strategy of revolutionary war

Strategy of Revolutionary War

Lesson Objectives

• Understand the Vietnam War as part of the Cold War.

• Be able to describe the evolution of U.S. policy toward Indochina from Presidents Roosevelt to Eisenhower.

• Understand and describe the challenges posed by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) against the south.

• Understand and describe the situation in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) after 1959 and the RVN reaction to the challenge from the north.

• Understand the doctrine of limited war and counterinsurgency as espoused by the Kennedy Administration.

• Understand the timeline of events that led to U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia.

The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War

To understand the Vietnam War, you only need two books:

Both are available online

Link Link

The Vietnam War

Technically, The Second Indochina War

or

The Southeast Asia War

French Indochina

Southeast Asia

Central Highlands

The Delta

Terms

Viet Minh: Communist independence movement in Vietnam, founded 1941

VC: Viet Cong, political/military insurgent group in South Vietnam (1959-1975)

NLF: National Liberation Front, formal name for Viet Cong

DRV: Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam)

PAVN: Peoples Army of Vietnam (North Vietnamese Army, also NVA)

RVN: Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)

ARVN: Army of the Republic of Vietnam

COSVN: Central Office for South Vietnam, US term for NLF HQ

Surrender CeremonyTokyo Bay, September 2, 1945

Newsreel - 8:36

First Indochina War1945 - 1954

Viet Minh France

vs.

Ho Chi Minh1890 - 1969

Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DVR) Declared September 2, 1945

Vietnamese Declaration of Independence

"All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth, all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free.

The Declaration of the French Revolution made in 1791 on the Rights of Man and the Citizen also states: "All men are born free and with equal rights, and must always remain free and have equal rights."

<snip> Source

Hanoi - September 2, 1945

Ho Chi Minh

George Washington or Joe Stalin?

Ho Chi Minh

Born Nguyen Sinh Cung

Adopted name “Ho Chi Minh around 1940 in China

Chi = spirit Minh = light => “~ enlightened spirit”

(May 19, 1890)

Ho Chi Minh

Ho Chi Minh with American OSS* agents

* Office of Strategic Services (forerunner of CIA)

Fought against French, then Japanese in WW II

Formed Viet Minh in 1941 as an independence movement

Indochina

Truman pledged to return Indochina to France after WW II


Viet Minh France

vs.

Ho Chi Minh1890 - 1969

Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DVR) Declared September 2, 1945

Viet Minh began a long, bitter war with French• US supported France• Chinese Communists, USSR supported Viet Minh

Was fought as a guerilla war …

A war of national liberation

What if …HANOI FEBRUARY 26 1946

TELEGRAM

PRESIDENT HOCHIMINH VIETNAM DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC HANOI

TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WASHINGTON DC

ON BEHALF OF THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE I BEG TO INFORM YOU

THAT IN THE COURSE OF CONVERSION BETWEEN VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT AND FRENCH

REPRESENTATIVES THE LATTER REQUIRE THE SECESSION OF COCHINCHINA AND THE

RETUN OF FRENCH TROOPS IN HANOI STOP MEANWHILE FRENCH POPULATION AND TROOPS

ARE MAKING ACTIVE PREPARATIONS FOR A COUP DE MAIN IN HANOI AND

FOR MILITARY AGGRESSION STOP I THEREFORE MOST EARNESTLY APPEAL TO YOU

PERSONALLY AND TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO INTERFERE URGENTLY IN SUPPORT

OF OUR INDEPENDENCE AND HELP MAKING THE NEGOTIATIONS MORE IN KEEPING WITH

THE PRINCIPLES OF THE ATLANTIC AND SAN FRANCISCO CHARTERS.

RESPECTFULLY

HOCHIMINH

Viet Minh Strategy


Objective: The seizure of power in a nation-state …

Characteristics:

• Integrated military conflict and political conflict

• War on multiple fronts• Geographical• Programmatic

… by any means possible


Characteristics of Political Conflict

• Political, diplomatic, psychological, ideological, sociological, economic components

• Mobilize people into conflict

• Undermine morale, loyalty of population

• Undermine morale, loyalty of state military

• Three programs


Phase I: Targeted state stronger militarily

Phase II: Rough military parity

Phase III: Revolution stronger than targeted state

• Revolutionaries avoid combat• Guerrilla war: raids, ambushes, sabotage, terrorism• Political conflict predominant

• Combined guerrilla and conventional war• Military and political conflict equally important

• Revolutionary forces go to totally conventional war• “General Offensive” linked to political “Great Uprising”


General Characteristics

• It is a total war

• It is waged with total unity of effort

• It is, by necessity and choice, a protracted war

• It stresses gaining and keeping the initiative

• It is a changing war (shift between phases)

• It is a mosaic war (different phases, different areas)

Davidson


Viet Minh France

vs.

War ended with defeat of French forces at Dien Bien Phu (May 7, 1954)

* After end of Korean War (July 1953), China funneled aid to the Viet Minh

Conflict transitioned to Phase III revolutionary war

Dien Bien Phu

“ … greatest defeat in French history.”

Significance: First Indochina War

Did not settle principle issues over which it was fought:

• Political unity of Vietnam

• Vietnam's independence from foreign influence

George Herring Lecture: First Indochina War (55:37)

Created basis for second war

Dictated the way that war would be fought

• Strategy that worked against French would work against US

- First Indochina war judged insignificant by US military

- - Only after US was bogged down was there an interest in this war

Geneva AccordsApril 27, 1954

Viet Minh State of Vietnam

Divided Vietnam into two independentlyadministered parts

Unification to follow elections in July 1956

US did not support the accords

Geneva AccordsApril 27, 1954

Viet Minh State of Vietnam

"In connection with the statement in the Declaration concerning free elections in Vietnam, my government wishes to make clear its position which it has expressed in a Declaration made in Washington on June 29, 1954, as follows: 'In the case of nations now divided against their will, we shall continue to seek unity through free elections, supervised by the United Nations to ensure they are conducted fairly'"

The elections never occurred

U.S. Under-Secretary of State Walter Bedell Smith

17th parallel

Vietnam

So why did we get involved in Vietnam?

• Munich

Roots of U.S. Strategic MindsetFor Vietnam War

Legacy of Munich

No historical event has exerted more influence on post-World War II U.S. use-of-force decisions than the Anglo-French appeasement of Nazi Germany that led to the outbreak of the Second World War.

Jeffrey Record“Appeasement Reconsidered: Investigating the Mythology of the 30’s”US Army Strategic Studies Institute, August 2005

Legacy of Munich

( 31:01 )DoD Orientation Film (1965 )

• Munich


• Truman Doctrine (Containment)

Truman DoctrineMarch 12, 1947

US foreign policy designed to stop spread of Communism

Pledged to provide economic and military aid to Greece and Turkey

US foreign policy transitioned from détent to

(2:30)

containment

• Munich



• Chinese Intervention in Korea

Korean War

Approaching the Yalu RiverOctober-November 1950

Korean War

China Enters the WarNovember 1950 - January 1951

• Munich




• Domino Theory

Domino Theory

Term coined by President Dwight D. Eisenhower (April 7, 1954)

Described how, if one country in Asia fell to Communism, others would follow in succession.

• Munich



• Domino Theory

• Cuban Missile Crisis

What were the U.S. objectives in Vietnam?

Stated: Preserve a non-Communist government in South Vietnam

Why Vietnam?

Understood: Containment

Nuclear weapons nullified all previous military theory

U.S. Post-WW II Attitude

Problem:

• Total war (nuclear) unthinkable

• Future wars would be limited

One country’s limited war = Another country’s total war

U.S. Attitude Toward Vietnam

Eisenhower (1954-1961): US Military Assistance

• Trained ARVN to resist cross-border invasion

Kennedy (1961-1963): Counterinsurgency

• Resisted by US military leaders

Johnson (1963-1969): Limited War

• Attempted to force North Vietnam to negotiate

Nixon (1969-1973): Vietnamization

• Increased pressure on North Vietnam to negotiate

South Vietnam

The Republic of Vietnam

Ngo Dinh Diem

1901 - 1963

President of Republic of Vietnam (RVn) 1955-1963

Ngo Dinh Diem

Led effort to establish RVn after Geneva Accords

Elected president in 1955

Catholic in a majority Buddhist nation

Staunchly anti-Communist

Supported by US in early years

Ngo Dinh Diem

Took a hard line against Buddhist majority

Protests put down violently

World-wide attention from monk’s self-immolation (June 1963)

This plus growing insurgency caused US to lose faith in Diem

Instituted unpopular strategic hamlet program (1961)

Ngo Dinh Diem

Toppled by US-sanctioned coup (November 2, 1963)

He and his brother assassinated by generals

• Not US intention

RVn plagued by series of coups over next few years

• Counterinsurgency effort faltered

Cronkite, Vietnam War Seeds of War - 14:38 - 22:38

US reconsidered its strategy in Vietnam

Viet Cong

National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF)

“Vietnamese Communists”

• Local insurgent forces fighting against the Republic of Vietnam

• Founded 1960 (some mark this as start of 2nd Indochina War)

North Vietnam

Democratic Republic of Vietnam ( DRV )

Timeline

The Stage is Set

Mar 59 Ho Chi Minh declares People’s War to unite Vietnam

May 59 DRV establishes Central Office of South Vietnam (COSVN) Oversee coming war in South Vietnam

May 59 NVA* unit established to construct, maintain Ho Chi Minh Trail

Apr 60 DVR establishes universal conscription “for the duration”

* North Vietnamese Army

References

Col. Harry G. Summers, USA (Ret)On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War

Interview with Harry Summers:

http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/conversations/Summers/summers2.html

Lt. Gen. Phillip B. Davidson, USA (Ret)Secrets of the Vietnam War

Vietnam: In Search of a Strategy

Lesson Objectives

• Understand the timeline of events that led to the decision for major U.S. troop deployments to Southeast Asia in 1965.

• Be able to articulate the issues and discussions surrounding the 1965 decision to escalate the war in Vietnam.

• Understand the evolution of U.S. objectives and strategy for the Vietnam War.

Terms

Viet Minh: Communist independence movement in Vietnam, founded 1941

VC: Viet Cong, political/military insurgent group in South Vietnam (1959-1975)

NLF: National Liberation Front, formal name for Viet Cong

DRV: Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam)

PAVN: Peoples Army of Vietnam (North Vietnamese Army, also NVA)

RVN: Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)

ARVN: Army of the Republic of Vietnam

COSVN: Central Office for South Vietnam, US term for NLF HQ

strategy of revolutionary war

Documents

vietnam warthe vietnam

republic of vietnam

ho chi minhho chi minh

ho chi minh1890

viet minhfrancevs

republic of vietnamcosvn

ho chi minhgeorge washington

ww iiformed viet minh