Overview of Vietnam War

In this essay, the author

• Describes the vietnam war as a lengthy and costly armed conflict involving the communist north vietnamese regime known as the viet cong, south vietnam and the united states.
• Explains how ho chi minh formed the viet to fight against the french colonial administration and seized hanoi after the japanese withdrew.
• Explains how ngo dihn diem, a strongly anti-communist, ousted the french backed emperor bao and became president of the newly formed republic of vietnam.
• Narrates how the vietnam war escalated under the presidency of johnson, with the permission of congress, allowing for recurring bombings under operation rolling thunder.
• Explains that the strategy for war was simple: a war of attrition, the military's primary goal was to kill as many enemy troops as possible, to wear them down.
• Explains that there were 500,000 american soldiers stationed in vietnam in 1967 with 15,000 killed and more than 100,000 wounded. the war received tons of media coverage and many american's were vocally opposed to the war.
• Explains that winning a long-drawn-out war requires more than powerful military. without support to back up and defend the war, it became harder to continue with the occupation.
• Explains that the antiwar movement opposed the vietnam war for both moral and ethical grounds along with economic reasons. they saw the american leaders only attacking to protect foreign interests and supporting the corrupt regime in south vietnam.
• Explains that the antiwar movement was a huge factor in the ending of the war and when peaceful protests became ineffective with demands and questions being ignored, demonstrations turned violent.
• Analyzes how king's opposition to the vietnam war cost him a substantial amount of support among white allies, including president johnson, union leaders, publishers and journalists.
• Explains that nixon introduced a new method for fighting the war in vietnam, which involved withdrawing american troops to limit further casualties, increasing aerial and artillery bombing, and giving south vietnam control over ground operations.
• Narrates how nixon ended the draft and called for a volunteer army for the next year. after multiple failed offensives, the u.s and north vietnam compromised and created peace agreement.
• Explains that the war between north vietnam and south vietnam did not end when the u.s made peace agreements, and continued until april 30, 1975 when north vietnamese forces captured saigon, the south vietnamese capital.
• Explains that the vietnam war destroyed the american belief that they were invincible. many veterans returning from war also experienced negative reactions from both war opponents and supporters.
• Cites the u.s. history textbook "55d. the antiwar movement." the sixties in america.