– Modern History – Topic 3 – 2020

Conflict in Indochina 1954-79

Survey

Decolonisation in Indochina
 19th century continued the spread of European colonies around the world
 History and identity of Indochina were forged in conflict
 Nationalism is responsible for the defeat of the French, who occupied Vietnam since 1860s
 Peasant villages were forced to provide free labour and there was heavy taxation burden
 Imperialism ultimately meant political subjugation and economic exploitation, protests and local rebellion
were a normal reaction
 The French used extreme force and collective punishment to control these uprisings. While this opposition
was local and unorganised, they posed no real threat to French control
o Impact of French Rule in Vietnam
 Economic impact
 Peasant yearning for land reform grew stronger as French landlords took over the best land. Peasants were
forced into sharecropping, often having to pay 40% of their crop output to landlords
 State monopolies over essential products such as salt, alcohol and opium ensured high prices. Additional taxes
such as corvee (forced labour) and the galbee (salt tax) were imposed
 Economic developments that did occur benefited only the elite Vietnamese who cooperated with the French.
Nearly all managers/technicians were French
 The French exploited Vietnam’s mineral reserves. By 1938, 53% of Vietnams, exports went to France; 57%
of all imports came from France. To France, Vietnam was a huge economic mine
 Political Impact
 All the key judicial, police and civil jobs were taken by the French. They were eleven times as many French
bureaucrats used in Vietnam as they were British used in India. The Mandarins were displaced and those who
cooperated were corrupt
 Some Vietnamese gained a French education and even went to France to study. However, on their return they
discovered that despite their qualifications they could often earn no more than the lowliest French Worker

Conflict in Vietnam 1946-1954

 Ho Chi Min proclaimed Vietnamese independence from the French, declaring the birth of the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi in 1945
 Ho Chi Min had hoped for support from the US government to at least acknowledge the legitimacy of his new
government
 French began to return to Vietnam and was used to supply the wealth for Post WW2 rebuilding
 Negotiations between the French and the Viet Minh failed to reach an agreement and the first Indochina broke
out
 Viet Minh was a national independence coalition that led the struggle for Vietnamese
independence from French rule
o Nationalism sense of pride for country and advocacy of political independence for a particular country

Source: Ho chin Min

“All people who have courageously opposed French Domination for more than eight years, people who fought side by
side with the allies against the Fascists during these last year’s such people must be free and independent” – (1945)

The Nature of Vietnamese Victory against the French in 1954

 Viet Minh fought against the French successfully and drew support from people in the agricultural
communities
 Viet Minh was supported with aid and military hardware from the Soviet Union as well as China (who were
communists after a long revolution in 1949)
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– Modern History – Topic 3 – 2020
 Viet Minh opened a series of trails. Collectively known as Ho Chin Min trail through the mountains of Laos,
Vietnam border and Cambodia
 The trials allowed Viet Minh to move troops and supplies deep into southern Vietnam and enabled them to
assist fellow communists in the region
 Nature of Vietnamese success was encapsulated in their victory in a conventional military battle against the
French in the mountainous region of Dien Bien Phu in 1954

The Significance of the Geneva Conference for Indochina in 1954

o Conference chaired by Britain and the Soviet Union, representatives from France, Communist China,
the Viet Minh, North Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, South Vietnam and the US
o It was significant that the French defeat Dien Bien Phu occurred in the middle of the conference. The
French humiliation made them now eager to consider a progressive withdrawal from Indochina. The
DRV’s representative, on the other hand, were suddenly in a much better negotiating position.
Key Outcomes of the Geneva conference for Vietnam included:

 Included the declaration of a ceasefire in the Indochina war and the formal division of Vietnam
 As a result, North Vietnam and South Vietnam was separated by a 5km demilitarised Zone at
the 17th parallel
 Agreement of Stipulating that free elections were to be held in Vietnam in 1956
 Idea was that elections would allow the people of the South to decide if they would want
unity with the North
 The Geneva conference also saw Cambodia and Laos as fully independent states and acknowledged
as neutral parties and for French forces to withdraw
 Agreements for the return of refugees to their homes
 International commission was created to oversee the implementation of the agreements reached
 Viet Minh is removed and becomes the people’s the army (only some people) after the French loss
 The temporary division of Vietnam was a compromise that Ho accepted under pressure from China and the
USSR
Source: Karnow
“The Geneva conference produced no durable solution to the Indochina conflict, only a military truce that awaited a
political settlement, which never really happened. The conference was merely an interlude between two wars-or
rather, a lull in the same war”
Source: Pentagon Papers
“Conclusion emerges from the obvious contrast between public and private comment of Administration officials and
organs is where American Diplomacy fell down was not the conference but during the Indochina crisis as a whole”
“All revised American negotiationary principles had emerged unscathed; but America objectives in Indochina-the
elimination of the Viet Minh threat, preservation of the strategically Vital Tonkin Delta, and obstruction of
Communist political and military expansionist policies in the region”
“United States had admirably maneuverer at Geneva in its self-limited role of interested party, but the administration
convinced that any attrition of what had been regarded as “Free World” territory and resources was inimical to
America global interests, could only view the settlement the acceptance of terms from communist victors”
“Task in Vietnam the two years ahead was therefore to work with what had been ‘retained’ in the hope, by no means
great, that the Diem government could pull the country up by its bootstraps in time to present a meaningful alternative
Ho Chi Minh’s DRV”
Focus Study

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– Modern History – Topic 3 – 2020
Conflict in Vietnam, 1954- 1964
 North Vietnam (under Ho Chin Min) and South Vietnam (Ngo Dinh Diem) set about consolidating power and
establishing the independent legitimacy
 Ho established the Lao Dong party (Vietnamese Workers Party) as a successor of the Indochina Communist
Party in 1951
 Key aim of the Lao Dong central committee (main policy making) was to establish, socialist Vietnam
 By 1960, the communists under Ho and the Lao Dong Party had largely achieved political and economic
stability in North Vietnam. The south had never achieved this.
 Diem failed to gain support for his people
 The promised elections scheduled in South Vietnam for 1956 failed to take place. The communists of the
North had hoped these elections would unite the country; and their failure to occur resulted in growing
tensions between North and South Vietnam

Key groups involved in conflicts in Indochina, 1954-79

Name Active Aims Leader
Period
Viet Minh 1941-54 Decolonisation, independence Ho Chi Minh (Political)
of a unified Vietnam. Vo Nguyen Giap (Military)
Resistance against Japanese
and French occupation.
National Liberation 1960-76 To encourage and support Nguyen Huu Xuyen (1961-63)
Front (NLF) or military resistance against the Tran Van Tra (1963-67, 1973-75)
known as Viet Cong Diem regime in the south. Hoang Van Thai (1967-73)
(rebel group formed
in North Vietnam)
North Vietnamese 1950- To defeat the forces of South Vo Nguyen Giap
Army (NVA) Vietnam (ARVN) and the US
in order to unify Vietnam by
force
Army of the Republic 1955-75 To protect the nation of South Notable Commanders:
of Vietnam (ARVN) Vietnam against communist Cao Van Vien
forces (Viet Cog and NVA) Duong Van Minh
US Army 1955-73 To fight alongside and support William Westmoreland (1963-68)
ARVN forces to protect south Creighton Abrams (1968-72)
Vietnam against Communist Frederick C. Weyand (1972-73)
forces (Viet Cong and NVA)

Political, Social, Economic and Military Developments within North and South Vietnam
 Leadership aims of North and South Vietnam were to build their respective nations and consolidate political
power
 Both Vietnams aimed to establish themselves as viable and stable nation states in South-East Asia. Each
developed according to their political aims and philosophies
 In the North, that meant transforming what had been ruled as a French Colony into a socialist state
 The South looked to establish a capitalist system
 Both sought support from powerful outsiders to achieve their goals
 North attained economic support from both the Soviet Union and China
 South looked to the United States for economic aid

Developments in South Vietnam

 Diem had a background as provincial governor under the French, his Catholic faith, and his strong
anti-communist
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 Diem was no democrat
 Can Lao Party had been established with his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu was a secret and corrupt organisation
 Throughout his period in control, Diem depended on force, repression and support of the United States to
cling to power
 Major challenge came in 1955 when he moved against two powerful religious sects, the Cao Dai and
Hoa Hao, as well as the Private Army of the Binh Xuyen, which all challenged his authority.
 They were defeated and Diem consolidated his position and gained further American support.
 Diem set undoing land reforms that had been put in place by the Viet Minh during their struggle with the
French
 Rural Vietnamese were now expected to buy the land or to pay rent to wealthy landlords
 Diem established Agroville Program in 1959, which forcibly removed farmers from their traditional lands
into sanctuaries, or hamlets, designed to protect them from communist influence
 Hostility traditionally directed at landlords was now directed at officials of Diems government
 Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) – often acted as agents collecting the re-imposed rents for
a commission
 In 1960, the National Liberal Front (NLF), established to encourage and support military insurgency against
the Diem regime
 Diem’s ARVN was tasked with defeating this insurgency, which would eventually draw the United
States into the Vietnam War
 Diem’s Regime depended primarily on American support. This was reinforced when a growing number of US
military advisers arrived in South Vietnam to direct ARVN military operations
 The people of South Vietnam were in no way unite in support of Diem, nor did they rally for independence
like the people in the North
Source: Historian Gabriel Kolko
Suggested that this began to change when Diem started to undo the land reforms introduced by the Viet Minh.
“Unleashed social discontent and created actual and potential enemies”

 Social in the south rejected Diem, and his unpopularity grew after a wave of public protests was staged by
members of South Vietnam’s Buddhist majority
 Civil unrest and resistance led to the US and Diem’s own army, the ARVN, conspiring to have him
assassinated

Developments in North Vietnam

 In 1954, In north Vietnam food was a pressing problem, the red river delta was overpopulated & relied on
imports from South and war ravaged economy & infrastructure had been devastated
 Ho aimed to consolidate political power for the communists ready proposed 1956 elections
 Landlords and capitalists who were thought of as remnants of colonialism, were removed
 Removal expanded into a program of ‘purification’ to eliminate what the Ho regime referred to as the
‘enemies of the state’
 This included the removal of Vietnamese people who were loyal to the French and large landowners
 Thousands of executions followed (August 1956), protest against the extremes of purification
convinced Ho to alter the policy.
 Ho was forced to make a personal apology to the people for the excessive measures he had taken
 By 1960, North Vietnam had made radical transformation that had taken place under the Viet Minh
 Unlike the south, most people were now compliant and supportive of the political aims of the regime
 Hardest challenge for the Northern leaders was the economic reform and food production
 Land reform policies were announced by HO in 1957, reflecting the communist economic policies of China
and the Soviet Union
 All land, individual businesses and private wealth was seized
 Land was then allocated to landless peasants and reorganised into large agricultural cooperatives

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 (1958) land reform was pursued through a cooperative strategy (economic policy ere individuals
work to achieve a common purpose or target a collective ownership of land, individual wealth and
property is banned) this was largely successful
 Shortage of arable land (suitable for growing crops) geography also challenges the economic aims of
North Vietnam
 North had never been self-sufficient and relied on imports of rice and other foodstuffs from the South
 The end of 1960, the land reforms were yielding results, with rice production reaching more than
double the amount harvested before the First Indochina War
 More than 100 new factories had been constructed and the country was mining its own coal – North
Vietnam was also achieving the economic targets for industry set in the first three year plan
(economic plan modelled on Communist Chinese economic policies, where socialist policies would
be introduced and the economy converted to a communist system during the first three years of the
regime)
 Land reform – Key focus do the peasant pop (Agricultural reform tribunals – redistribute land – Degenerated
into witch hunt, purging landlords “feudalists”).
 North provided considerable support for the Southern Viet Cong Groups
 The North Vietnamese Army (NVA) was the conventional of North Vietnam
 The NVA grew significantly in size and capability from 1963. This regular army, established to fight a
conventional war
 Cohesion created through effective propaganda
 Communist ideas embedded in cultural Vietnamese traditions
 Ideals such as freedom, victory and loyally stressed
 Mass associations linked to Lao Dong (Youth association, peasants association) also controlled journalists etc

The Nature and development of US policy towards Indochina to 1964

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/postwarera/1960s-america/v/vietnam-war

 American involvement in Vietnam stemmed from anti-communist policies that the US government had
developed in the 1940s, as a response to the Soviet Union’s exertion of sphere of influence (a geographic
region in which a foreign power has significant military, political and economic influence or control) over
Eastern Europe and the 199 communist revolution in China
 Belief that the threat of communism to the American way of life was real and had to be resisted
 US President Harry S. Truman’s anti-communist – ‘Truman Doctrine’, were based on the theory of
‘containment’ (strategy to stop the expansion of an enemy best known as the cold war).
 Strategy by which the United States thought the spread of communism throughout the world would be
stopped
 During the First Indochina War, the US desire to stop the spread of communism was so great that Truman
promised $400 million in military and financial aid to anti-communist forces in South and North Vietnam
 (President Dwight D. Eisenhower – came to power in 1953) – He believed that if South Vietnam were to fall
to communism, it would trigger a chain reaction across the rest of South-East Asia
o Aim of stopping the dominoes from falling that Eisenhower set about establishing an anti-communist
state in South Vietnam under Diem
o This engagement that the US would, over time, find exceedingly difficult to abandon

Source: Dwight D. Eisenhower, News conference, 7th of April 1954

“You have a row of dominos set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is that it will go
over very quickly…”
Source: David Kaiser, American Tragedy, 2000
“The real roots of the Vietnam war lie in the policies the Eisenhower administration adopted towards Southeast Asia
after 1954”

 Between 1960 and 1963, the US commitment to Vietnam grew significantly

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 Kennedy inherited and generally supported the Eisenhower administration’s view on Vietnam, but was
cautious about direct military commitment
 Kennedy initially attempted to us a diplomatic approach. Though the number of fighters from the North
joining the Viet Cong increased, Kennedy opted to using military tactics
 Response to Viet Cong insurgency in the South from the end of 1961
o Kennedy increased US advisers in South Vietnam from 900 to 3025.

More than strategic advice:

o Also assisted in training the ARVN forces in the belief that communist forces could be defeated by
military
 ARVN’s struggle to match the Viet Cong was illustrated in 1962 Battle of Ap Bac, where 400 Viet Cong
troops inflicted serious casualties on 2500 ARVN, even though the ARVN had armoured support
 Diem’s regime now set about conducting a (WHAM) ‘Winning the hearts and minds’ campaign, which
focused on winning the loyalty of Southern Rural communities and protecting them from Viet Con infiltration
 1962 – this culminated in the Strategic Hamlet Program. This program was similar to Diem’s failed Agroville
program, which had attempted to protect villagers from the Viet Cong
o Agroville Program, the strategic Hamlet Program forcibly removed farmers from their ancestral land
into fortress enclaves
o They received economic support and aid from the government
o Program was a failure and, rather than a means of winning back rural support, it became another
mechanism of repression
 By 1963, US had realised that Diem would never achieve the popular support he needed to lead a stable and
independent South Vietnam
 It was accepted that more personnel, more money and more firepower were the only way to achieve victory in
Vietnam
 South Vietnamese generals of the ARVN moved against Diem on 1st of November 1963, assassinating both
him and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu.
 Control of South Vietnam was now placed in the hands of ARVN General Duong Van Minh
 The death of Diem did not change the progress of the war in the South, and the Viet Cong continued to
dominate the countryside.
 After series of short-lived regimes in the South – some degree of political stability was established when
General Nguyen Van Thieu became Prime Minister of South Vietnam in 1967

The Second Indochina War

 August 1964 – Separate incidents US destroyers (Maddox and the Turner Joy) claimed to have been attacked
by North Vietnamese torpedo boats while operating peacefully in international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin
off the North Vietnamese coast
 President Lyndon B. Johnson initially announced, ‘we still seek no wider war’, direct response to these events
 US congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving the green light for Johnson to declare war on North
Vietnam

US Foreign Policy towards Vietnam from 1964

Lyndon Baines Johnson 1963-1969

 Self-interest, Prestige
 Pressure that democrats were not “soft” on communism
 Feb 1964: Secret raids on N Vietnam: Aim was to attack economic targets and limit help to VC
 March 1964: The pentagon develops detailed bombing plans. Targets were firstly NV military sites and
guerrilla sanctuaries in Cambodia and Laos. The second targets were Norther infrastructure sites

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 Early March the Johnson administration prepared a draft congressional resolution which would give the
president power to take whatever action he wanted to against the communists.
August 1964: The Tonkin Incident

 During the late July 1964 the USS Maddox was involved in patrols off the Coast of North Vietnam
o The Maddox moved close to the coast (with 7km) and claimed by Hanoi as being in NV territorial
waters
o This was a provocative act on the part of Maddox. NV vessels in retaliation and attacked the Maddox.
The crew of Maddox claimed the then sank a NV patrol boat and damaged two others before leaving
the area
 Two days later the Maddox and the USS C Turner Joy returned to the area and claims were
made by the US authorities were found to be untrue. That the US vessel had been attacked
again
 This could have as a result of a confusion cause by the storm or a deliberate lie from the US
to have an excuse to retaliate
o Johnson acted quickly and decisively, and stated that US would not allow its vessels to be attacks with
“impunity”
o Air raids quickly followed against various targets in NV including Haiphong
 (Kolko) “This was an astute move”
o It shows his firm and decisive leadership and did not take things further making Vietnam a negative
election issue, but the Tonkin resolution was passed
Tonkin Resolution

 The Tonkin resolution had two factors:

1. The US military could use any and all resources against North Vietnam
2. The US could provide ‘direct combat support’ to any member of the SEATO (South East Asia Treaty
Organisation), a cold war alliance pact created in 1954
 Effect of Tonkin Resolution
o The Tonkin resolution would remain enforced until May 1970
o It gave Johnson the power to take ‘all’ necessary measures to prevent any further aggression. The
President could make any desired decision about Vietnam and did not have to go to congress for
approval. Once the resolution had been passed, he put it aside until after the elections
 As South Vietnam was a member of SEATO now seamed ‘threatened’ by North Vietnam, 24 th Operation
Rolling Thunder was launched
o The sustained bombing of NV begins 8th of March 1965. The first US combat forces 3500 arrive to
Da Nang air base
 The end of 1965: 200 000 US combat troops – mid 1968: 550 000 troops
NIXON
American Policy Under Nixon 1969-1971

 Nixon had the difficult task of brining American troops but still convincing President Thieu that the South
was not being deserted. He needed Hanoi to negotiate in the Paris Peace talks and to prove that America was
not weakening (he was trying to make sure he was not aggravating anti-war feeling at home
 In 1969, the US military began operation Phoenix
o The purpose of Phoenix was to neutralise Vietcong chiefs and their supporters by having the
Americans and the ARVN adopt more guerrilla tactics
o It was an effective program that significantly weakened Vietcong’s strength. Almost 20 000 were
capture, of whom 6000 were killed
o As a response, in early 1969, the NVA launched a new offensive on the South
o Nixon’s response was to try severing links between NVA supporters and their supply routes

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 In March 1969, Nixon ordered the secret bombing of Cambodia. This was known as Operation Menu and
Nixon’s aim was twofold.
1. To destroy communist HQ on the border
2. Disrupt the Ho Chi Minh trail
 The tactic failed. This was the ‘mad man’ in action. The NVA eased up on their offensive, but the communist
HQ and HCM trail remained intact
 Nixon’s policy became quite complicated. He began putting diplomatic pressure on China and the USSR to
put pressure on the North. Objectives were constant:
1. US withdrawal with honour
2. The survival of the Thiu regime and South Vietnam
3. His own re-election
 In 1970 he has only made a little progress in improvements. The NVA had launched another offensive in
February. In May, 30,000 US and ARVN troops invaded Cambodia to root out the Communist bases
 The invasion was a failure. No bases were found. Invasion flamed anti-war protests. Nixon faced unpopular
unrest and was now faced with a US senate that was eager to limit the seemingly unlimited power that the
President had acquired since the Tonkin resolution
Declining Morale of American Forces inside South Vietnam

 It was not convincing for young Americans to go to war as they knew American were losing and Saigon was
corrupted
 Nixon had to prove Vietnamisation was working. In February 1971, 5000 ARVN troops were sent into Laos
to attack NVA supply lines. This was operation Lam Son. It was a disaster. Within 2 weeks, half of the ARVN
troops were dead, and this was reported back to America
 By the end of 1971, the president had achieved a little. The ARVN was unreliable and the North was not
compromising, the Russians and the Chinese were failing to pressure Hanoi to make concession, Nixon was
skinning in the polls due to the popular unrest at home.

o Johnson directed the US foreign policy towards Vietnam following the assassination of Kennedy
(Nov 1963)
o Johnson was a commanding presence and more comfortable with domestic issues than foreign policy
matters
o In 1964, he oversaw the passing of the Civil Rights Act into law, ending the legal segregation of the
discrimination against black Americans
o The civil rights act was part of Johnson’s ‘Great Society’s Programs’, which also included
government spending on education, medicine and transportation to aid equality between different
groups in the united states
 Facing a presidential election in November 1964, Johnson wanted to appear moderate and limited the conflict
in Vietnam to bombing raids on targets in North Vietnam
 He easily defeated conservative republican Barry Goldwater
o Goldwater was ‘a hawk’ – who believed that the United States should ramp up its military
involvement and fight the war to win
 The United States appeared to adopt a kind of ‘carrot and stick’ policy towards North Vietnam under Johnson
 In April of the same year he appeared to seek a diplomatic solution by calling for ‘unconditional discussions.
This was the carrot.
 The stick was a major bombing campaign against North Vietnam, code-named ‘Rolling Thunder’, which
began in March 1965 and continued until October 1968
o 3-year program (1965-68) of constant bombing of North Viet installations with particular focus on the
HCM trail
o Reaction was different to what Americans were hoping to achieve – the worse the bombing got the
greater the morale and determination of the Vietnamese
o Westmoraland mid-67 there were only 285,000 VC left, CIA 500,000 – truth is they did not have any
idea
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o 643,000 tons of bombs dropped
o 5900 million cost
o 900 aircraft lost
 Early in the bombing campaign, Johnson agreed to a change in the role of the US marines in Vietnam.
o They would no longer just guard bases in order to protect aeroplanes; they would go out into the
South Vietnamese countryside on active ‘search and destroy’ missions
 North Vietnamese remained unchanged from their terms at Geneva in 1954 and demanded that the US
recognise the national rights of the Vietnamese people to be independent
 They commanded the United States to withdraw troops from South Vietnam and to stop all acts of war against
North Vietnam
 Heavily depended on support from Communist countries
 Chinese rice imports essential during disaster of Agricultural Tribunals in 1954-7
 Soviet Technological aid important in building DRV’s industrial sector
 End of 1950s Sino-Soviet split-DRV avoided taking sides
Source: Robert Schulzinger
“Between late 1964 and the middle of 1965 – that the United States passed ‘the point of no return’ in Vietnam.”

 Johnson was afraid that a communist takeover of Vietnam would lead to a conservative domestic political
backlash in the United States that would lead to the repeal of his beloved domestic reforms
o Late 1955, 60 per cent of the American People saw the Vietnam War as their country’s most urgent
problem, and only 20 percent favoured a withdrawal

The Nature and Effectiveness of Strategies and Tactics employed in Vietnam

Assessing the nature and effectiveness of strategies and tactics, it is necessary to distinguish between the concepts
o ‘Strategy’ refers to the broad, overall plan and vision for a campaign as a whole
o ‘Tactics’ are the more specific means and methods that will be used to achieve the broader strategic
goals. Methods employed on the battlefield to defeat the enemy. US army was trained and equipped
primarily for a war in Europe against the Soviets.
 Both sides in the Vietnam conflict adopted attrition as an overall strategy
o Attrition is a military strategy whereby the enemy’s strength is reduced though sustained attacks and
pressure
 The communist understanding and implementation of this strategy was more effective than those of the enemy

The Communist Forces: The NVA and the Viet Cong

 Using the attrition strategy communist forces were determined to wage war by a variety of means until the
Americans (like the French), tired of conflict
 This plan was made to make the war in Vietnam so long, bloody and expensive that American public opinion
would turn against it
 Attrition for the communists meant continuing to fight and resist until the other side was either defeated or
decided to give up
To make this strategy work, General Vo Nguyen Giap, Commander of the NVA, developed a three-phase view on
warfare:
1. Phase 1 involved the formation and training of the guerrilla bands of Viet Cong and their infiltration into
South Vietnamese villages to win local support
2. Phase 2 guerrillas would engage the South Vietnamese army ambush and assassination
3. Final phase was designed to involve the troops from the NVA which would fight more conventional
battles
Key tactical instruments of Giap’s strategy of attrition were flexibility and concealment.

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 The Americans and the South Vietnamese controlled the major cities and the key arterial roads, especially
during the daytime
 Countryside, jungle and night belong to the Viet Cong and NVA
o During the night they moved troops and supplies, laid mines, set booby traps, and arranged ambushes
 The Viet Cong and the NVA avoided major confrontations and were largely on the defensive
 They always chose the time and place of any engagement carefully and set ambushes on jungle trails or on
roads. Americans arrived in helicopters in landing zones and became targets of ambushes.
Source: American Statistics of Vietnam War Casualties, National Archies of the United States of America
1. Just over 58 000 Americans were killed in the conflict in Vietnam, 41 000 were killed in action. 382
deaths were self-inflicted
2. The average age of American servicemen killed was 23 years old
3. The youngest American killed in the conflict was 15 years old
4. Eight American Women died in the conflict, all of them nurses
5. The deadliest year of the conflict of America was 1968 with 16 899 killed
Strategy & Tactics

Vietcong/NLF North Vietnamese Army (NVA)

The elephant and the tiger: Early success of the Between 1964 & 1968, Giap was willing to engage
NLF and NVA mirrored the fortunes of the the US in occasional set battle. The strategy was to
Vietminh against the French. In this it was simple prolong conflict and wear down the US. NV was
the same tiger different elephant. willing to lose a dozen of men for each US troop.
Guerrilla Warfare:  By 1972 the NVA was able to launch full
 The idea of the elephant and the tiger scale conventional campaigns. The final
described the fundamental tactics of defeat of the South in 1975 had no elements
guerrilla warfare. The tactics included: of guerrilla warfare.
Avoiding major confrontation with the US,  The presence of large numbers of NVA
attack at night and operate in small groups troops in the South was a great danger for
including travelling light, VC used tactic of the North.
ambush, bobby traps could be anywhere  Ho Chi Minh knew that he couldn’t defeat
e.g. sharpened bamboo sticks and mines of the US through the use of conventional
jungle tracks military tactics but through unconventional
 Terrain of SV suited to guerrilla warfare: people’s war.
Most of country was jungle and mountains,  Guerilla warfare involved ambush,
VC knew their locale intimately sabotage, assassination and an extensive
 They wore no uniforms and were able to political campaign designed to undermine
blend in with the population: Made it the SVN political opponents
difficult for the US troops to differentiate a  The Military campaign was totally
civilian or VC, the people who was the US subordinate to the politically campaign
fought the same and dressed the same, US
troops played in safe by assuming the locals
they met were VC and caused hostility and
persuaded the SV to join the VC
 VC had two sided relationship with local
population: HO and Giap insisted on high
level of respect for villahers and men
expected them to respect their women and
dealt with them with honestly and VC could
be ruthless to those working for the US or
the SV regime
 VC activity marked by both idealism and
brutality, VC fighters engaged in political
propaganda, VC developed Kilometres of
tunnel in SV to provide a sanctuary for

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– Modern History – Topic 3 – 2020
guerrillas – Tunnels were barely wide for a
person to crawl through.
 (Karnow) “Vietcong benefited from the
image of the Vietming… and their promise
of a future was enticing… yet for all their
brutality, Vietcong terrorism was usually
selective)
The US forces the ARVN
 US employed conventional tactics. This included:
o Search and Destroy
o Cordon and Search
o Reconnaissance in Force

These utilised military air support.

 Attrition warfare was adopted an overarching strategy by the United States under General William C.
Westmoreland, following the escalation of action during 1964 and 1965
 Americans used overwhelming firepower and resources to make the ware too costly for North Vietnam and
the Viet Cong to continue fighting
 Success of strategy was measured in the number of bombing raids and the ‘body counts’ of Viet Cong dead
reported
 The aim of saving American lives, Westmoreland used massive amounts of destructive airpower, utilising
accurate artillery to support infantry (soldiers fighting on foot) in the field
 Oversaw the use of chemical defoliants (chemical sprayed in dense jungle areas causing leaves to fall off
trees and expose potential troop movements) to clear jungle and make it harder for the enemy to hide
 United States also planned to win the support of the civil-population through ‘hearts and minds’ – (a
campaign in which one side seeks to prevail not by the use of superior force, but by making popular appeals to
sway supporters of the other side) operations, aimed at making popular appeals to Southerners to sway them
from supporting the Viet Cong
o Appeals took form of providing education and aid to villagers, and assisting in village building
programs
o The failure by the government in Saigon to provide land and social reform in many cases basic
services failed to pacify or win hearts and minds.
 Contradictions inherent in these opposing strategies meant that United States and the ARVN failed to win
over the peasant population
 ‘Search and Destroy’ missions became the primary US and ARVN tactic
 This tactic was problematic as the Viet Cong fighters blended in with Civilians
 Both Viet Cong and the NVA was skilled at concealment, and made excellent use of tunnels and underground
base in peaceful villages
Source: Water Boyne, How the Helicopter Changed Modern Warfare, 2011, P.128
“From 1961 to 1965, the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong were learning much from the American efforts to use
helicopters to profitably employ South Vietnamese troops”

 US and the ARVN established a permanent presence in some places to challenge the Viet Cong through a
system of fire-support bases (a fortified US/ARVN position established in an area known to be desired or
threatened by the enemy)
o These were well-fortified and self-contained artillery bases that acted as a forward position in enemy
territory
o Bases could be supplied by helicopters and could call on artillery support from nearby fire-support
positions
 Viet Cong and the NVA knew where the Americans where the Americans were; but the Americans rarely
knew just where or when the enemy would strike

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– Modern History – Topic 3 – 2020
Source: R.D. Schulzinger, A time for War, 1997, pp. 195-6
“Frightened, unfamiliar with guerrilla warfare, not well led, many American soldiers soon saw all Vietnamese as the
enemy.” ‘I’d just as soon shoot a South Vietnamese as VC’ was a common refrain.
Evaluate/ Assess Strategies and Tactics
 US military power drove US foreign policy. As a result, the US fought a one-dimensional war in which they
failed to connect with the people of the SVN
 The US required more than military victories such as Tet. They required political victories but could not
achieve them
 The NV military was totally subordinate to the political leaders of North Vietnam. This was a major factor in
ensuring the north’s ultimate victory
 North Vietnamese willingness to accept large casualties and years of war were factors the US and SVN could
not defeat or match

The Impact of the 1968 Tet Offensive

Tet Offensive was a direct military challenge by the NVA and the Viet Cong on the Americans and the South
Vietnamese

 Few subtle warning signs than attack was coming, all of which was ignored by the Americans
 NVA initially conducted a siege of the US military base at Khe Sanh as a diversion to distract the American
high command
 January 1968, Viet Cong and the NVA forces exploited the Vietnamese New Year celebrations known as
‘Tet’ to launch a series of carefully coordinate attacks simultaneously across South Vietnam, employing 84 00
troops
o As a result, 48 provincial capitals, five major cities and 64 district capitals – including Saigon (US
embassy located) came under attack
o The Viet Cong controlled the city of Hue near the North-South border and proceeded to take bloody
revenge against the South Vietnamese
o Attacks marked the beginning of two week of intense fighting and a huge loss of life until the US
troops and the ARVN managed to repel the offensive
Westmoreland claimed that the communist side had failed in its objectives as the people of the South did not rally to
support communists

 Viet Cong suffered major losses that the NVA, after rebuilding its force, wold now take the lead role in the
war in the South
 North claimed to have achieved a strategic objective to provoke a challenge to the Americans so strong that it
would force them to de-escalate their commitment to the war
Westmoreland’s stance that American victory was in sight at the time of the Tet Offensive has been criticised.
Westmoreland’s was correct in his assessment that Tet was a communist defeat.
o From a broader strategic point of view, despite the losses, it proved to be a victory for the North as
images of the offensive were shown on US television and in newspapers, which was significantly
undermined support for the war among the American People and gave weight to the claims of the
anti-war movement
 At the time of Tet Offensive, the total number of US troops in Vietnam had risen 500 000 and the number of
Americans who wanted to see the troops return home grow steadily
 Until 1968, majority of Americans thought victory was close
Walter Cronkite (a respected American News anchor) evidenced his shock at seeing Americans fight it out for their
embassy in Saigon when he announced: ‘I thought we were winning the war”

 After Americans realised that they were trapped in a protracted war

 The barbarity of the war was revealed in all its horror to the American viewing public
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– Modern History – Topic 3 – 2020
 Middle American began to question who were the ‘good guys’ in the conflict and ask deeper questions about
American commitment to war
US soldiers on the ground in Vietnam began to feel the impact of Tet in two significant ways:
1. The rise of anti-war feeling in the United States decreased moral of soldiers,
2. Which in turn led to worse results in the field
 Many American soldiers were shocked by the attacks and bitter about their losses
 During their following months, they were more aggressive than usual in their patrols, especially in
‘pacification’ (the process by which US forces aimed to counter Viet Cong insurgencies and establish control
by occupying and pacifying a particular geographic area; Americans aimed to establish control over the area
to remove the influence of the communist) operations, as their attitudes to Vietnamese civilians changed
Timeline of the Tet offensive in 1968:
1968 becomes a year for change for:

 War
 People’s opinion for the war
 The action that is taken both on the ground in Vietnam and back home in the USA
January 30th: North Vietnamese communist launch Tet offensive. The assault contradicts the Johnson
administration’s claims that the communist forces are weak, and the U.S. backed south is winning the war.
February 7th: After a battle for the Vietnamese village of Ben Tre, an American officer tells Associated Press reporter
Peter Arnett, “It became necessary to destroy the town in order to save it”. The quotation, printed in newspapers
nationwide, becomes a catchphrase for opponents of the Vietnam War
February 8th: At South Carolina State Campus, police open fire on students protesting. Three die and 27 are injured
February 28th: Walter Cronkite – CBS TV special says on his recent tour of Vietnam US war effort is “mired in
stalemate” and amplifies public scepticism of the war
March 16th: Mai Lai Massacre (not known to the public until November 1969 – but points to wider issues as a good
example of the mindset of the American Soldiers after Tet
March 31st: As war pressure mounts – President Johnsons announces he is not running for election
April 4th: Martin Luther King assassinated. Riots increase over 100 cities leaving 39 people dead, more than 2,6000
injured and 21 000 arrested
May 10th: US and NV begin peace talks in Paris
June 4th: Robert Kennedy assassinated
June 19th: Poor people’s campaign climaxes in the Solidarity Day rally for Jobs, Peace and Freedom in Washington.
Fifty thousand people join the 3,00 people and rally for the demands of the Poor people’s campaign on solidarity day.
August 28th: Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Police and Illinois National Guardsmen go on rampage,
clubbing and tear gassing hundreds of anti-war demonstrators, news reporters and bystanders.
November 5th: Nixon Wins Presidency
Extra Information:

 “The watershed of Tet, however, was not in South Vietnam but in the United States, where the American
people… has lost their stomach for an inconclusive bloodletting without any measure of success” (Hannah)
 “Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living
rooms of America – not on the battlefields of Vietnam” (McLuhan)

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– Modern History – Topic 3 – 2020
 The Tet offensive was an initiative of the North Vietnam Army to have civilian population of South Vietnam
join them in their offensive and efforts to overthrow the South Vietnam Government, forcing the withdrawal
of the united states armed forces
The Plan

 Entitled by NV General Giap as the “General offensive, General uprising’ – plan was designed to overthrow
the South Vietnamese government
Four Goals:
1. 44 cities in SV would be attacked by North Vietnam and Viet Cong forces simultaneously, to create panic
and confusion
2. ARVN units would be isolated and destroyed, leading to their surrender
3. Hanoi’s show of strength would cause people of SV to rise up and overthrow the regime of President
Thieu
4. Series of ‘false fronts’ would be created as diversions are not directly connected with the major offensive.
Hoped these false fronts would tempt the US forces away from the safety of their bases, making them
susceptible to Giap’s troops
a. Giap Planned to have 3 false fronts
i. Loc Ninh – North Saigon
ii. Dak To – Central Highlands
iii. Khe Sanh – Small base just south of 17th parallel and 10km from Laos
 During 1967 – US and SV intelligence theories received direct and indirect warnings suggesting a major
confrontation with Hanoi in the future
 March 1967: Some Viet Cong Units that were captured possessed maps of Saigon’s sewer system
 October 1967: (Hanoi publically released resolution 13, 3 regiments of NVA troops began moving down to
the HCM trail, US 25th infantry division captured Viet Cong orders)
 General Giap’s false fronts:
o Loch Ninh (Purpose of attack to test Saigon’s outer defence network, after heavy fighting, V. Cong
units occupied the city for 6hrs, then withdrew
o Dark To (Proved to be the costliest single battle in Vietnam war, 3-days 1,200 V.Cong died, US lost
300 and nearly 1000 wounded )
o Khe Sanh: (The siege at Khe Sanh was the first act in the 1968 drama, General Westmoreland had
placed 6000 marines at KS to check NVA activity (it was fragile around the border)
 th
20 January – NVA unleased a month-long bombardment
o (America held out with the help of B-52s (Operation of Niagara) bombing the surrounding hills, Was
a death trap which was televised in the US, operation Pegasus was launched to relieve the situation (to
do this the US diverted troops away from towns and cities of South Vietnam, leaving them to assault))
o Battle lasted for 2 months – 10 000 communists lost their lives
 31st January 1968 – six major SV were attacked
o Hostilities in other parts (included Saigon) didn’t begun until 1 st of Feb as communication between
Viet Cong and NVA were poor
o Giap’s plan of simultaneously attacking all targets had failed, but the intense campaign nearly took
South Vietnam to its knees
o Saigon in flames for nearly 1 week as troops fought in the streets
 US embassy temporarily occupied by Viet Cong
o Khe Sanh – (one of Giap’s false fronts) was only saved after massive US bombings decimated the
Vietnamese
o Hue NV units occupied the city for 26 days – casualties for both sides.
o Minor offensive between March and June 1968 until NV and VC withdrew.

Outcomes

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– Modern History – Topic 3 – 2020
 Tet offensive failed and losses were high:
o Over 50 000 Viet Cong and NV had been killed – took NLF 4 years to recover
o SV – 2500 lost & US – 1000 lost (significantly lower)
 Tet Offensive – Military success for US and ARVN forces
Reason’s for Hanoi’s Loss

 Giap’s plan was too ambitious – called for a victory which did not occur
 Underprepared – troops were overextended, undersupplied and without reinforcements
 SV forces withstood NV and did not retreat as Giap anticipated
 US air power was able to provide crucial support to SV
 No uprising of the SV population which was anticipated – despite the fact that there were many Viet Cong
sympathisers residing in SV

 Leonard Bushkoff covers the usual arguments about Tet (i.e. military failure/ psychological victory) however,
he further states that what it did was to bring Americans crashing down to reality, he agrees that Tet was a
tactical American Victory, but that its effect on the American consciousness made it a defeat. He claims that
Tet exposed the lie of “Cold War rhetoric” and “superpower egotism”
 Photo journalist Niel Davis points out that the Americans and the ARVN managed to recapture the most of the
territory that had been taken by the communists, but that because of the media had presented Tet as a defeat,
the anti-war movement had been given a boost. The media presented the attack on the American embassy as a
moral defeat
 “Our Tet Plans require absolute secrecy and all soldiers took an oath of silence. Therefore, when fighting
began, our supporters did not know what to do. Most were afraid and confused and did nothing. They did not
know about Tet offensive beforehand. We took a risk by not telling the people beforehand. We also failed
because we underestimated our enemies and overestimated ourselves. We set goals which we realistically
could not achieve” (General Van Tra)

Evaluate Tet Offensive

 Tet was a combined conventional military offensive from the NVA and VC and is a turning point in the
Second Indochinese Conflict.

 The Tet Offensive was the tactical implementation of the North Vietnamese strategy. Remember, the
difference between a strategy and a tactic. The Tet Offensive also marks a change in direction of the North
Vietnamese strategy, as Tet is an all-out conventional attack (rather than a guerrilla style attack) on the ARVN
and US forces in the South.

 Tet is a complete military defeat for the North and a military victory for the South. However, this was not the
way the offensive was perceived by the American media and public. Images of the US Embassy being
attacked and of a captured Viet Cong soldier (Nguyen Van Lam) being executed by ARVN General Loan
(Chief of Police).

The main aims of the Tet Offensive were political. They wanted:

o To overthrow the southern Republican Government and remove their US support.

o Spark a revolution!

o To isolate and overthrow ARVN military units.

o To gain independence and unity for Vietnam.

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– Modern History – Topic 3 – 2020
o To put political pressure on the US President. Hanoi recognised that the Presidency was vulnerable to
public opinion in a democracy. Remember, the NLF leadership fought the political war first and
foremost and the military war second

 “There is no such thing as a single strategy. Ours is always a synthesis, simultaneously military, political and
diplomatic – which is why quite clearly the Tet offensive had multiple objectives”. – General Giap.

 US foreign policy now changes with the fall of LBJ (he does not contest the next election) and the rise of
Nixon with his new policy of withdrawal rather than containment.

The Impact of War Civilians in Vietnam

The Vietnamese people, particularly the peasants, were forced in different directions by the Viet Cong and the
American forces. To win the ‘hearts and minds’ of the local people, the South Vietnamese were forced into strategic
hamlets to prevent the VC taking control of the countryside As part of the strategic hamlet program, the Americans
provided the infrastructure for local schools, hospitals and public facilities. At the same time, the Americans continued
to fight the Viet Cong and fighting to spread into the countryside.
The IMPACT on civilians included:
o The burning of villages suspected of harbouring Vietcong
o The spraying of chemical defoliants such as Agent Orange destroying crops and the economy of
villages
o The devasting impact of bombing raids on cities and the countryside
o A flood of refugees from affected areas crowding cities
o Land mines and booby traps killing innocent Vietnamese, who were often trying to escape the war
o Americans destroying entire villages and committing war crimes, such as My Lai Massacre

American Bombing

 American bombing and artillery firepower had a massive impact on SV’s ability to feed itself
 Cluster bombs often remained, ready to release their deadly impact
 Large parts of the country were consumed with the vast array of unexploded mines and shells; some still
remaining so today
 A bomb that had targeted a dyke could well leave an area of land previously capable of growing crops
submerged in sea water
 In the early 1960’s SV had been a net exporter of rise. By 1965 it had become a net importer of rice

 Fundamental political impact that the conflict had on the South was a pattern of regime instability
 The Geneva conference, which aimed to develop democratic freedoms in the South, were never realised
 Ngo Dinh Diem in the Southern regime instituted policies such Agroville and the Strategic Hamlet
programs
o Which denied villagers their freedom and ensured that the regime would never attain popular support
o Culture of corruption was established under the Diem regime continue and the nation was ruled by a
succession of ‘governments by turnstile’ after his assassination
 Former Air Marshall Nguyen Cao Ky and Army General Nguyen Van Thieu established the longest-serving
regime in 1967-75, when they ruled the south as military junta
o Military Junta (A military group that takes power by force and exercises its authority through power
and coercion (the opposite of democratic freedoms))
o Restrictions on civil liberties were tightened, land reform was never enacted, electoral fraud
continued, and all opposition was quickly extinguished
 South became reliant on aid from the US, American imports damaged the developed South Vietnamese
industries
 Until 1964 the GDP in the South outstripped the North two to one

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– Modern History – Topic 3 – 2020
o Economy began to decline from this time by 1965 South Vietnam had begun to import rice illustrating
the turn-around in its economic status
 Reduction of US troops from 1970, the economy went into freefall, with inflation rates reaching levels of
hyperinflation
 South Vietnamese Society also transformed by the impact of American involvement in the Vietnam war
 Establishment of large US baes in South created a network of bars and brothels to support this infrastructure
o Culture of drugs, gambling dens and black-market racketeering was fostered - the opposite of
traditional Confucian values
o South Vietnamese society was disrupted as more Vietnamese left the countryside for urban areas,
leading Saigon’s population increasing by 45 per cent to 3.3 million by 1970
o Society became increasingly materialistic as various consumer and military goods, food, cigarettes
and medicine were sold illegally on the streets of Saigon
 War also significantly damages the environmental region on the South
o Much of the US bombing occurred over the North, US firepower targeting the Ho Chi Minh trail
destroyed areas of arable lands in the South and in turn impacted in civilians’ ability to feed
themselves
 In an attempt to expose the jungle networks of the Viet Cong, the US air force’s use of the defoliant Agent
Orange in Operation Ranch Hand saw 19 million gallons of this chemical sprayed over Vietnam and Laos,
from 1961 to 1972
o Chemical immediately destroyed crops and forests, forcing people to relocate to urban areas
o Estimated four million Vietnamese people who were killed or wounded on both sides of the conflict,
millions suffered birth defects and cancer from the exposure of the chemicals
 Compared with South, the North experienced political stability, following the reversal of the radical land
reform tribunals in 1960
 Civilians in the north were united behind the political and military aims of the north
Source: Historian Sean Brawley
Suggest fighting a war against a superpower ‘left little time from internal dissent’

 Morale in the North had not been destroyed, as had the American’s intention when they conducted major
bombing campaigns over the North including Operations Rolling Tunder (1965-8), Linebacker I (May-
October 1972) and Linebacker II (December 1972)
o Th bombings did succeed in destroying 4000 villages and disrupting transport and communication, as
roads and railways were favoured target of US planes
o Store trading hours were greatly reduced, and many people evacuated to the countryside
o Factories operated by a predominately female labour force, moved out of urban areas and
underground
 100 000 civilians in the North were killed by the 2 million of bombs by the US air force, the collective
hardship and distasted actually led the society to unite

Social Impact Cultural Impact Political/Economi Environmental Human Impact

c Impact Impact

- The Arrival of - Americanisatio - The need to - The war had - Enormous loss of life –
US n of Vietnam dedicate nation detrimental estimates up to 3 million
Vietnamese cities and scares resources effect on the Vietnamese dead
society rapidly breakdown of to a war of landscape - Legacy of war – the
westernised traditional liberation - Whole forest sick/wounded/traumatised/
- Western - Threatened the prevented regions were those without limbs
material/ survival of expenditure on demolished by - Babies born with a series of
commercial traditional more worthy massive birth defects due to Agent
values gained Vietnamese projects bombing Orange
supremacy culture - By 1970s, - Irrigation/dyk - Vietnamese veterans

17
– Modern History – Topic 3 – 2020
- Western - Moving South faced e systems suffered from a range of
goods, cars, Peasants e.g. massive were cancers due to defoliants
investment, strategic inflation/black destroyed
music, Hamlets took market - B 52 bombing
fashion, them ancestor - US post-war left a cratered
prostitution, sites bans on trade landscape
and drug trade - All- and investment often
- Influx of Pervasiveness worsen things impossible to
western of US culture - Impact of cultivate
wealth aided bombing greatly - Massive use
the growth of reduced food of herbicides
corruption output and defoliants
- Decline of has left a large
village vast area of
life/movement SV a
to cities wasteland
- The legacy of
unexploded
bombs remain
a problem for
Indochina into
the 21st
century
Refugees:

 As a result of both political persecution and economic hardship, tens of thousands of Vietnamese and
Cambodians tried to escape their countries via boat
 Australia eventually took almost 250 000 Indochinese Refugees

The Nature and Significance of anti-war movements in the United States and Australia
 Anti-War movement began developing on university campuses from the middle of the 1960s, and developed
in size and strength as the decade went on, and the justification for American involvement in the war was
more widely questioned
 Actions taken at campuses across the country contributed to the growth of a moral general anti-war feeling
that spread into wider American society
 Movement in Australia developed at the same time, also on university campuses primarily focuses on the
issues of conscription
o Conscription (soldier who did not volunteer for service and is serving a period in the armed forces as
mandated by the government)
 Australian anti-war movement would also come to influence society as it highlighted the destructive nature of
the war to the general public
 This saw pressure building on political leaders to find an exit strategy from the conflict
Reasons for the development of the Anti-war Movement
1. The US was not winning
a. Fundamentally reason behind the anti-war movement was because the US was not winning the war.
People questioned the legitimacy of the circumstances of the Tonkin incident, South Vietnam as a
worthy ally, and the Cold War rhetoric. Throughout 1967, the administration viewed the enemy had
been beaten. However, then the Tet came [Jan-Mar 1968] and anti-protest intensified in both scale of
violence. Following, the Tet offensive the perception was that US was not winning the war
2. Media Coverage
Vietnam War became known as ‘the lounge room war’ because television brought horrific images of Vietnam. E.g.
Scenes of Napalm attacks turning villages intro fireballs

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– Modern History – Topic 3 – 2020
 News outlets ran a tally count on their nightly news programs which showed how many Americans had died
in Vietnam (during the show the tally would tick over indicating that Americans were dying during that time)
 In May 1969, Life Magazine ran edition of its magazine that contained photographs of 241 American soldiers
who had been killed that week
 Early 1965, NYT and English Papers & the observer – reported VC captives and alleged civilian supporters
had been tortured
 There was no official army censorship of new coverage. However, Westmoreland, military and administration
officials urged reporters to be sensitive in what they reported
o TELEVISION
 Tv cameraman accompanied the troops in the fields sharing the risks of enemy fire
 Vietnam became a ‘domestic’ story as TV networks featured individual soldier experiences, added to human
interest and drama
 Proximity of journalists to the action put them in difficult positions. This is exemplified in the case of Morley
Safer (August 1965 – report produced for CBS) Reported on the American destruction of the village of Cam
Ne. His report showed US Gi’s setting the village on fire. (Johnson didn’t like that and had him investigated)
 Each day in Saigon at 1700, a MACV representative would address journalists about day events to enforce
official military view. He would have charts, maps and masses of statistics this became known as the 5
O’clock follies soon became discredited as propaganda
Summary: Nature and Significance

 (1965 onwards) More students, intellectuals and many young Americans began protesting against the Vietnam
war
 Anti-war movement united organisations of that time that were challenging the status quo in America society
 Ant-war movements can under the ‘hippy movement’ – Also became an extension of the feminist movement
and the American Civil Rights movement
 Historians claim that anti-war movement was most powerful popular movement in America history – The
peace movement brough American society to the brink and ended the career of Johnson and Nixon
 The war in Vietnam was lost on television, as the images of napalmed villages caused many to question
America’s moral right to wage war in Vietnam
 The continuing loss of American troops and the nightly TV scenes of American soldiers returning home in
body bags around the country fuelled the anti-war movement
 Sit-ins and teach-ins became commonplace and many universities became ungovernable. Vigils and burning
of draft cards resulted in protestors being jailed
 The My Lai Massacre of 1968 reinforced the madness and brutality of the war in Vietnam and encouraged
more Americans to join the anti-war protest
 At Kent state University in Ohio, police fired on anti-war protestors which resulted in the death of 4 students
 In the 1970s, with the invasion of Cambodia, protest marchers increased in size and frequency. The Vietnam
moratorium movements spread around the world including to Australia,
 In the early 1970s, popular support for the war was rapidly declining. Opinion polls suggested that more than
half of the Americans believed that the war was morally wrong
 Karnow maintains, “That Nixon was effected by the anti-war feeling in that he tried to defuse it, however,
there was no real direct impact of these movements on his policies”

The Anti-War Movement in the United States

 During the late 1960s, anti-war movement in the United States grew as part of a broader agenda of social
reform and civil rights
 Earliest organised forms of protest on university campuses were ‘teachins’, where students and academics
stayed overnight in university buildings debating aspects of American policy
 The protests gradually became more militant and vocal
 US government pushed for an escalation of the war, the anti-war movement itself escalated into a series of
rallies, petitions, burning of draft cards and street marches that became an almost daily feature on America’s
new bulletins
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– Modern History – Topic 3 – 2020
 Anti-War movement was made up of many different factions and shades of political opinion, ranging from
moderates, who wanted peaceful, orderly protests to voice their disapproval of the war, to militant groups,
who advocated violent protest
 A key event reflecting the growth of the anti-war sentiment, was the April 1965, ‘March Against the
Vietnam War’ in Washington D.C. around 20 000 protesters picketed the White House before marching to
Washington Monument
o Speeches were held (including by Paul Potter the head of the organisation students for a democratic
society) questioning the reasons the government stated it was fighting a way in Vietnam
 Anti-war movement gained significant traction as it received the support of the civil rights movement
 The visibility of the movement escalated further in the late 1969 with the massive Moratorium to end the
War in Vietnam demonstration in Washington D.C. which attracted 500 000 demonstrators
o Moratorium is a temporary prohibition of an activity (use by the anti-war movement in the United
States and Australia)
 In 1969, the Moatorium to end the war in Vietnam movement became a feature of the anti-war cause
o Organisers asked supporters to ban normal activities (to hold a moratorium). In schools and
universities, this mean that students abandoned classes to attend anti-war rallies
 In May 1970, four college students were shot and killed during a protest over Nixon’s Indochina policy at
Kent State University, Ohio
o News of the killings triggered a wave of further protests, and raised doubts in the minds of many
people about the direction of America’s policy in Vietnam
 In April 1971, about 500 000 anti-war marchers converged on Washington D.C. in a massive protest
 1971 – publication of the ‘Pentagon Papers’ by New York Times convinced many people of the validity of
numerous claims by the anti-war movement about the war
 The pentagon papers *a study authorised by Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara in 1968* showed the
earliest stage of the war were many in government questioned the nature and role of US involvement
 Anti-War movement did not end the Vietnam one but was one of a number of factors, alongside the images
shown in the news, which ensured that the nature and conduct of the war reminded people
 Movement also forced politicians to engage in debates over issues highlighted by protesters
 Television broadcasts showed the barbarity of the way also gave buoyancy to the North Vietnamese, who
welcomed the disruptive effective effect that the war had on American politics
 Counter-protest movements supporting the role of the US in Vietnam also emerged
o Such as, the Hard Hat Riot that took place in New York City in May 1970, where construction
workers supporting the war clashed with anti-war protestors resulting in 70 people being injured
Source: Historian Stanely Karow
Argues that most Americans supporting the Nixon administration in prosecuting its war aims

 The proof can be seen in Nixon’s 1972 presidential campaign.

o After tackling anti-war feeling and singling out radical protestors for criticism in his ‘Silent Majority’
speech in November 1969, Nixon won another decisive presidential election in 1972

The Anti-War Movement in Australia

 The Anti-war movement in Australia first developed on university campuses in the mis-1960s before growing
in size and potency as a result of the opposition to conscription
o Conscription was dictated by the National Service Act, introduced by Prime Minister Robert
Menzies in 1964, which made military service compulsory for all males of 20 years of age
 March 1966 announced that conscripts would be sent to Vietnam to serve with regular Australian Army
Units, as Australian’s commitment to the conflict in Vietnam increased
o Conscripts who would serve in Vietnam were chosen by a lottery, where birthdates were selected at
random
o If a man’s birthdate was selected from the lottery, he was conscripted to serve a 2-year tour of duty in
Vietnam

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 Over 15 000 Australians served as conscripts in the Australian Army in Vietnam, of whom 200 were killed
o When the first conscripts died, opposition developed from student groups at universities, including the
group Youth Campaign Against Conscription, which organised protests and the burning of national
service papers
 Opposition escalated when a group of mothers formed the Save our Sons in 1965
o This group would organise hiding places for men who sough to avoid conscription
 From 1969, the movement seeped into mainstream society and the Australian trade union movement joined
opposition to the war, organisation protests and rallying its members
 The Moratorium to end the war in Vietnam marches of 1970-71 illustrated the extent of opposition to the war,
as hundreds of thousands of people gathered in major cities across Australia to protest against Australia’s role
in Vietnam
o Last Australian troops were withdrawn from Vietnam in 1972

The My Lai Massacre and the Pentagon Papers

 Anti-war Movement was strengthened by various revelations in the media showing the brutality of the conflict
– information that the US government had tried to keep from the American people
 First revelation came in May 1969 – When the New York Times published details of Nixon’s secret bombing
campaign in Cambodia which had commenced in March that year
 Further damage to the new presidential administration occurred when the atrocity became known as My Lai
Massacre which was made public in November 1969
o The Massacre took place on 16TH OF March 1968, was a mass killing of hundreds of unarmed
Vietnamese civilians by US troops in South Vietnam
o Victims included men, women, children and infants
o One American soldier, Lieutenant Willian Calley, was convicted, but he only served 3 and half years
under house arrest before he was pardoned by Nixon
o The Massacre and attempts to cover it up were revealed led to public outrage

Following the My Lai Massacre outage, more (previously hidden) information leaked out to the public about the US
Government’s reason for being involved in Vietnam and its lack of confidence about how the conflict was developing.

 The most influential of these revelations were the ‘Pentagon Papers’, where were published by the New York
Times in 1971. These revealed a number of attempted presidential cover-ups.
o Documents proved that successive presidential administrations had misled the public as to their actual
intentions in Vietnam
Revelations from the Pentagon Papers included:

 Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara stated that the Eisenhower administration supported the South
Vietnamese Ngo Dinh Diem regime ‘not to help a friend, but to contain China’
 Kennedy’s administration knew of plans to overthrow South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem
 Johnson’s promise to the nation to ‘seek no wider war’ after the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964 was dales.
He intensified convert warfare campaigns and planned overt campaigns from this time
 Johnson ordered the bombing of North Vietnam in 1965, despite intelligence advice arguing it would not
cause North Vietnamese to cease their support of the Viet Cong in South Vietnam

The Reasons for the Nature of the US withdrawal

 Tet offensive of 1968 had demonstrated the failure of the US military campaign in Vietnam against the
communist strategy of attrition
 The incompatibility of the ‘hearts and minds’ campaign with the attritional air and ground strategies amounted
to little tactical success
 The nationalistic sympathies of the rural South Vietnamese stayed with the Viet Cong and the North
Vietnamese and, although challenged by the failure of Tet to achieve its tactical objectives, the communist
forces remained in commanding position

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 Supply of Weapons and aid to the North from both the Soviet Union and China continued, and the Ho Chi
Minh trail remained open to supply future offensives
 The resolve of the Northern people remained firmly fixed behind their government’s aim to unify their
homeland
 American policy makers had thought the Ho Chi Minh’s primary intention was to spread communism
throughout the region. As war went on, they recognised that powerful nationalistic forces were at work in
Vietnam and the North’s key aim was national unity
 The US-friendly South Vietnam regime, which the Americans had helped to set up, never won wide
acceptance from people
o Rather, the harsh nature of the South’s regime was widely publicised, it served as, yet another tool
used by anti-war movement to challenge American involvement in the conflict
 End of 1960s, general support for the war in the United States had evaporated, making it impossible for any
presidential administration to sustain the war
o Nixon responded to the new zeitgeist (‘spirit of times’) in the US electorate announced that he would
end America’s involvement in 1973
 Nixon was determined to achieve his agenda of forcing North Vietnam to negotiate
o Strategy for doing this was the Operation Menu, converting a bombing campaign in Cambodia 1969,
designed to halt the communist infiltration into South Vietnam via the Ho Chi Minh and Sihanouk
Trails
o Nixon initiated the ruthless ‘Christmas bombing’ campaign, dropping 40 000 tonnes of bombs over
North Vietnam in December 1972
 The strategy that Nixon applied was to appear unpredictable, ruthless, and ready to do whatever it took to see
the end of the conflict. This position he took would become known as Nixon’s ‘madman theory’
Source: Harry Robbins ‘Bob’ Haldeman (Nixon’s Chief of Staff), The ends of power, 1978, p. 122
Nixon had been recorded confiding: ‘I want the North Vietnamese to believe I’ve reached the point where I might do
anything to stop the war’, and that he wanted them to think: ‘We can’t restrain him when he’s angry – and he has his
hand on the nuclear button’

 January 1973 – Representatives from the United States ad North Vietnam signed a peace treaty in Paris
which ended direct American involvement in Vietnam
 The North saw US withdrawal as a first step towards its eventual victory and a unified Vietnam
 US continued to aid the ARVN so that they could sustain their fighting force against the communist
 Peace in Vietnam became an element of this reduction in tensions between the superpowers

The Reason for the Communist Victory in Vietnam

Simple List:

 Guerrilla Warfare Tactics

 VC ability to blend into population
 VC support within the peasant population in the south
 Fear of the VC among the peasant population in the south
 Strength of Nationalism
 Strength and morale among communist forces
 Aid provided by the USSR and China
 Relevance of the ‘elephant and tiger’ analogy
 Failure of conventional warfare
 Lack of support and growing opposition to the war on the US home front
 Indiscriminate nature of bombing/ defoliant use/failed social policy (WHAM)
 Cultural insensitivity
 Tet
 Nixon and changed war aim

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 Corruption and inefficiency of the regime in the South
 ARVN capabilities
WHY WAS THE US DEFEATED IN THE VIETNAM WAR?
1. It was military factors which decided the outcome of the war. The VC/NVA used tactics appropriate to the
country while the US tried to fight a conventional war. Guerrilla warfare combined with the power of
Vietnamese nationalism proved to be far more effective in the end than the vast array of power that the US
was able to USE
2. The fundamental reasons for the failure of the US war effort was its inability to sustain a credible and viable
regime in South Vietnam. From the days of Dim, the SV was a corrupt and brutal regime that never earned the
loyalty from the population and was seen as a US puppet. This was a stark contrast to the dedicated members
of VC/NVA who were clearly driven by nationalist idealism and spirit of self-sacrifice, and inspired HO
3. The power and determination of NV decided the outcome of the war. Inspired by HO, the North was able to
harness Vietnamese nationalism and maintain morale. It supplied southern fighters because of the Ho Chi
Minh Trail and Soviet/Chinese aid. Tet practically destroyed the VC so the NVA was responsible for the
victory against the US
4. The Tet offensive was the key factor responsible for the US defeat. The Ter was a political and psychological
defeat. It boasted the anti-war movement, showed the American people the government had been lying. The
destroyed Johnsons and changed the media coverage of the war. This changed the US war aims from victory
toe getting out of war with minimum loss of face
5. It was the power of anti-war movement that ultimately decided the course of the Vietnam war. The cold war
consensus had backed the early US war effort and broke down the support for the war. No democratic
government could sustain a war that half the population was against. Anti-war feeling destroyed the
government’s will to win and did great harm to the morale of the US troops
6. The fundamental reason for the US defeat was its failure to understand the true nature of the conflict. To the
Americans the war was part of the cold war. The US approach prevented American leaders realising that the
issue had been about Vietnamese nationalism and opposition to foreign rule. Fighting for nationalism suited
guerrilla warfare and sustained morale
WHY DID THE SOUTHERN REGIME COLLAPSE SO QUICKLY?

 The Skill of General Dung

 The collapse of the Southern economy
 The discipline, strength, and dedication of the NVA
 Southern military and civilian panic
 Stepped up Soviet/Chinese supplies
 The end of American Aid

The Spread of Conflict to Cambodia and Laos

The war did not remain within the boundaries of North and South Vietnam but also affected the lives of Civilians in
neighbouring Cambodia and Laos. The war saw both countries heavily bombed by the Americans in their bid to halt
North Vietnamese infiltration via the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Furthermore, civilian lives in Cambodia and Laos
fundamentally transformed by the rise of communist-nationalist group in both countries and shape the destinies.

The Impact of conflict on Civilians in Cambodia and Laos

 Civilians and Laos had been affected since the communist nationalist Pathet Lao (‘Lao Nation’) was a
subbranch of the Viet Minh – began fighting a civil war against the French backed Royal Lao Army in 1953.
 The civil war in Lao reignited in 1957 when the US supported the Royal Lao government against the Pathet
Lao, as per the policy of containment, which direct the US would fight communist insurgency anywhere in the
world
 Kennedy inherited Eisenhower’s policy of treating Laos as an initial ‘domino’ to be defended. The impact of
the US policy in Laos first affected Hmong villages in Laos in 160. When the CIA started training and
teaching them how to fight the communists
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 Over the decade, number of CIA contr actors grew by 2000 per cent. At least 30,000 Hmong were killed in
the course of the conflict and following the US withdrawal it left the Hmong to face the enemy alone and led
to many refuges to flee the communist
 Many Civilians were affected by air raids in the covert Operation Barrel Roll, carried out by US air force
trained pilots in the Royal Laos Air force in 1964-73. The initial aim of the campaign was to assist the Royal
Lao forces to fight the Pathet Lao.
 (more pressuring concern for US) However, the increases in infiltration into the SV via the Ho Chi Minh Trail
snaked its way through Laos and Cambodia and became a target for the bombing
 Nixon’s aim was to empower the ARVN and protect the South from the NV forces while the US withdrew
troops
 To initiate this created the Operation Menu in March 1969 and later as Operation Freedom deal, 1970-73.
The purpose of these air attacks over Cambodia was to destroy the US intelligence reports had identified as
the HQ of ‘Central office for South Vietnam’.
Source: Historian Ben Kiernan and Owen Taylor
(Article ‘Roots of US troubles in Afghanistan’)
Civilian bombing Casualties and the Cambodia Precedent described how Nixon demanded the US air force ‘really go
in’ to Cambodia and ‘crack hell out of them’. The destructive activity was one of secrets kept from Congress and the
American people.

 The most damaging transformative impact on the lives of the Cambodians

The Reasons of the Communist Victories in Cambodia and Laos

The communist victories in Cambodia and Laos occurred in the same year that North Vietnam defeated the South and
set about unifying the country. As the successfully military offensive in Vietnam came to an end in April 1975,
Communist Khmer Rouge in Cambodia marched into the capital city of Phonm Penh and took control of the city and
its people. This action brought an end to the brutal civil war which the Khmer Rouge had been fighting against the
US-backed government of Lon Nol since 1971. In Laos, the reduction of US support to the regime saw the
communist Pathet Lao defeat government forces take over the country from June 1975

The Communist Victory in Cambodia

 Under the administration of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia managed to stay independent form US,
China or Soviet influence until 1969-70
 Sihanouk had been successful because of his political skills and because of Cambodians’ traditional reverence
for his royal background
 He kept the Cambodian people out of the conflicts raging throughout Indochina, as he recognised Cambodia
would suffer if it took sides
 However, the US through his decisions to nationalise Cambodia’s banks in 1963 (a policy common to
communist governments), and diplomatic relations with the US were broken in 1965
 Sihanouk’s ‘see-saw’ policy and desperate attempt at non-alignment were reflected in the re-establishment of
relations with the US in 1969
 Simultaneously, NVA and Viet Cong troops were occupying parts of Cambodia territory and the Ho Chi Minh
trail
 March 1970, while Sihanouk was out of the country, General Lon Nol, supported by the US, staged a coup
and took power in Cambodia.
 The same time, radical communists known as the Khmer Rogue were slowly gaining popularity and
influencing rural regions
 Up until 1969, the Khmer Rogue had achieved little success against the Sihanouk regime, but the US attacks
would benefit them greatly, as Khmer Rouge could use them as Propaganda tool to help them recruit rural
Cambodians to their cause
o Interviews with former Khmer Rogue members tells of fathers whose children had been killed by is
bombing joining the Khmer Rogue

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Source: Ben Kiernan and Taylor Owen
“When the big bombs and shells came (the ordinary people’s minds) just froze up they would wander around mute for
three or four days. Terrified and half-crazy, the people were ready to believe what they were told… They kept on
cooperating with the Khmer Rouge, joining up with the Khmer Rouge…”

 Upon his return to the country, Sihanouk himself inflated the ranks of the Khmer Rouge when he decided to
join forces and form a political coalition with them.
 Sihanouk’s decisions created the platform for the rise of regime as people flocked to an organisation that had
the backing of their former sovereign
 The Khmer Rouge, used and then discarded Sihanouk on their rise to power, were now strong enough to
commence a brutal civil war with the Lon Nol government from 1971.
 By 1975, Lon Nol had been forced out of power and the Khmer Rouge occupied the Cambodian Capital
Phnom Penh

The Communist Victory in Laos

 Laos had been a French colony and was later occupied by the Japanese WW2
 Laos was returned to the French in 1946, Ho Chi Minh’s Indochinese Communist party assisted on Laotian
nationalist freedom fighter group, the Pathet Lao, to fight the French
 Pathet Lao were motivated by nationalist endeavour to end foreign rule in Laos bring a communist system to
the nation
 Following the departure of the French power was handled over to the Royal Lao government
 Moves were made to establish more representative coalition government to include view of independence
groups that had formed in opposition to the French occupation
 By 1956, the coalition between royalists and the Pathet Lao had been established in the 1954 Geneva accords
had broken down
 In accordance with its containment policy, the US now began carrying out large-scale bombing over Laos in
support of the Royal Lao army and against the NV backed Pathet Lao
 Despite American support, the NVA fighters in Laos effectively neutralised the government forces and the
American withdrawal from Indochina in 1973 left them severely depleted
 Vietnam in April 1975, the Pathet Lao began taking control of major towns and cities from June 1975, with
the fall of the capital city Vientiane occurring in December that year

Democratic Kampuchea under Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge

Aims and impact of the Regime, Foreign Policy

 Following the takeover by Pol Pot of the Khmer Rouge

 He set about conducting one of the most ruthless campaigns undertaken to transform the social and political
life of the country
 It ended up with one third of people being dead in Cambodia
 Domestic aims of the regime can be seen in a radical policy that focused on building a country inhabited by
classless, peasant-based agricultural society
 Pol Pot planned to take Cambodia back to ‘Year Zero’ – removing and destroying all historical culture and
traditions replacing them with a new revolutionary ideology from scratch
 Radical aims, reflecting the xenophobic paranoia (fear of outsiders (irrational feeling that someone is
threatening you)) of the Khmer Rouge, were formalised in eight guiding principles produced at a conference
in May 1975
Source: Samuel Totten and Paul Bartrop
“Evacuate people from all towns. Abolish all Markets. Abolish currency. Defrock Buddhist monks and put them to
work in the fields. Execute all officials of the Lon Nol government. Create cooperatives right across the country and
introduce communal eating. Expel from Cambodia the minority Vietnamese population. Send troops to safeguard the
borders especially the border with Vietnam”

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– Modern History – Topic 3 – 2020
 Immediately after seizing power Khmer Rouge began burning books, destroying public buildings and
emptying the city of Phnom Penh of its 2 million people, who were forced into rural areas
 Once the Khmer Rouge had the cities and towns firmly under control, the next step was to expand their
domination across rural Cambodia
 Many people began to work 12 hours a day on collective farms under the iron hand of the guards who
watched their every move
 In 1976 the Khmer Rouge engineered a 4 – year economic plan with the aim of modernising the agricultural
sector
 As part of the plan, rice-yield targets were established, which the collective farms were expected to reach
 Targets were very high and as a result overseer started to falsify the rice statistics to protect themselves
against the regime that did not accept failure. However, the inflated statistics led to a situation where rice was
exported to other communist countries while Cambodian citizens were left starving –
Source: David Chandler – “Several other practices were put in place. These included long working hours for everyone
(known as ‘following the sun’), rejection of Western-Style medicine, and an abolition of play. People with glasses
were assumed to be capitalists, as those with pale skin and soft hands were taken off to be killed. Work in the fields
began before sunrise and ended long after dark, with only short breaks in between”

 Impact of the Khmer Rouge policies also affected Cambodian intellectuals and property owners. Schools and
hospitals were closed across the country, private property became the property of the state
 Cambodians were advised to beware of spies and potential enemies of the new regime. This fear of ‘enemies’
gave rise to mass murder and concentration camps (called ‘re-education centrers’)
o Tuol Sleng was converted from a high school into a place of torture and interrogation
 Staggering example of the persecution of intellectuals was in 1979 only 707 out 2300 Cambodian secondary
school teachers remained alive
 Yale University Genocide program estimate that 1.7. million Cambodians lost their lives as both
Victims of organise violence and the great famine and ensured as a result of the radical egalitarian
(relating to the principle that all people are equal and deserve opportunities) collectivisation plans
 Khmer Rouge foreign policy was aimed at protecting itself from foreign invasion
 Kampuchea remained for the most part closed to the West
 China assisted the regime in Cambodia with economic aid to support the implementation of the 4-year plan.
While international relations with the Vietnamese were positive, they too turned sour
 Regime leaders hated Vietnamese and shared a collective paranoia about their intentions. Feared that Vietnam
might try creating Indochinese Federation with Vietnam at the top
 From 1977, border raids in Vietnam territory and the violent execution of the villagers prompted the
Vietnamese to invade Cambodia on 7th of January 1979
 Their plan to remove Pol Po and replace his government with a communist regime more sympathetic to Hanoi
 Took 17 days for Vietnam to be overrun the Cambodia forces. Pol Pot fled to Wester Cambodia and a new
government was formed

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