Vietnam-The+Path+To+War

=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// [|This cool animation] [|Into Vietnam (Overview)] from ABC-CLIO [|**Vietnam War** - the **Causes**] [|Timeline of the Vietnam War] [|Vietnam Online Timeline]

During the Mid-19th centuy the Frech moved into Indochina and began to capitalize on trade potential in Asia. The French quickly began to colonize Indochine. (mostly the country of Vietnam) France held control of this Asian colony for nearly the next century. During World War II American dissaproved of France's colonial domination of Indochina. After Worl War II, the United States feared Russian activity world wife and the United States began to support French colonialism in Southeast Asia. Two presidents of the Republic vietnam were Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Dinh Diem. During the Nations movement led by Ho Chi Min threatend to topple the French government right after World War II and usher in a communist regime. President Harry Truman who didn't wanted communism, committed limited U.S. resources to assit the French in reestablishing their presence in Vietnam.

In 1950 the U.S. government established a group of military advisors (MAAG) in vietnam to elp train a viable army, screen French requests for aid, and make helpful suggestions for regarding stratgy. The French generally ignored MAAG and seemed insulted that Americans presumed to give them advice. Despite such French recalcitrance, Washington continued to pour in aid.

The French military effort went badly, however, and opposition to the war grew among the population of France. For that reason, the French government began to talk about hammering out a negotiated settlement with the Vietnamese, a resolve that was further strengthened by French military reverses in May 1954, most notably at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. At peace talks held in Geneva, Switzerland, the French agreed to a withdrawal from Vietnam. In addition, the country was temporarily divided into North and South regions until open elections could be held to allow the Vietnamese to select their new political leaders. The Geneva Accords marked the beginning of the end of french influence in the region, which was almost entirely gone by 1956. The Tonkin Gulf incidents were major events in the history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam that prompted the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. President Johnson signed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution on August 10, 1964. The Congressional resolution authorized the president to take whatever measures he deemed necessary to deal with Communist aggression in Vietnam. The resolution was repealed at the end of 1970.

The nature of the U.S. advisory role changed in the early 1960's In December 1960, the communist government in North Vietnam announced the birth of the Nation Liberation Front in South Vietnam, although the organization had already existed for at least a couple of year. President John F. Kennedy feared that Indochina was a prime theatre for Soviet-sponsored "wars of national liberation," and he prepared to meet this global challenge. Influenced by his reading of the Uncertain Trumpet (1960) by former army chief of staff Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor, Kennedy extended Taylor's proposal for a more "flexible military response" to include low-intensity warfare and assigned this counterinsurgency role to the U.S. Special Forces. Operation Rolling Thunder was a prolonged U.S. bombing campaign during the Vietnam War that failed to achieve its major political and military objectives, though almost 1 million sorties dropped nearly 750,00 tons of bombs on North Vietnam.

Here is a picture of U.S. Marines being sent into South Vietnam.

Here is a picture of U.S. planes dropping bombs during the Vietnam War.