US involvement in Vietnam Flashcards
When did the battle begin between the Vietnamese and french troops/where?
13 march 1954
dien bien phu
What were the two main reasons for battle?
vietnam was a french colony french lost control of vietnam when japan occupied it during WW2
france want to regain its colony
*Vietnamese (Vietminh) wanted vietnamese independence
When did Ho Chi Minh announce vietnam was a democratic republic of vietnam?
August 1945 when japan surrender
Why did Ho Chi Minh need US help?
to secure Vietnamese independence from the french
but USA didn’t really want to help because they feared they would make it communist
What happened at Dien Bien Phu?
french built an airstrip to lure vietminh into battle and waited for an attack
BUT vietminh were already surrounding the french with 50,000 solider and artillery
When did Dien Bien Phu end and who lost?
7 May 1954 French surrender
Why did the french lose?
French asked USA for military and eisenhower considered it but at that point they just ended war with Korea lost many solider and knew congress would refuse to send troops in
Why did Vietminh win?
Local support-villagers helped dig new road to move supplies
Local condition:understood the country
China’s help:supplied them with weapons and troops
Vietminh commitment worked day and night
When was the Geneva accords?
21 July a day after french surrender
What were the agreements for the Geneva accords?
vietnam was temporarily divided along 17th parallel
Ho Chi Minh would run the northern part
Bao Dai would run the south
Vietnamese troops could move north and south for 300 days after agreement
July 1956 election would be held across both sides of vietnam to decide on the government of a united vietnam
Was anyone happy after theer accords?
no USA and south vietnam refused to obey Accords
north vietnam wanted it to be divided from the 13 parallel and to hold election in 6 months
What was the domino theory?
Eisen hower feared if vietnam became communist other would follow so he set up SEATO this meant the countries involved agreed to act together if necessary to stop communism spreading in Asia
Who is Diem?
took control of south vietnam
anti-communist
Bao Dai went to france so diem took over
Why was Diem government weak?
many communist in south which controlled northern areas
Diem was catholic,most Vietminh were Buddhist so religious clashes
gave government job to his family excluding other groups
How did Eisen hower support Diem and why?
sent advisers to train south vietnamese army (ARVN)
because eisen hower wanted ARVN to win control of south vietnam and for US to fight a limited war
Who spoke against Diem and what was the consequence?
October 1955 bao dai spoke against his polices and diem response was to hold a referendum so people could vote which leader they wanted
Who won the election in 1955?
US helped set them up and they were fixed
diem won
What did Diem do after the elections?
changed the government
stopped villagers electing their own officials
widely resented government officials in charge
Why were there no election in 1956 in south vietnam?
he said his government was not about when Geneva Accords were agreed
US still supported by sending aid
What did Diem do to the people who opposed him?
arrested religious and political opponents
denounce communist campaign-urged ppl to report communist to government
1957 sent ARVN to countryside to arrest communist & killed 2000
Who were the VC?
Vietnamese communist who fought against diem government
Why did North vietnam support the VC?
to start a revolution but there was none because of the government
however in may 1959 north Vietnamese with china’s help sent troops and weapons to south through ho chi minh trail
Who were the NLF and what did they do?
National Liberation front
organised political opposition to Diem
members went to villagers by night and urged villagers to disobey government officials and support local VC group
What did Kennedy do?
president in 1961
agreed with domino theory & limited war
more advisers to south
said normal fighting tactics were failing
