Paper 1 Theme 1 - Topic 2: Vietnam War

Question 1

First Indochina War

Answer 1

December 1946

War between Vietminh forces and France started

Question 2

Viet Minh seized power

Answer 2

September 2 1945

Question 3

French lost to Vietnam

Answer 3

May 1954
France lost to Vietnam in the Battle of Dien Bien phu

July 1954 - Established the 17th parallel in the Geneva Accords, separating the French in the South and the Viet Minh in the North.

Question 4

Ngo Ding Diem

Answer 4

declared himself president in October 1955.
Diem = paranoid, corrupt (controlled extensive system of extortion, highly unpopular.
Vehemently anti-Buddhist.
Practiced nepotism heavily.

Question 5

Viet Congh

Answer 5

is a guerrilla force formed by South Vietnamese sympathisers.
By 1957, begun terrorist activities and assassinated government officials. Viet Congh is also made up of non-communist Vietnamese who detests the corrupt practices of the government. Some Northern Vietnamese fighters also infiltrated into the South and joined the terrorist attacks.

Question 6

National Liberation Front (NLF)

Answer 6

Formed at the end of 1960
Designed to serve as the political arm of the Vietcong.
The military body is called the People’s Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF).

Question 7

Increased role of US in Vietnam

Answer 7

Kennedy saw the Vietnam War as a platform to regain his reputation after the colossal failure in Bay of Pig and Berlin.
Kennedy’s administration also wanted to test out their ability to conduct ‘counter-insurgencies’.
Being a strong believer of the Domino Theory, he also wanted to curb the spread of communism in East Asia.

Question 8

Self-immolation of Buddhist monk, Thich Quang Duc

Answer 8

To protest against Diem’s repression, Quang immolated himself with gasoline. Sensational photographs hit the headlines of American newspapers, creating a wave of protests against US’s support for Diem’s regime.
Many South Vietnamese also joined the Buddhists.

Question 9

Assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem

Answer 9

2 November 1963

Question 10

Assassination of JFK

Answer 10

22 November 1963

Question 11

Lyndon B.Johnson in the Vietnam War

Answer 11

After November 1963
Believed that Vietnam was a test of U.S credibility. He was determined to commit to the war.
Increased from 16,000 in Nov to 23,000 by end of 1964.

Question 12

Gulf of Tonkin incident

Answer 12

August 2, 1964
The USS Maddox was attacked by North Vietnamese boats.
On August 4, the ships were reportedly attacked again. The captain of the ships cautioned that the evidence for the second attack was inconclusive. Johnson however chose to believe that the attack took place.

Question 13

Gulf of Tonkin resolution

Answer 13

August 7, 1964
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution effectively gave U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, the use of conventional military force in Southeast Asia

Question 14

US formal entry into the Vietnam War

Answer 14

August + 1964
Decided on a series of graduated air attacks that would become progressively more damaging until the North Vietnamese decided that the cost of waging war in the South was too high.
The resolution was eventually repealed during the agreement for the end of Vietnam War.

Question 15

Operation Rolling Thunder

Answer 15

February 1965
At first, only military targets were hit but civilian targets were hit as the bombing turned into years. More bombs were dropped on Vietnam than the Allies used on the Axis powers during the whole of WWII.
Agent Orange and Napalm were also used to remove the jungle cover used by the Vietcong guerrilla fighters.

Question 16

US Ground troops

Answer 16

US ground troops faced trouble identifying the enemy as the Vietcongs would pose as normal villagers. Any mistake would lead to an angrier population in SV and at home.
In July 1965, LBJ dispatched 100,000 more troops immediately and 100,000 more in 1966.
American ground troops were dying at a rate of 100 per week. By the end of 1967, nearly 500,000 American soldiers were stationed in Vietnam.

Question 17

Credibility gap

Answer 17

During Vietnam war (Mid 1960s - late 1960s)
After combat, American soldiers would count the number of Vietnamese soldiers who had died. This is to measure the progress during the war. However, US troops tended to exaggerate the figures in what came to be known as the credibility gap.

Question 18

Large protests against American involvement in Vietnam

Answer 18

October 1967
At least 35,000 demonstrators staged a mass protest against the cruelty and inhumane treatment of the North Vietnamese.
People also opposed the war as there was little evidence that there would be a victory anytime soon.

Question 19

Tet Offensive

Answer 19

January 31, 1968
The communists launched a bold stroke that would cripple the South Vietnamese government.
The large offensive put up by the communists showed the American public that the US was not close to winning, contrary to the words of the White House. Television coverage of the fighting left many with the impression that the United States and its ally were in desperate straits.
This impression is further reinforced when General Westmoreland requested for 206,000 additional troops on March 10.

Question 20

Richard Nixon’s ascension to the presidency

Answer 20

20 January 1969
Nixon was convinced that the US could not win the war militarily. So he wanted to end the war by an “honourable settlement” where South Vietnam was to be guaranteed survival.

Question 21

US withdraws

Answer 21

June 1969 - Nixon announced the withdrawal of 25,000 US troops.
March 1970- he announced further withdrawal of 150,000 more troops
After long negotiations and a bombing campaign by the US (Christmas bombings), the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam was signed in January 1973.
On March 29,1973 the last US military left Vietnam

Question 22

Fall of Saigon and Unification of Vietnam

Answer 22

July 2, 1976, the country was officially united as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Question 23

Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia

Answer 23

May 1975