💥 In the North
Bridges, railways and factories were hit, but so were towns and villages. Families dug shelters beside their homes. Children were sent to live in the countryside, away from the cities.
The Impact of Conflict on Civilians in Vietnam and Attitudes in the USA » Bombing, Defoliation and Vietnam's Civilians
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Section A, Investigation A4, Key topic 5
- How bombing, napalm and defoliation damaged the lives of Vietnamese civilians
- Why so many villages were destroyed and so many people became refugees
- What is known (and not known) about civilian casualties
- How to answer a 6-mark 'Describe TWO features of EITHER ... OR ...' question
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Unlock This CourseA war fought where people lived
Most of the fighting in Vietnam took place in the countryside, where most Vietnamese lived. The Vietcong hid among the villagers, so American commanders used huge firepower against any area where the enemy might be. This helped US soldiers to avoid close fighting, but it put civilians in great danger. This lesson looks at three weapons that changed the lives of millions of ordinary people: bombs, napalm and chemical defoliants. It also covers what they did to villages, families and the land.
Key terms:
- Civilian: a person who is not a soldier, such as a farmer, a child or a shopkeeper.
- Napalm: petrol turned into a sticky jelly, dropped from aircraft. It sticks to whatever it lands on and burns fiercely.
- Defoliation: killing the leaves of trees and plants with chemicals, so that the ground below is left bare.
- Agent Orange: the most widely used of the defoliants. It was named after the orange stripe on its storage drums.
- Free-fire zone: an area where troops and aircraft were allowed to attack anything that moved, after civilians had been told to leave.
- Refugee: a person forced to leave their home to escape danger. In Vietnam, most refugees stayed inside their own country.
Bombing and napalm
The USA had enormous air power, and it used it in both North and South Vietnam. The aims of the bombing of the North are covered in the lesson on Operation Rolling Thunder. Here the focus is on what bombs did to people. Estimates are that around 7 million tons of bombs fell on Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia during the war. That was more than the USA dropped in the whole of the Second World War.
🌾 In the South
Aircraft and artillery attacked areas thought to hold the Vietcong. Pilots often could not tell a Vietcong hut from a family home, so ordinary villagers were hit.
Napalm was used to burn off jungle, to attack troops and to hit suspected Vietcong areas. It caused terrible burns, and it burned wherever it landed, including houses and fields. Because it spread so widely, it was very dangerous to anyone nearby.
In some areas the Americans set up free-fire zones. Villagers were ordered to leave, and anyone who stayed could be treated as an enemy. In practice not everyone could leave, or knew about the order, and some civilians were hurt in these areas.
Defoliation and Agent Orange
From 1962 to 1971 the US Air Force sprayed chemicals over South Vietnam from low-flying aircraft in a programme called Operation Ranch Hand. Its two aims were to strip the leaves from forests so that the Vietcong could not hide and ambush American patrols, and to destroy crops that might feed the enemy. Over 10 million gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed.
Agent Orange held a poisonous by-product called dioxin. The effects were felt for a long time:
- Damage to the land. Forests were killed and farmland was ruined, so villagers lost food and fuel.
- Harm to health. Many Vietnamese who lived in sprayed areas later suffered serious illnesses, and many children were born with disabilities. The Vietnamese government says that this harm has continued into later generations. The exact scale of the damage is still argued over by scientists and governments.
American soldiers who handled the chemical were also made ill.
Destroyed villages and refugees
Bombing, shelling, sweeps through the countryside and spraying all pushed villagers out of their homes. Others left to find safety and work. The result was a flood of refugees.
- By 1968 about 1.5 million people in South Vietnam were refugees inside their own country.
- Families lived in crowded refugee camps or in the slums around big towns such as Saigon. Cities grew quickly, with poor housing and few jobs.
- Many farmers lost their land and their way of life, and village communities that had existed for centuries were broken up.
This helps to explain why the USA's Hearts and Minds work often failed. The people who suffered from the war were unlikely to trust those who had caused it.
Casualties
Nobody knows exactly how many Vietnamese civilians died, because accurate records were not kept. In 1995 the Vietnamese government estimated that as many as 2 million civilians had been killed on both sides. Other estimates differ, but all agree that the number was huge. Many more were wounded or lost their homes. Remember that civilians were also killed by the Vietcong and by North Vietnamese forces, not only by American weapons.
Common mistakes
- Writing 'Agent Orange' for every bomb or chemical. Agent Orange was a defoliant. Napalm was a fire weapon. Keep them apart.
- Giving only general points. 'It killed civilians' is too general. Name the weapon, the place or the effect.
- Forgetting the aim. Defoliation was meant to take away the Vietcong's cover and food. The harm to civilians was a result.
- Quoting casualty figures as exact. Say 'estimates' or 'as many as'.
Exam-style question
This is a Paper 2 Section A question. It tests your own knowledge, with no sources.
Describe TWO features of EITHER the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam OR the Phoenix Programme. [6 marks]
Model answer
(I have chosen Agent Orange.) One feature was that it was sprayed from aircraft to strip the leaves from forests. Operation Ranch Hand ran from 1962 to 1971, and over 10 million gallons were sprayed over South Vietnam. The aim was to remove the cover that the Vietcong used for ambushes.
A second feature was that it also destroyed crops. The Americans wanted to take food from the Vietcong, but villagers lost their rice and farmland too. Agent Orange held dioxin, and many Vietnamese in sprayed areas later became ill or had children born with disabilities.
This reaches the top level because it gives two different features and adds specific detail to each, such as dates, a figure and a named programme.
Exam tip
Pick one alternative and stick to it. Give two clearly different features, and add two facts to each, such as a date, a figure, a place or a name. One feature on its own can score no more than 3 marks.
Recap
- The war was fought among the people, so bombing, napalm and shelling hit civilians as well as the Vietcong.
- Operation Ranch Hand (1962-71) sprayed Agent Orange to remove cover and crops. It poisoned land and people.
- Destroyed villages and free-fire zones created huge numbers of refugees, about 1.5 million by 1968.
- Casualty figures are estimates: Vietnam says as many as 2 million civilians died.