Vietnam+Path

=VIETNAM - THE PATH TO WAR =

You all know that the United States was involved in a major military conflict in Vietnam during the Cold War ... but why? What was America's "path to war"? Using the resources below and __Creating America__, your task this evening is to write a description in YOUR OWN WORDS of the causes of American involvement in Southeast Asia. Pretend you are writing it as a summary for on online encyclopedia or textbook. Your description should ...
 * be between two and four complete, well written paragraphs
 * contain the following terms - France, Ho Chi Minh, communism, Ngo Dinh Diem, military advisors, Gulf of Tonkin, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Rolling Thunder
 * be IN YOUR OWN WORDS (remember, it's easy to check this online)
 * contain two images THAT RELATE TO YOUR WRITING
 * Should end with the first Marines landing in Vietnam in 1965

Need some help? How about ... //Creating America// [|Into Vietnam (Overview)] from ABC-CLIO [|**Vietnam War** - the **Causes**] [|Timeline of the Vietnam War] [|Vietnam Online Timeline]

Before and during World War II, Vietnam was ruled by different countries and wanted to rule itself. At first, __French__ rules Vietnam and it was called French Indochina. Vietnamese never accepted French rules and 3 Communist groups came together with a leader name __Ho Chi Minh__. This party was called Indochinese __Communist__ Party and they wanted a free country. They would have protests and the French arrested suspected Communists and killed many leaders. During World War II, Japan took over Indochina and Ho Chi Minh came together with the Indochinese Communist Party and other nationalists and formed the Viet Minh. They trained soldiers to make them independant from all foreign rulers. After the Japanese surrendered to the Allies at the end of World War II, Vietnam celebrated freedom, but soon enough, a war broke out between Viet Minh and __France__.

France asked the United States for help fighting, and the United States agreesd. One reason was because the Americans needed French support against Soviet Union. The other reason was because the UNited States didn't want communism to spread. __Truman__ gave $10,000 to the French and EIsenhower continued to aid the French. Both Presidents believed in the domino theory- if one country fell to communism, others around it would also fall. The help from the United States was not enough to win the war.

The French talk met with __Ho Chi Minh__ in 1954 to make peace and their desicion split Vietnam in half. Vietnam was divided at the 17th parralel and it was thought that it would be reunited under an election. Until the election, bothe places had seperate government rule; the north had Ho Chi Minh who believed in Communism, and the south had __Ngo Dinh Diem__- an anti-communist who became prime minister and later the president of South Korea. Many anti-communists in the north went to the south on transportation provided by the United Sates.

The election that was supposed to happen never did because of Diem. In North Korea, Ho Chi Minh had many supporters while in South Korea Ngo Dinh DIem had few. President Eisenhower supported this desicion and wanted to help Diem government. The United States continued to help Diem and sent military assistance and __military adivsors__ which Diem had asked for. In 1964 a military ship, USS //Maddox,// was attacked for no reason by North Vietnamese forces in the __Gulf of Tonkin__. President __Johnson__ went to Congress and the " granted him the authority to take any steps needed to defend the armed forces of the United States and to defend South Vietnam against aggression"(abc clio). In 1965 President Johnson started __Operation Rolling Thunder__ which was where they would bomb North Vietnam. In spite of US aid, Diem did not establish a democratic government and was not a good ruler. Diem refused to make political, economic, and militant reforms. The Kennedy administration lost faith in Diem and with US support, a military overthrew them and against __Kennedy__'s wishes, Diem was killed.