Vietnamisation Flashcards
Why was Nixon voted as president?
His opponent Hubert Humphrey was from the Democrats (Johnson’s party) and had been Johnson’s Vice President meaning he was closely associated with the failures of the war
Nixon promised ‘peace with honour’ and claimed he had a ‘secret plan’ to end the fighting
When was Nixon voted as president?
November 1968
What did Nixon promise when he became president in January 1969?
“I’m not going to be like LBJ. I’m going to stop that war fast”
What was Nixon’s dilema?
Realised the war could not be won by using conventional weapons and tactics
He could not risk using nuclear weapons because the communists were backed by China and USSR
If he did use nuclear weapons, the situation could escalate into an all-out nuclear war between the world’s two superpowers- the USA and USSR
Why couldn’t Nixon simply bring US troops home form Vietnam and allow communist forces to take over?
Truman Doctrine (March 1947) For many years the US government had been saying how important it was to fight against the spread of communism in this region of the world Any chance in this message could result in the US public having an even greater distrust of their politicians
What did Nixon have to do?
Find a way of gradually reducing the amount of troops in Vietnam without losing the trust of the US public
He had to do this in a way that stopped South Vietnam being taken over by the communists
His solution was known to become Vietnamisation
Why was the USA’s reputation being damaged?
It couldn’t achieve a military victory
What policy had failed under LBJ?
Americanisation
When did Nixon announce the strategy of Vietnamisation?
3 November 1969
What was Vietnamisation?
The withdrawal of US forces and their replacement by South Vietnamese forces
To build up the ARVN (army of the republic of Vietnam) to such a high level that it could carry on the war against the Vietcong and North Vietnamese without the help of the US troops
What did Vietnamisation include?
The Americans would train, equip and expand the ARVN
US soldiers could return home (ground troops withdrawn)
Burden would shift to AVRN trained by US
What did Nixon provide to South Vietnam?
Vast sums of money
Spent money on the best planes, tanks, machine guns and rifles for South Vietnam
How many helicopters did he provide?
600
Around what % of the South Vietnamese population had signed up to the AVRN to be trained by US officers?
Within months around half
When did Nixon begin to withdraw troops?
1969
