Background to Vietnam War

Question 1

When did Japan take control of Indochina?

Answer 1

1940

Question 2

When was the Vietminh set up?

Answer 2

1941

Question 3

Why was the Vietminh set up?

Answer 3

To fight against French and Japanese control

Question 4

How many guerrilla fighters did the Vietminh have by 1945?

Answer 4

5000

Question 5

When was Japan defeated in WWII and forced to abandon control of Indochina?

Answer 5

1945

Question 6

How many French troops were moved into Indochina to regain control of South Vietnam in September 1945?

Answer 6

50,000

Question 7

When did China become communist?

Answer 7

1949

Question 8

How did the newly-communist China help the Vietminh?

Answer 8

Sent essential military supplies

Question 9

In what year did the Vietminh move from guerrilla-style fighting to larger attacks on cities?

Answer 9

1951

Question 10

Where did the decisive battle for control of Vietnam take place?

Answer 10

Dien Bien Phu

Question 11

In what year did the battle at Dien Bien Phu occur?

Answer 11

1954

Question 12

How many French troops died in battle?

Answer 12

3000

Question 13

How many French troops died in captivity?

Answer 13

8000

Question 14

What did the demoralising and humiliating French defeat result in?

Answer 14

French actively sought peace

Question 15

When did the Vietminh become communist?

Answer 15

1945

Question 16

When did the USA’s support for the Vietminh begin to decline?

Answer 16

1949

Question 17

When did the USA begin to support the French completely?

Answer 17

1950

Question 18

How many dollars worth of supplies did the US give to the French to fight the Vietminh?

Answer 18

$15million

Question 19

Why did the USA go from supporting the Vietminh to supporting the French?

Answer 19

Were against European colonisation of Asia, but after Vietminh became communist the US prioritised containing Communism

Question 20

What was agreed in Geneva in 1954?

Answer 20

Divide Vietnam into communist North and capitalist South along the 17th parallel

Question 21

What was the Domino Theory?

Answer 21

American belief that if one country became communist, others would follow like dominoes

Question 22

On what date did the Gulf of Tonkin incident occur?

Answer 22

2nd of August 1964

Question 23

What was the Gulf of Tonkin incident?

Answer 23

Us destroyer USS Maddox was fired at by North Vietnamese patrol boats in the Gulf of Tonkin.
There was allegedly a second attack two days later, though evidence later showed that it did not happen.

Question 24

Why was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed?

Answer 24

Johnson used the attacks on the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin to persuade Congress to allow greater US involvement in Vietnam

Question 25

What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?

Answer 25

Resolution that gave Johnson the power to take any military measures he thought necessary to defend South Vietnam

Question 26

When did the US declare war on Vietnam?

Answer 26

1965 (February)