Hello everyone, I am James from the S-1 class.
Today all of our presentation is about
“History” and it is really hard pass to not talk about the war that had been powered by
the tension of the Cold War, “The Vietnam War. A war where a lot of souls of life took
place in, a battle between communism and capitalism the same reason why the Cold
War existed. This is a fierce battle between the world biggest allies and enemy. The
United States, South Korea, Australia, Thailand, New Zealand, and the Philippines are
the biggest allies of capitalism facing the legendary opponent of communism the Soviet
Union and China.
A detailed timeline is needed to be explained to fully understand the battle. I have
divided the timeline into three parts: The Pre-War (1940s-1964), The Escalation (1965s-
1968), and the Final war (1968s-1975).
The First Indochina War (1946s-1954)
The French Colonial attacked Vietnam in the 1800s lighting a spark into the battle of the
First Indochina War began. The Vietnam was under the force of the attack of the French
colonial trying to take Vietnam back after the Japanese drove them out. The citizen has
hope for freedom and their own independence. Days by days and weeks by weeks ,
they cannot stand the control of the French Colonial fight back. In 1941, a group called
Viet Minh was created, a group of soldiers to fought back the French, being the first
communist group in Vietnam. The United States secretly supports the French colonial
with bombs or guns. The idea of the United States is that if a county had fallen into
Communism, it will take nearby countries to follow the same path. They called this the
Domino theory. The Viet Minh fought fiercely with the French Colonial by using the
Guerilla tactics of fighting in small groups, surprise attack and disappear into thin air.
Even though they used that tactics they were no match for the weapons and the army of
the French Colonialist so they started building a tunnel that led to a lot of lakes, cliffs,
and even the bases of the French, they called these tactics the Cu Chi tunnels. They
started using these methods when the Americans started to merge into the war. These
tunnels were carved and filled with traps with blockers; they used blockers when gas or
bombs were release in the tunnel. Under the tactics of the Viet Minh, the French
Colonial lost the war.
Division of Vietnam
The Vietnam was temporarily divided into two, the North Vietnam and South Vietnam
just after the day the war had stopped, by a team named Geneva Accord created by the
national conference. The South Vietnam was the one with the capitalism, with its largest
crew The United States, South Korea, Australia, Thailand, New Zealand, and
Philippines. While the North Vietnam on the side of the communism with it deadliest
allies, the Soviet Union and China. An election was supposed to happen in 1956 to
reunite the 2 countries but things were unexpected. The South Vietnamese leader, Ngo
Dinh Diem was afraid that North Vietnam would win, so he refused to let the South
Vietnamese not take part in the election. He then arrests thousands of South
Vietnamese to take part as a positive part in the election for the South Vietnam. Little
did he know that a lot of South Vietnamese were joining a team National Liberation
Front to fight back to Diem’s government. Later on, they created a group called the Viet
Cong that fought Diem’s government, supported by both citizens from the South and
North Vietnam. A lot of guns and supplies were supported to the Viet Cong by the North
Vietnam and the battle of the 2-country begun. As the battle began the United States of
America got more involved. By the end of 1960, about 900 American advisers were
stationed in the South Vietnam. When there is a new president of the America, he sent
additional advisers as well as 400 Special Forces soldiers. Even with the help of its
allies, Diem still cannot get the respect from his citizens. It made everything worse when
his soldier shot at a monk. Making every monk set themselves on fire to show hate.
Later on, Diem was killed by his South Vietnamese generals as they thought that he
was bad, nonetheless it made everything worse. It was 1964 in the Gulf of Tonkin, a day
that changed Vietnam. A Us Navy vessel exchanged fire with the North Vietnam in the
Gulf of Tonkin. The president of the United States declared that it was an act of war and
ordered strikes against North Vietnam’s Navy bases. This greatly increased the
involvement of the United State military. This stopped the elections that were supposed
to be held. In 1965, the first troops arrived in Vietnam, destroying every trail that Ho Chi
Minh left.
Napalm and Agent Orange
While fighting with the United States, these communists from North Vietnam use the
Gruella tactic, which includes hiding in bushes, ambushes, and surprise attacks. Since
Vietnam was covered with thick jungles, US planes dropped 2 chemical bombs named
Napalm and Agent Orange. Napalm is the bomb with jellied gasoline that causes burns,
with the Agent Orange being a chemical poison that kill vegetations and trees. These
two substances caused environmental damage.
Escalation (1965s-1968)
More US strategy
In the mid-1960s, the president of the United States sent more ground forces to
Vietnam. As well as the number of US soldiers increasing due to a policy of escalation,
most soldiers are being drafted. At the same time the North Vietnam send more troops
to fight along with the Vietcong against the United States. The US tried a new strategy
of searching and destroying the missions. With a new method of crafting a footprint
shoe that shows the backward direction. The US soldiers patrols and search for enemy
camps and supplies hidden and raid them with air strikes and armed. Not long after Tet,
the Vietnamese New Year occurs, a ceasefire will occur. But, an attack shocked the
Americans and changed their point of view toward the war. At first, most Americans
supported the war until seeing the realities of war on TV, knowing that the communists
still had a lot of strength. Many Americans started to feel that the officials were not
telling the public the truth about the war and the claim of success.
Final War(1968s-1975)
Changing the leader of the United States, he announces that he will transfer all the
fighting to the South Vietnamese but will still support supplies and weapons. Not long
after Ho Chi Minh died, he was thinking if the war had ended, the North Vietnamese and
the Vietcong still refused to give up. Finally, a ceasefire happened, giving every country
to finally talk peace in 1973, with all the entire country. Most of the US soldiers were
sent back home. When we thought the war was over, fighting broke out again between
the North Vietnam and the South. The US resistance rapidly collapse. By the end of
1975 the North Vietnam had captured the South Vietnam. The US radio began playing
the White Christmas song, a code for evacuation. Hundreds of airlifts pick up thousands
of soldiers. Finally, the war had ended. Sadly, the United States lost. Later on, it was
claimed that the North and the South Vietnam were officially under a Communist
government.
This was all about the fiercest and the most complicated war ever. It lasted about a total
of 20 years. Thank you all for listening to my presentation about this amazing history of
war.
