Propaganda

This picture is of a U.S propaganda poster.It states "Men with a Purpose." It's trying to get people to enlist in the air force by making them feel as if they are fighting for a good cause.

This picture is of a U.S propaganda poster. It is promoting public support for the Vietnam War. It is also promoting the fight to stop the spread of communism.

This picture is actually of a current war propaganda poster in the U.S. It is comparing the Vietnam war and the war in Iraq. This shows the little U.S support for the Vietnam War.

This is a picture of a chart representing the number of casualties in Vietnam. This shows just how harsh the fighting conditions were. Many lives were lost to this war.

Causes

French rule was harsh over Vietnam during WWII. When Vietnam gained independence, it was split up between northern communist Vietnam and southern anti-communist Vietnam. South Vietnam was under the threat of a communist take over by its neighboring country. The Gulf of Tonkin incident, where North Vietnam supposedly opened fire on the U.S.S. Maddox, also provoked the war. Finally, Truman signed the SEATO treaty stating that all countries under the threat of communism would receive aid from the United States. These factors all caused the Vietnam War to begin.

This picture represents the SEATO Treaty. This document was signed by President Truman. It stated that any country under the threat of communism would receive aid from the United States.

Setting

The Vietnam War was fought mostly on Southern Vietnam soil. Some was fought in North Vietnam, and other parts were fought in Cambodia and Laos. The fighting conditions were extremely harsh during the war. The soldiers were not prepared for the unforgiving monsoons that caused it to rain for months on end, flooding the cities and making fighting difficult. The land was mostly jungle, also catching the U.S soldiers off guard and making them unprepared. The Vietnamese soldiers set up booby traps and fought with everything they had. Many Veterans suffered from PTSD due to all of the horrors they saw over in Vietnam. The setting was extremely harsh and unforgiving.

This picture shows soldiers in Vietnam. The mud shows how rainy and wet it became due to the monsoons. Soldiers were not prepared to fight in these conditions.

U.S Involvement

There were many factors that played in to the U.S deciding to get involved in the Vietnam War. The Gulf of Tonkin incident was one of the major things tat provoked U.S involvement. It was believed that North Vietnam had attacked the U.S.S Maddox, and this provoked the war. Another reason the U.S felt the need to get involved was to save the Southern Vietnamese from the communist take over. Since Truman had signed the SEATO treaty, the country felt obligated to help out. Finally, the main reason the U.S got involved was to stop the spread of communism. The domino theory was that soon country after country would be taken over by communism due to the strong power in their neighboring countries. The U.S was going to do their best to put a stop to it.

 This picture shows some U.S troops. They are in Vietnam ready to battle. Although they were unprepared for the conditions, they still had the advantage.

Home Front

The Vietnam War had little to no supporters back home. Protests broke out all over, mostly filled with anti-war college students. They felt that the U.S should not be involved in Vietnam. One reason was because they saw it as we were not really helping the Southern Vietnamese, rather than just making things worse and fighting for a lost cause. They also felt that we were supporting a corrupt government since South Vietnam didn’t have any democracy anyway. They also felt that there was no purpose for the U.S to be there and that soldiers were dieing for no cause. These things all caused a huge anti-war protest movement. Veterans went underappreciated since the war and little to no support on its home front.

 

This pictures shows some Vietnam protesters. The sign they are holding says, "Get the Hell Out of Vietnam." This shows their anti-war views and how they felt that the U.S should not be involved in the conflict.

This picture shows more Vietnam protesters. They are screaming and holding signs that say "End the War in Vietnam NOW!" This also shows their anti-war views.

End of the War

The ending of the war came with the withdrawal of U.S troops. Vietnamization is where Nixon continued the gradual pullout of troops and put faith in the ability of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to assume the burden of war. The Paris Peace Accords were also signed. These papers stated that the U.S would pull out their troops and that war would cease. The conflict was to be settled without any fighting, but rather through discussion between the countries. This allowed North Vietnam to maintain captured land, called for a cease fire, and release all prisoners of war. This brought an end to the Vietnam War.

This is a picture of the New York Times. It was printed on the day the Paris Peace Accords were signed. This was the start of the end of the Vietnam War.