Lesson 12: The Vietnam War
Introduction
In this lesson, we will discuss what led to the Vietnam War.
Focus Questions:
What led to the Vietnam War?
The Vietnam War
Welcome Back!
Today, we will take a closer look at the Vietnam War.
Similar to the Korean War, the Vietnam War came into existence because the leaders for North Vietnam, who were communist, tried to take over and spread communism throughout South Vietnam. Again, in an effort to stop the spread of communism, the United States became involved.
The Republic of South Vietnam and the United States were battling the communists who controlled North Vietnam and a military organization called the Vietcong. During this time, many American policymakers believed that if South Vietnam fell to the communists, then communism would spread throughout Southeast Asia and the world. The Communist fighters, the Vietcong, continually frustrated the U. S. forces by using guerilla warfare.
In your journal: Print the notes page and complete it as you go through the slides. If you do not have access to a printer, another option is to draw/write your notes page in your social studies journal.
The Vietnam War
Download The Vietnam War
View the slideshow below to learn more about the Vietnam War.
Interactive
In your journal: Now, we will review some of the key terms you learned today. Throughout this unit, we will learn new words while adding to the key terms we have already learned. As you learn the words, continue to add to your vocabulary table you started in lesson 2. Add the new terms below while also studying the previous terms.
With the conclusion of military action in Vietnam, over a million Vietnamese people had lost their lives as well as 60,000 U. S. soldiers. In the end, Vietnam was unified under a communist government in 1975 when the United States withdrew its troops and closed its embassy in South Vietnam.
[CC BY 4.0] UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED | IMAGES: LICENSED AND USED ACCORDING TO TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION