2 Features Of… Flashcards
1
Q
Dien Bien Phu
A
- It was a climactic french defeat that was an enormous loss, 25000 french soldiers fought 130,000 Vietnamese soldiers, and was such a disaster that the french general killed himself, with 10,000 french losses
- It resulted in the French leaving Vietnam, and the Geneva convention that split Vietnam in two at the 17th parallel
2
Q
Geneva conference
A
- French leaving Indochina, following Dien Bien Phu, they were humiliated and didn’t feel it was profitable to remain in Vietnam.
- Vietnam was split into two with Communists in the North and US supported Capitalists in the South. While elections were promised, they never actually materialised
3
Q
Domino Theory
A
- Massive US aid - ignoring the evils and corruption of the Diem gov’t, and supporting them only for being capitalist. At one point, 80% of the US aid budget was going into Vietnam
- US soldiers having feet on the ground, with the draft being set up in order to fight back against North Vietnam as they believed that any spread of communism etc.
4
Q
Life in N Vietnam
A
- Reforms of Land and education, rent was reduced, camps were set up, with over a million estimated to be in slave camps and murdered combined, education focused on communist beliefs
- The entire society was focused on the War effort. There was widespread militarisation of society, with the threat of bombings and military attacks leading to people living in awful conditions.
5
Q
Life in S Vietnam
A
Religious intolerance: Diem was a Roman Catholic in a Buddhist majority country, and he suppressed the Buddhist faith being expressed, banning the flying of flags among other things. This persecution was protested when a monk self immolated, which became a symbol all over the world, and was even repeated by some, such as in Detroit.
Widespread corruption & persecution. There was a denounce the communist campaign, where 25,000 sympathisers were arrested and 1,000 killed. IN addition, the land reforms were very limited, with only half the land redistributed, and only 10% profiting, as well as Diem’s family and friends being placed in positions of power.
6
Q
Ho Chi Minh Trail
A
- Allowed the North Vietnamese to supply the South with troops & munitions, as well as food and other essentials, and 19,000 km long, with 12,000 miles of branching trails. It was used by over 2 million soldiers
- It was massively bombed by operation Rolling Thunder, with over 1.7 million tons of bombs dropped on it, as well as leading to the invasion of Cambodia and Laos, which were deeply significant in turning the US public against Vietnam
7
Q
Strategic Hamlet Program
A
- Villages were moved from areas that were deemed threatened by the Vietcong by 500 green hats
- Massively unpopular and unsuccessful, 15,000 were proposed, with only 20% meeting standards, and were met with fury by residents who were horrified to be moved from their ancestral lands
8
Q
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
A
- USS Maddox was conducting an intelligence patrol when it was allegedly attacked by Vietnamese Torpedo boats, exchanging fire and ultimately with the help of nearby aircraft carrier, repelled the attackers. 2 days later, a second attack was reported, although this was later judged to be a mistake, and they were not attacked
- This led to the gulf of Tonkin being passed in congress, which provided a legal foundation for the Vietnam war, and resulted in a massively expanded set of operations in Vietnam. It also allowed the president to deploy the US military to conduct operations in Vietnam as he deemed necessary
9
Q
Search and Destroy
A
- The search and destroy operations were where US forces were put in hostile territory, flown in by helicopters in order to search out and destroy the enemy. Villages were often destroyed, and it began with operation Masher, which killed 2,000 enemy soldiers
- It was hugely controversial, and the horror of Vietnam was characterised by My Lai, which was hugely controversial, as a massive atrocity with as many as 500 Vietnamese women, children and old people murdered in cold blood
10
Q
Television
A
- This was the first war ever televised and the number of journalists was as many as 600 by 1968, and turned much of the public against the war, as the US gov’t could no longer control the narrative as they could in Korea
- One notable incident of a televised attack was when in 1965, US soldiers attacked Cam Ne, where soldiers killed a baby and 4 old non-speaking men. This was deeply unpopular back home
11
Q
The Tet Offensive
A
- It was the first occasion where the Vietnamese decided to fight in the open field, and it was a disaster for them militarily, with massive losses for the Vietnamese, resulting in them having to retreat back into the jungle. They certainly never repeated
- Massive disaster for the US public relations, as televisions showed pictures of the Vietcong occupying the US embassy of Saigon. This destroyed the belief of US invincibility, and turned the public against the War as a whole
12
Q
Battle of Hue
A
- It was indicative of the lack of real military strength in the open field of the Vietcong. They overcame the US army, but ultimately were unable to hold onto Hue for a long time, and showed that they were so much more suited to the style of guérilla warfare that they had carried out for most of the Vietnam War. They never attempted another open field attack while the Americans still had troops on the ground, as the loss was so catastrophic.
- It was a public relations disaster for the Americans, and the historically and culturally significant city of Hue was destroyed, with 80% devastated, and 3,000 citizens murdered in cold blood, and 100,000 left homeless. The Americans lost 668 men, and their losses were broadcasted on television, and the American public was shocked to discover that the army that they’d viewed as slightly invincible was overcome by the Vietminh, even if only for a month.
13
Q
Spreading of the war
A
- In Cambodia, the gov’t attempted to prevent involvement in the region ,but the US were concerned by the burgeoning Khmer Rouge, who were supported by the North Vietnamese regime, and allowed the Ho Chi Minh trail to run through the East of the country
- In Laos, the Vietcong were supporting the Communists who were in an ongoing civil war, and therefore the Americans decided that Laos could be collateral damage in their bombing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail
This resulted in international and domestic condemnation, as other countries were being dragged into a war in which they had very limited involvement in.
14
Q
Operation Rolling thunder
A
- This was the escalation of the US bombing program in Vietnam, whereby there was selective bombing of targets in order to put pressure on Communist leaders. Bridges, railway lines and factories were specifically targeted
- It was characterised by enormous costs, which much of the US public felt was relatively wasted, with life magazine publishing that it cost $400,000 per Vietcong soldier killed. These costs lasted for 4 years with limited success.
15
Q
Vietnamisation
A
- It was a victory for the Vietcong, who felt that they had repelled the US enough that the public had turned against the War. The South were never going to be able to repel the military might of the North on their own, and the US support was much more limited, and ultimately led to the NV victory with the fall of Saigon in 1975
- It was a policy that Nixon campaigned with as central to his manifesto, and showed the unpopularity of the War in the US pubic, as he realised that he could win the election if he promised to bring the boys home. The public no longer was as worried by the domino theory as by the mounting losses and costs that were hitting the Vietnam war
