Hello, and thank you for joining me.

I'm Mr. Marchant, and I'll be your history teacher for today's lesson.

I'll be guiding you through all of our resources, and my top aims are to ensure not only that you enjoy our learning, but also that you can successfully meet today's lesson objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on the development of the Cold War, where we've been asking ourselves, how did the Cold War develop in Asia? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain the significance of US involvement in Vietnam, in the years from 1954 to 1968.

There are two keywords which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson, those are prestige and limited war.

Prestige is the feeling of respect and admiration for a country, often because it is successful, and a limited war is a conflict where those involved refuse to use their full strength or try to avoid it spreading into additional locations.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts, and we'll begin by thinking about the US and South Vietnam.

Vietnam gained its independence from France in 1954, however, at the same time, Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel, into two separate states.

North Vietnam was communist, whereas South Vietnam was under anti-communist rule.

After 1954, South Vietnam received significant support from the US government.

US support for South Vietnam and its leader, Ngo Dinh Diem, owed to the belief of American leaders and decision makers that South Vietnam had an important role to play in the Cold War.

So thinking about what we've just heard, who was the leader of South Vietnam after 1954? Pause video here, and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was Ngo Dinh Diem.

The leader of South Vietnam after 1954 was Ngo Dinh Diem, however, Diem's government was quite weak.

For one, Diem was very unpopular in South Vietnam.

Diem was corrupt, he often favoured his own family members for leading government jobs and arrested those who opposed how he ruled.

At the same time, Diem failed to introduce reforms, which might improve the lives of the many poor people living in South Vietnam, and his government harassed Buddhists who made up the majority of the country's population.

Diem's government was also threatened by communist attacks.

The division of Vietnam in 1954 was unpopular, and leaders in both the North and South hoped to reunify all of Vietnam under their own control.

The threat of a North Vietnamese invasion of the South was taken seriously by American leaders.

Similarly, after 1954, there were still many communists in South Vietnam itself.

These communists became known as the Vietcong, and received assistance from North Vietnam to fight against Diem's government.

So let's check our understanding.

I want you to identify two reasons why Ngo Dinh Diem was unpopular in South Vietnam.

Pause video here, and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that Ngo Dinh Diem as corrupt, that he arrested political opponents, that he failed to make reforms, or that he mistreated Buddhists.

All of these factors made him unpopular in South Vietnam.

And let's try another question.

Who were the Vietcong? Were they American fighters in North Vietnam? Anti-communist fighters in North Vietnam, or communist fighters in South Vietnam? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C, the Vietcong were communist fighters in South Vietnam.

Despite his unpopularity, the USA supported Ngo Dinh Diem after 1954, because he was an anti-communist.

American leaders accepted the Domino Theory, which led them to believe that South Vietnam fell to communism, other countries in Southeast Asia would also fall to communism.

As the US was determined to prevent the spread of communism, this led them to support Diem, despite his many problems. In the 1950s, president Dwight D.

Eisenhower approved nearly $2 billion worth of military and financial aid, and sent approximately 1,000 military advisors to help train the South Vietnamese Army known as ARVN, the ARVA.

So let's think about everything we've just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that reads, "American leaders believed that failing to support South Vietnam would lead to greater problems for the US elsewhere." Is that statement true or false? Pause video here in press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was true, but we need to be able to justify our response.

How can we tell that that statement was true? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said, American leaders accepted the Domino Theory, and so they believed that if they did not help defend South Vietnam's anti-communist government, the country and others nearby would fall to communism.

And let's try one final question.

I want you to change one word to correct the following sentence.

American armies were sent to South Vietnam from 1954 onwards to help ARVN defend the country against communist attacks.

So consider, which word appears to be incorrect and what should it be changed to? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the incorrect word was armies, and that this should have been changed to advisors.

American advisors were sent to South Vietnam from 1954 onwards to help ARVN defend the country against communist attacks.

So now we're in a good position to put all of our knowledge about the US and South Vietnam into practise.

We have three statements, which say, "Domino Theory encourage US support for South Vietnam.

The US began providing military support to South Vietnam without getting involved in fighting itself, and the Vietcong gained some support due to Ngo Dinh Diem's rule in South Vietnam." For each of those statements, I want you to provide additional details, which can support them, so pause the video here and press play when you are ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So I asked you to provide additional details, which could support each of our statements.

Your answers may have included: Domino Theory encouraged US support for South Vietnam.

American leaders believed that if South Vietnam fell to communism, so would other countries in Southeast Asia.

The US began providing military support to South Vietnam without getting involved in fighting itself.

President Eisenhower sent approximately 1,000 military advisors to train ARVN, and the Vietcong gained some support, due to Ngo Dinh Diem'S rule in South Vietnam.

Diem was corrupt and failed to pass necessary reforms, which made him very unpopular.

So well done if your own details look something similar to those models which we've just seen, and now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson, where we are going to focus on American escalation.

US involvement in Vietnam escalated significantly between 1954 and 1968.

Whereas only American military advisors were present in South Vietnam in 1954, just over a decade later, over half a million US combat troops were involved in fighting a war in that country.

American support for South Vietnam began under President Eisenhower, a significant military and financial assistance was provided to support its government.

However, at no point during his Presidency did Eisenhower approve the deployment of US combat troops to Vietnam.

American leaders believed that the communist threat to South Vietnam could be defeated by Diem's government itself, so long as it had continued American backing.

However, by the time John F.

Kennedy, otherwise known as JFK became US president in 1961, South Vietnam remained vulnerable.

A force of 12,000 gorilla Vietcong fighters, remained undefeated, and North Vietnam was still hostile.

JFK escalated American involvement.

In January, 1961, $40 million was provided by the US to train ARVN, and a further 16,000 military advisors were sent to South Vietnam, by the end of 1963.

JFK also authorised the use of chemical weapons like Napalm and Agent Orange, as well as providing ARVN with advanced military equipment such as fighter jets and helicopters.

However, like Eisenhower, JFK did not approve of sending American ground troops into combat in Vietnam.

So we have a statement on the screen that reads, "The Vietcong were defeated during Eisenhower's presidency, but reemerged when JFK became president." Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So how can we tell that that statement was false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said, despite escalating US involvement, the Vietcong were not defeated during either Eisenhower or JFK's presidencies.

There were still 12,000 Vietcong soldiers in South Vietnam when JFK became president.

Let's try another question.

Which two chemical weapons did JFK approve the use of in Vietnam, Agent Orange chlorine gas, napalm, or sarin? Remember, you're selecting two answers for this question.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the chemical weapons, which JK approved the use of in Vietnam, where Agent Orange and napalm.

After JFK was assassinated, Lyndon B.

Johnson, otherwise known as LBJ, became president of the USA.

LBJ followed the example of Kennedy by increasing the number of military advisors in Vietnam to over 20,000 by the end of 1964.

At the very beginning of 1965, there was still no US ground troops in Vietnam, but a bombing campaign over North Vietnam known as Operation Rolling Thunder was put into action.

It was hoped that Operation Rolling Thunder, would put pressure on the North Vietnamese government to accept the division of Vietnam and abandon its support for the Vietcong, but this did not happen.

Instead, the war continued to escalate and LBJ finally made the decision to send US ground troops to Vietnam.

By the end of 1965, there were 184,300 US troops in Vietnam, rising to over 500,000 by 1968.

Despite this, American forces and ARVN still struggled to defeat the Vietcong.

The Vietcong relied on gorilla tactics, instead of fighting the better-trained and equipped armies of the USA and South Vietnam in battle, the Vietcong also enjoyed much greater support from ordinary people in South Vietnam, helping them to maintain their strength.

So let's check our understanding of what we've just heard.

What was the name of the American bombing campaign against North Vietnam that began in 1965? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that, the answer was Operation Rolling Thunder.

And let's try another question.

Which President approved the deployment of US ground troops to Vietnam? Was it Eisenhower, Johnson, or Kennedy? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B, President Johnson of always known as LBJ, made the decision in 1965 to finally approve the deployment of US ground troops to Vietnam.

So, we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about American escalation into practise.

Starting with the earliest, I want you to sort events shown in the table into chronological order.

You should use the numbers 1 to 5 to indicate your answers.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked you to sort the events in our table into chronological order.

The first event you should have identified was that 1,000 US military advisors was sent to help train ARVN.

The second event, was that JFK authorised the use of napalm and Agent Orange in Vietnam.

Thirdly, Operation Rolling Thunder began in 1965, a bombing campaign against North Vietnam.

Fourthly, the first US ground troops was sent to Vietnam, under the authorization of LBJ, and fifthly, over half a million US troops were deployed in Vietnam by 1968, demonstrating just how significant the escalation of US involvement was.

So well done if you identified each of those events correctly, and now we're ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today, where we are going to think about Vietnam and the Cold War.

Vietnam was a significant Cold War conflict.

American involvement in the Vietnam War affected superpower relations and the prestige of the USA.

The Vietnam War was unpopular in many parts of the world, including amongst many of the USA's usual key allies.

The governments of countries like Britain and France refused to fight in the war alongside the USA, and many protest movements emerged across the West, which presented the USA as an aggressive state spreading death and destruction to Vietnam.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we've just heard.

I want you to study the posters shown on the screen, and I want you to identify two ways the poster demonstrates that US prestige was damaged by the Vietnam War.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well then to anybody who identified that the poster suggests US action was brutal, that the poster includes a picture of a crying woman, which suggests that the US was responsible for suffering, or that the poster is critical of the US, despite being produced in a country, Britain, as opposed to Tây Ninh, it was produced in London, which usually supported the Americans.

The Vietnam War developed into a proxy war.

Just as the US was unwilling to accept South Vietnam becoming a communist state, the USSR and China were unwilling to allow the US to overturn communism in North Vietnam.

Therefore, tensions between the USA and the leading communist powers were heightened.

Soviet and Chinese military advisors were sent to North Vietnam, and provided the country with military supplies, some of which were then provided to the Vietcong in South Vietnam.

When the US began Operation Rolling Thunder in 1965, the USSR and China significantly increased their support for North Vietnam , providing equipment such as anti-aircraft missiles.

Nevertheless, despite this assistance, both the Soviet Union and China were worried about the risk of escalation in Vietnam.

Both countries ruled out direct military participation in the conflict, and often urged nor Vietnamese leaders to be more cautious than they were.

This approach was actually somewhat similar to that of American leaders who were committed to maintaining a limited war in Vietnam.

Indeed, while LBJ authorised Operation Rolling Thunder, he ruled out any attacks near North Vietnam's border with China or at the Port of Haiphong, where Soviet supplies were shipped to.

So let's reflect on what we've just heard.

Which type of war could the conflict in Vietnam be classified as, a nuclear war, a proxy war, or a total war? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

The conflict in Vietnam could be classified as a proxy war because the USSR and China supported North Vietnam in their fight against the USA.

And let's try another question.

This time, I want you to identify two factors which helped maintain the Vietnam War as a limited war.

The options are, the USA refused to bomb Haiphong.

The USA refused to send troops to Vietnam.

The USSR refused to send troops to Vietnam, or the USSR was uninterested in Vietnam.

Remember, you need to identify two factors to answer this question.

So pause video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answers were A and C.

Part of the reason why the Vietnam War was able to remain a limited conflict, was because the USA refused to bomb Haiphong, this was a port where Soviet supplies were shipped to North Vietnam, and the USA wanted to avoid provoking the Soviet Union into a conflict.

Similarly, the USSR, just like China, refused to send their own troops to Vietnam, they did not want to be fighting the Americans directly.

So we are now ready to put all of our knowledge about Vietnam and the Cold War into practise.

We have a statement that reads, "The Vietnam War had little impact on the Cold War between 1954 and 1968." Do you agree with the statement? I want you to explain your answer, and you may refer to superpower relations and US prestige.

So pause video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So we had the statement, "The Vietnam War had little impact on the Cold War between 1954 and 1968," and I asked whether you agreed with that statement.

Your answer may have included.

"It is not accurate to claim that the Vietnam War had little impact on the Cold War between 1954 and 1968.

For one, US involvement in the conflict helped lead to the development of a proxy war involving itself, the USSR, and China.

Domino Theory led US leaders to worry that many of states would become communists if it did not defend South Vietnam.

Meanwhile, the USSR and China were worried that American actions like Operation Rolling Thunder were intended to overturn communism in North Vietnam; thus, they provided assistance to the North Vietnamese during the conflict.

The existence of this proxy war helped to heighten tensions in superpower relations at the time." So well done if your own response looks something like that model we've just seen.

Alternatively, your answer may have included.

"It is not accurate to claim that the Vietnam War had little impact on the Cold War between 1954 and 1968 as it damaged US prestige.

The war concerned many states such as China and the USSR, who perceived it as an attack on communism.

However, the war was even perceived negatively by many in the West.

For example, countries like Britain and France refused to participate, and many Western countries experienced protests which criticised the suffering inflicted by the war.

This was significant because the US traditionally enjoyed the support of other Western states, and so these concerns demonstrate that the Vietnam War clearly damaged international views of the USA, making it harder to compete with the USSR.

So again, really well done if your own response looks something like that model we've just seen.

And that means we've now reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning about US involvement in the Vietnam War.

We've seen that from 1954 onwards, the USA provided financial and military assistance to South Vietnam, US involvement in Vietnam continually escalated between 1954 and 1968 until over half a million US troops were deployed there by 1968.

The Vietnam War became a proxy war between the US and its rivals, but the Americans, Soviets, and Chinese, all aimed to maintain a limited war, and American prestige was badly damaged by the war, especially as many people around the world perceived US actions in Vietnam as aggressive and harmful.

So really well done for all of your effort during today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you through our resources and to think together about how the Cold War developed in Asia.