Lesson video

Hello and welcome to today's history lesson.

My name is Mr. Merrett and I'll been guiding you through today's lesson.

So let's get started.

Today's lesson is looking at the impact of the Vietnam War, and by the end of the lesson we'll be able to assess the impact of the Vietnam War.

In order to do that, we need to use some key terms. And our key terms for today are veteran and impact.

A veteran is someone who has long experience in a particular field, and impact refers to the effect or influence of something.

Today's lesson is gonna comprise of three different learning cycles, and our first learning cycle is looking at the impact of the war on the US.

So let's get going.

So the Vietnam War had a profound impact on America.

The US sent 2.

7 million of its citizens to Vietnam in total by 1973.

So a lot of those are drafted soldiers who would do one year or so tour of service, and then once they went back home, they'd be replaced by somebody else.

So out of those 2.

7 million Americans that went to Vietnam, 58,000 died and 305,000 were physically wounded as well.

Veterans of the war also had problems beyond the physical.

Roughly 500,000 suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, for which little support was offered.

For much of America, these men were reminders of an unsuccessful war that the US should not have been a part of in the first place.

The existence of these veterans was therefore unwelcome.

And unwelcome is exactly how many of the veterans felt when they returned back to their own country.

So a quick check for understanding first of all, what proportion of American veterans who fought in Vietnam are thought to have suffered from PTSD? Is it one in twenty, one in fifteen, one in ten, or one in five? Choose your answer now.

Okay, if you chose D, one in five, then that is correct.

So 500,000 of 2.

7 million is roughly one in five.

So America did not just lose the war in Vietnam, they also lost trust in their own government.

Americans in the 1950s had generally trusted the government.

US involvement in the Vietnam War broke this bond of trust for a growing number of people.

And there's a variety of reasons for that.

Some of the events have been covered in this course and they include the Gulf of Tonkin incident from 1964.

And as a reminder, this was an attack on US ships that was used to justify the escalation of US involvement in Vietnam.

But it turned out to be a misrepresentation of actual events.

There's also the Tet Offensive in January of 1968.

So that was a surprise Vietcong attack, a massive Vietcong attack and all, and of course the NVA as well, North Vietnamese Army were involved as well.

But it took place all across South Vietnam and it contradicted the confident US message that the war will be over very, very soon.

There's also the My Lai massacre of March, 1968, and although this happened in March '68, it wasn't actually uncovered and revealed to the public for about a year or so later.

But the US public were unnerved that their own troops could massacre hundreds of innocent civilians, old people, women, children, babies were involved in the My Lai massacre.

The secret bombing of Cambodia from 1969 to 1970 as well.

Cambodia was a neutral country.

The fact that America was bombing this neutral country was kept hidden from the US public and from Congress as well.

And therefore, once it became exposed, it revealed that the government was lying that not just to the people but also to the lawmakers to Congress as well.

And the Kent State shootings in May, 1970 as well.

So this is when the National Guard opened fire on unarmed students at Kent State University in Ohio.

Four students were killed, nine were injured, it was an anti-war protest, it was mostly peaceful.

There was certainly, they had no guns or any kind of big weapons like that.

It was mostly peaceful protest and they were gunned down by the National Guard.

It was a shock to a lot of American people that their own National Guard could kill their own citizens like this.

Very, very shocking, especially considering some of them weren't even involved in the process they were just walking from one lesson to another.

Okay, let's go for a quick check for understanding now then.

So what I'd like to do is match the events to their correct dates.

So just match the event to the correct dates.

Okay, let's go through these answers now then, make sure we're all happy with them.

So Gulf of Tonkin incident was 1964.

The Tet Offensive happened in January, 1968.

The My Lai massacre happened in March, 1968.

The secret bomb of Cambodia occurred from 1969 to 1970, and the Kent State shootings took place in May, 1970.

Hopefully you got all of those correct.

Right, let's go for our first task of the day then.

So what I would like to do is complete the table that's on the screen there by adding in a summary of why each event contributed to the loss of trust in the US government.

It's all well and good saying that these events made people trust the American government less, but you need to be able to explain, why was these events so detrimental to the trust that the American people and the American government used to hold.

So pause the video, watch you're doing that, and I'll see once you're finished.

Okay, welcome back.

Hopefully you've got an okay with that task.

Let's go through some of the answers that I've got here hopefully some of 'em are similar to what you've got as well.

So the Gulf of Tonkin incident, I said it caused a loss of trust in the US government because the attack on US ships was used to justify the escalation of US involvement in Vietnam.

But it wasn't true.

American ships weren't attacked the second time anyway.

They were attacked the first time, but there was no damage.

well, apart from a single bullet hole in the ship, there's no real damage occurred.

Second time there was no event whatsoever, but that was used to justify America getting involved in the war against Vietnam, to the North Vietnam to a much greater degree.

The Tet Offensive, caused a loss of trust 'cause it contradicted the US government's message.

The fact that war was the, the war was just about to end.

Victory was just around the corner, and then suddenly the Vietcong and the NVA launched this massive attack across all of South Vietnam and it really goes against everything in the US government in telling the people at the time.

The My Lai massacre created a loss of trust because for a lot of people, they couldn't, they couldn't link this whole idea that this horrific event had been caused by their own people, you know, it's their sons, it's their fathers, their brothers, it's their husbands that have done this.

And it was very, very difficult for people to accept this is what happened, but accept it they had to because the proof was there.

The secret bombing of Cambodia caused a loss of trust because it revealed that the government was lying to the people as well this whole time for an extended period of time as well.

And the Kent State shooting was particularly shocking and caused a loss of trust because the National Guard were there on behalf of the governments.

And it was then the open fire on unarmed students engaged in a peaceful, mostly peaceful protest.

So hopefully you've got some idea of why these events helped to cause a loss of trust for the American people in their government.

Let's move on now though and look at our second learning cycle for today which is the impact the war had on Vietnam.

So it's estimated that 3 million Vietnamese people lost their lives during the war, and of that about 1.

3 million were civilians.

So they had nothing at all to do with the fighting.

Roughly 800,000 South Vietnamese children were orphaned by the end of the war.

An estimated 3 million Vietnamese people were affected by the chemical weapons that were dropped in their country, effects which range from burns and scars to higher risk of cancer and other long-term medical issues as well.

And since the war ended as well, roughly 500,000 children have been born with birth defects, which have been caused by chemical weapons that still affect the landscape and the people who live there even to this day as well.

There are still impacts being felt from the Vietnam War, even right up to today.

Explosive weapons also affected the Vietnamese landscape.

Before the war, South Vietnam was one of the largest exporters of rice in the world.

But during the war, all of that changed, an estimated 21 million bomb craters in South Vietnam meant that rice production was severely reduced, roughly half of the rice paddies in the country were destroyed.

And that led to starvation, which happened during the war.

And for some time after it took a long time for South Vietnam to recover its rice production, the image on the screen hopefully gives some indication of the impacts that the America's bombing campaign had had on South Vietnam and the impact it had on farming production as well.

It was very difficult to farm when you got this sort of devastation in your fields.

Many of the peasants who had farmed these paddies moved to the cities in the hope of finding safety, but instead they just found more hardship.

Prior to the war, 90% of Vietnam's population was rural.

During the war, the urban population swirled from 10% population to 60% of the population.

So there's a massive migration in South Vietnam from a rural, agricultural lifestyle to not really an urban lifestyle as such, people are just trying to survive to a great extent but they survive by moving to the cities.

Understandably, towns and cities could not cope with the sudden influx of people.

And so shanty towns emerged across South Vietnam, Saigon's a great example, the capital, of South Vietnam at the time.

The population there tripled to 3 million people by 1970.

Quick check for understanding now then, what percentage of the South Vietnamese population moved from rural to urban during the war? Was it 30%, 50% or 70%? Make your choice now.

Okay, if you chose 50%, then congratulations.

That is exactly right.

So you remember 10% of the population of South Vietnam was urban prior to the war, and that rose to 60% during the war.

So it's an increase of 50%.

Half the population moved from the countryside to the cities.

Just a reminder here on the screen as well of the impact that napalm can have.

So napalm can be dropped as bombs to clear forest cover, destroy supplies and kill enemy troops.

It sticks to flesh as well.

So napalm is sort of like a jelly, like a fast-burning jelly.

And it's very, very sticky as well.

So it sticks to flesh, it causes deep and severe burns.

In 1972, a very, very famous photograph was taken of 9-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc, who suffered napalm burns and that caused worldwide condemnation.

She's generally known as Napalm Girl, you've probably seen the image if not it's very easily to find, but it was a really traumatic image that was taken.

The US dropped 388,000 tons of napalm on North Vietnam from 1963 to 1973.

So just a ridiculous amount of these fire bombs were dropped on the country.

And of course it devastated the local wildlife as well.

A lot of the jungle was destroyed and obviously that's habitat for animals and they were killed as well.

But of course the people were also affected by napalm bombs too.

If there's inaccurate bombs drops some can land on villages and there were traumatic injuries suffered.

Napalm sticks to flesh, but it also burns underwater as well.

So if anybody tries to jump into the water to try to stop the burning, it will continue to burn then as well.

It'll only stop burning once the fuel has run out.

Okay, and let's go for a check for understanding now then.

So the US and ARVN were careful to avoid civilian casualties in the Vietnam War.

Is that true or is that false? Alright, if you chose false, then that is indeed correct.

But let's justify this answer now then, why is it a false statement? Is it false because bombing from the air did cause civilian casualties but on the ground troops were careful to avoid killing civilians? Or is it false because both bombing from the air and search and destroy missions on the ground caused many civilian casualties? Choose your justification now.

Alright, it right, if you chose B, then congratulations, that is indeed correct.

Right, let's look at our next task for today now then, so I'd like to look at the source that I've got on the screen in front of you here.

I wanna think how useful is this source for an inquiry into the impact of the war on the people of Vietnam? So I'd like to use the source and your own knowledge to answer this question, but let's just take a look at the source first of all before we do that.

So this source is, was from John Kerry, who is testifying before the Foreign Affairs Committee on the 22nd of April, 1971.

Kerry was a Vietnam veteran with medals for bravery who became an anti-war protestor at his return to the USA, later on, he also became a senator as well.

And he says, "Most Vietnamese people didn't even know the difference between communism and democracy.

They only wanted to work in rice paddies without helicopters strafing," which is shooting them, "and bombs with napalm burning their villages and tearing their country apart.

They wanted everything to do with the war, particularly with this foreign presence of the United States of America, to leave them alone in peace, and they practiced the art of survival by siding with whichever military force was present at a particular time, be it Vietcong, North Vietnamese, or American." So as a reminder, you need to use this source to right answer the question, how useful is the source for an inquiry into the impact of the war on the people of Vietnam? Try and use your own knowledge as well when answering this question, pause a video now I'll have a go with that and I'll see you once you've finished.

Okay, welcome back.

Hopefully you've got all fine with that task.

Let's go through the model answer that I've got in the screen in front of you here.

So I said, "The source is useful for explaining how the war impacted the people of Vietnam.

It states that Vietnamese villages had to deal with bombs with napalm burning their villages.

The USA dropped 388,000 tons of napalm in Vietnam between 1963 and 1973, and there were 21 million bomb craters in South Vietnam by the end of the war, sometimes bombs hit civilians by mistake.

The photo of 9-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc suffered nacapa, suffering napalm burns published in 1972, horrified people worldwide.

The US' use of napalm was condemned because of the risk to civilians.

And so it is useful that the source stresses napalm here." John Kerry served in Vietnam where he won medals for bravery and then became an anti-war protestor.

His experience in Vietnam makes his account useful as he's speaking about things he actually saw for himself.

His views about Vietnamese people would've come from his own interactions with civilians, which makes them incredible and useful.

Becoming an anti-war protestor after serving in Vietnam and being awarded medals of bravery gives a lot of power to his accounts.

However, as an anti-war protestor, he would stress the negative impacts of the war on the people of Vietnam and downplay any positive impacts if there were any.

So hopefully they can see I've looked at both the content and the provenance of the source and I've used my own knowledge to support the statements that I've made.

I've also drawn out elements from the source and discussed them at length as well.

So hopefully your answer follows a similar vein to that as well.

So let's move on then to look at our third and final learning cycle for today, which is the impact of the war on the Cold War as a whole.

So in regards to the Cold War between the USA and the USSR, the Vietnam War had a mixed impact.

At the start of the war, the US' concern was that if Vietnam became communist then all other Southeast Asian countries would follow.

And although all of Indochina did become communist, no other South Asian countries did, it is also possible to argue that the US' own actions in Laos and Cambodia made it easier for communist regimes to take control.

The bombing campaigns carried out by the US as well as the invasion of Cambodia by US ground troops destabilized the countries and cause people living there to support the communist forces in their fight against the US.

This therefore suggests that the domino theory was false, or at the very least not fully accurate.

And on the screen here you can see an image of the domino theory.

So we can see that China willingly became communist after a civil war.

The fear was that all of Korea would then fall to communism, all of Vietnam would fall to communism and then then Laos, Cambodia all Indochina would fall and then so on and so forth with other Southeast Asian countries as well, right? Very quick check for understanding then, name the missing domino theory countries.

So you've just seen that image.

Can you remember which countries are now missing from those dominoes? So is it USSR, Cuba and Vietnam? Is it China, Vietnam, and Cambodia? Is it Vietnam, Iraq and Pakistan? Or is it the USSR, Vietnam and USA? Make your choice now.

Alright, if you chose B, China, Vietnam and Cambodia, then that is correct, very well done.

So Nixon's attempt to end the war in Vietnam led to the US becoming friendlier with both the USSR and China.

And part of the reason for that was to drive a wedge between them and North Vietnam.

This actually had the effect of making the world a relatively safer place because it lessened the likelihood of nuclear war breaking out between the two great superpower, between the US and the USSR.

So that was one, that's a silver lining of the Vietnam War and it certainly was, it was positive, it most certainly was positive, but whether it was worth the level of devastation, the level of loss caused by the Vietnam War, that is arguable.

Right, very quick check for understanding now then.

So which two communist countries did the US become friendlier with under Nixon? Was it Cambodia, China, Laos, or the USSR? Choose two of those now.

Alright, if you chose B and D, China and USSR, then congratulations, that is indeed correct.

Let's go onto our final task of the day now then.

So I've got two interpretations on the screen here from Alex and from Lucas.

And what I'd like you to do is read through the interpretations and then explain what the main difference between the two interpretations is.

So let's just read through these two together, first of all, to make sure we fully understand them.

So Alex says, "The main impact of the Vietnam War was positive because the improved relationship between the US and USSR made the threat of nuclear war less likely.

The death and destruction was terrible, but not as terrible as the outcome of a nuclear war between the superpowers would had been." So that's Alex's interpretation.

Lucas's by contrast says, "The main impact of the Vietnam War was negative because the actions of the US didn't stop Vietnam turning communist, but did destabilize Laos and Cambodia to the point where they fell to communism.

The US caused death and destruction and only made things worse." So what you now need to do is explain what the main difference is between those two statements, between the, between those two interpretations and explain how you know that.

So pause the video while you do that and I'll see you once you've finished.

Okay, welcome back.

So hopefully you got on fine with that task.

Let's go for the answer that I came up with this on the screen directly here.

So I said, "A main difference is that Alex says the impact of the war was ultimately positive because of the improved relationship that developed between the US and the USSR.

Lucas, on the other hand, sees the impact as negative because Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos became communist." So I could have just said that the one is positive and one is negative, which would've answered the question, but not any sort of great detail.

Hopefully you can see that I've explained my answer as well by first of all saying why Alex thinks it was positive and then go on to say why Lucas thinks it was negative.

And hopefully your answer follows a similar sort of aim to that.

Right, let's summarize the lesson now then.

So veterans suffered problems upon their return to the US.

The Vietnam War caused the US public to lose faith in their government.

The Vietnamese people and landscapes suffered greatly due to the war.

And although all of Indochina became communist, no other Southeast Asian country did.

The relations between the US and the USSR and China improved due to Nixon's attempts to end the Vietnam War, which made nuclear war less likely.

Thank you very much for joining me today.

Hopefully enjoyed yourself, hope you learned something, and hopefully I'll see you again next time.

Bye-bye.