Nixons policies in Vietnam

Question 1

When did Nixon become president?

Answer 1

January 1969

Question 2

What was his tactic?

Answer 2

Vietnamisation- the withdrawal of US troops and the strengthening of the ARVN: wanted to reduce American involvement and show that the ARVN were strong w/o the Americans.

Question 3

What did Nixon hope to achieve?

Answer 3

Peace with honour
-Peace with the NV
-Honour their duty to SV

Question 4

Why did nixon wait a year to announce his policy?

Answer 4

-Wanted to consolidate his position as president and not say anything that could potentially damage his reputation and image with the people

Question 5

What did he hope for his policy to achieve?

Answer 5

-Negotiations with NV

Question 6

US troops in VN

Answer 6

Jun 1969- 540,000, began the withdrawal of american troops
June 1972- 47,000

Question 7

Spring offensive

Answer 7

1972
-Proved vietnamisation to be successful as the ARVN were able to resist the NV forces
-ARVN suffered from around 8000 casualties, the NV suffered 5x that
-Was a turning point

Question 8

Operation Linebacker

Answer 8

may-oct 1972
-Bombing campaign which supported the SV
-150,000 tons of bombs dropped on NV
-Helped boost the morale of the SV

Question 9

Impact of Vietnamisation

Answer 9

-Boosted morale of ARVN
BUT their morale was still significantly low
-They had remained the secondary fighting force behind the US
-Problems of corruption + favouritism contributed to the low morale
-Made the ARVN more dependent on the US- they were fighting a political war rather than an effective fighting force

Question 10

My Lai Massacre

Answer 10

March 1968:
-Search + destroy mission
-US soldiers ordered to destroy ‘Pinkville’+ all its inhabitants, a population of 300-400
-Lt Calley rounded up several groups of villagers + killed them
-My Lai was an area w lots of booby traps + had high VC activity
-500 men, women + children were massacred by American soldiers
-Carried out wilfully by young american soldiers
-

Question 11

What does the My Lai massacre reveal?

Answer 11

-The desparation of the Americans to find the VC
-Shows howw the US don’t want to take accountability for their actions
-US soldiers have no remorse for their actions
-Was a massive psychological defeat for the soldiers

Question 12

Consequences of the My Lai massacre?

Answer 12

-Went public in 1969 + fuelled anti-war protests
-US public demands to withdraw, they’re aware of the war crimes their young boys are committing