Adapted History gr 12 Lesson

DATE: 2024 February

ESSAY WRITING:PAPER 1
EXTENSION OF THE COLD WAR:
FOCUS ON VIETNAM IN THE 1960s
This the question everyone must be able to
answer:
HOW A
SMALL
COUNTRY
LIKE
VIETNAM
WAS ABLE TO
DEFEAT USA?
 Summary of Vietnam essay or a
spider web/mind map
1. Safe village system
2. Tonkin Gulf resolution
3. Operation Rolling Thunder –Ho Chi Min Trail
4. 'Tet Offensive –example of surprise attack
5. Guerilla war and Tunnel complexes
6. Operation ranch hand-Chemical warfare
7. Search and Destroy-My Lai Massacre
8. Media/criticism of USA-home and abroad
9. American response – Vietnamisation/ Withdrawal of
soldiers

stotgosmra
 The essay should have the
following
Argumentative essay
1. Must have good introduction that
takes a line of argument.
2. Paragraphs must support the line
of argument/answer the question.
3. The last part of the essay must be
a conclusion which must tie up
the line of argument.
 Let us look at how would go about
answering the essay question.
First
(unpack the question by underlining the key
words. Refer to the underlined words in the
question).
*Second
You should take a stance/standpoint which states ‘to
the great extent’, or ‘’to some extent’ and
demonstrate how you intend backing up your line of
argument.
*Third
Write down as many reasons or pieces of evidence to
develop your argument. Refer to PEEL below for clues
on how to develop your essay.
Let look at how to write good
essay
 Your essay should have the following pillars.
1. A learner must make a point or take a line of
argument.
2. Explain your line of argument.
3. Provide evidence to back up your line of argument.
4. Every paragraph must have a link(sentence) that
answers the question
5. The essay must have logic and coherent.
Point _______________________
Explain ______________________
Evidence______________________
Link_________________________
ESSAY QUESTIONING
 ‘Explain to what extent’……..
 ‘Do you agree’……………
 ‘Critically discuss’……….

 The introduction must first respond to the question

that has been asked.

 To the greater extent/to a larger extent/lesser extent

 This paper will agree/One would agree/This essay will
agree
 It is a fact/it is true/undoubtedly true/without a doubt
without a question one would agree/Indeed.
TYPES OF QUESTIONS
 ESSAY 1
 Explain to what extent the tactics and strategies that the Viet Cong
used against the United States of America's army were successful in
containing the spread of Capitalism in Vietnam between 1965 and 1975.
 Use relevant evidence to support your line of argument. [50]
 ESSAY 2
 It was largely the military tactics that the United States of America's
(USA's) army used against the Vietcong which contributed to its inability
to win the war in Vietnam in the early 1970s.
 Do you agree with this statement? Use relevant historical evidence of
the war in Vietnam to support your line of argument. [50]
 ESSAY 3
 All the military might of the United States of America's army could not
defeat a small nation of Vietnamese peasants.
 Critically discuss this statement in the context of the military strategies
that both the United States of America and the Vietcong used in Vietnam
between 1963 and 1973. [50]
 Essay Question
Explain to what extent the tactics
and strategies that the Viet Cong
used against the United States of
America's army were successful
in containing the spread of
Capitalism in Vietnam between
1965 and 1975.
Use relevant evidence to support
your line of argument.[50]
Analyse the question-refer to
previous slide
Identify question verb(in yellow)
Identify the specific Focus of the essay
(red)-this is where your LOA emanates
from.Your essay must explain tactics of the
Vietcong which enabled them to stop the
spread of Capitalism
Identify time frame (blue)
 INTRODUCTION
 1.To a greater extent the tactics and strategies that the Viet

Cong used against the United States of America's army were

successful in containing the spread of Capitalism in Vietnam

between 1965 and 1975 2.because the Vietcong strategies of

hit and run and surprise attacks frustrated and wore down the

USA SOLDERS WHO FOUGT A TRADITIONAL war using

chemicals and inexperienced soldiers which were ineffective

3.This essay will focus on the strategies that were used in the

Vietnam war by the Vetcong and the United States of America

which were for example guerilla warfare, the safe village

system, Gulf Tonkin of resolution and operation Rolling

Thunder.
Background
The United States of America became
heavily involved in Vietnam because they
feared the Domino theory, which said that
if one country falls to communism then all
the neighbouring countries would fall to
communism. The Americans came up with
the policy of containment to stop the
spread of communism, which were different
strategies that were implemented.
Furthermore the Ho chi Minh trail played
a crucial role in the war because the
Vietcong moved from the N.V to the S.V
through Ho chi Minh trail to transport
Safe village system of 1962 was the first
strategy used by the South Vietnamese government
with USA support. Rural peasants were placed in
specially protected villages where they would be safe
from Vietcong troops and their influence. The safe
village system failed to contain communism
because it often involved people being forcibly
removed from villages and placed elsewhere. Many
were very unhappy because Vietnamese practiced
ancestral worship and felt unhappy having to leave
their ancestors behind. Peasants supported the VC
because of promises of land when the enemy was
defeated. In return, peasants provided the guerrillas
food, shelter and a place to hide. The Vietcong
occupied many of the strategic hamlets and captured
the peasants’ weapons.They operated from within the
villages Safe village system was abandoned in 1963 .
USA’s policy changed in Vietnam after 1963 when
J.F. Kennedy was assassinated and Lyndon B.
Johnson took over as the new American
president. In 1963 President Johnson believed that
war could be won quickly with an increase in American
involvement. Johnson used an incident in the Gulf of
Tonkin as an excuse to bomb Vietnam. American
destroyers were said to have been fired upon by North
Vietnamese torpedo boats. The US Congress passed a
special motion called the Tonkin Gulf Resolution in
1964 which gave President Johnson the right to commit
USA to a full-scale war in Vietnam. Over half a million
American troops were sent to the war. He assumed that
the Vietcong were controlled by Ho Chi Minh and he
decided to bomb North Vietnam by destroying ports,
bases and supply lines . Now Cold War was developing
into a hot war. This however failed to discourage
Vietcong instead motivated them to fight even
harder to stop the spread of capitalism.
 Vietcong used Guerilla War and Tunnel Complexes
to fight American army. The Vietcong guerrillas
operated in small groups and carried few weapons.
They launched surprise attacks and disappeared into
the jungle. It was difficult for Americans to identify
Vietcong among the peasants. Vietcong made use of
underground tunnels, from tunnels they could make a
quick hit and run attacks and disappear into the tunnels
again. American soldiers lived in fear of ambushes and
booby traps set up by the Vietcong. They were
young,inexeperienced, barely out of high school ,lacked
motivation. The Viet Cong (VC)
effectively/successfully used the tunnel system to
reach the outskirts of the city without detection
and thereby prevent the spread of Capitalism. The
narrow tunnels made it difficult for the much bigger
American soldiers to crawl into them. This made it hard
for Americans to be able to defeat Vietcong.
Operation Ranch Hand was another American
military strategy. This was a campaign by USA
to bomb the Ho Chi Minh trail to try to stop the
supply of weapons from North Vietnam. USA also
used a chemical defoliant called Agent Orange to
destroy the vegetation that hid the supply routes,
causing lasting environmental damage. Americans
also sprayed herbicide called Agent Blue over crops
to deprive the guerrillas of food. Agent Blue -
polluted the land, which remained infertile for years.
Americans also used napalm – a substance that
burns with an intense heat. Napalm produces a thick
gel that attaches itself to the skin and burns through
to the muscle and bone. This operation failed to stop
the spread of communism because the most victims
were the innocent people including children. It
increased hatred for the Americans worldwide.
America also got involved in a military
strategy known as Search and Destroy
Policy which lasted up until 1968. The
purpose of this American policy was to find an
enemy and destroy him. The problem, however,
was that it was hard to identify the enemy from
the locals. Vietcong were farmers by day killers at
night. This policy failed to stop the spread of
communism because Vietnamese look the same,
innocent civilians were often victims of the
bombs while rebels escaped. It became a hit and
miss policy and can be seen as ineffective as
It also increased hatred for the Americans.
 The last US military got involved in what became
known as My Lai Massacre in 1968. American troops
were frustrated by events of the Tet Offensive. In March
1968 an American platoon attacked a Vietnamese village
known as My Lai. The Americans were told that there
were Vietcong fighters in this area. The platoon launched
an attack on the village killing anybody who tried to
escape, raping women, slaughtering their cattle and
burning their houses. After the attack, it was seen that
there was no evidence of any Vietcong in My Lai. The
soldiers were under pressure from their superiors to raise
body count and many in their units had been killed by
enemy sniper fire, booby traps and mines. The number of
people killed at My Lai village is estimated at 400 but
only three of those killed were identified as Vietcong
members.This tactic failed to stop Vietnamese from
becoming communist as it led to pressure from
American to force the US forces to withdraw from the war.
 American public responded negatively to this event.
Americans were shocked and horrified by the scenes of the
My Lai massacre. The shame of the horror demoralized the
American troops. Anti-war movement became stronger in
America. Anti-war movements were led by civil rights
activists. Students burnt their draft cards in protest. Anti- war
protests took various forms namely anti-war music, protest
marches, bumper stickers that read ‘Make love not war’.
 Moreover this event suggested to the American public that
the war could not be won. It increased criticism of
American involvement and greatly destroyed any
chances of the USA to contain communism.The brutal
scenes of the gruesome war were televised. The Tet
Offensive had an extremely negative impact on public
opinion in the USA. Many Americans become convinced that
USA was losing the war and there was an increased pressure
on the USA government to withdraw. On the streets of
America, the chant of the demonstrators was ‘Hey, hey LBJ,
how many kids did you kill today?’ After the Tet Offensive,
the number of demonstrators against the war increased.
After much pressure from American
public and the failure to defeat the
Vietcong The American army started to
gradually withdraw in Vietnam from
1969.This was called Vietnamisation.
Under President Nixon, the ceasefire was
agreed upon by the USA, North and South
Vietnam and the Vietcong. The last
American troops left Vietnam in 1973.
Vietnam was unified under Communist rule
which marked the failure of the US
policy of containment in 1975.
CONCLUSION
Conclusion should sum up the main points
of the essay and the line of argument.
You should not introduce new ideas to the
conclusion.
Conclusion should be brief.
Must only be the stance and the reason
reaffirmed.
Conclusion
1.In conclusion the tactics and
strategies that the Viet Cong used
against the United States of
America's army were successful to a
greater extent in containing the
spread of Capitalism in Vietnam
between 1965 and 1975 2.because
the Vietcong strategies of hit and
run and surprise attacks frustrated
and wore down the USA who fought
a traditional war using chemicals
and inexperienced soldiers which