Path+To+War

=VIETNAM - THE PATH TO WAR =

You all know that the United States was involved in a major military conflict during the Cold War ... but why? What was America's "path to war"? Using the resources below and Creating America, your task this evening is to write a description in YOUR OWN WORDS of the causes of American involvement in Southeast Asia. Pretend you are writing it as a summary for on online encyclopedia or textbook. Your description should ...


 * be between two and four paragraphs
 * contain the following terms - France, Ho Chi Minh, communism, Ngo Dinh Diem, military advisers, Gulf of Tonkin
 * be IN YOUR OWN WORDS (remember, it's easy to check this online)
 * contain two images THAT RELATE TO YOUR WRITING
 * Should end with the first Marines landing in Vietnam in 1965


 * Vietnam--The Path to War**

Until the end of World War II, **France** ruled over Vietnam as its colony of French Indochina; France ruled over Laos and Cambodia as well. While the French prospered while they dictated, many Vietnamese lost their land and fell into poverty. Because of these problems, the Vietnamese never accepted French rule. In 1930, **Ho Chi Minh** united three Communist groups to form the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP); this party wanted Vietnam to be independent and controlled by the people. After World War II, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent, but France did not like this and war broke out between France and Viet Minh, an organization ran by Ho Chi Minh.

The United States sought out to help France because they feared the spread of **Communism** in Southeast Asia, but even with their help, France could not defeat the Viet Minh. During peace talks with the Viet Minh, they came to an agreement to divide Vietnam into North and South along the 17th parallel. Ho Chi Minh and the Communists controlled North Vietnam and **Ngo Dinh Diem**, an anti-Communist, became prime minister, and later, president of South Vietnam. The separate sides then agreed to hold elections for a single government to unite the whole country. Diem had little support from the people in Vietnam, therefore Eisenhower decided not to hold a national election.

After Kennedy had been elected president, he continued to send **military advisers** and equipment to South Vietnam to support Ngo Dinh Diem. Soon, the Kennedy administration lost hope in Diem and with U.S. support, a military coup overthrew Diem on November 1, 1963. After Diem was killed, chaos spread in South Vietnam. After the numerous attacks in Vietnam, President Johnson asks congress to pass the **Gulf of Tonkin** Resolution; this gave the president the power to use military force in Vietnam. After this, the U.S. Marines were the first combat troops sent to South Vietnam in 1965 to help fight.

 Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the Communist rebellion in Vietnam.

First U.S. Marine troops sent into combat at Da Nang, South Vietnam.