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History > The Vietnam War > Flashcards

The Vietnam War Flashcards

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1
Q

Ngo Dinh Diem

A
  • bitterly anti-Communist
  • hated by the people
  • corrupt regime
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2
Q

How much did the US give to Diem?

A

$1.6 billion

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3
Q

When was Diem overthrown?

A

November 1963, by his army leaders

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4
Q

Why did US involvement increase?

A
  • elections were going to be held
  • the US we’re worried that the communists would win
  • they thought the USSR was planning on spreading Communism throughout the whole of SE Asia
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5
Q

Why did the Viet Cong emerge?

A

The actions of the anti-Communist government increased support among the peasants for the communist National front (e.g. The Vietcong)

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6
Q

Who was included in the Vietcong?

A
  • south Vietnamese opponents of the government

- lots of Communist North Vietnamese taking orders from Ho Chi Minh

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7
Q

What did the Viet Cong target?

A

Government officials and buildings

By 1962 the countryside was unsafe for government troops and the Vietcong had started attacking military bases

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8
Q

What was the major turning point for the US involvement?

A

The assassination of Kennedy, in 1963

Johnson was more prepared to go to war

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9
Q

When was the Gulf of Tonkin incident?

A

August 1964

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10
Q

What happened at the Gulf of Tonkin incident?

A
  • N Vietnamese patrol boats opened fire on US ships

- in a furious reaction, the US passed the TONKIN GULF RESOLUTION

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11
Q

What did he Tonkin Gulf Resolution state?

A

It gave Jonson the power to ‘take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression and achieve peace and security’

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12
Q

What was Operation Rolling Thunder?

A

A gigantic bombing campaign

February 1965

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13
Q

What did Operation Rolling Thunder target?

A

N Vietnamese cities
Factories
Army bases
The Ho Chi Minh trail

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14
Q

When did the US marines come ashore at Da Nang

A

8th March 1965

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15
Q

Vietnamese army tactics

A
  • guerilla warfare
  • worked in small groups with limited weaponry
  • ambushed, set booby traps
  • hand-to-hand fighting
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16
Q

How many US casualties were caused by boobytraps?

A

11%

17
Q

What percentage of US troops died from hand-to-hand combat?

A

51%

18
Q

Vietcong and civilians

A
  • kept the civilian population on their side

- ruthless when necessary

19
Q

US tactics

A
  • bombing
  • Agent orange and napalm
  • search and destroy
20
Q

What was the problem with search and destroy?

A
  • often based on poor intelligence
  • many US soldiers were killed in traps
  • innocent villagers were punished
21
Q

The US troops

A
  • at the start, most of the men were professionals
  • as the war went on, conscription increased
  • the men who went to Vietnam were poorly trained with little motivation
22
Q

When was the Tet Offensive?

A

Early in 1968

23
Q

What happened at the Tet Offensive?

A
  • 100 cities/towns in were attacked by the Viet Cong

- the US embassy in Saigon was temporarily taken by the Viet Cong

24
Q

What was the outcome for the Viet Cong?

A

10000 fighters lost so badly weakened

25
Q

What questions did the Tet Offensive raise for the US?

A
  • 500,909 US/SV troops
  • $20 billion annually on the war
  • why was the North not defeated?
26
Q

Media about the Tet Offensive

A
  • most of the media was positive until the Tet Offensive
  • the media began to reflect the view that Vietnam was increasingly not worth the trouble
  • no censorship of US television- people were horrified by the images of the war
27
Q

Peace movement in the US

A
  • public opinion turned against the war
  • war draining money
  • victory was not closer
  • racial inequality of USA exposed (30% of African Americans drafted to only 19% whites, 22% of black soldier casualties despite being only 11% of the force)
28
Q

Anti-war protests

A

100 protests involving 40,000 students in 1968-70

November 1969, 700,000 anti-war protestors demonstrated in Washington

29
Q

When was the Mai Lai massacre?

A

March 1968

30
Q

What happened at the Mai Lai massacre?

A
  • 16th March, 300-400 civilians killed, mostly women, children and the elderly
  • no VC found, only 3 weapons
  • report said it was a mistake
31
Q

What happened to the commanding officer at Mai Lai

A
  • September 1969
  • he was charged with murder of 109 people
  • 10 other members of company also charged
  • August 1971, sentenced to 20 years hard labour
  • released in 1974
32
Q

Ending the war in Vietnam

A
  • reduced bombing campaign against the North
  • LBJ didn’t seek reelection as president
  • promised to end involvement in Vietnam
  • wanted it to not seem like a defeat
33
Q

How was the US made to not seem weak?

A
  • increased bombing campaigns were used

- the US/SV troops invaded Cambodia, to the outrage of the world

34
Q

After the war

A
  • after 2 years, SV fell to the Communists

- the Communists finally won in Vietnam

35
Q

How did the Vietnam war affect Containment?

A
  • now in tatters
  • it had failed militarily and strategically
  • sped up the Domino effect
  • propaganda disaster

History (13 decks)

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