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The Cold War in Asia: Crash Course US History #38

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A Vietnam Playlist with revision videos to help

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A Vietnam Playlist with revision videos to help

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Sources for practice - how do you know and useful questions

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Sources for practice - how do you know and useful questions

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Source booklet - practice questions
Source booklet - practice questions
THE KOREAN WAR POWERPOINT
THE KOREAN WAR POWERPOINT
📎 Video
The Cold War in Asia - video
The Cold War in Asia - video
A Vietnam Playlist with revision videos to help
A Vietnam Playlist with revision videos to help
Sources for practice - how do you know and useful questions
Sources for practice - how do you know and useful questions
📎 Document
Powerpoint for Korea
Powerpoint for Korea

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Bitesize revision on Vietnam

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Vietnam had been a French colony before it was occupied by the Japanese during World War Two. After World War Two it was returned to French control but many Vietnamese people wanted independence. As a result, in the 1950s the French found themselves fighting a war against the Viet Minh - an organisation dedicated to getting rid of foreign imperialist powers from Vietnam. Worried about the spread of communism in South East Asia, the USA began to bankroll the French war effort in Vietnam. Halting the spread of communism was an idea that President Truman had said he was committed to as part of his Truman Doctrine, which was announced in 1947 during the early days of the Cold War.

In 1954, the French were finally defeated by the Viet Minh at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. This defeat was formalised in the Geneva Agreement and temporarily separated Vietnam into two zones: a northern zone to be governed by the Viet Minh, and a southern zone to be governed by an anti-communist government led by Ngo Dinh Diem. The Geneva Agreement spelled the end of French control in Vietnam and the beginning of a major dilemma for American political and military leaders.

Why did a communist regime in Vietnam worry the USA?

1. Vietnam was divided into North and South at the 17th Parallel, with the Viet Minh in control of North Vietnam, and a non-communist government in control of South Vietnam.

2. The North Vietnamese government, led by Ho Chi Minh, declared the country to be a socialist state in 1954. Under the Geneva Accords which granted Vietnam independence from France, there was to be an election in 1956 to decide whether the country would be reunified (restoring the political unity) or remain divided into North and South. Ho Chi Minh's government attempted to remain neutral and socialist but ended up allying itself with communist China. To the USA this was proof that North Vietnam was communist.

3. America was operating a policy of containment and feared if Vietnam fell to communism, other countries in South East Asia would fall too. This was known as domino theory. Consequently, the USA supported the anti-communist South Vietnamese dictator, Ngo Dinh Diem, who refused to hold elections to unify the country. Many South Vietnamese who supported reunification joined an armed uprising against Diem.

The USA sent military advisors to support Diem, because they believed that if Vietnam reunified under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh and fell to communism, all the surrounding countries would become communist too. Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, the eastern province of Pakistan (now known as Bangladesh) and Burma would all fall to communism just like dominoes - one after the other.

Ngo Dinh Diem was an unpopular leader with the majority of the South Vietnamese people.

He had removed the previous leader in a fraudulent election, in which he had won 600,000 votes in a country with only 450,000 people eligible to vote!

Diem believed Vietnam needed 'democratic one man rule', which is considered an oxymoron.

He was a rich landowner in a country of poor peasant farmers.

He was a Catholic and openly discriminated against Buddhists (the majority religion in Vietnam at the time). Some Buddhists, for example the Buddhist monk Quang Duc, burnt themselves to death in protest at Diem's government.

He was a staunch anti-communist and the USA was operating a strategy of containment.

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Vietnam had been a French colony before it was occupied by the Japanese during World War Two. After World War Two it was returned to French control but many Vietnamese people wanted independence. As a result, in the 1950s the French found themselves fighting a war against the Viet Minh - an organisation dedicated to getting rid of foreign imperialist powers from Vietnam.

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Origins of the Vietnam War (French occupation, formation of the Vietminh, Dien Bien Phu, civil war, Diem, guerrilla warfare, Gulf of Tonkin, American tactics, My Lai massacre, Tet Offensive

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US withdrawal from Vietnam - protests and media, Vietnamisation, widening of the war, Cambodia and Laos, Watergate, peace process, fall of Saigon, impacts of the war.

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A really useful documentary series is currently showing on BBC Four - it covers everything we need! Search 'The Vietnam War' on BBC iPlayer and watch as many episodes as you can.

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The Vietnam War - Series 1: 1. Deja Vu (1858-1961)

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Vietnamese revolutionaries led by Ho Chi Minh end French colonial occupation.