Unit 6 Flashcards
(32 cards)
Ho Chi Minh
Vietnamese nationalist leader and president of north Vietnam and founded Indochinese communist party, would later create Viet Minh for independence of Vietnam
Sig: by declaring Vietnam’s independence from France in 1945 after japan’s surrender, resorted to guerilla warfare to fight for independent Vietnam when France rejected the idea
Resisted against French and Japanese
Dien Bien Phu
decisive Vietnamese military victory that brought an end to French colonial rule in Vietnam 1954
Surrounded French forces at dien bien phu valley
Sig: came the separation of the country into north and south vietnam, creating political framework for continued conflict and ultimately the Vietnam war
Communist north Vietnam supported by USSR and China while south Vietnam supported by U.S. and allies
Ngo Dinh Diem
former president of south Vietnam who would use heavy handed tactics against the vietCong insurgency, brutal treatment of opposition to regime, who was executed during a coup d’état by his generals and backed by CIA
Dictator hated by vietnamese citizens because of nepotism, money to elite, torture
Sig: was heavily endorsed by USA despite lack of reputation and despised by Viet Minh (French thought him to be unstable) and he ended up being anti democracy and anti Geneva accords
Would later be assassinated
Guerilla Warfare
tactic by the viet cong of using knowledge of the landscape to avoid open battle with the enemy and to launch raids and surprise attacks before disappearing back into the undergrowth
Small groups of combatants would use military tactics such as raids, ambushes
Sig: Viet Cong relied upon the use of guerilla tactics when fighting American military forces
US unable to distinguish friend or foe
Familiarity with terrain and experience from fighting Japanese and French post WW2
Tunnel systems, booby traps and jungle cover meant they were hard to find and defeat
Viet Cong
southern Vietnamese insurgents who supported the communist national liberation front and were allied with North Vietnam and troops of Ho Chi Minh (military wing)
Arose after defeat of French colonial colonies
Wanted self determination for the people of Vietnam, so turned against USA and south Vietnam governments, but resulted in continued foreign interference from communism
Opposed to diem
Sig: engaged in guerilla warfare to challenge USA which led to Vietnam war, south Vietnam would later fall and become one United communist country as US troops withdrew
Got broad support from peasants
Gulf of Tonkin
2 US destroyers stationed in the gulf of Tonkin radioed that they had been fired upon by north Vietnamese forces - attacked by patrol torpedo boats
Sig: led to US engaging more directly in Vietnam war by Johnson increasing US military presence in Indochina in response
Tet Offensive
north Vietnam, supported by Vietcong, launched surprise assaults on towns and cities in US-held areas of south Vietnam
Took control of Saigon and capital Hue
Sig: viet Cong did not hold onto any of the territory gained for long and suffered many casualties (military defeat)
Offensive failed but is viewed as a turning point:
Loss of life of American soldiers and determination of viet Cong assault led many Americans ON TV to conclude that they could not win a war against dedicated enemy
Led to huge anti war demonstrations
President Johnson stopped bombing north Vietnam in return for peace talks in Paris
Vietnamization
policy of Nixon administration to end US involvement in the Vietnam war through a program to expand, equip and train south Vietnamese forces and assign to them an ever increasing combat role, at the same time steadily reducing the number of US combat troops
Minimize US involvement in Vietnam by strengthening south Vietnam troops
Sig: led to the end of the war because after US removed their troops, North Vietnamese forces pushed through south Vietnam and took over cities until they finally ended the war at Saigon
Mylai
a company of American soldiers brutally killed the women, children, and old men in the village of my lai in 1968
500 people slaughtered
Young girls and women were raped and mutilated before being killed
Idea of having to destroy a village before they save it
Sig: US army officers covered up the carnage for a year before it was reported in the American press, sparking a firestorm of international outrage
Many began to question US motives in conflict
Fragging
deliberate or attempted killing of a soldier, usually a superior, by a fellow soldier (murders were committed using fragmentation grenades)
Killed them because superiors were asking them to do something dangerous
Sig: with troops reluctant to risk their lives in what was perceived as a lost war, fragging was seen by some enlisted men as the “most effective way to discourage their superiors from showing enthusiasm for combat”
Shows low morale of US army to be willing to kill their own officers
Why did the Soviet Union invade Czechoslovakia? What was the outcome?
Intended to crush the “Prague Spring” — a brief period of liberalization in the communist country
Fear reforms (Alexander Dubcek’s effort to establish “communism with a human face” by introducing a series of far reaching political and economic reforms)
Included increased freedom of speech and rehabilitation of political dissidents
Pro-Soviet communists seized control of democratic government
Liberal reforms repealed, but soviets struggled to install a stable government
Outcome: in April 1969, finally forced Dubcek from power in favour of a more conservative administrator (new government more aligned with Soviet Union that suppressed freedom of speech and restricted civil liberties)
Simple answer:
Fear that western part of CZ vulnerable to western countries (strategic)
Outcome: announcement of brezhnev doctrine, becomes one of most repressive regimes
What role did Nixon play in improving relations between the USA and China?
Following sino-Soviet split, relations between China and USSR weakened bc of Cold War, and China broke off alliance with USSR, allowed Nixon to pursue improving ties with Beijing
Preceded ping pong diplomacy (cultural and commercial contacts cultivated)
Visited people’s republic of China to gain more leverage over relations with Soviet Union
Simple:
Set in motion the normalization of relations with PRC
Removed China as a Cold War foe
Opened China to US trade, eventually putting downward pressure on US inflation
Rapprochement between US and China decreased fear of invasion
US okays communist china taking UN seat from Taiwan (nationalist china)
What was watergate
Political scandal involving the reelection of Nixon
The president implicated through his campaign team (CREEP acronym)
Nixon resigns, office of president diminished in public’s eyes, can’t trust POTUS
Main points of Helsinki Declaration
Post war borders of Eastern Europe guaranteed, could be altered peacefully and in accordance with international law
Non intervention in the internal affairs of other countries
Co op in economics, science, and technology
Agreed to respect human rights, Aimee to help make freer movement and freedom of choice in private and professional associations
Not entrenched in international law but hope for oppressed of Eastern Europe, especially dissidents and Jews wanting to leave USSR
Explain why the USSR decided to invade Afghanistan and describe the international consequences of the invasion?
Soviets feared spread of strong fundamentalist Islam, such as had taken power in Iran also taking over Afghanistan and spreading into neighbouring Muslim republics of the USSR
Brezhnev doctrine (which declared USSR’ right to intervene in Czechoslovakia with military force to preserve communism) limited reforms by soviet bloc countries
Said that socialist regimes had a responsibility to uphold others using military force if necessary
Soviets sought to prop up Afghanistan’s communist government because current republic leader Daoud Khan refused to become a Soviet puppet
Soviet distrusted new gov
Would contribute to USSR’s eventual collapse
International consequences:
End of détente
US refusal to ratify salt II
Western boycott of Moscow olympics
US provided military support of mujahideen
Loss of international prestige because of military difficulties
US led sanctions against USSR
Why did Soviet Union withdraw from Afghanistan?
Soviet union’ troublesome economic and international situation complicated by involvement in afghan war
Mujahideen employed guerrilla tactics against red army
Military conflict with afghan Muslim rebels proved costly with an estimated amount of 15k Russian troops losing their lives and economic cost to struggling soviet economy in billions of dollars
Muslim rebels eventually succeeded in establishing control
Strained relations between USSR and US nearly to the breaking point
President Jimmy Carter criticized Russian action, stalled talks on arms limitations, and issued economic sanctions
Carter even ordered boycott of 1980 olympics in Moscow
Simple:
USSR installed puppet gov in Kabul but most of countryside in hands of rebels
Soviet troops trained for conventional warfare while rebels were used to the terrain
Rebels had military help from U.S.
economically costly for USSR
What happened at the Moscow Olympics in 1980?
Soviet invasion spurred president Jimmy Carter to issue an ultimatum that threatened to boycott the olympics if soviet troops didn’t withdraw
Led by the US, 66 countries boycotted the games entirely because of the Soviet-Afghan war
Alternative sporting events held outside of USSR
British still won
Intersection of sports and politics
What was Reagan’s (republican) policy toward the USSR in 1980-85?
Determined to increase pressure on soviets and intimidate them into making concessions
Convinced congress to increase military expenditure by 13%
Considered strategic defense initiative (proposed defensive system against potential nuclear attacks from Soviet Union
Spent a lot of money on a defense system that might never work and people were concerned they would come at the cost of social programs like education and health care
Intended to intercept missiles at various phases of flight
Simple:
Increased military spending by 51%, operated on the false belief that nuclear war could be fought and won (hurt US economy)
Arms control negotiations on hold
Reagan proposes START to replace SALT (no progress being made)
Reagan tells Gorbachev (leader of USSR) to tear down the wall
Tries to prevent communist governments in Central America (el Salvador, Nicaragua) and replace with friendlies
Describe the Solidarity movement and the Soviet response (1980-81)
Government price increases reversed due to labour protests backed by intelligentsia and Catholic Church
Solidarity: union of all urban polish labour unions formed sept 1980
Soviet response:
Try intimidation with military manoeuvres by fellow Warsaw pact nations (no invasion)
Polish Supreme Court declares rural solidarity legal and polish government negotiates end to economic crisis
Talks end and strikes continue
Solidarity leaves Walesa’s (solidarity leader) moderate stance and propose national day of protest
Jaruzelski (new polish leader) declares martial law: stops comms, transportation of goods, protests, outlaws strikes
Describe the events of the Iran-Iraq war. What two issues were central to the conflict?
Iranian revolution in 1978 toppled the pro western government of Pallavi in favour of a fundamentalist regime led by Khomeini
Saddan Hussein, president of Iraq, counted on the support of his nation’s minority Sunni Muslim population and feared an expansion of Iran’s revolution to Shi’ite dominated Iraq
Saddam sought to overturn border agreements of 1975 and re establish control of Shatt-Al-Arab, Iraq’s only access point to the Persian gulf
Saddam preemptive strike on Iran because of Iran’s weakened military due to revolution
Air strikes on Iranian air bases, following up with ground invasion of oil producing regions
Iran’s Revolutionary militia and regular armed forces held a strong resistance and regained all lost territory with counteroffensive
Iraq asks for peace, Iran says no and continues conflict aiming to topple saddam’s regime
Two reasons simple:
fear Iranian revolution would spark insurgency a,ong Iraq’s minority + Iraq’s desire to repress Iran as the dominant Persian gulf state
Results of Iran Iraq war
No clear winner but Iraq had successfully established itself as the most powerful military in the Arab world
UN ceasefire 1988
Neither country had the will nor the economic resources to continue the war
Iraq accumulated billions in debt
Causes of gulf war
Hussein ordered invasion and occupation of Kuwait with the apparent aim of acquiring that nation’s large oil reserves, canceling a large debt Iraq owed Kuwait and expanding Iraqi power in that region
To what extent was the gulf war fought for economic reasons
Kuwait was a very rich country with lots of oil and would have helped to solve iraq’s money problems
Control of oil would have given Hussein more power
Kuwait had sea points that Iraq wanted and Iraq claimed that the land of Kuwait was historically part of Iraq
Describe the economic freedoms allowed under deng xiaoping
Price flexibility increased, expanding the service sector
Opened an open door policy to open the door to foreign businesses that wanted to set up in China for the first time since the Kuomintang era
Embraced a set of goals which were the 4 modernizations (agriculture, industry, defense, and science & tech)
Eliminated Mao’s communes and leased the land to individual farming
Enabled people to embrace Western goods and ideas, closed the income gap between rich and poor
Special economic zones allowed foreign businesses to operate in free trade
Increase imports of western goods and exports to western nations
Economic policies for those who didn’t follow their one child policy (guanxi - connections that allow escaping the policy)
