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History > War In Vietnam 1964-1975 > Flashcards

War In Vietnam 1964-1975 Flashcards

1
Q

What shocking defeat was enough to make the French give up on the idea of controlling Vietnam?

A

Diem Bien Phu 1954

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2
Q

What was decided at the Geneva Conference 1954?

A

Split Vietnam into 2 parts (border along 17th parallel)

  • N communist ruled by Ho Chi Minh
  • S non-communist

Elections would be held at some date in the future to see if Vietnamese wanted to be joined as one country- because of conflict didn’t happen

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3
Q

Who led S Vietnam?

A

Diem

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4
Q

Why was Diem’s rule unpopular?

A
  1. Christian- most S Vietnamese Buddhist (he even maltreated buddhists, frustrated as couldn’t practice their religion and way of life freely)
  2. Corrupt: Gov money used for own private wealth (members of his family+ supporters rewarded with top positions) took land from peasants to give to his own supporters
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5
Q

Why did the US feel like they had to make a strong stand against communism in S Vietnam?

A

Domino theory

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6
Q

What were the communist fighters in S Vietnam called + when did they form?

A

Vietcong

1960

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7
Q

What was the Vietnam Cong’s aim?

A

To defeat Diem’s government and unite Vietnam

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8
Q

By 1962 what was the US President, Kennedy doing?

A

Backing the S Vietnamese army with weapons + sending military advisors

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9
Q

What happened in 1963 + why did the US let it happen?

A

Diem assassinated by his own army generals

US knew it was going to happen but allowed it in hoe that the replacement government would be more popular

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10
Q

From 1963-1964 what was the new president Johnson trying to do?

A

Get congress to give him the go ahead to send in much greater military support (US not yet fully committed to a war against the viet cong

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11
Q

What happened in August 1964 + what was the consequence?

A

A US warship was fired on by Vietnamese patrol boats (the “Tonkin Gulf Incident”

Congress passed the Tonkin gulf resolution which agreed that the US president could take all steps to bring peace and security to S Vietnam

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12
Q

What was happening from 1965-68

A

Full-scale US military commitment

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13
Q

When did Operation Rolling thunder start?

A

March 1965

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14
Q

When did Operation rolling thunder continue until + how many casualties did it cause?

A

November 1968

90000

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15
Q

In a guerilla war what is the aim for the guerilla side?

A

To make the war too expensive in lives and money for the other side - keep war going until they lose the will to keep fighting and withdraw

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16
Q

What did the Vietnam gong do to demonstrate their power to villagers?

A

Murder unpopular land owners and government tax collectors

17
Q

Why did the US aim to win over the “hearts and minds” of the civilians?

A

So that the viet cong would have less support and fewer places to shelter and hide

18
Q

What turned the S Vietnamese people more against the USA?

A

The money that they poured in often found its way into the wrong hands leading to a rise in organises from and corruption.

Dropping bombs and carrying out attacks on the Viet Cong tended to kill civilians as well

19
Q

What military tactic did the US use on the viet cong?

A

Search and destroy

Napalm

Agent orange

Difficulty of dealing with guerilla tactics led US to increase bombing of N Vietnam in operation rolling thunder

20
Q

When was the My Lai Massacre, when did it become pillbox knowledge + how many were killed?

A

March 1968

Public knowledge November 1969

Between 347 and 504 unarmed civilians

21
Q

What were the consequences of shocking events like My Lai?

A

Helped to destroy US’s self confidence and belief that it always acted in the right.

However Nixon had already begun withdrawal of US troops by the time it was public knowledge so added to but did not create public’s feelings that US should get out of S Vietnam

22
Q

US publics attitudes towards the war in 1964 compared to 1968

A

1964 clear majority in favour

1968 below 50% of US public, Nixon elected in that year and in his election campaign he had promised to lower the number of US troops in Vietnam

23
Q

In the US what was there by 1968?

A

Major protest movement against the war

Some men publicly burnt their call-up papers

24
Q

What happened in May 1970?

A

There was a series of large demonstrations at Kent State University

25
Q

What happened in 1971 which particularly affected the Americans?

A

The veterans march

300,000 ex-soldiers marched through Washington to demonstrate against the war

26
Q

Why were US actions to stop S Vietnam from going communist unsuccessful? (3)

A
  1. By 1968 there was a military stalemate with neither side winning
  2. Although US controlled the cities they couldn’t permanently destroy the Viet Cong forces hiding in the countryside or NVA support and supply moving down the Ho Chi Minh trail- more US used huge air and artillery firepower the more civilians they killed. Turned rural population more against the US and hurt hearts and minds programme
  3. With the stalemate in reality the Viet Cong were winning as they just needed to keep the war going until IS sickened of the cost in money and lives- US needed to actually finish Viet Cong which it could not achieve
27
Q

When was the Tet Offensive?

A

January 1968

28
Q

What happened during the Tet Offensive?

A

Viet Cong captured Hue, over 100 US bases attacked, Viet Cong raiders got inside US Embassy

29
Q

Between 1969 and 1971 around how many US troops were withdrawn?

A

400,000

30
Q

When did the Paris peace talks begin?

A

November 1968

31
Q

The Paris peace talks dragged on from 1969 to 1973 without producing any quick solutions so what did Nixon decide to do?

A

Put more pressure on the communists, ordered US and ARVN troops to carry out large-scale ground attacks into neutral Cambodia in 1970

Failed to permanently cut Ho Chi Minh trail

32
Q

In 1972 what do the NVA attacks lead Nixon to do?

A

Restart the bombing of N Vietnam (Operation linebacker)

33
Q

What was the aim of operation linebacker?

A

Force the N Vietnamese to make real efforts towards making peace.

December 1972 bombers directly struck main cities including the capital Hanoi

34
Q

What did the pressure of the American bombing of N Vietnamese cities lead to?

A

N Vietnam making a deal in the Paris peace accords in January 1973

35
Q

By when had the US pulled out its remaining troops?

A

April 1973

36
Q

What happened in 1974?

A

N Vietnamese troops started to attack S Vietnam again- no Is military help given + congress passed laws preventing president from allowing US airforce to bomb N Vietnam

37
Q

What had happened by 1975?

A

All the major south Vietnamese cities fell to the NVA

38
Q

Which scene seemed to sum up to the world the failure of the US in S Vietnam?

A

US scrambling to evacuate its last officials from Saigon by helicopter from the roof of the US embassy

39
Q

When was Saigon captured by the NVA?

A

April 1975

History (6 decks)

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