The Vietnam War

Question 1

Why was the Battle of Dien Bien Phu significant?

Answer 1

1954
3000 French troops died in battle and 8000 died in captivity.
Vietminh defeated the French - a weak Asian country beat a rich European one.

Question 2

What were the terms of the Geneva agreement?

Answer 2

France to grant independence to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Vietnam to be split along the 17th parallel.
Strip of land between Vietnams was to be demilitarised.
Free elections were to be held in 1956 to reunite the Vietnams under 1 leader.

Question 3

Who is Ngo Diem?

Answer 3

Ruler of South Vietnam 1954-55.
Refused to hold 1956 election in case Communist Ho Chi Minh won, America supported him.
This broke the rules of the Geneva agreement.
Diem was a Catholic and treated Buddhists badly. A Buddhist Monk, Quang Duc, set himself on fire in protest to this treatment.

Question 4

Why did containment increase America’s involvement in Vietnam?

Answer 4

Stopping the advancement of Communism wherever it looked like it was spreading.
USA supported France because they thought Vietnam was linked to Communist China.
USA also supported France to keep the French’s support against Communism in Europe.

Question 5

Why did Domino Theory increase America’s involvement in Vietnam?

Answer 5

Linked to containment.
President Eisenhower and Secretary of State JF Delles were convinced that China and the USSR were going to spread Communism in Asia.
If Vietnam fell, so would Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Thailand.
America were determined to prevent Communism spreading from the first domino, Vietnam.

Question 6

Why did American politics increase America’s involvement in Vietnam?

Answer 6

In the elections during the 1950s and 1960s, vote-winners would talk tough about Communism.
In the 1960 election campaign, JFK promised to continue the tough policies of Eisenhower.

Question 7

Why did the military-industrial complex increase America’s involvement in Vietnam?

Answer 7

Some argue that powerful groups in America wanted a war.
The government gave huge budgets to military commanders.
This money was spent on weapon contracts from huge companies, these companies would profit from war.

Question 8

Who were the Vietcong?

Answer 8

The communist guerrilla force of the National Liberation Front (NLF).
They were backed by the USSR and China.
They included South Vietnamese opponents of the government and Communist North Vietnamese.
They had the support of peasants of South Vietnam as the Vietcong treated the peasants well.

Question 9

What was the Gulf of Tonkin incident?

Answer 9

In the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964, an America patrol boat was attacked by the North Vietnamese.
This lead to the passing of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution by the US Congress.
This incident convinced President Johnson to send US troops to Vietnam.
3500 troops were sent to Vietnam - this started the war.

Question 10

What was the American tactic Rolling Thunder?

Answer 10

Bombing raids on Vietnamese towns - intended to destroy morale.
It was expensive, increased Vietcong membership because more people disliked the Americans, the bombs could’ve missed targets and bombed allies.

Question 11

What was the American tactic Strategic Hamlets?

Answer 11

The Americans were concerned that the VC had control over the peasants, so the peasants were forced to move to villages controlled by the South Vietnamese army.
This increased the peasants’ membership to the VC, peasants didn’t wants to move and this move made their journeys to the rice fields further.

Question 12

What was the American tactic Search and Destroy?

Answer 12

American’s were to search Vietnamese villages and, if they suspected VC fighters, destroy the village.
This often led to the death of innocent civilians, the VC helped to rebuild villages.

Question 13

What was the American tactic Agent Orange?

Answer 13

Agent Orange killed trees so that the Americans could kill the forest and reveal their enemy.
This herbicide also killed crops and caused birth defects.

Question 14

What was the American tactic Napalm?

Answer 14

A flammable fluid that would burn through almost anything that it was dropped on.
It often hit civilians and killed children - this looked bad for the Americans.

Question 15

What are the origins of the Vietnam War?

Answer 15

1945 - Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnam independent and democratic.
1946 - First major confrontation between Vietminh and French. French wanted Vietnam as part of their colony.
1949 - The Chinese Communist party took control in China. New leader, Mao Zedong, supplied Vietminh with weapons and America supplied the French with weapons.
1950 - American president, Truman, gave French $15 million. $3 billion was given over the next 4 years.
1951 - Bigger, stronger attacks on French stronghold.
1954 - Battle of Diem Bien Phu.

Question 16

What was the Vietcong tactic guerrilla warfare?

Answer 16

Avoided pitch battle with the enemy. VC attacked in small groups, then disappeared into the surrounding countryside.
It was effective because it wore down the enemy and the Americans couldn’t fight back.

Question 17

What was the Vietcong tactic Code of Conduct?

Answer 17

The VC set up a code of conduct which helped them to win the support of civilians.

Question 18

What was the Vietcong tactic Punji traps?

Answer 18

These were sharpened bamboo sticks covered in faeces.

The injured the opponent.

Question 19

What was the Vietcong tactic tunnel networks?

Answer 19

The VC had a network of underground tunnels to live and hide in. The entrances were booby trapped and trip wired.
These meant that the Americans couldn’t find or attack them.

Question 20

What was the Vietcong tactic the Ho Chi Minh trail?

Answer 20

This trail was used for transportation and travel. It was covered by dense forest and there were dummy routes to trick the American aerial photography.
The trail also passed through Laos and Cambodia - the American’s couldn’t bomb these countries in case they started attacking America.

Question 21

What was the Vietcong’s weapon AK47?

Answer 21

This gun was imported from China.

It was slower, but more reliable and easier to maintain in Vietnam’s climate than the Americans’ weapons.

Question 22

What was life like in Vietnam for American soldiers?

Answer 22

Draft - Men were conscripted into the army. The majority were black or poor white men.
Morale - The soldiers weren’t committed to the fighting where as the Vietcong were since they were fighting for their country.
Psychological - The Americans were trained to see their enemies as less than humans, this had psychological effects on them.
Fragging - Soldiers killed their officers, since they were inexperienced.
Drug abuse - Many soldiers turned to drugs in order to deal with the trauma of the war.

Question 23

What were the events of the My Lai massacre?

Answer 23

16th March 1968
A unit of soldiers called Charlie Company were sent on a search and destroy mission.
The first arrivals arrived shortly after 8am. These were Lieutenant Calley and the First Platoon and they were to secure a landing area for the helicopter.
Calley ordered his men to enter the village firing, even though there had been no report of opposition fire.
Families huddled together were shown no mercy, those who surrendered were murdered, women were gang raped, Vietnamese who bowed to the Americans were beaten and some victims were mutilated. Calley was accused of gathering a group of villagers together and shooting them into a ditch.
Afterwards, Calley was described as a “kid trying to play war”. The CC soldiers were wound up at My Lai because they were afraid of the prospect of their friends dying.
Calley was sentenced to life imprisonment, but he was released after 3 years and pardoned by Nixon.

Question 24

What was the Tet Offensive?

Answer 24

31st January 1968
The Tet Offensive was a Vietcong attack based around Vietnam’s new year festival.
It was a military disaster for the Vietcong since around 40,000 fighters were killed.
The news showed guerrilla fighters fighting in the grounds of the US embassy in Saigon. This decreased American public support for the war since people could see that the American were losing.

Question 25

How did demonstrations turn American public opinion against Vietnam?

Answer 25

Anti-war demonstrations grew as the war dragged on.
August 1968 - 10,000 protestors marched in Chicago.
November 1968 - 35,000 protested outside the White House.
March 1971 - 300,000 took part in the Vietnam Veterans March.

Question 26

How did university protests turn American public opinion against Vietnam?

Answer 26

Students organised protests.
These protests were usually peaceful, but the Students for Democratic Society were a radical student organisation who blew things up.
In May 1970 there was a protest at Kent State University. The National Guard were called and 4 students were killed by them.

Question 27

How did music turn American public opinion against Vietnam?

Answer 27

In the early 1960s, the folk movement was already well-established.
It was the era of hippies and Woodstock.
Groups such as Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead were clearly associated with the protest movement.
Flags were burned on the Woodstock stage and Jimi Hendrix played a strange version of the American national anthem.

Question 28

How did television turn American public opinion against Vietnam?

Answer 28

First ‘living-room’ war.
For the first few years, coverage on the war was upbeat.
From 1965, reporters such as Walter Cronkite started to release that the Americans had major problems.
January 1968 - The Tet Offensive demonstrated that America were losing.

Question 29

How did the Fullbright Hearings turn American public opinion against Vietnam?

Answer 29

Senate Foreign Affairs Committee listen to advice to end the Vietnam War.
Investigations showed that crimes by US soldiers were common.
The Veterans association also claimed that their investigations showed brutal incidents like the My Lai massacre were not uncommon.
This encouraged more protests.

Question 30

Who were the Silent Majority?

Answer 30

Those Americans who didn’t join the large demonstrations against the war. Nixon saw this group of Middle Americans as being overshadowed by the more vocal minority.

Question 31

What was the policy of Vietnamization?

Answer 31

Began June 1969.
South Vietnamese army would have to do more to stop the Vietcong.
USA would pay for more South Vietnam troops and weapons, but not send American troops into Vietnam.
At the same time, Nixon started taking US troops out of Vietnam.
Nixon bombed Vietcong bases in Cambodia, so that the US still looked strong.

Question 32

What was the policy of peace negotiations with North Vietnam?

Answer 32

From early 1969, Henry Kissinger (National Security Advisor) began peace negotiations with communist Russia, then communist China and finally with the North Vietnam peace negotiator.

Question 33

What were the Paris Peace Talks?

Answer 33

Peace talks began in 1968 in Paris.
President Johnson is replaced with Nixon who promises to bring an end to the war ASAP.
June 1969 - Nixon began Vietnamization.
1972 - Nixon ordered a huge bombing campaign, more bombs were dropped in 11 days than were dropped 1969-71.
This put pressure on Thieu
The Paris Peace Accords were signed 27th January 1973. This established a ceasefire and withdrawal of US forces.