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Vietnam: Into the Abyss
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Vietnam: Into the Abyss |
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"Liberation wars will continue to exist as long as imperialism, as long as colonialism
exists. These are revolutionary wars. Such wars are not only admissible but inevitable, since the colonialists do not grant independence voluntarily." Nikita Khrushchev, January 6, 1961 Quoted by Robert McNamara et al Argument Without End "You can kill ten of my men for every one I kill of yours, but even at those odds, you will lose and I will win." Ho Chi Minh to the French, late 1940s |
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Lesson Objectives
• Understand the Vietnam War as part of the Cold War. • Be able to describe the evolution of U.S. policy toward Indochina from Presidents Roosevelt to Eisenhower. • Understand and describe the challenges posed by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) against the south. • Understand and describe the situation in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) after 1959 and the RVN reaction to the challenge from the north. • Understand the doctrine of limited war and counterinsurgency as espoused by the Kennedy Administration. • Understand the timeline of events that led to U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. |
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Study Guides
• Describe the Vietnam War as part of the Cold War. • What were U.S. interests and objectives in Vietnam? • How did U.S. policy on Indochina evolve between the Roosevelt and Truman administrations? What caused this evolution? • Describe the major events leading to the intial U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. • Why was President Kennedy so interested in counterinsurgency? |
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Assignment
Readings: Why Were We In Vietnam? Alan Brinkley New York Times, September 9, 2012 • Outlines the roots of the Vietnam War in World War II. "Exit of the French, 1950-1954" "Transition Period" "Diem Era, 1955-1963" "The Kennedy Years, 1961-1963" Vietnam War, Wikipedia "A Brief History" Professor Robert K. Brigham, Vassar College Battlefield Vietnam Public Broadcasting System READ: Down to (but not including) "The War in America." "Timeline" Battlefield Vietnam Public Broadcasting System READ: Through 1964 "The President Warns of Peril in Laos" Life, March 31, 1961 "Gulf of Tonkin Incident" (2-4 Aug 1964) The National Security Archive The George Washington University Supplemental Resources: "America Commits: 1961-1964" (detailed timeline) The United States in Vietnam, 1945-1975 The History Place "On Protracted War" Comrade Mao Tse-Tung Lecture to the Yenan Association for the Study of the War of Resistance Against Japan, May 1938 "U.S. Involvement in the Franco-Viet Minh War, 1950-1954" (Vol 1, Chapter 2) "The Geneva Conference, May-July, 1954 " (Vol 1, Chapter 3) The Pentagon Papers (four volumes) Senator Mike Gravel, editor Boston: Beacon Press, 1971 Chinese Support for North Vietnam during the Vietnam War Bob Seals MilitaryHistoryOnline.com JFK and the Diem Coup John Prados National Security Archive George Washington University, November 5, 2003 |
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