Vietnam-+The+Path+to+war

Back in the late 1800’s France colonized the Indochina region which now consists of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh wanted Vietnam to become an independent country. He led Communist revolts against France but had to flee to China and the Soviet Union in the 1930’s. In the 1940’s, durning WWII, Japan took control over Indochina which made Ho Chi Minh start a Guerilla war against Japan. After WWII ended, Japan surrendered and left Vietnam, allowing the French to take control of Vietnam once again. Ho Chi Minh formed the Vietminh Party to declare Vietnamese Independence in 1945. For the next ten years the Vietminh will fight a battle against the French. By 1954, the French were defeated in the north by the Vietminh even though the French were getting military aid from the United States, sent from Truman. They came to an agreement called the Geneva Accords which split the country into North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was the Communist Leader of the Communist North Vietnam. The United States supported Ngo Dinh Diem who became president of the anti-Communist Vietnam because the U.S. did not want another country to become Communist. Most Vietnamese people didn’t like Ngo Dinh Diem because his government was corrupt and he was Catholic, which offended most of the Buddhist population in Vietnam. President Eisenhower continued Truman’s policy and sent military advisors and Financial aid to help out the military in South Vietnam. He thought that if one country became Communist, then there would be a domino affect and other countries would follow.

The United States military involvement in the Vietnam war really took hold during President Kennedy's and President Johnson’s terms. In 1963, President Kennedy authorized a U.S. supported military campaign to overthrow Diem and his corrupted Government. Diem was assassinated during this overthrow but the assassination was not part of Kennedy’s plan. Three weeks later, President Kennedy was assassinated. Vice-President Lyndon Johnson then became president and wanted strongly to protect South Vietnam from becoming a Communist country. As a result, Johnson committed direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War. Johnson received Congressional support for these military actions with the passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which was named after the gulf where the U.S. destroyer //Maddox// was torpedoed. This resolution allowed him to “take all necessary measures” so that the United States could “prevent further aggression” and he could also send over troops to fight without actually asking Congress to declare war. In March, 1965, Johnson authorized the bombing of North Vietnam, a plan called Operation Rolling Thunder, as well as sending in U.S. combat troops and marines. The bombing occurred continuously and the number of troops grew from 75,000 in the middle of 1965 to 184,000 towards the end of 1965.

The //USS Maddox// in the Gulf of Tonkin. Ho Chi Minh declaring Vietnam's Independence.

Operation Rolling Thunder dropping bombs Corrupt South Vietnam's lear Ngo Dihn Diem.