Chapter 29 Reading Flashcards
France
had control of Vietnam as a colony before the war; strong independent movement happened
Ho Chi Minh
led independent movement; fought for Vietnamese independence for 30 years; fled Vietnam in 1912; embraced communism and formed ties with Soviet Union; took over North Vietnam
US involvement
with Vietnam to keep France as an ally; Truman and Eisenhower wanted to contain communism
to ensure french support in the Cold War
Truman agreed to help France regain control of Vietnam
domino theory
if Vietnam fell to communism, its closest neighbors would follow and then spread throughout the entire region
France
lost its hold on Vietnam
Dien Bien Phu
French troops trapped at military base for 56 days; French surrendered
Geneva Accords
peace conference in Geneva, Switzerland; France granted independence to Vietnam; divided the country into North and South; anticommunist government took over south
SEATO
US channeled aid to South Vietnam through
Vietcong
communist gorilla fighters; supplied by communists in North Vietnam; attacked South Vietnamese government officials and destroyed roads and bridges
Kennedy began sending
US troops to South Vietnam
Johnson increased US involvement
after North Vietnam attacked a US destroyer patrolling the Gulf of Tonkin
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
gave Johnson the authority to use force to defend American troops; gave the president the power to commit US troops to fight without asking congress for a formal declaration of war
operation rolling thunder
Johnson took US deeper into the war by ordering a large bombing campaign; later ordered more troops to fight on the ground
Robert McNamara and General William Westmoreland
more active strategy of continuing to fight on ground; Secretary of State; American commander in South Vietnam
napalm
jellied gasoline that covered large areas in flames
agent orange
herbicide that destroys plant life; used to disrupt the enemy’s food supply
Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army fought
with guerrilla tactics in the jungle trying to wear down US because they knew they couldn’t defeat them traditionally; followed Min’s doctrine
Ho Chi Min’s doctrine
fighting should never be on the opponents terms
communist forces used
hit and run attacks, nighttime ambushes, and booby traps
difficult for US troops
to know which Vietnamese person was a friend or enemy
by 1968 more than
30,000 Americans had been killed in Vietnam; each year yielded little progress; troop morale began to fall
costs of the war grew
each year; strained government finances
government spending
lowered the unemployment rate at home; led to rising prices and inflation
Johnson forced to
raise taxes; social programs had to be cut
hawks
supported the war and believed they were fighting communism
doves
questioned the war on moral and strategic grounds; not convinced Vietnam was a vital Cold War battleground
war in Vietnam divided
Americans and opened deep emotional rift in American society
to provide enough soldiers for war
the government drafted young men into service
draft boards
allowed to grant deferments to college students and men who worked in certain occupations; most of the men who served in Vietnam came from working class and poor backgrounds; African Americans high
college campuses
became centers of antiwar sentiment
students for a democratic society
SDS; formed in 1960 to fight racism and poverty; became a leading antiwar group; college students and police clashed
nightly tv coverage of the war
filed opposition to the conflict
credibility gap
difference between war accounts given by journalists and the optimistic progress reported by the government
tet offensive
public greatly surprised because of the governments reports of the war; offensive by the North Vietnamese Army showed the enemy was still strong; US repelled offensive; after American leaders seemed less confident of a quick end to war
1968 presidential election
Senator Eugene McCarthy (antiwar democratic presidential candidate) made surprisingly strong showing in early primary election; Robert Kennedy (democratic senator) announced candidacy; Johnson wouldn’t run for a 2nd term
spring and summer
saw violence at home; MLK assassinated, Robert Kennedy assassinated after wining California primary
Democratic Convention Center
major protests erupted; police clashed with antiwar protestors in streets outside convention center; helped Nixon win presidency in 1968
Nixon promised
to achieve “peace with honor” in Vietnam
Nixon believed
peace deal could be negotiated with North Vietnam; gradually began to pull American troops out of Vietnam when deal stalled; hoped American supplies to the South Vietnamese Army would be sufficient for the army to secure and hold South Vietnam
Vietnamization
Nixon believed the South Vietnamese Army should fight on its own
1970 Nixon
ordered a ground attack on communists in Cambodia; angered antiwar activists at home who claimed Nixon was widening the war not ending it
Kent State University
members of the National Guard fired into a group o protesters; killed 4; led to demonstrations on other campuses including Jackson State in Mississippi where 2 students were killed
My Lai
American troops killed over 400 unarmed Vietnamese in village
pentagon papers
showed the government had been dishonest with the public and with congress about the Vietnamese War
American bombing induced
the North Vietnamese to resume negotiations
Paris Peace Accords
January 1973; US, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and Vietcong signed; American troops would withdraw from South Vietnam, North Vietnamese troops would remain in South Vietnam; fighting continued in Vietnam but over in US
north Vietnamese army
Soviet supplied; defeated south Vietnam; Vietnam was united under communist regime
turmoil
troubled Southeast Asia for many years afterward
after experience in Vietnam
Americans were less willing to intervene in the affairs of other countries; had less trust in their leaders
war powers act
restricted the president’s authority to commit American troops to foreign conflicts
fear of “another Vietnam”
affected American foreign policy
