Lecture on Vietnam

2. Guatemala, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Korea
US
Interventions
in the 1950s

3. Vietnam

4. I. Causes
a. France tries to re-colonize
Vietnam after WWII
b. Geneva Accords: divide
Vietnam
i. North = Communist
ii. South = Anti-Communist
c. US sends $1 billion in aid to
the south (weapons, soldiers,
supplies)
d. Plan to reunite in 2 years,
but fighting begins

5. The Ballad of the Green Berets
by Barry Sadler and Robin Moore

6. II. US Entry
a. Domino Theory: fear that if 1
country falls to communism,
others will follow
b. Tonkin Gulf Incident: US Ship
is fired upon by North
Vietnamese
c. Tonkin Gulf Resolution: gives
President power to “take all
necessary actions”
i. *** 58,000 soldiers die in a war
never approved by Congress

7. Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation
by Tom Paxton

8. III. Anti-War Movement
a. Living Room War = violence is
on TV
i. Napalm = bomb
--> severe burns
ii. Agent Orange = pesticide
--> birth defects
iii. Tet Offensive = battle on tv
that turns public against war

9. Fixin to Die by Joe McDonald

10. b. U of M “Teach-in”:
Professors refuse to teach
class, and instead discuss
protest
c. Kent State
i. Students protest the invasion
of Cambodia
ii. Burn down ROTC building
iii. National Guard kill 4, wound 9

11. Ohio by Crosby, Stills, and Nash

12. IV. End of War
a. Vietnamization: US slowly
withdraws and puts South
Vietnam in charge of own
defense
b. War Powers Act: Troops may
not be used for more that 60
days without approval from
Congress
i. *** Shows people lost
confidence in government

13. “War” by Edwinn Starr

14. IV. End of the COLD War
a. Détente - an easing of Cold
War tensions
i. Nixon visits China!
ii. SALT talks limit # of nuclear
weapons
b. Star Wars Program - space-
based laser defense shied
against foreign missiles
c. Glastnost and perestroika -
refoms to the Soviet Union’s
poitical and economic systems
than ended totalitarian control

15. Looking for Freedom
by David Hasselhoff