Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM


Top Flashcards (Certified)
All Flashcards

History > The Vietnam War > Flashcards

The Vietnam War Flashcards

(48 cards)

Start Studying
1
Q

How long was the Vietnam war

A

1945-1975

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

The Vietnamese war can also be referred to as?

A

The American war or the ten thousand day war

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What territory was called French Indo-China

A

The territory that France had colonised in 1885 it was Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is Viet minh

A

The league for independence of Vietnam founded by communist leader Ho Chi Minh in1941

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What does imperialism mean

A

The state policy practise or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economical control

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What are colonial powers

A

Wealthy or powerful nations maintaining or extending its control over other countries

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Order of presidents in the USA

A 
Harry.S Truman 
David Eisenhower 
J.F kennedy 
Lyndon Johnson
Richard Nixon
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Who was the leader of north Vietnam

A

Ho Chi Minh

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Who was the leader of south Vietnam

A

Ngo Dinh Diem

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What was Ho Chi Minho’s goal?

A

To reunify Vietnam under a communist government

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What was Ngo Dinh Diem’s goal?

A

To prevent the spread of communism in Vietnam

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Who was Giap

A

A military leader and a communist politician in the Vietnam war

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What was the dividing line called which separated north Vietnam from south Vietnam

A

The 17th parallel

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What was the capital of north Vietnam

A

Hanoi

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What was the capital of south Vietnam

A

Saigon

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

At what battle did the viet minh beat the French

A

At the battle of dien bien phu

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

When and where were peace talks held after the battle dien bien phu

A

In Geneva 1954

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Why was the 17th parallel created

A

At the Geneva peace talks the 17th parallel was created to temporarily divide Vietnam into north and south. Elections would be held in1956

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Who agreed to the Geneva agreement and who didn’t and why?

A

Ho Chi Minh agreed because he knew he would win the elections. Harry S. Truman refused because he also knew Ho Chi Minh would win. Instead Truman sent advisors to south Vietnam in 1956

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What is the domino theory

Study These Flashcards
A

The domino theory was created by president Eisenhower in 1954. He believed that if Vietnam fell under the rule of communism then the rest of south-east Asia would follow

21
Q

What did the USA do to try and stop the spread of communism in Vietnam

Study These Flashcards
A

Within a year of the Geneva accords, the United States therefore began to offer support to the anti-communist politician Ngo Dinh Diem. With help from the US, Diem took control of the south Vietnamese government in 1955 and promptly canceled the elections that had been scheduled for 1956.

22
Q

How did the Diem regime prove to be

Study These Flashcards
A

The Diem regime proved to be corrupt, oppressive and extremely unpopular. However the US continued to prop it up, fearful of the increasing communist resistance activity noted in south Vietnam.

23
Q

What is another name for the Viet Cong

Study These Flashcards
A

The national liberation front

24
Q

What was the Viet Cong

Study These Flashcards
A

A resistance against Diem’s regime which was backed by Ho Chi Minh

25
Why did the US back a coup that overthrew Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963
In 1962 John F. Kennedy sent military advisers to train the south Vietnamese army (ARVN) but quickly realised that the Diem regime was unsalvageable. Therefore they backed the coup to overthrow Dinh Diem and install a new leader. However the new US backed leader proved to be just as corrupt and ineffective.
26
What started the Vietnam war
The gulf of to king is what officially started the Vietnam war
27
What happened at the gulf of Tonkin
North Vietnamese forces allegedly attacked US navy ships in the gulf of Tonkin 1964. This gave Johnson carte blanche and he started sending US troops to Vietnam.
28
What is guerrilla war
a war in which small groups of soldiers not belonging to regular or established army units engage in fighting against typically larger regular forces.
29
What was operation rolling thunder
A US bombing campaign in 1965 to bomb North Vietnam
30
What is the strategic hamlet program
a plan by the government of South Vietnam in conjunction with the US government and ARPA during the Vietnam War to combat the communist insurgency by pacifying the countryside and reducing the influence of the communists among the rural population.
31
What is agent orange
Agent orange is the use of phosphorus napalm and chemical defoliants by the Americans since American bomber planes didn’t have much targets because of the largely rural presence in Vietnam
32
What is self immolation.
To put yourself on fire. This was done by several monks in Vietnam because of Diem’s anti-Buddhist policies
33
What was the Tet offensive
A massive campaign launched by the north Vietnamese army and the Viet cong in 1968, where nearly thirty US targets and dozens of other cities in south Vietnam were attacked at once.
34
What did the gulf of Tonkin help Johnson do
It helped Johnson persuade Congress to pass the Tonkin Resolution
35
Why was the Tet offensive bad for the Americans
Even though the US won a tactical victory, American media coverage characterised the conflict as a defeat, and US public support for the war plummeted.
36
What is the my Lai massacre
A tragic event where hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians in a small village were killed in 1968
37
What led to the anti war movement
Because the Vietnam war was the first televised war. People were able to see the atrocities of the war (eg. The my lai massacre) this lead to people who changing their opinion on the war and become anti war. Many students protested against being drafted into the military and mass marches were held.
38
How did Nixon increase the scope of the war
He bombed Cambodia and Laos
39
What is the Vietnamisation
A plan To withdraw US troops gradually from Vietnam and hand over management of the war effort to the south Vietnamese.
40
Why did Nixon introduce Vietnamisation
Due to the growing pressure at home and across the world
41
What eventually forces Nixon to push for a peace settlement
Even though Nixon made good on his promise (Vietnamisation) he also illegally bombed Viet Cong sites in Cambodia and Laos all without consent or authorisation of the US Congress. This along with the publication of the secret pentagon papers in the US newspapers in 1971 caused an enormous scandal and forced Nixon to push for a peace settlement
42
What did Nixon do to try and pressure the north Vietnamese into a settlement
After a secret negotiations between the US emissary Henry A. Kissinger and the north Vietnamese representative le Duc Tho in 1972, Nixon engaged in diplomatic Manoeuvring with China and the USSR and stepped up bombing in north Vietnam to try and pressure them into a settlement
43
When was the cease-fire finally signed and when did the last US military personnel leave Vietnam
In 1963 and The last US military personnel left Vietnam in March 1973
44
What ended the Vietnam war
The north Vietnamese forces stepped up their attacks on the south and finally launched and all out offensive in the spring of 1975 . On Apr 1975 the south Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the north Vietnamese, who reunited the county under communist rule as the socialist republic of Vietnam. This marked the end of the Vietnam war.
45
How did the Vietnam war affect The americas
The fall of Saigon in 1975 represented a humiliation for the planet’s most powerful nation: peasant revolutionaries had prevailed over American will, wealth and hardware
46
Name some of the booby traps that the Vietcong had set in the jungle
- The punji trap was a faeces-smeared spike buried into the ground. If a soldier stood on this spike, it would penetrate his boot and the wound would become septic and sometimes gangrene would set in. - trip wires would be concealed in the forest. These wires were attached to explosive devices or formed part of a Vietcong ambush - the toe-topper was a round of ammunition in a bamboo sleeve and that was partially buried in the undergrowth and if a soldier stepped in it his foot would be blown off
47
List five reasons why the USA lost the Vietnam war
They were fighting in a terrain they were not used to and don’t know. Their bombing tactics were not enough because of the largely rural presence They wore uniforms so they were easily recognisable and therefore easily targeted They broadcasted the war which showed the US and the world the atrocities of the war thus they lost public support which then forced them to retreat and hand over the war to the south Vietnamese Most were in favour of the Vietcong instead of the US so many people worked for the Vietcong to kill or badly injure US soldiers
48
List five reason why the North and the Vietcong won the Vietnam war
The set booby traps in the jungle which badly injured it killed American soldiers They didn’t wear uniform thus they were hard to identify They used guerrilla tactics to attack the American soldiers They knew the terrain thus they were at an advantage in terms of using the jungle to their advantage (booby traps, tunnels) The USA alienated the south Vietnamese leaving them vulnerable to the Vietcong.

History (11 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions