Anglistics Study Programme Anglophone Studies II USA Week

Anglistics Study Programme Anglophone Studies II USA Week 8 Notes Anglistics Study Programme www. singidunum. ac. rs/admission

Anglistics Study Programme Anglophone Studies II Week 8 Notes • Material covered from “An Illustrated History of the USA” • Chapter 30, The Vietnam Years-p 124

Anglistics Study Programme The Vietnam Years -Vietnam-in Southeast Asia, used to be a French colony, in 1954 they were driven out by soldiers of communist Ho Chi Minh. Like Korea, Vietnam was divided into two-Communist in the north, noncommunist in the South. Next step meant to be election for the govt. as a whole-but it never took place -primarily because the govt. of South Vietnam feared Ho Chi Minh and the communists would win-he set out to unite Vietnam by war. He ordered sabotage and terrorism against S. Vietnam. The Americans, in their plan to stop communism worldwide, had already helped the French against Ho, but now also sent weapons and advisors to S. Vietnam.

Anglistics Study Programme The Vietnam Years, contd. • -Containment especially important to Americans in Vietnam because of Eisenhower’s ‘domino theory’-it said that since Asia had a lot of unsettled countries, if one of them, such as Vietnam, fell to communism, the rest would follow-especially worried communist China would try to take control over Southeast Asia as the USSR had done in Eastern Europe. This is why in the 50’s and 60’s Eisenhower and later Kennedy poured American money and weapons into S. Vietnam-Kennedy also sent soldiers to advise and train the South Vietnamese forces

Anglistics Study Programme The Vietnam Years, contd. • -by early 60’s evident that the govt. of S. Vietnam was losing to Ho Chi Minh’s guerilla army of 10 K men-called the Vietcong. Many were communists from the North who had made their way to the South through the jungle, and eventually controlled large areas of S. Vietnam by 1965 -American-backed govt. was close to collapse.

Anglistics Study Programme The Vietnam Years, contd. -now prez LBJ faced the choice of leaving Vietnam, letting communists take over OR sending in American troops to stop them-he was worried about domino theory, so he sent in American soldier (had already sent in American aircraft to bomb railways and bridges in N. Vietnam previously)-by 1968, 500 K American soldiers fighting in S. Vietnam. Russians and Chinese sent more weapons and supplies to Ho Chi Minh, and his troops marched south to fight the Americans.

Anglistics Study Programme The Vietnam Years, contd. • Vietnam war: ambushes, sudden attacks, ordinary villagers helped and protected the Vietcong-out of fear, or sympathythis means Americans often had no enemy to strike back at. Americans grew angry, frustrated, sprayed the countryside with deadly chemicals, burned down villages suspecting of sheltering the Vietcong-fighting continued-LBJ escalated war by bombing cities in N. Vietnam to make them sue for peace-the suffering was captured on film and broadcast on TV from the comfort of homes in America, Americans looked like cruel, bullying monsters-causing bitter disagreements in the U. S. , by the end of the 60’s many were sick and ashamed of the killing and destruction-LBJ realized that sending American soldiers to fight in Vietnam had essentially trapped the country-the war was ruining his good name in the world, and setting people against one another. Bombing stopped in 1968, started to look for peace.

Anglistics Study Programme The Vietnam Years, contd. • -Nixon in 1969 prez-he also wanted out of Vietnam, but also wanted to do so in a way that it didn’t look as if America had been defeated-his plan was the Vietnamization of the war-sought to strengthen the S. Vietnamese army to make it seem strong enough to defend S. Vietnam without help-giving him an excuse to start withdrawing American soldiers from Vietnam. Sent Henry Kissinger, his adviser on foreign affairs, for secret talks with the N. Vietnamese and Russian leaders in Moscow. In return for a ceasefire, he offered to withdraw all American troops from Vietnam within 6 months. When N. Vietnam was slow to agree he started bombing their cities to persuade them-a sort of agreement was put together in Jan. 1973, and by March of 1973 the last American soldiers had left. The true end of the Vietnam war came in May 1975, though. That’s when victorious communist tanks rolled into Saigon, the capital of S. Vietnam, they marked it their victory by changing the name to Ho Chi Minh City. Twenty years earlier in Korea, Americans had claimed victory for containment, but in Vietnam it was evident to all that they had failed.

Anglistics Study Programme The Vietnam Years, contd. -protest songs by Bob Dylan • -Kent State-university in Ohio, protest there, as everywhere, against war in Vietnam, 4 students were killed when fired on by soldiers. This showed how deeply the Vietnam war was dividing the American people.

Anglistics Study Programme Recommended Audiovisual Resources for Week 8 • Apocalypse Now • The Wonder Years (tv series) • Hair-the musical