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