Name:
Date:
Guided Notes: Messy Situation/Origins of Vietnam War
Answer the Questions to the best of your
abilities and work with a partner
Where is Vietnam located?
What nation was the first nation to occupy
and colonize Vietnam?
Who is pictured in these two photos?
What economic systems did these two sides
advocate for?
Period:
Fill in the Blank
Vietnam is a country in South East Asia that
had been under colonial control of the
French since the 19th Century.
During WWII Japanese forces invaded
Vietnam.
After the defeat of the Japanese, Ho Chi
Minh saw an opportunity and rose up with
his Viet Minh forces and took Hanoi a
northern city in Vietnam.
While Ho Chi Minh was taking the north a
French backed leader was taking the South
and made their capital Saigon.
Both sides wanted a unified Vietnam.
Write your response down to the question
below and then discuss with your group
mates what conclusion you came to.
If both sides seemingly wanted the same
thing which was a unified Vietnam then why
was there the need for bloodshed? Based on
what you know about the two sides why
would you say they had such difficulty
unifying?

What is being represented in this image?
What is the significance of what is being
represented in the image above?
Who is pictured in this image?
Ho Chi Minh was a communist.
Bao Dai was backed by the West and
believed strongly in capitalism.
This caused a divide between the two leaders
and their respective sides.
The split between the communist North and
the French backed South would lead to
significant fighting
The North would eventually win a decisive
battle and a treaty was signed in 1954, that
divided the country along the 17th parallel.
The treaty also called for nationwide
elections to reunify to be held in 1956.
In 1955 the leader of the South Vietnamese
was pushed aside and replaced with the
extremely anti-communist Ngo Dinh Diem.
Diem would become the leader of South
Vietnam.
Dwight D. Eisenhower and the U.S. at this
point in history were very anti-communist
and were doing everything in their power to
stop its spread.
The idea of Domino Theory originated during
this time.
With the fear of communism firmly in the
mind of Americans at this time Eisenhower
pledged to support the South Vietnamese
with aid, and supplies.
 With the new American support Diem's
security forces began cracking down on the
Viet Cong.
The security forces arrested nearly 100,000
Viet Cong, and of these many were tortured
and killed.
In 1961 a team of U.S. officials were sent to
South Vietnam to assess the situation, and
they advised the young president, John F.
Kennedy to increase aid, and troop count in
the region to combat the Viet Cong.

Who are the A military coup led by Diem's generals

men pictured in the two images and why are succeeded in killing him and his brother.
they important characters in the Vietnam This instability along with assassination of
War? JFK led the new President LBJ to further
increase troop count in Vietnam

Describe your reaction to the statistics
represented in this table.
An incident occurred at the Gulf of Tonkin in
which two DRV torpedo boats attacked two
U.S. Destroyers
This would go on to result in the drafting of
the Gulf of Tonkin resolution in the U.S.
Congress.
The Gulf of Tonkin resolution would go on
to give LBJ broad war-making powers.
This would further increase U.S. presence in
the region, and increase the bombing
campaign as well. This increased bombing
was codenamed Operation Rolling Thunder.