3 US Involvement in the Vietnam War, 1954 - 75

Question 1

<p>What was <b>French Indochina</b>?</p>

Answer 1

<p>French Indochina was countries in South-East Asia controlled by France before World War 2. This includes countries such as Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam</p>

Question 2

<p>What percentage of money was the US paying in 1954 for France's military costs against Vietnam?</p>

Answer 2

<p>The US were paying for 80% of France's military supplies and advisors</p>

Question 3

<p>What was the battle of Dien Bien Phu?</p>

Answer 3

<p>The battle of Dien Bien Phu was a major defeat for the French in Vietnam</p>

<p>The French were surrounded by Vietnamese troops and fought for 55 days before being defeated</p>

Question 4

<p>Who were the <b>Viet Minh</b>?</p>

Answer 4

<p>The Viet Minh were a group of Vietnamese nationalists, believing in independence from any foreign power, led by Ho Chi Minh</p>

Question 5

<p>What were the agreements about Vietnam in the <b>Geneva Accords</b>?</p>

Answer 5

<ul><li>Vietnam was temporarily split in two along the 17th parallel, with a demilitarised zone in the middle</li><ul><li>Ho Chi Minh would control a small area of the North</li><li>Bao Dai would run the South, but was soon replaced by Ngo Dinh Diem - a strong anti-communist</li><li>Elections would be held in 1956 to decide who would rule the whole of Vietnam, but no clear system was agreed</li><li>No foreign military forces could set up military bases anywhere in Vietnam</li><li>Nobody could move into the other half of the country for 300 days</li></ul></ul>

Question 6

<p>Who refused to accept the Geneva Accords?</p>

Answer 6

<p>The US and South Vietnam refused to agree with the damands</p>

<p>North Vietnam was forced to agree with the demands by China although, they believed that they were given a smaller area than they had previously in 1945</p>

Question 7

<p>What was Eisenhower's <b>Domino Theory</b>?</p>

Answer 7

<p>Eisenhower's domino theory claimed that if one country in Asia became communist, Vietnam, the rest, including Laos, India and Cambodia, would follow</p>

Question 8

<p>Why was Diem disliked by the South Vietnamese population?</p>

Answer 8

<ul><li>Diem was <b>corrupt</b> - he gave top jobs to his family and Catholics</li><li>Diem was Catholic - he persecuted the Buddist majority in South Vietnam</li><li>Diem didn't respect the peasants in the Villages</li></ul>

Question 9

<p>Who were the <b>Vietcong</b>?</p>

Answer 9

<p>The Vietcong were a collection of communist groups that opposed Diem</p>

Question 10

<p>What was the <b>Ho Chi Minh Trail</b>?</p>

Answer 10

<p>The Ho Chi Minh trail was a series of dirt trails running from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through Laos which provided the Vietcong with supplies</p>

Question 11

<p>Who were the ARVN?</p>

Answer 11

<p> ARVN stood for the <b>Army of the Republic of Vietnam<b>, South Vietnamese, US-backed toops</b></b></p>

Question 12

<p>How much advisors did Kennedy give to South Vietnam to train the ARVN?</p>

Answer 12

<p>Kennedy gave 16,000 advisors to train the ARVN</p>

Question 13

<p>What was the aim of the <b>Strategic Hamlets Program</b>?</p>

Answer 13

<p>The Strategic Hamlets program aimed at stopping the Vietcong from recruiting villagers or getting supplies to them</p>

Question 14

<p>How many new villages were made from the Strategic Hamlets Program?</p>

Answer 14

<p>5,000 villages</p>

Question 15

<p>Why did the Strategic Hamlets Program fail?</p>

Answer 15

<p>Diem failed to provide the villagers with enough food so faced starvation</p>

<p>Many villagers were relocated far from their ancestral homes so were unnaproving of the program</p>

<p>This made Diem even more unpopular</p>

Question 16

<p>In which year did the USA publicly announce they no longer supported Diem’s government?</p>

Answer 16

<p>1963</p>

Question 17

<p>Who supported the Vietcong and how?</p>

Answer 17

<ul><li>China supported the Vietcong by sending $100 million dollars of aid into South Vietnam through the Ho Chi Minh trail</li><li>The locals supported the Vietcong by hiding the Vietcong in the villages and giving them food</li></ul>

Question 18

<p>How did President Johnson escalate the conflict in Vietnam?</p>

Answer 18

<p>President Johnson increased the number of advisors in South Vietnam to 200,000</p>

Question 19

<p>What were the problems of the ARVN?</p>

Answer 19

<p>The ARVN spent more time arguing who should be leader rather than working to defeat the Vietcong, despite having 5 times as much troops</p>

Question 20

<p>When was the <b>Gulf of Tonkin Incident</b>?</p>

Answer 20

<p>The Gulf of Tonkin Incident was on the 2^nd August 1964</p>

Question 21

<p>What was the Gulf of Tonkin Incident?</p>

Answer 21

<p>Three torpedo boats from the North fired on the USS Madox, which then retaliated</p>

Question 22

<p>What was the Gulf of Tonkin resolution?</p>

Answer 22

<p>On 7^th August 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave President Johnson the ability to stop any further attacks without the need of congress or declaring war.</p>

Question 23

<p>What were the tactics used by the Vietcong?</p>

Answer 23

<ul><li>Guerilla Warfare</li><li>Ho Chi Minh Trail</li><li>Tunnels</li><li>Tunnels</li><li>Booby Traps</li></ul>

Question 24

<p>What is <b>Guerilla Warfare</b>?</p>

Answer 24

<p>Guerilla Warfare is when fighters avoid open battles and instead ambush the enemy</p>

Question 25

<p>What was the <b>Ho Chi Minh Trail</b>?</p>

Answer 25

<p>The Ho Chi Minh trail was a trail going through Laos and Cambodia which provided supplies to the Vietcong in the South</p>

Question 26

<p>What percentage of US casulties were caused by traps?</p>

Answer 26

<p>19% of US casulties were caused by traps</p>

Question 27

<p>What was <b>Operation Rolling Thunder</b>?</p>

Answer 27

<p>Operation Rolling Thunder was a military plan set out by President Johnson, who wanted North Vietnam to surrender by bombings, rather than sending troops in</p>

Question 28

<p>What were the targets of Operation Rolling Thunder?</p>

Answer 28

<p>Operation Rolling Thunder targetted the Ho Chi Minh trail and the little industry in North Vietnam</p>

Question 29

<p>How many people were killed by Operation Rolling Thunder?</p>

Answer 29

<p>90,000 people were killed</p>

Question 30

<p>What was the cost of Operation Rolling Thunder?</p>

Answer 30

<p>Operation Rolling Thunder cost the USA $4 billion</p>

Question 31

<p>Why did Operation Rolling Thunder fail?</p>

Answer 31

<ul><li>However it failed because the VC used tunnels under the Ho Chi Minh trail to avoid the bombings, so supplies continued</li><li>The USSR and China sent military supplies into the North, so the destruction of industry didn’t matter too much</li><li>The USSR sent $505 million in aid in 1967</li><li>Also, the high civilian death rates made the USA even more unpopular</li></ul>

Question 32

<p>What was <b>Search and Destroy</b>?</p>

Answer 32

<p>Search and Destroy was a US tactic where small units of US troops would hunt down and destroy Vietcong villages using bombs or chemicals</p>

Question 33

<p>What was <b>Agent Orange</b>?</p>

Answer 33

<p>Agent Orange was a chemical that was sprayed to destroy jungle and farmland in order to find Vietcong bases</p>

Question 34

<p>What was Operation Ranch Hand?</p>

Answer 34

<p>Operation Ranch Hand was a military operation lasting, from 1964 to 1971, where 3,000 Vietcong villages were sprayed with chemicals</p>

Question 35

<p>What percentage of South Vietnam was sprayed with chemicals?</p>

Answer 35

<p>24% of South Vietnam was sprayed by chemicals</p>

Question 36

<p>What were the consequences of Agent Orange?</p>

Answer 36

<ul><li>Destroyed Jungle and Farmland</li><li>Poisoned water supplies</li><li>Caused serious health problems and death</li></ul>

Question 37

<p>What was the <b>Tet Offensive</b>?</p>

Answer 37

<p>The Tet Offensive was a suprise attack led by North Vietnam and the Vietcong on 26 South Vietnamese cities during the 1968 New Year's Tet Festival</p>

Question 38

<p>How many Communists were killed during the Tet Offensive?</p>

Answer 38

<p>45,000 communists were killed during the Tet Offensive</p>

Question 39

<p>What did the Tet Offensive lead to in the US?</p>

Answer 39

<p>The Tet Offensive led to huge anti-war protests withover 150,000 people participating. It led to peace talks in 1968</p>

Question 40

<p>What was <b>Vietnamisation</b>?</p>

Answer 40

<p>Vietnamisation was a policy led by President Nixon which aimed at reducing US influence in Vietnam whilst not letting South Vietnam become communist</p>

Question 41

<p>How much troops did President Nixon withdraw from Vietnam by July 1969?</p>

Answer 41

<p>Nixon withrew 25,000 troops in Vietnam</p>

Question 42

<p>What did Nixon order to do to Cambodia in March 1969?</p>

Answer 42

<p>Nixon ordered there to be secret bombings on the Ho Chi Minh trail in Cambodia</p>

Question 43

<p>What were the various reasons why Vietnamisation failed?</p>

Answer 43

<ul><li>Drug Use</li><li>Lack of experienced ARVN soldiers</li><li>ARVN troops deserted</li><li>Corruption and Theft</li><li>Unpopularity of the South Vietnamese government</li><li>Lack of funding given by Congress</li></ul>

Question 44

<p>Which year did the <b>My Lai Massacre</b> take place?</p>

Answer 44

<p>The My Lai Massacre took place in 1968</p>

Question 45

<p>What was the My Lai Massacre?</p>

Answer 45

<p>The My Lai Massacre was an incident where the US army killed innocent civilians in the village of My Lai. </p>

Question 46

<p>Why was there outcry over the My Lai Massacre?</p>

Answer 46

<p>There was public outcry as the army initially covered up the incident, announcing that 128 VC were killed</p>

<p>An enquiry was found that 347 civilians were massacred and the army helped to cover it up. Lieutenant Calley was charged with murder of 22 civilians and sentenced to jail but</p>

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