The Cold War : Vietnam

Question 1

give 3 causes of the Vietnam war

Answer 1

-Ho Chi Minh self determination
-USA backed French colonialism
-1954 Geneva Conference

Question 2

how did Ho Chi Minh cause the Vietnam war

Answer 2

-he was a communist leader who believed in self determination and wanted an independent Vietnam

Question 3

how did the USA cause the Vietnam war

Answer 3

-feared communist control via either HCM or China
-backed French colonialism instead

Question 4

how did the Geneva Conference cause the Vietnam war and when was it (4)

Answer 4

-1954
-Geneva Conference split Vietnam into North and South
-communist rule in North and Diem as prime minister in the south
-1956 there would be a democratic election for a single Vietnamese gov

Question 5

who was prime minister in SV

Answer 5

-Diem

Question 6

why did Ike and Kennedy feel as though they had to increase US involvement in Vietnam

Answer 6

-they both had something to prove after failure of Korea and the Bay of Pigs

Question 7

how did Ike increase US involvement in Vietnam

Answer 7

-propped up Diem’s unpopular regime economically
-invested millions despite voter fraud and torture techniques

Question 8

how many troops in Vietnam by Kennedy’s assassination

Answer 8

-17,000

Question 9

give 3 reasons why Diem’s regime was unpopular

Answer 9

-tried to move peasants off farms and into armed villages (unsuccessful)
-he was Catholic in a majority Buddhist country
-used voter fraud and torture

Question 10

what does Diem’s religious conflict demonstrate

Answer 10

-Kennedy’s lack of knowledge and awareness of Vietnam

Question 11

what happened to Diem

Answer 11

-often refused advice from USA and was assassinated before Kennedy

Question 12

who inherited and escalated the war

Answer 12

-LBJ / president Johnson

Question 13

what allowed Johnson to increase involvement in Vietnam

Answer 13

-Gulf of Tonkin incident

Question 14

what was the Gulf of Tonkin incident

Answer 14

-Johnson claimed NV carried out 2 unprovoked attacks on the US ship Maddox
-won congress approval to fight back against NV

Question 15

what did the Gulf of Tonkin lead to

Answer 15

-Rolling Thunder
-thousands of bombs dropped daily

Question 16

why did Johnson not officially declare war

Answer 16

-still wanted to spend money on his Great Society
-feared involvement of China/ USSR

Question 17

what had Johnson achieved by 1968

Answer 17

-535,000 troops in Vietnam
-Congress approved $700 million in military operations at confining communism

Question 18

give 4 methods of warfare used by the US

Answer 18

-cluster bombs
-napalm
-agent orange
-My Lai Massacre

Question 19

what were cluster bombs and how many were dropped

Answer 19

-bombs dropped smaller bombs of fibre glass
-260 million cluster bombs dropped

Question 20

what was napalm

Answer 20

-flammable jelly thickened so it couldn’t be washed off
-burned flesh

Question 21

what was agent orange

Answer 21

-chemicals used to eliminate forest cover for VC troops
-caused tumours and birth defects

Question 22

give 3 methods of warfare used by the Vietcong

Answer 22

-tet offensives
-secret tunnels
-guerilla warfare

Question 23

-what were tet offensives

Answer 23

-attacked cities and military bases cross the south

Question 24

what were secret tunnels used for

Answer 24

-hide from bombs

Question 25

what percentage of American casualties were due to booby traps

Answer 25

-20%

Question 26

what was guerrilla warfare

Answer 26

-VC often helped by SV which made it harder for Americans to identify/fight enemies

Question 27

when and what was the My Lai massacre

Answer 27

-1968, 500 SV killed by US soldiers

Question 28

what happened when Johnson tried to withdraw from Vietnam

Answer 28

-HCM not willing to stop fighting

Question 29

what did Nixon do before attempting to withdraw from Vietnam

Answer 29

-bombed HCM trail
-withdrew troops to campaign in Laos and Cambodia instead

Question 30

what impact did the US campaigns have in Cambodia and Laos (2)

Answer 30

-escalated war as US attacked neighbouring countries (where HCM trail was)
-made Cambodia’s communist party more popular

Question 31

why did Nixon continue bombing

Answer 31

-first diplomatic efforts in Paris were rejected

Question 32

why did Nixon want to withdraw (3)

Answer 32

-part of his campaign to withdraw
-troops began to ignore orders
-was running out of money as Congress refused to give any more after his 1972 re election

Question 33

what happened in 1973 (2)

Answer 33

-Nixon bombed Hanoi
-a month later agreed to peace treaty

Question 34

what was decided in the 1973 peace treaty

Answer 34

-Thieu left in charge of SV
-prisoners of war exchanged
-Nixon secretly promised billions of dollars worth of construction aid to Hanoi

Question 35

what happened after the peace treaty in 1973

Answer 35

-fighting continued
-NV took SV in 1975

Question 36

give 4 ways the media impacted Vietnam

Answer 36

-first televised war with war journalists
-showed they were losing
-public outrage at massacres/weapons
-showed opposition from soldiers

Question 37

give 4 impacts of Vietnam

Answer 37

-spent $30 million a year; undermined Johnson’s Great Society and made it less popular
-Nixon’s diplomatic strategies changed eg visiting China and detente with SU to disrupt NV’s support
-Nixon Doctrine where USA expected allies to take care of own military defence
-50,000 deaths , 300,000 wounded

Question 38

give 6 reasons the USA lost the Vietnam war

Answer 38

-lack of clear aim
-public opinion/ protest
-over confidence
-guerilla warfare/ determination of NV
-ran out of money
-lack of knowledge of Vietnam