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A level history: Cold War > The Global War: Confrontation and cooperation -> The Vietnam War > Flashcards

The Global War: Confrontation and cooperation -> The Vietnam War Flashcards

1
Q

What was the context of Vietnam’s colonisation?

A
  • Until 1860s, Vietnam was dominated by the Chinese Empire
  • French took over Indo-China in 1870s
  • Vietnamese nationalist movements emerge in 1930s -> really emerge in 1945 when Japanese take over
  • 1945-54: time taken to beat the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (April 1954)
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2
Q

What was the political significance of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu?

A

Destroys the French Empire in Asia
- Algerians begin fighting against the French in 1954, winning in 1962 after being inspired by Vietnam

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3
Q

What was the American stance in imperialism?

A

Americans are incompetent imperialists in denial
- 1950s: step om where colonial empires collapse
- don’t know what they’re doing

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4
Q

What did Eisenhower think about Vietnamese communism?

A

Eisenhower thought Vietnamese communism was a proxy of Mao and an agent of China’s expansion

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5
Q

When did the Vietnam War start for the Vietnamese people?

A

1945-75

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6
Q

When did the Vietnam War start for the USA?

A

1965-73
- first troops arrived in 1965
- last troops leave in 1973

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7
Q

When was the Geneva Conference?

A

May-July 1954

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8
Q

What was agreed at the Geneva Conference?

A

Following the French defeat by the communist-led Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu in April 1954, an agreement was reached at Geneva which temporarily separated Vietnam along the 17th parallel into two zones, a northern communist zone, and a southern capitalist zone

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9
Q

What did the English issue at the Geneva Conference to happen in Vietnam in 2 years?

A

A Conference Final Declaration, issued by the British chairman of the conference, provided that a general election be held by July 1956 to create a unified Vietnamese state

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10
Q

How did South Vietnam approach the elections?

A
  • South Vietnam become American proxys and decide not to have a unified Vietnam
  • Eisenhower pursues Truman-style containment
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11
Q

Were the elections accepted?

A

Despite helping create the agreements, they were not directly signed onto nor accepted by delegates of both the State of Vietnam and the United States
- Thus the scene was set for further conflict

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12
Q

Who were the key players in the Viet Minh?

A

Ho Chi Minh -> President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from September 1945
Le Duan -> First secretary of the Vietnam Workers’ Party from January 1959

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13
Q

What was Ho Chi Minh’s political affiliation?

A

Communist and nationalist simultaneously

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14
Q

Who was the key player in the southern capitalist zone of Vietnam?

A

Ngo Dinh Diem -> the ‘Winston Churchill of Asia’

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15
Q

How does Eisenhower support Diem?

A
  • Eisenhower gives him millions of dollars of aid
  • Believes he’s capable of containing Ho Chi Minh and Chinese expansionism
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16
Q

What was the religious affiliation of most Vietnamese?

A

90% of Vietnam were Buddhist
- Diem (Catholic) runs the state to benefit Catholic minority and oppress Buddhist majority

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17
Q

Who were Diem’s brothers?

A

Ngo Dinh Thuc -> the Archbishop of Saigon
- dedicated the country to the Virgin Mary
Ngo Dinh Nhu -> chief political fixer, and a leader of the secret police

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18
Q

What was the nature of South Vietnam?

A

A corrupt, authoritarian, brutal police state, supported by Americans

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19
Q

Who were the key US players in the American administration?

A

John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson

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20
Q

What does a state need to be viable?

A

A state needs sovereignty, legitimacy and an army and policing at home

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21
Q

What was the first period of the Vietnam War?

A

1955-59

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22
Q

What did American Joint Chiefs state in November 1954?

A

That a US-funded army - the ARVN - was needed to be formed to maintain “the security of the legal government in Saigon”

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23
Q

What was the purpose of the ARVN?

A
  • To do this, this army would perform “operations in each province” and perform “pacification missions”
  • The aim was to destroy the remaining Viet Minh organisations around the South and ensure obedience to Diem’s government based in Saigon
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24
Q

What did Diem do in October 1955?

A

Seized power through a fraudulent referendum (with US backing) and declared himself President of the newly proclaimed Republic of Vietnam

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25
Where was power concentrated?
In Diem's family's hands and enforced through the secret police and the imprisonment and torture of political and religious oponents
26
What was the impact of Diem's policies and conduct?
They inflamed religious tensions - The government was biased towards Catholics in public service and military promotions, as well as the allocation of land, business favours and tax concessions
27
What did Diem's regime launch in mid-1955?
A Communist Denunciation Campaign in which the population was forced to inform against Viet Minh members
28
How were people effected by Diem's campaign?
Tens of thousands were jailed, executed, or sent to "re-education camps"
29
Who were the people effected by Diem's campaign?
Many of these people were innocent civilians who had merely voiced their unhappiness with Diem's 'land reform' programme`
30
What did Diem do with this 'land reform' programme?
- Diem sent large landlords back into the countryside to reclaim lands that were distributed to the peasants by the Viet Minh during the war with the French - Diem and his army allowed these landlords to force the peasants to pay rent for as many years back as the landlords could claim - Peasants who opposed to this programme were labelled 'Communist' and persecuted
31
How did Ho Chi Minh and Communists in the North react to this period of repression?
Strictly banned their followers in the South to use armed force to defend themselves - Ho Chi Minh deliberately tried to limit armed struggle in the South - despite Diem's extreme repression against the Communists and general population
32
What percentage of Viet Minh members in the South had been killed by Diem's regime by when?
90% had been killed by 1958
33
What happened to Communists in the far-southern region of South Vietnam, Cochinchina?
70,000 Communists had been killed, over 90,000 had been jailed and tortured and about 20,000 of these ad become severely disabled after torturing
34
When was the second period of the Vietnam War?
1959-61
35
What did Communists and others amongst the general population of the South start doing?
- Fighting back against Diem's regime - Peasants fought to defend their land rights, which led to a member of the Diem regime to complain in February 1959 that "at present, in the countryside the landowners can no longer collect their land rents because they dare not return to their villages"
36
Who was blamed for this unrest in the South?
Even though it was mostly started by peasants who were not Communists, this unrest was blamed on the Communists
37
What did American and British military experts start organising?
A 'pacification' programme by the Diem regime
38
What did this programme involve?
- The complete resettlement of populations - People were removed from where they lived and the land they owned - The resettlement programme became so severe that even government officials in Saigon criticised it
39
What began to grow in response to this 'pacification' programme?
Peasant resistance to this began to grow - Forced Ho Chi Minh and others in the North to start supporting resistance in the South: if they did not support the resistance to the Diem regime, they ran the risk of losing the support of the Southern population completely
40
What did Ho Chi Minh issue in January 1959?
A resolution at the 'Fifteenth Plenum' of the Communist Party
41
What did this resolution permit?
The Southern population to defend themselves, but only when "absolutely necessary" - For Ho Chi Minh, at this point, armed struggle was supposed to be a last resort
42
Did the population in the South listen to Ho Chi Minh's advice?
They generally ignored it - Armed struggle against Diem's regime started in many areas by mid-1959
43
How did Ho Chi Minh react to this increasing armed struggle?
The increasing armed struggles made Ho Chi Minh worried that he might soon end up with no influence whatsoever over the movement against Diem and the Americans in the South
44
What did Ho Chi Minh create similar to the Viet Minh and when?
The National Liberation Front (NFL) in September 1960
45
What did the NFL do?
Coordinated all the different local struggles against Diem taking place in the South
46
What did the NLF's programme call for?
- The overthrow of the Diem regime - end to foreign interference in Vietnam - human rights - democratic freedoms - 'land to the tiller' policy (those who work the land own it) - a foreign policy of peace and neutrality
47
Was the NLF a purely communist movement?
No, like the Viet Minh before, it was formed to 'free Vietnam from what was seen as American 'imperialism' - it was both a nationalist and Communist movement - The NLF saw Diem as an American puppet - Trying to avoid all out war with South Vietnam
48
Who did the NLF attract?
Former Viet Minh members, disgruntled soldiers
49
When was the third period of the Vietnam War and what was it characterised by?
1961-63: JFK gets tough
50
What successes did the NLF begin enjoying from 1961?
According to American estimates, its forces were growing from around 17,000 in late 1961 to between 23,000 and 34,000 by late 1962
51
Why did Kennedy feel a tougher approach was needed?
- Kennedy was reeling from the effects of the failed Bay of Pigs operation against Cuba in April 1961 - He had been humiliated by Khrushchev at the Vienna Summit in June 1961 - In August 1961 the GDR had split Berlin in two by building the Berlin Wall -> had mid-term elections in November 1962
52
What did Kennedy begin to send more of?
American military advisers to aid Diem's regime - by late 1963, there were 16,000 American military advisers in South Vietnam
53
What was Kennedy's strategic policy called from early-1962?
The Strategic Hamlet Program whereby 16,000 strategic hamlets were to be constructed
54
What policy document did Kennedy read off?
"A Strategic Concept for South Vietnam" described the program
55
What did the Strategic Hamlet Program involve?
"Each strategic village will be protected by a ditch and a fence of barbed wire. It will include one or more observation towers... the area immediately around the village will be cleared for fields of fire and the area approaching the clearing, including the ditch, will be sewn with traps...and other personal obstacles"
56
What would each strategic hamlet be protected by and what was the objective?
To separate, physically and politically, the NLF fighters and supporters from the rural population. The villagers in the hamlets would be registered and be given identity cards and their movements would be monitored
57
What proportion of the population had been relocated to the hamlets by the summer of 1963?
2/3 - forced relocation caused bitter opposition from peasants
58
What operation did Kennedy launch involving the use of chemical defoilants?
Operation Ranch Hand
59
What was the purpose of this operation?
Destroying crops in agricultural areas in South Vietnam
60
Was the plicy successful?
It was a massive failure - it drove peasants into the arms of the NLF - By the beginning of 1963, some 16,000 special forces advisers had also been sent to act as trainers for the ARVN
61
What did the Operation make impossible for guerillas?
To hide out as if villagers were hiding the NLF, their crops would be destroyed
62
How much herbicides were used over the next 8 years?
100 million pounds of herbicides would be dropped on four million acres of South Vietnam to 'dry up the sea' in order to kill the 'revolutionary fish'
63
What was the impact of this policy?
- US responsible for the long-term death of about 1 million people - hugely increased NLF support + opposition to the Diem regime amongst the peasants -> Henry Cabot Lodge: realises its a mistake backing Diem as his policies are counterproductive
64
What Battle took place between NLF soldiers and the ARVN?
The Battle of Ap Bac - 2nd January 1963
65
How many NFl soldiers attacked the ARVN?
120 NLF soldiers took on a huge attacking force of around 2000 ARVN soldiers, supported by US advisers, artillery, M113 armoured personnel carriers and helicopters
66
What type of warfare did the NLF use?
Guerilla warfare
67
What losses did the US and ARVN experience at the Battle of Ap Bac?
The US lost 5 helicopters and 3 dead; the ARVN lost 86 killed and 2 armoured personnel carriers
68
How did this outcome impact the NLF's reputation?
As the NLF's first de facto victory it showed that whilst strong on paper, it was actually a fundamentally flawed entity
69
What did NLF victories help?
The peasants in their efforts to demolish strategic hamlets and turn them into 'combat hamlets' for defending them against Diem's armed forces
70
What event signalled the beginning of the end of the Diem regime?
May 1963: The Buddhist crisis erupted -> historically, religion and politics were intertwined as it provided authority and confirmation for social structure and the political system
71
What did Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc ban?
The display of Buddhist flags in Jue - meant to commemorate the 2,527th anniversary of Buddha's birth
72
Did the US support Diem against this crisis?
The American government felt that it was forced to withdraw its support for the Diem regime, especially as the regime's brutality had now been exposed to the world
73
What happened on 1st November 1963?
Generals surrounded the presidential palace - Diem and his brother fled through tunnels, and went to hide in a church - This military found them and immediately shot them - They were buried in unmarked graves
74
Who was also assassinated less than three weeks later?
JFK - a circumstance which allowed his VP, Johnson, to assume the Presidency
75
What was Johnson's primary aim in Vietnam?
To achieve a quick victory without the need to commit the USA to a major escalation of its role in Vietnam
76
What was the result of the Buddhist crisis?
In the aftermath of the coup , Hanoi responded by sharply intensifying the war in the South - US helped to overthrow a relatively stable anti-Communist gov in November 1963 - coup regarded as a liberation
77
What did the Diem assassination reveal about the US?
How clumsy it was in handling their 'client' leaders - often out of touch with reality, and guilty of poor management - US = most powerful but most incompetent
78
Why can Eisenhower be judged as being relatively successful in Vietnam?
- Eisenhower inherited a limited involvement in Vietnam - rejected the atomic option -> would lead to conflict with Soviets and China

A level history: Cold War (38 decks)

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