^ Pike, Douglas (1970), The Viet-Cong Strategy of Terror, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University, pp. 60, 62, 69, 71  Part 1 Part 2 (a monograph prepared for the United States Mission, Vietnam).
  70. ^ Thomas A. Bruscino, Out of Bounds: Transnational Sanctuary in Irregular Warfare, Combat Studies Institute Press, p. 30, ISBN 9780160768460, http://books.google.com/books?id=uhTiAAAACAAJ , "... Vietcong units regularly threw grenades into crowds and vehicles, fired small arms into villages at night, assassinated and kidnapped village leaders and teachers, and burned down sections of villages." (Online versions available here [2] (pdf) and here [3] (viewable, pdf, and plain text).
    Human Cost of Communism in Vietnam. p. II (1972), p. 65
  71. ^ Op. cit. Pike 1970, p. 70.
  72. ^ Pentagon Papers Gravel, 335.
  73. ^ Pentagon Papers Gravel, 337.
  74. ^ Anatomy of a War by Gabriel Kolko, ISBN 1-56584-218-9, pages 94–95
  75. ^ See Mark Moyar, "The War Against the Viet Cong Shadow Government," in The Real Lesson of the Vietnam War (John Norton Moore and Robert Turner eds., 2002) pp. 151–67.
  76. ^ Excerpts from Law 10/59, 6 May 1959
  77. ^ U.S. Department of Defense, U.S.-Vietnam Relations, vol. 2, p. 2.
  78. ^ Anatomy of a War by Gabriel Kolko, ISBN 1-56584-218-9, page 105
  79. ^ Stanley Karnow, Vietnam: A History, (New York: Viking Press, 1983), 264
  80. ^ The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy.
  81. ^ Karnow, Vietnam, 265 suggested that "Kennedy sidestepped Laos, whose rugged terrain was no battleground for American soldiers."
  82. ^ The case of John F. Kennedy and Vietnam Presidential Studies Quarterly
  83. ^ Mann, Robert. A Grand Delusion, Basic Books, 2002.
  84. ^ Karnow Vietnam: A History p. 267.
  85. ^ U.S. Department of Defense, U.S.-Vietnam Relations, vol. 3, pp 1–2.
  86. ^ McNamara Argument Without End p. 369.
  87. ^ John Kenneth Galbraith. "Memorandum to President Kennedy from John Kenneth Galbraith on Vietnam, 4 April 1962." The Pentagon Papers. Gravel. ed. Boston, Mass. Beacon Press, 1971, vol. 2. pp 669–671.
  88. ^ Vietnam War, Swarthmore College Peace Collection, http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/conscientiousobjection/OverviewVietnamWar.htm 
  89. ^ International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos.

External links



v • d • e
Armed Conflicts involving the United States
International
External
Internal
Related articles
Vietnam in the 20th century
Great War Antebellum Second World War First Indochina War Vietnam War Bao cấp era Đổi mới

Template:Russian Conflicts

v • d • e
Major topics in the United States
History Timeline ( Colonial Era • Declaration of Independence and American Revolution • Westward Expansion • Civil War • World War I • Great Depression • World War II • Cold War • Vietnam War • Civil Rights) • Foreign relations • Military • Demographic • Industrial • Postal
Government Law ( Constitution • Bill of Rights • Separation of powers) • Legislative branch ( House • Senate) • Executive Branch ( Cabinet • Federal agencies) • Judicial Branch (Supreme Court) • Appeals)
Politics Political parties ( Democrats • Republicans) • Elections (Electoral College) • Political scandals • Red state vs. blue state divide • Uncle Sam
Geography Political divisions • Territory • States • Cities • Counties • Regions (New England • Mid-Atlantic • The South • Midwest • Great Plains • Northwest • Southwest) • Mountains ( Appalachian • Rocky) • Rivers (Mississippi • Colorado) • Valleys • Islands • Extreme points • National Park System
Economy U.S. Dollar • Companies • Wall Street • Federal Reserve • Banking • Standard of living (Personal and Household income • Homeownership) • Communications • Transportation (Cars and Highways • Airports • Railroads) • Tourism
Society Demographics • Languages (American English • Spanish) • Religion • Social structure (American Dream • Affluence • Middle class • Poverty • Educational attainment • Professional and working class conflict) • Media • Education • Holidays • Crime • Prisons
Arts Music ( Classical • Folk • Popular) • Film and TV (Hollywood) • Literature (American Folklore • Poetry • Transcendentalism • Harlem Renaissance • Beat Generation) • Visual arts ( Abstract expressionism) • Cuisine • Dance • Architecture
Controversies Immigration • Affirmative action • Racial profiling • Human rights • War on Drugs • Pornography • Same-sex marriage • Capital punishment • Anti-Americanism • American exceptionalism • United States Mexico barrier
mwl:Guerra de l Bietname
This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Vietnam War.
The list of authors can be seen in the page history. The text of this Wikinfo article is available under the GNU Free Documentation License and the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license.

English | Română | edit

Retrieved from "http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/Vietnam_War"
Personal tools