Vietnam Coursework Sources Questions

Study Source A

What can you learn from Source A about the reasons for US involvement in South Vietnam?

Source A is written by John F Kennedy in 1965, which is four years before he became President. This shows that the threat of communism abroad was a big worry to Americans not just the threat of communism in their own country. Tensions were still high at this time as America was just coming out of the McCarthy era. In source A Kennedy firstly describes the worries of communism spreading from the already communist Russia and China to other countries in eastern Asia such as Vietnam. This spread of communism from one country to another is known as the domino effect and was first mentioned by Eisenhower. From this you can learn that Vietnam was already a worry to Americans as people felt it make become a communist country. Kennedy then goes on to try and justify his argument against communism in Vietnam so you can see from this source that Americans felt Vietnam was an important issue. He describes how he feels that Vietnams economy is important was important and that the countries politics were very good. The fact that Kennedy describes Vietnam as such an important country shows that Americans would feel very against the country falling to communism.

Study Sources B and C

In what ways does the evidence of Sources B and help you understand the reasons for US involvement in South Vietnam?

Source B shows how the US government felt about the situation in Vietnam. Although the USA had not yet become directly involved with Vietnam the source still shows it is an important issue. Source B describes how the Americans felt about the actions of the North Vietnam Communist government. They felt the communist government was trying to conquer the people of South Vietnam. This idea that North Vietnam was forcing its views on South Vietnam by using weapons and violence made the American government look to the Truman doctrine. This gave Americans a justification to become involved in Vietnam because the Truman doctrine says that the United States must support people who have armed forces subjugation. In other words it made Americans feel they had the right to contain the spreading communism. Source C shows gives you a good idea of how many young men felt about the war when it first started. The source shows that to the young, war was seen as attractive. This meant that when the opportunity to fight for their country against the communist enemy in Vietnam came, many young men volunteered. The fact that America had never lost a war was also an added attraction to the young men who were volunteering to fight against the communists of North Vietnam. The source refers to Kennedy’s speech “ask what you can do for your country.” This was another reason for young American citizens to go and fight in Vietnam as they were living up to Kennedy’s challenge and doing something for their country and doing something for their country. The rest of source C does not give any reasons for US involvement in Vietnam but describes the kind of things these young American soldiers were doing in Vietnam. This war they were now fighting was very different to the expectation and formerly normal “set-piece” battles were very rare. This source was written by a volunteer who fought in Vietnam so his feelings were very likely to be the same as many young Americans at the time.

Study Sources C, D and E

Use the evidence of Sources C, D and E, and your own knowledge, to explain why the US forces were unable to defeat the Viet Cong.

Source C is written by a volunteer who fought in Vietnam so it is a reliable description of the kind of fighting that went on between the American and Viet Cong troops. Much of the army sent to Vietnam was made up of young recruits who had very little battle experience but they were trained to kill There were not fighting the kind of battles that were previously considered normal which was that you knew exactly where the enemy was. The Source describes how these “set-piece” battles were rare and they only thing they achieved were a few dead Viet Cong bodies. From this you can see that the American troops were fighting a new kind of enemy that they had never had any experience of fighting before. Source C then goes on to say that the main objective was just to kill which shows that the Americans had no real plan of how to stop the Viet Cong and the spread of communism. Source D is written by the leader of the communist movement, Ho chi Min. He describes the kind of methods the Viet Cong used that the US troops were not used to. These tactics, known as Guerrilla tactics, were hit and run and surprise tactics used by the Viet Cong. These methods used by the Viet Cong unnerved the US troops, as they never knew when or where the enemy could strike. This meant the Viet Cong had a great advantage in Psychological warfare. The American troops never knew where the enemy could come from and many injuries and deaths occurred when they didn’t even see the enemy. Booby traps were set by the Viet Cong that caused horrific deaths and injuries to the unexpecting Americans. Examples of these traps were pits in the ground with spikes in that were covered up so one wrong step and a person would fall to their death. This made the soldiers terrified to move around the jungle as a Viet Cong trap could be lurking anywhere. The Viet Cong had a series of underground tunnels they could escape into if they were ever pursued making it very difficult for the Americans to locate and kill any of them. The Americans were attacked without warning many times and then the attacks disappeared before the Americans could get any shots off. Source D also says that large battles that the US troops would have liked should not be fought unless they would definitely be won. Most of the fighting went on in the jungles of Vietnam instead which was also another advantage the Viet Cong had over the US troops as it was their own territory. Most of Vietnams terrain is covered in think jungle that the Vietnamese knew well and could navigate whereas the Americans couldn’t. Another way the Americans failed in Vietnam was the fact they did not treat the peasants of Vietnam very well whereas the Viet Cong were told to be good to the peasants and gain their support. Source E shows this because it is the instructions that the Viet Cong were given. The fact that the Viet Cong treated the peasants much better made them want to support them rather than the Americans who showed little respect. The US troops moved many of the Vietnamese into tempory Hamlets which did not please them so the feelings felt towards the US troops were not good at all. This was not good, as the very people they were trying to protect from the Viet Cong did not support them. This was a major failure of the Americans. Source E also shows how the Viet Cong were told to act just like the South Vietnamese civilians, “move like fish in water”, which made it almost impossible for the Americans to tell the difference between the two. This lead to the Americans killing many innocent people such as in Mai Lai. This meant America was fighting an unseen enemy.

Study Sources F, G and I.

How useful are these sources as evidence of the public’s reaction in the USA to the Vietnam War in the mid-1960’s?

This is a preview of the whole essay

Study Sources F, G and I.

How useful are these sources as evidence of the public’s reaction in the USA to the Vietnam War in the mid-1960’s?

Source F shows how the majority of the US public felt about Vietnam. It is useful for understanding how the public felt during the mid-1960s because it gives statistical information on the number of people who supported or opposed Vietnam due to television. It shows that the American public were not getting the full news coverage of Vietnam at this time because if they had been watching the failures and innocent lives being lost many more people would have been opposed to Vietnam. However, the source does not say how many people were asked and what kind of people were asked so it may not be entirely accurate. Source G is also useful for showing the publics reaction to Vietnam. It shows that the majority of the public felt Vietnam was a major issue faced by the USA for four years running. The source does not say whether these people supported or opposed Vietnam as it only tells you if they believed it was an important issue. The source also does not give information on how many people were asked so it may not be that reliable but I believe it probably is as Vietnam was the most important issue at this time. Source I shows the kind of War publicity that was beginning to come across to the USA’s public. It is useful for understanding why people would have begun to feel opposed to the war because it is an eye witness account of the My Lai massacre which was one of the main events that made people begin to think about what was going on in Vietnam. This kind of war publicity, along with photos and film were bound to change the views of the public as they showed the real events taking place in Vietnam and the horrific reality of the war. People were beginning to see how innocent people were being slaughtered and their friends and family who had gone to fight in Vietnam were being killed by a ferocious and usually unseen enemy. When this kind of war coverage began to come out and the American public began to see the truth about the war the majority would have felt opposed to the action that was taking place in Vietnam.

Study Sources G, H, I, J, K and L

Use the evidence of these sources, and your own knowledge, to explain why public opinion about the war in the USA changed between 1967 and 1970.

During the late 1960s the American public began to see real images of horrific scenes from Vietnam. A new kind of media was getting though and people were seeing what was happening to the young American GI’s and also the treatment of the Vietnamese. Source J is a photo that many people would have seen or something similar. It was this kind of media that began to show the truth behind the war in Vietnam and the terrible treatment of the Vietnamese. Photos were not the only kind of publicity getting through to the American public, films and articles were also released. Source I is an article that was written by a witness of the My Lai massacre. It describes the horrific treatment and murder of the Vietnamese who turned out to be completely innocent. People reading this kind out eyewitness account would have realised the terrible errors being made and would have felt against the war. The American public began to realise, as this kind of war coverage appeared, that the war was going far from well. Source G shows how before this kind of media came out people felt it was an important issue but this was probably due to the fear of communism rather than because the war was being lost. The fact that Vietnam was considered so important for four years funning shows that Americans would have wanted the war to go as successfully as possible. When people began to realise this was far from the truth they would have felt very against the war. It was not just the media that changed the opinions of many people. The fact that many families were losing young members to a supposedly inferior enemy was more than enough to start making people question the war. People received letters from friends and family describing the bad conditions in Vietnam and how bad things really were which made many people want their loved ones to come home. These letters would have made people feel very against Vietnam as they revealed how things were not going well at all. They also showed how miserable many of the soldiers were. Source K and L show the negative attitudes towards Vietnam, Source K is a song that shows how people felt Vietnam was pointless and should not be happening. This kind of song would have been heard by a wide variety of people and would have made people think about the situation in Vietnam. The fact that the song makes Vietnam sound ridiculous would have made people listening to it also feel it is a pointless waste of America’s resources and young lives. Source L, a cartoon, also shows the feeling that the war in Vietnam was pointless and ridiculous. It shows how America was trying to force its ideas and culture on people who it would not work on. The cartoon represents this very well and would have made people who saw it think about what exactly American was trying to achieve. It shows the lack of understanding America had of the Vietnamese and makes the point that the war would never achieve anything. Demonstration began to take place, which showed people how hostile feelings were being felt about the situation in Vietnam. These demonstrations would have made people think about the point that was being made and they would have had a lot of publicity. An example of these demonstrations is the one that took place at Kent state University where six students were shot dead by the National Guard. This would have sparked off other protests and led to a feeling of general bitterness felt towards the government about the war in Vietnam. Another reason for growing concerns was the Tet offensive in 1968. This made many people feel that America had truly lost the war as the Viet Cong had reached as far as Saigon and had attacked the American embassy. This was sign to many that America had no chance in stopping the advancing Viet Cong and victory would not be theirs.

All these things would have made Americans feel strongly against the war in Vietnam. People began to realise the failures and how much difficulty the US soldiers were facing. Friends and family were being killed for what seemed like a pointless aim. As the war was costing more and more money people began to question the need for the war as it looked like it could never be won. The media was changing people’s views as it showed he reality of the war and was also one of the main reasons why people were beginning to feel strongly opposed to the war.

Study all the sources

The writer of Source M believes that television played an important part in changing people’s attitudes to the Vietnam War.

Use the sources and your own knowledge, to explain whether you agree with this view.

I agree with this statement. The fact the public was seeing the true brutality of war was a major reason for why people’s attitudes changed. However, there were other major reasons for why people began to feel differently about the war.

Prior to the television and other media coverage of Vietnam, most Americans would have supported the action in Vietnam. This is because it was against a communist enemy which many Americans feared greatly. Source A shows this kind of fear from communism. As it is written by J.F.K before becoming president, it shows that it was a common worry among the government. Source G shows how the public also felt Vietnam was a big worry as well so Vietnam was seen as a very important issue by most Americans. At first people were eager to volunteer to fight as it was seen as a brave and exciting thing to do. Another attraction was that it was against a communist enemy, which was so greatly feared in America. Source C is proof of the eagerness of many to go to Vietnam. America had its excuse for going into Vietnam. This was that the North Vietnamese were trying to force their communist views onto South Vietnam, which meant that America could use the Truman doctrine as their justification. Source B is an example of how the government justified their actions and why America must intervene.

Source M shows the effect the television coverage of Vietnam had on the public. It was far different to what people expected and made people realise what war was really like. People would watch the television to find out what was happening in Vietnam but would not see the clean deaths and American victories they had expected. In fact, they would see very little of that kind of coverage. The media had full coverage of the war so all kinds of footage reached the USA’s public and the horrific brutality was really shown to everybody in their own homes. Photos were also another type of media that resulted in a changing the attitudes of the public. Source J is an example of the kind of photographs that were taken. They showed the cruel treatment of the Vietnamese and the public was shocked by what they saw as they showed scenes like My Lai. Scenes like this were bound to change the feeling of people, as they were so horrific.

The reality of the war was realised and opinions changed. Families were loosing their loved ones to what they had been told was an inferior enemy and they were receiving letters that revealed the truth of the war and the misery of the soldiers. An example of the misery felt by the soldiers is source H and I imagine many soldiers would have felt the same. Mothers wanted their sons home as they began to realise the pointlessness of the war and how horrific the deaths of the American soldiers were. Protests such as in Kent state university were taking place and more and more people were being to stop and think about how necessary this war really was. Protests came in the form of songs as well, which reached a wide variety of people. Source K is an example of this kind of song and shows how people believed Vietnam was a pointless waste of young lives and America’s resources. The failures and mistakes in Vietnam were becoming more apparent. Events like Mai Lai had full media coverage and disgusted many American citizens as America had made such a terrible error. Sources I and J show how the events like Mai Lai had all kinds media coverage so people found out them very easily. The Tet offensive had resulted in the American embassy being attacked. This would have horrified many as such a thing was able to happen and the Viet Cong had reached so far into South Vietnam.

Television and the media played a big part in changing peoples attitudes towards Vietnam. It showed the public what they had not been told. The deaths of the US soldier, deaths of innocent Vietnamese and the failures that of the war were all revealed. Also the war in Vietnam was costing huge amounts of money which many people felt was being wasted. Letters families received from their sons were also revealing the reality of the war. People began to stop and think about how necessary the war was and attitudes began to change. A mixture of this and the fact that many soldiers were being lost with no sign of victory resulted in great opposition to Vietnam.