Vietnam War Flashcards
• during imperialism France controlled all of indochina, which is
Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia
Ho Chi Minh
- In the 30s, led by Ho Chi Minh the communists revolted against the French (French Indonesian war)
- The revolt was crushed and he had to flee into exile
- The communist won the war in 54
* USA was greatly concerned, why?
• Domino theory: they feared the rest of Southeast Asia would fall like dominos to the communists
South Vietnam: with the help of the USA - set up a democratic government led by
Ngo Dinh Diem
• Vietcong
( communist guerillas) led opposition to diem - backed by the peasants, they looked to take over south Vietnam
64 - gulf of Tonkin incident
• congress authorizes president Lyndon Johnson to send in troops
Vietnam war begins for the USA
US army faved 2 major problems in Vietnam
- Fighting a guerilla war in unfamiliar territory
2. The south Vietnamese government was very unpopular, so were american troops!
US tactics to win the war:
Search and destroy
Problem: could not find the enemy - why?
Underground tunnels!
operation rolling thunder
Stymied on the ground the US turned to air power (bombing)
War eventually became extremely unpopular in the USA -
first televised war! Dumb hippies, becomes very unpopular with the young people
- Youth driven “counterCulture” - spreads up! (Hippies - flower children)
- Anti war - war and anti government protest movement, led mostly by college students
- “Draft dodgers” - went to canada
Doves (anti-war) vs. the Hawks (pro war)
president Richard Nixon pressured into a new plan called vietnamization
the gradual pull out of US troops - replaced by south Vietnamese troops
Paris accords
all US troops pulled out! - south Vietnam keep independence
75 - north reneged! South Vietnam fell to the communists
Results
58,000 US troops died
• 2 million Vietnamese dead!
• Only war in US history that we lost
