The United States fought in Vietnam due to the Domino Theory, which held that if Vietnam fell to communism, other countries like Laos and Cambodia would as well. This violated the US policy of containment to stop the spread of communism. The US lost because of underestimating Vietnamese tactics like guerilla warfare and tunnel systems, as well as overestimating the impact of US firepower. The antiwar movement grew due to the human costs of the war and the use of chemical weapons like Agent Orange and napalm. The war deeply divided Americans and eroded trust in government.

1. 1965 - 1975

2.  Why did the United States fight in Vietnam?
 Why did the United States lose the war?
 Why did an antiwar movement become so strong
in the United States?
 How did the war change the United States?
Essential Questions

3. War in Indochina: Origins
Did not begin as war against
communism
• Began as a war of
decolonization
In WWII Ho Chi Minh (communist)
 began to resist the Japanese
occupation
When the war was over, the
French thought Indochina would
be there’s again
War broke out between the Ho
Chi Minh and the Communists and
the French forces

4. Dien Bien Phu
 Battle between the French and Viet Minh
(communist)
 French were defeated May 1954
 This was the end of the war between the French
forces and the Vietnamese
 The Geneva Agreement of 1954 gave independence
to Laos and Cambodia
 Vietnam was divided temporarily at the 17th parallel
North South
Communist
Ho Chi Minh
Democratic
Ngo Dinh Diem

5. The Domino Theory
 If Vietnam fell to the
communism would Laos
and Cambodia be next?
 Containment- this policy
requires American action
wherever democracy is
threatened
 SEATO- block
communism from
Southeast Asia- USA is
obligated to uphold their
treaty commitments

6. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
 1962-Kennedy put in 11,000 troops
 Early 1963-Began loosing faith and wanted to start
pulling out troops
 1963- assassinated- Johnson took over and the
war escalated
 1964- North Vietnamese “torpedoed” an American
destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin
 Congress gave Johnson “all necessary powers” to
take “all necessary measures”
 Johnson put in 200,000 troops in 1965
 Increased it to 600,000 in 1968

8. LBJ

9. Why did the Americans
think they would win?

10. American tactics
 Operation Rolling
Thunder
• Bombing N. Vietnamese
towns to destroy morale
 Search and Destroy
• Looking for the Vietcong
in villages. If Vietcong
presence was
suspected, the village
was destroyed

11. Tactics Cont.
Chemical weapons…
Agent OrangeNapalm

12. The next two slides
contain photos of
people harmed by
chemical weapons

13. Napalm
 A fluid that
burns
through
almost
anything.
The
Americans
hoped it
would hit
Vietcong
bases. In
fact, it often
hit civilians.

14. Agent Orange
• Destroyed crops and trees
• Attacked the human body and led to
birth defects

15. Vietnamese Tactics
Viet Cong
guerillas (South)
AKA: Victor
Charles, Charlie
North Vietnamese
Army (NVA)

16. The Tunnel System

17. Ho Chi Minh
Trail
A jungle path
60 tonnes a day
carried to the
Vietcong in the
south.
Essential to
Vietnamese Victory