2. Lesson Objectives
• Understand the Vietnam War as part of the Cold War.
• Be able to describe the evolution of U.S. policy toward Indochina from
Presidents Roosevelt to Eisenhower.
• Understand and describe the challenges posed by the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam (DRV) against the south.
• Understand and describe the situation in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN)
after 1959 and the RVN reaction to the challenge from the north.
• Understand the doctrine of limited war and counterinsurgency as
espoused by the Kennedy Administration.
• Understand the timeline of events that led to U.S. involvement in
Southeast Asia.
9. Terms
Viet Minh: Communist independence movement in Vietnam, founded 1941
VC: Viet Cong, political/military insurgent group in South Vietnam (1959-1975)
NLF: National Liberation Front, formal name for Viet Cong
DRV: Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam)
PAVN: Peoples Army of Vietnam (North Vietnamese Army, also NVA)
RVN: Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)
ARVN: Army of the Republic of Vietnam
COSVN: Central Office for South Vietnam, US term for NLF HQ
11. First Indochina War
1945 - 1954
Viet Minh France
vs.
Ho Chi Minh
1890 - 1969
Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DVR)
Declared September 2, 1945
12. Vietnamese
Declaration of Independence
"All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights; among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United
States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth
are equal from birth, all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free.
The Declaration of the French Revolution made in 1791 on the Rights of Man and the
Citizen also states: "All men are born free and with equal rights, and must always remain
free and have equal rights."
<snip> Source
Hanoi - September 2, 1945
14. Ho Chi Minh
Born Nguyen Sinh Cung
Adopted name “Ho Chi Minh around 1940 in China
Chi = spirit Minh = light => “~ enlightened spirit”
(May 19, 1890)
15. Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh with American OSS* agents
* Office of Strategic Services (forerunner of CIA)
Fought against French, then Japanese in WW II
Formed Viet Minh in 1941 as an independence movement
17. First Indochina War
1945 - 1954
Viet Minh France
vs.
Ho Chi Minh
1890 - 1969
Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DVR)
Declared September 2, 1945
Viet Minh began a long, bitter war with French
• US supported France
• Chinese Communists, USSR supported Viet Minh
Was fought as a guerilla war …
A war of national liberation
18. What if …
HANOI FEBRUARY 26 1946
TELEGRAM
PRESIDENT HOCHIMINH VIETNAM DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC HANOI
TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WASHINGTON DC
ON BEHALF OF THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE I BEG TO INFORM YOU
THAT IN THE COURSE OF CONVERSION BETWEEN VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT AND FRENCH
REPRESENTATIVES THE LATTER REQUIRE THE SECESSION OF COCHINCHINA AND THE
RETUN OF FRENCH TROOPS IN HANOI STOP MEANWHILE FRENCH POPULATION AND TROOPS
ARE MAKING ACTIVE PREPARATIONS FOR A COUP DE MAIN IN HANOI AND
FOR MILITARY AGGRESSION STOP I THEREFORE MOST EARNESTLY APPEAL TO YOU
PERSONALLY AND TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO INTERFERE URGENTLY IN SUPPORT
OF OUR INDEPENDENCE AND HELP MAKING THE NEGOTIATIONS MORE IN KEEPING WITH
THE PRINCIPLES OF THE ATLANTIC AND SAN FRANCISCO CHARTERS.
RESPECTFULLY
HOCHIMINH
19. Viet Minh Strategy
Strategy of Revolutionary War
Objective: The seizure of power in a nation-state …
Characteristics:
• Integrated military conflict and political conflict
• War on multiple fronts
• Geographical
• Programmatic
… by any means possible
20. Strategy of Revolutionary War
Characteristics of Political Conflict
• Political, diplomatic, psychological, ideological,
sociological, economic components
• Mobilize people into conflict
• Undermine morale, loyalty of population
• Undermine morale, loyalty of state military
• Three programs
21. Strategy of Revolutionary War
Phase I: Targeted state stronger militarily
Phase II: Rough military parity
Phase III: Revolution stronger than targeted state
• Revolutionaries avoid combat
• Guerrilla war: raids, ambushes, sabotage, terrorism
• Political conflict predominant
• Combined guerrilla and conventional war
• Military and political conflict equally important
• Revolutionary forces go to totally conventional war
• “General Offensive” linked to political “Great Uprising”
22. Strategy of Revolutionary War
General Characteristics
• It is a total war
• It is waged with total unity of effort
• It is, by necessity and choice, a protracted war
• It stresses gaining and keeping the initiative
• It is a changing war (shift between phases)
• It is a mosaic war (different phases, different areas)
Davidson
23.
24. First Indochina War
1945 - 1954
Viet Minh France
vs.
War ended with defeat of French forces
at Dien Bien Phu (May 7, 1954)
* After end of Korean War (July 1953), China
funneled aid to the Viet Minh
Conflict transitioned to Phase III revolutionary war
26. Significance: First Indochina War
Did not settle principle issues over which it was fought:
• Political unity of Vietnam
• Vietnam's independence from foreign influence
George Herring Lecture: First Indochina War
(55:37)
Created basis for second war
Dictated the way that war would be fought
• Strategy that worked against French would work against US
- First Indochina war judged insignificant by US military
- - Only after US was bogged down was there an interest in this war
27. Geneva Accords
April 27, 1954
Viet Minh State of Vietnam
Divided Vietnam into two independently
administered parts
Unification to follow elections in July 1956
US did not support the accords
28. Geneva Accords
April 27, 1954
Viet Minh State of Vietnam
"In connection with the statement in the Declaration concerning free
elections in Vietnam, my government wishes to make clear its position
which it has expressed in a Declaration made in Washington on June 29,
1954, as follows: 'In the case of nations now divided against their will, we
shall continue to seek unity through free elections, supervised by the
United Nations to ensure they are conducted fairly'"
The elections never occurred
U.S. Under-Secretary of State Walter Bedell Smith
32. Legacy of Munich
No historical event has exerted more influence on
post-World War II U.S. use-of-force decisions than
the Anglo-French appeasement of Nazi Germany
that led to the outbreak of the Second World War.
Jeffrey Record
“Appeasement Reconsidered: Investigating the Mythology of the
30’s”
US Army Strategic Studies Institute, August 2005
34. • Munich
Roots of U.S. Strategic Mindset
For Vietnam War
• Truman Doctrine (Containment)
35. Truman Doctrine
March 12, 1947
US foreign policy designed to stop spread of Communism
Pledged to provide economic and military aid to Greece and Turkey
US foreign policy transitioned from détent to
(2:30)
containment
36. • Munich
Roots of U.S. Strategic Mindset
For Vietnam War
• Truman Doctrine (Containment)
• Chinese Intervention in Korea
39. • Munich
Roots of U.S. Strategic Mindset
For Vietnam War
• Truman Doctrine (Containment)
• Chinese Intervention in Korea
• Domino Theory
40. Domino Theory
Term coined by President Dwight D. Eisenhower
(April 7, 1954)
Described how, if one country in Asia fell to
Communism, others would follow in succession.
41. • Munich
• Truman Doctrine (Containment)
• Chinese Intervention in Korea
• Domino Theory
• Cuban Missile Crisis
42.
43. What were the U.S. objectives in Vietnam?
Stated: Preserve a non-Communist government in South Vietnam
Why Vietnam?
Understood: Containment
44. Nuclear weapons nullified all previous military theory
U.S. Post-WW II Attitude
Problem:
• Total war (nuclear) unthinkable
• Future wars would be limited
One country’s limited war = Another country’s total war
45. U.S. Attitude Toward Vietnam
Eisenhower (1954-1961): US Military Assistance
• Trained ARVN to resist cross-border invasion
Kennedy (1961-1963): Counterinsurgency
• Resisted by US military leaders
Johnson (1963-1969): Limited War
• Attempted to force North Vietnam to negotiate
Nixon (1969-1973): Vietnamization
• Increased pressure on North Vietnam to negotiate
47. Ngo Dinh Diem
1901 - 1963
President of Republic of Vietnam (RVn)
1955-1963
48. Ngo Dinh Diem
Led effort to establish RVn after Geneva Accords
Elected president in 1955
Catholic in a majority Buddhist nation
Staunchly anti-Communist
Supported by US in early years
49. Ngo Dinh Diem
Took a hard line against Buddhist majority
Protests put down violently
World-wide attention from monk’s self-immolation (June 1963)
This plus growing insurgency caused US to lose faith in Diem
Instituted unpopular strategic hamlet program (1961)
50. Ngo Dinh Diem
Toppled by US-sanctioned coup (November 2, 1963)
He and his brother assassinated by generals
• Not US intention
RVn plagued by series of coups over next few years
• Counterinsurgency effort faltered
Cronkite, Vietnam War
Seeds of War - 14:38 - 22:38
US reconsidered its strategy in Vietnam
51. Viet Cong
National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF)
“Vietnamese Communists”
• Local insurgent forces fighting against the Republic of Vietnam
• Founded 1960 (some mark this as start of 2nd Indochina War)
53. Timeline
The Stage is Set
Mar 59 Ho Chi Minh declares People’s War to unite Vietnam
May 59 DRV establishes Central Office of South Vietnam (COSVN)
Oversee coming war in South Vietnam
May 59 NVA* unit established to construct, maintain Ho Chi Minh Trail
Apr 60 DVR establishes universal conscription “for the duration”
* North Vietnamese Army
54. References
Col. Harry G. Summers, USA (Ret)
On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War
Interview with Harry Summers:
http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/conversations/Summers/summers2.html
Lt. Gen. Phillip B. Davidson, USA (Ret)
Secrets of the Vietnam War
56. Lesson Objectives
• Understand the timeline of events that led to the decision for major U.S.
troop deployments to Southeast Asia in 1965.
• Be able to articulate the issues and discussions surrounding the 1965
decision to escalate the war in Vietnam.
• Understand the evolution of U.S. objectives and strategy for the
Vietnam War.
58. Terms
Viet Minh: Communist independence movement in Vietnam, founded 1941
VC: Viet Cong, political/military insurgent group in South Vietnam (1959-1975)
NLF: National Liberation Front, formal name for Viet Cong
DRV: Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam)
PAVN: Peoples Army of Vietnam (North Vietnamese Army, also NVA)
RVN: Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)
ARVN: Army of the Republic of Vietnam
COSVN: Central Office for South Vietnam, US term for NLF HQ
