17) The US and South East Asia

Question 1

Easter offensive

Answer 1

1972
a response to the expansion of the Viet Nam war
in March General Giap launches an attack on ARVN which lasts until october

Question 2

estimated death toll of the easter offensive

Answer 2

10,000 southern troops

Question 3

Linebacker 1

Answer 3

May 1972
US counter offensive to easter
large scale bombing raids on N.Vietnamese troops in the south
cut of supplies by blockading the north

Question 4

Impact of Easter and Linebacker 1

Answer 4

showed that Vietnamisation had failed, the S.Vietnamese still relied upon the US
However, Linebacker was effective as it led to peace talks

Question 5

Linebacker II

Answer 5

1972
also know as Christmas bombing
US drop 20,000 tonnes of explosives on N.Vietnam and kill more than 1,000 people
Nixon’s attempt to expedite the end of the war
18th-29th of december

Question 6

second round of Paris peace talks

Answer 6

1971-72
Kissinger meets secretly with communist advisor Le Duc Tho to preceded these talks, needed both a political AND military solution
USA didn’t want to accept a coalition government and ‘abandon’ the south because they feared its collapse
talks changed in 1972 when the North changed there stance on allowing the Southern leader Thieu to stay

Question 7

why did peace talks stop in December 1972

Answer 7

Linebacker II and Le Duc Tho’s refuse to return prisoners
these talks soon resumed however in January

Question 8

1972 presidential elections

Answer 8

November
Nixon took no action in Viet Nam until after the elections
landslide victory for Nixon
Events of watergate took place however

Question 9

Peace with Honour

Answer 9

What Nixon aimed for in Viet Nam
Used during his 1969 campaign
US removal without their looking like a failure

Question 10

President Thieu

Answer 10

Leader of S.Viet Nam
Relied on US support
unpopular in the north and it took their leaders a while to negotiate with him- he ultimately only signed the peace accords under pressure from the US

Question 11

Terms/Timeline of peace talks in Viet Nam

Answer 11

N.Viet Nam was told to negotiate by China, these talks begin in July 1972 (Linebacker I)
Terms are agreed in September but delays
Ceasefire in Jan 1973
60 day US removal of Prisoners of War
free elections

Question 12

Paris Peace Talks

Answer 12

Peace in Viet Nam
signed January 1973
US had 60 days to remove all troops
US prisoners of war were to be released
ceasefire declared through Viet Nam
territorial integrity would remain, as set out by the 1954 Geneva accords
elections to be held in both north and south

Question 13

US removal from Viet Nam

Answer 13

March 1973- the final US combatants leave Viet Nam

Question 14

role of congress in the end of the Viet Nam war

Answer 14

Jan 1973- cut funding for Thieu
August- cut funding for Cambodian bombing

Question 15

Positive Outcomes for US extension into Cambodia

Answer 15

hindered Viet Cong operations in Cambodia- lost of supplies destroyed
This prevented the possibility of a major N.Vietnamese offensive against the south due losses in Cambodia

Question 16

Negative outcomes for the US in Cambodia

Answer 16

Intervention caused the North to strengthen their presence and support for the Cambodian communist party led by Pol Pot
no strategic gains made
increased opposition to the war- lots of student protests in May 1972
Senate remove the Gulf of Tonkin resolution
US congress ban US ground troops from entering any country but Viet Nam

Question 17

Khmer Rouge

Answer 17

Cambodian Communist party who fought against the US backed government of Lon Nol
Leader was Pol Pot
They look power in 1975 and enacted a genocide within Cambodia (~1.5 Million people killed)

Question 18

Khmer Rouge’s relationship with N.Vietnam

Answer 18

Originally supported the Khmer Rouge- form an alliance in 1970
Paris agreements strained their relationship
Following the Cambodian genocide and the border attacks on Viet Nam, they invade with the backing of the USSR in 1978 to replace the Khmer Rouge with their opponent

Question 19

American Actions in Cambodia

Answer 19

ground troops invade in 1970 but withdraw at fear of backlash
continued with bombing though- 430,000 tonnes
Sent advisors to Lon Nol’s government
After the US evacuated forces from the capital of Phnom Penh it fell within the week

Question 20

Heng Samrin

Answer 20

Member of Khmer Rogue until he defected in 1978 and returned to overthrow them with Viet Nam

Question 21

Actions and Aims of the Khmer Rouge

Answer 21

Take over Cambodia- no one expected them to achieve this
ideological cleansing (which led to genocide)

Question 22

Role of Lon Nol

Answer 22

Essentially an ineffective leader
welcomed US arms but not their advice
poorly paid his soldiers meaning they were often not very effective

Question 23

Monetary cost of Cambodia for the US

Answer 23

$1.6 billion

Question 24

How was Cambodia impacted by US policies

Answer 24

their bombing campaigns made the US very unpopular and thus the governemnt that they backed in Cambodia was also very unpopular- arguably led to increased support for the Khmer Rouge
An example of failed containment

Question 25

How many ARVN troops were killed

Answer 25

300,000

Question 26

how many Vietnamese were killed

Answer 26

2.5 million

Question 27

How many US served in Vietnam

Answer 27

3 million
9% of the population were drafted
46,000 killed in action with another 10,000 being killed through accidents

Question 28

Allied troops in Viet Nam

Answer 28

South Korea, Australia, Thailand and New Zealand- all suffered looses of troops

Question 29

How many N.Vietnamese were killed

Answer 29

I million Viet Cong
40,000-60,000 N. Vietnamese

Question 30

Viet Nam and the Great Society

Answer 30

Viet Nam was the opposite of LBJ’s internal policies, it resulted in his government having no funding to implement these societal reforms

Question 31

Cost for US soliders

Answer 31

PTSD
Treated as outcasts
physical/mental distressC

Question 32

Cost for Veitnamese

Answer 32

use of napalm/agent orange resulted in the death/disfiguration of many Vietnamese since most couldn’t afford treatment
Much of their countryside was destroyed and many were killed in later years due to unexploded mines
dislocation- estimated over 1 million Vietnamese fled

Question 33

Impact of the War on the Vietnamese economy

Answer 33

for the next 20 or so years Viet Nam remained one of the worlds poorest countries
dependent on the USSR

Question 34

Impact of the War on the US economy

Answer 34

$167 billion spent in Viet Nam, caused inflation in 1973