Vietnam (1) Flashcards
1
Q
What is the Vietcong
A
Vietnamese Communists
2
Q
What is the NVA
A
North Vietnamese Army
3
Q
What is the ARVN
A
Army of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)
4
Q
What happened after World War 2
A
-Vietnam was returned to the French, the former colonial power. The French became involved in a struggle with the communist Vietminh. In 1950 the French government appealed to the US for support.
5
Q
What is The Battle of Dien Bien Phu, 1954
A
- French 15000 troops, Vietminh 50000 and anti-aircraft guns. Lasted 55 days before French surrender. French were defeated for many reasons (Vietminh had support from locals, French underestimated them)
6
Q
What happened after the French left in 1954
A
- Eisenhower continued to support the south, even though the new leader in the south, Ngo Dinh Diem, was corrupt and very unpopular
- US politicians generally believed in the ‘Domino Theory’. This was the belief that if one country fell to communism, its neighbours would follow. Eisenhower sent US military advisers to help the South Vietnamese army
7
Q
What did JFK do when he became president in 1961
A
- JFK increased the number of military advisors from 700 to 15,000. Kennedy
- ordered the building of ‘strategic hamlets’. These were heavily defended villages that South Vietnamese people were moved to. The idea was to get them away from the Viet Cong and protect by the ARVN (South Vietnam Army)
- People didn’t like being moved away from their houses which were historic and built by their ancestors
8
Q
What opposition was Diem facing
A
- Several Buddhist monks burned themselves to death in protest.
- Diem also faced opposition from trade unions and a general strike was called.
- Kennedy threatened to withdraw military aid and then backed a plot by South Vietnamese generals to arrest Diem.
- He was murdered just three weeks before Kennedy’s own assassination.
9
Q
What was the increasing threat of the Vietcong
A
- The Viet Cong, very rarely fought pitched battles.
- They used guerrilla tactics. Therefore, it was impossible to identify Viet Cong soldiers, because as they did not wear uniform.
- After a fight they would scatter and it would be impossible to find them.
- The Viet Cong built thousands of miles of tunnels, with whole camps underground, so that they could hide. When the US forces found the tunnels they were often heavily booby-trapped.
- They were experts at building booby traps, using pits, sharpened sticks and mines. This meant that US soldiers could never relax. Even in the centre of Saigon it was possible for the US forces to be attacked
- The Viet Cong were supplied from the north by the Ho Chi Minh trail, which ran through Laos and Cambodia. The Soviet Union and China sent up to 6,000 tonnes of supplies a day
10
Q
What was The Gulf of Tonkin incident, 1964
A
- In August 1964 the USA claimed that US warships had been attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin.
- This gave the US the excuse they needed and Congress gave Johnson the power to send US combat troops to Vietnam.
- Many believe that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was probably invented by the US government to justify US intervention in Vietnam.
- In March 1965 the first combat troops arrived
- This was the beginning of increased US involvement
11
Q
What was search and destroy
A
- missions were sent into the jungle. Their success depended on the body count. The number of dead Vietnamese brought back. It was usually impossible to tell which side they had been on.
12
Q
What was Operation Rolling Thunder from 1965
A
- led to heavy bombing of North Vietnam that was far worse than anything that had been seen during the Second World War. The aim was to destroy military bases and equipment in North Vietnam and to destroy the Ho Chi Minh Trail
13
Q
How would the US use chemical weapons
A
- The US Air Force began to use defoliants like ‘Agent Orange’. These stripped leaves from trees to deprive the VC from hiding places.
- Napalm was also used to burn villages to force Viet Cong out into the open.
- Both of these could be dropped from planes.
- ‘Agent Blue’ was used to destroy crops
14
Q
What were the problems with the US tactics
A
- The US tactics did enormous damage to Vietnam and did not enable them to win the hearts and minds of the people which was so significant in a war of this nature
15
Q
What was the Tet Offensive, 1968
A
- This was a massive attack by the North Vietnamese upon South Vietnam, which began on 30 January 1968. All the major cities of South Vietnam, more than 100 altogether, were attacked, including Saigon. In Saigon the US embassy was seized by the North Vietnamese
