Unit 6

Question 1

Ho Chi Minh

Answer 1

Vietnamese nationalist leader and president of north Vietnam and founded Indochinese communist party, would later create Viet Minh for independence of Vietnam

Sig: by declaring Vietnam’s independence from France in 1945 after japan’s surrender, resorted to guerilla warfare to fight for independent Vietnam when France rejected the idea
Resisted against French and Japanese

Question 2

Dien Bien Phu

Answer 2

decisive Vietnamese military victory that brought an end to French colonial rule in Vietnam 1954
Surrounded French forces at dien bien phu valley

Sig: came the separation of the country into north and south vietnam, creating political framework for continued conflict and ultimately the Vietnam war
Communist north Vietnam supported by USSR and China while south Vietnam supported by U.S. and allies

Question 3

Ngo Dinh Diem

Answer 3

former president of south Vietnam who would use heavy handed tactics against the vietCong insurgency, brutal treatment of opposition to regime, who was executed during a coup d’état by his generals and backed by CIA
Dictator hated by vietnamese citizens because of nepotism, money to elite, torture

Sig: was heavily endorsed by USA despite lack of reputation and despised by Viet Minh (French thought him to be unstable) and he ended up being anti democracy and anti Geneva accords
Would later be assassinated

Question 4

Guerilla Warfare

Answer 4

tactic by the viet cong of using knowledge of the landscape to avoid open battle with the enemy and to launch raids and surprise attacks before disappearing back into the undergrowth
Small groups of combatants would use military tactics such as raids, ambushes

Sig: Viet Cong relied upon the use of guerilla tactics when fighting American military forces
US unable to distinguish friend or foe
Familiarity with terrain and experience from fighting Japanese and French post WW2
Tunnel systems, booby traps and jungle cover meant they were hard to find and defeat

Question 5

Viet Cong

Answer 5

southern Vietnamese insurgents who supported the communist national liberation front and were allied with North Vietnam and troops of Ho Chi Minh (military wing)
Arose after defeat of French colonial colonies
Wanted self determination for the people of Vietnam, so turned against USA and south Vietnam governments, but resulted in continued foreign interference from communism
Opposed to diem

Sig: engaged in guerilla warfare to challenge USA which led to Vietnam war, south Vietnam would later fall and become one United communist country as US troops withdrew
Got broad support from peasants

Question 6

Gulf of Tonkin

Answer 6

2 US destroyers stationed in the gulf of Tonkin radioed that they had been fired upon by north Vietnamese forces - attacked by patrol torpedo boats

Sig: led to US engaging more directly in Vietnam war by Johnson increasing US military presence in Indochina in response

Question 7

Tet Offensive

Answer 7

north Vietnam, supported by Vietcong, launched surprise assaults on towns and cities in US-held areas of south Vietnam
Took control of Saigon and capital Hue

Sig: viet Cong did not hold onto any of the territory gained for long and suffered many casualties (military defeat)
Offensive failed but is viewed as a turning point:
Loss of life of American soldiers and determination of viet Cong assault led many Americans ON TV to conclude that they could not win a war against dedicated enemy
Led to huge anti war demonstrations
President Johnson stopped bombing north Vietnam in return for peace talks in Paris

Question 8

Vietnamization

Answer 8

policy of Nixon administration to end US involvement in the Vietnam war through a program to expand, equip and train south Vietnamese forces and assign to them an ever increasing combat role, at the same time steadily reducing the number of US combat troops
Minimize US involvement in Vietnam by strengthening south Vietnam troops

Sig: led to the end of the war because after US removed their troops, North Vietnamese forces pushed through south Vietnam and took over cities until they finally ended the war at Saigon

Question 9

Mylai

Answer 9

a company of American soldiers brutally killed the women, children, and old men in the village of my lai in 1968
500 people slaughtered
Young girls and women were raped and mutilated before being killed
Idea of having to destroy a village before they save it

Sig: US army officers covered up the carnage for a year before it was reported in the American press, sparking a firestorm of international outrage
Many began to question US motives in conflict

Question 10

Fragging

Answer 10

deliberate or attempted killing of a soldier, usually a superior, by a fellow soldier (murders were committed using fragmentation grenades)
Killed them because superiors were asking them to do something dangerous

Sig: with troops reluctant to risk their lives in what was perceived as a lost war, fragging was seen by some enlisted men as the “most effective way to discourage their superiors from showing enthusiasm for combat”
Shows low morale of US army to be willing to kill their own officers

Question 11

Why did the Soviet Union invade Czechoslovakia? What was the outcome?

Answer 11

Intended to crush the “Prague Spring” — a brief period of liberalization in the communist country
Fear reforms (Alexander Dubcek’s effort to establish “communism with a human face” by introducing a series of far reaching political and economic reforms)
Included increased freedom of speech and rehabilitation of political dissidents
Pro-Soviet communists seized control of democratic government
Liberal reforms repealed, but soviets struggled to install a stable government
Outcome: in April 1969, finally forced Dubcek from power in favour of a more conservative administrator (new government more aligned with Soviet Union that suppressed freedom of speech and restricted civil liberties)

Simple answer:
Fear that western part of CZ vulnerable to western countries (strategic)
Outcome: announcement of brezhnev doctrine, becomes one of most repressive regimes

Question 12

What role did Nixon play in improving relations between the USA and China?

Answer 12

Following sino-Soviet split, relations between China and USSR weakened bc of Cold War, and China broke off alliance with USSR, allowed Nixon to pursue improving ties with Beijing
Preceded ping pong diplomacy (cultural and commercial contacts cultivated)
Visited people’s republic of China to gain more leverage over relations with Soviet Union

Simple:
Set in motion the normalization of relations with PRC
Removed China as a Cold War foe
Opened China to US trade, eventually putting downward pressure on US inflation
Rapprochement between US and China decreased fear of invasion
US okays communist china taking UN seat from Taiwan (nationalist china)

Question 13

What was watergate

Answer 13

Political scandal involving the reelection of Nixon
The president implicated through his campaign team (CREEP acronym)
Nixon resigns, office of president diminished in public’s eyes, can’t trust POTUS

Question 14

Main points of Helsinki Declaration

Answer 14

Post war borders of Eastern Europe guaranteed, could be altered peacefully and in accordance with international law
Non intervention in the internal affairs of other countries
Co op in economics, science, and technology
Agreed to respect human rights, Aimee to help make freer movement and freedom of choice in private and professional associations
Not entrenched in international law but hope for oppressed of Eastern Europe, especially dissidents and Jews wanting to leave USSR

Question 15

Explain why the USSR decided to invade Afghanistan and describe the international consequences of the invasion?

Answer 15

Soviets feared spread of strong fundamentalist Islam, such as had taken power in Iran also taking over Afghanistan and spreading into neighbouring Muslim republics of the USSR

Brezhnev doctrine (which declared USSR’ right to intervene in Czechoslovakia with military force to preserve communism) limited reforms by soviet bloc countries
Said that socialist regimes had a responsibility to uphold others using military force if necessary
Soviets sought to prop up Afghanistan’s communist government because current republic leader Daoud Khan refused to become a Soviet puppet
Soviet distrusted new gov
Would contribute to USSR’s eventual collapse

International consequences:
End of détente
US refusal to ratify salt II
Western boycott of Moscow olympics
US provided military support of mujahideen
Loss of international prestige because of military difficulties
US led sanctions against USSR

Question 16

Why did Soviet Union withdraw from Afghanistan?

Answer 16

Soviet union’ troublesome economic and international situation complicated by involvement in afghan war
Mujahideen employed guerrilla tactics against red army
Military conflict with afghan Muslim rebels proved costly with an estimated amount of 15k Russian troops losing their lives and economic cost to struggling soviet economy in billions of dollars
Muslim rebels eventually succeeded in establishing control
Strained relations between USSR and US nearly to the breaking point
President Jimmy Carter criticized Russian action, stalled talks on arms limitations, and issued economic sanctions
Carter even ordered boycott of 1980 olympics in Moscow

Simple:
USSR installed puppet gov in Kabul but most of countryside in hands of rebels
Soviet troops trained for conventional warfare while rebels were used to the terrain
Rebels had military help from U.S.
economically costly for USSR

Question 17

What happened at the Moscow Olympics in 1980?

Answer 17

Soviet invasion spurred president Jimmy Carter to issue an ultimatum that threatened to boycott the olympics if soviet troops didn’t withdraw
Led by the US, 66 countries boycotted the games entirely because of the Soviet-Afghan war
Alternative sporting events held outside of USSR
British still won
Intersection of sports and politics

Question 18

What was Reagan’s (republican) policy toward the USSR in 1980-85?

Answer 18

Determined to increase pressure on soviets and intimidate them into making concessions
Convinced congress to increase military expenditure by 13%
Considered strategic defense initiative (proposed defensive system against potential nuclear attacks from Soviet Union
Spent a lot of money on a defense system that might never work and people were concerned they would come at the cost of social programs like education and health care
Intended to intercept missiles at various phases of flight

Simple:
Increased military spending by 51%, operated on the false belief that nuclear war could be fought and won (hurt US economy)
Arms control negotiations on hold
Reagan proposes START to replace SALT (no progress being made)
Reagan tells Gorbachev (leader of USSR) to tear down the wall
Tries to prevent communist governments in Central America (el Salvador, Nicaragua) and replace with friendlies

Question 19

Describe the Solidarity movement and the Soviet response (1980-81)

Answer 19

Government price increases reversed due to labour protests backed by intelligentsia and Catholic Church
Solidarity: union of all urban polish labour unions formed sept 1980
Soviet response:
Try intimidation with military manoeuvres by fellow Warsaw pact nations (no invasion)
Polish Supreme Court declares rural solidarity legal and polish government negotiates end to economic crisis
Talks end and strikes continue
Solidarity leaves Walesa’s (solidarity leader) moderate stance and propose national day of protest
Jaruzelski (new polish leader) declares martial law: stops comms, transportation of goods, protests, outlaws strikes

Question 20

Describe the events of the Iran-Iraq war. What two issues were central to the conflict?

Answer 20

Iranian revolution in 1978 toppled the pro western government of Pallavi in favour of a fundamentalist regime led by Khomeini
Saddan Hussein, president of Iraq, counted on the support of his nation’s minority Sunni Muslim population and feared an expansion of Iran’s revolution to Shi’ite dominated Iraq
Saddam sought to overturn border agreements of 1975 and re establish control of Shatt-Al-Arab, Iraq’s only access point to the Persian gulf
Saddam preemptive strike on Iran because of Iran’s weakened military due to revolution
Air strikes on Iranian air bases, following up with ground invasion of oil producing regions
Iran’s Revolutionary militia and regular armed forces held a strong resistance and regained all lost territory with counteroffensive
Iraq asks for peace, Iran says no and continues conflict aiming to topple saddam’s regime

Two reasons simple:
fear Iranian revolution would spark insurgency a,ong Iraq’s minority + Iraq’s desire to repress Iran as the dominant Persian gulf state

Question 21

Results of Iran Iraq war

Answer 21

No clear winner but Iraq had successfully established itself as the most powerful military in the Arab world
UN ceasefire 1988
Neither country had the will nor the economic resources to continue the war
Iraq accumulated billions in debt

Question 22

Causes of gulf war

Answer 22

Hussein ordered invasion and occupation of Kuwait with the apparent aim of acquiring that nation’s large oil reserves, canceling a large debt Iraq owed Kuwait and expanding Iraqi power in that region

Question 23

To what extent was the gulf war fought for economic reasons

Answer 23

Kuwait was a very rich country with lots of oil and would have helped to solve iraq’s money problems
Control of oil would have given Hussein more power
Kuwait had sea points that Iraq wanted and Iraq claimed that the land of Kuwait was historically part of Iraq

Question 24

Describe the economic freedoms allowed under deng xiaoping

Answer 24

Price flexibility increased, expanding the service sector
Opened an open door policy to open the door to foreign businesses that wanted to set up in China for the first time since the Kuomintang era
Embraced a set of goals which were the 4 modernizations (agriculture, industry, defense, and science & tech)
Eliminated Mao’s communes and leased the land to individual farming
Enabled people to embrace Western goods and ideas, closed the income gap between rich and poor
Special economic zones allowed foreign businesses to operate in free trade
Increase imports of western goods and exports to western nations
Economic policies for those who didn’t follow their one child policy (guanxi - connections that allow escaping the policy)

Question 25

Describe the lack of political freedoms under deng xiaoping

Answer 25

Refused to institute democratic reforms and kept power within the ruling communist party, decreasing importance of own office
brutal suppression of economic reforms and pro-democracy movements
Some dissent permitted at first until crackdown at Tiananmen Square - used country’s armed forces to violently disperse protesters
Attacks on unarmed protesters killed as many as 3000 civilians
Arresting and imprisoning political opponents
Increase in western influence and better relations with the world
Still a one party state (totalitarian gov)
Tibet and other minorities repressed + continued hostility towards Taiwan

Question 26

Explain why the Berlin Wall was a symbol of the Cold War

Answer 26

Symbolize iron curtain that divided Europe’s between communism and diplomacy

Question 27

In what ways was the USSR’s involvement in Afghanistan similar to the USA’s involvement in Vietnam?

Answer 27

-went in to maintain control of country/prevent communist takeover
-controlled populated urban centres but unable to win support of countryside
-small # of troops gradual increase
-conventional forces vs indigenous guerilla tactics against enemy they couldn’t always identify
-antis had complex tunnel systems that caused them to withdraw
-proxy war: US sent aid to Afghanistan freedom fighters while USSR sent military aid to north Vietnam
-troop morale down due to high commitment of indigenous population
-technical and economic superiority made little difference
-critical impact on domestic economy (killed great society program US and caused downfall of USSR)
-everyone against them internationally

Difference:
US allowed anti war protest, USSR did not
USSR territorial

Question 28

Significance of Mao Tse-Tung’s little red book

Answer 28

Student led purge inspired by his book of thoughts led to attacks on anyone considered a revisionist who were making China less revolutionary (cultural Revolution where they held violent campaigns against anything from the old world)

Question 29

Why did China decide to cultivate relationships with governments other than Soviet Union and what did this lead to?

Answer 29

Thought the Soviet Union to be a threat following the Dino Soviet split where Khrushchev visited Peking and was super distrustful and suspicious of the rapid Chinese advancements

US would take advantage of split and Nixon would end hostility between US and China by including them on UN

Question 30

What was the Great Leap Forward?

Answer 30

Mao’s policy to bring China into the industrialized world putting an emphasis on local labour intensive industry, failed because unable to go at the desired speed and poor crops would lead to hunger

Question 31

Describe the events in Eastern Europe leading to the destruction of the Berlin Wall

Answer 31

-half a million people gathered in East Berlin in a mass protest
-Soviet Union faced acute economic problems and major food shortages + failure at Afghanistan
-nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl power station in Ukraine exploded in April 1986
-Gorbachev Frank Sinatra doctrine let other countries deal with it on their own (glasnost and perestroika)*

Question 32

What were glasnost and perestroika?

Answer 32

Overall, the goals of Perestroika and Glasnost were to modernize and reform the Soviet Union, both economically and socially, in order to make it more competitive and successful in the global arena. However, these policies ultimately led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.