Vietnam

Question 1

What was Vietnam called when it was ruled by France?

Answer 1

Indochina

Question 2

What was the name of the anti French group led by Ho Chi Minh?

Answer 2

Viet Minh

Question 3

who was the leader of the Indochinese Communist Party?

Answer 3

Ho Chi Minh

Question 4

what style of warfare was used by the Vietnamese?

Answer 4

Guerilla Warfare

Question 5

When did the conflict between the French and the Vietnamese begin and when did it end?

Answer 5

1945 to 1954

Question 6

which countries supported Ho Chi Minh?

Answer 6

China and the USSR

Question 7

at what battle were the French forces defeated?

Answer 7

Dien Bien Phu

Question 8

How many French troops were killed at Dien Bien Phu?

Answer 8

8000

Question 9

What were the Geneva Accords?

Answer 9

• A meeting to decide the future of Vietnam
• split at 17th
  parallel - supposed to be temporary
• independence given to Laos and Cambodia
• North ruled by Ho Chi Minh
• South ruled by Ngo Diem

Question 10

About Ho Chi Minh

Answer 10

Communist
supported by the North and South
Led Viet Minh
against Japan and France
Supported by China and the USSR

Question 11

About Ngo Diem

Answer 11

Unpopular even with his own people
Catholic
Cruel to Buddhists
Corrupt (nepotism), supported by US until he was shot for making capitalism look bad

Question 12

What did the Geneva Accords plan that never happened?

Answer 12

they planned for democratic elections in 1956 which would decide on the government for the whole country. But it never happened because Ho Chi Minh was so popular that he would almost certainly have won and the US refused to let a communist be in charge.

Question 13

What did Ho Chi Minh form to fight against Diem and the USA?

Answer 13

The NLF also known as the Viet Cong

Question 14

By the end of 1961 how many Viet Cong Fighters were in South Vietnam?

Answer 14

20,000

Question 15

How did the Viet Cong transport supplies from north to south?

Answer 15

the Ho Chi Minh Trail

Question 16

By the 1960s the Viet Cong had how many troops?

Answer 16

over 100,000

Question 17

what was Eisenhower fearful of?

Answer 17

If Vietnam fell then communism would spread to Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and maybe India. Aka the domino Theory

Question 18

between 1954 and 1960 how much aid did Eisenhower send to Vietnam to help the South Vietnamese government?

Answer 18

$1.6 billion

Question 19

What happened under Kennedy’s rule to provide training in Vietnam?

Answer 19

11,000 US military advisors were sent in 1962

Question 20

What happened at the Gulf of Tonkin?

Answer 20

A North Vietnamese boat allegedly fired at the USS Maddox which was in forbidden waters. This results in the official beginning of the Vietnam war after the greenlight is given by congress

Question 21

What was Operation Rolling Thunder?

Answer 21

A huge new bombing campaign which lasted until 1968

Question 22

In March 1963, how many US marines landed and where did they land?

Answer 22

3500 in Da Nang

Question 23

How many troops did The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army have?

Answer 23

170,000

Question 24

Who were the vietcong and the NVA supplied by?

Answer 24

the USSR and China however the U.S were better equipped

Question 25

why was guerrilla Warfare so successful?

Answer 25

The Vietcong were hard to find because they did not have a uniform or a base therefore hard to tell apart from local peasants

Question 26

How many civilians were killed by the Viet Cong between 1966 and 1971?

Answer 26

27,000

Question 27

how many Vietnamese work to keep the Ho Chi min trail running despite heavy bombing by the USA?

Answer 27

40,000

Question 28

What were Search and Destroy missions?

Answer 28

American troops launched raids on Viet Cong villages by helicopter to destroy Viet Cong hideouts and discover weapon stores. They were effective in locating and destroying Viet Cong strategic locations but they killed and injured lots of civilians which increased support for the Viet Cong. For example the My Lai Massacre

Question 29

When was the My Lai Massacre and how many people did it kill?

Answer 29

1968, killing 400 civilians

Question 30

How many US planes were shot down?

Answer 30

14,000

Question 31

How much did it cost the USA to kill one Viet Cong fighter?

Answer 31

$400,000

Question 32

How many desserters were there of the American army?

Answer 32

500,000 (not all escaped, some repeated)

Question 33

What does fragging mean?

Answer 33

troops killing their own officers

Question 34

What was the Tet offensive?

Answer 34

In early 1968 the Viet Cong launched a massive attack against 100 cities and military targets. The attack took place on the Vietnamese Tet (new year) holiday and so it became known as the tet offensive.

Question 35

Why was tet offensive a turning point for the US?

Answer 35

up until the tet offensive, the home front believed they were winning the war

Question 36

What is the quote by Walter Cronkite?

Answer 36

What the hell is going on? I thought we were winning this war!

Question 37

How did LBJ react to Cronkite?

Answer 37

“If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost middle America”

Question 38

When did peace talks begin and why did they fail?

Answer 38

1968, Nixon became President and wanted “Peace with honour”

Question 39

What was vietnamisation?

Answer 39

to reduce US troops and give the South Vietnamese forces more responsibility for the fighting

Question 40

When did the USA start secret peace talks with North Vietnam?

Answer 40

1969

Question 41

_____ US troops withdrew in June 1969 and _____ in September

Answer 41

25,000 US troops withdrew in June 1969 and 35,000 in September

Question 42

Because Nixon did not want to look weak while negotiating with North Vietnam he did what?

Answer 42

invaded Laos and Cambodia to attack Viet Cong bases. This was to encourage North Vietnam to negotiate more willingly, however instead, North Vietnam boycotted the peace talks

Question 43

how many troops have been withdrawn by the end of 1971?

Answer 43

400,000

Question 44

What happened at Kent State University?

Answer 44

In May 1970, students were shot by the National Guard during a protest against the Vietnam war. 4 died and 9 were injured.

Question 45

Why did the Vietnam War become a civil rights issue?

Answer 45

11% of the troops were black but 22% of the casualties were black. Men could escape the draft if they were at college, many underpriviledged black men could not afford college and therefore had no other choice but to go to war.

Question 46

What was the average age of a US soldier?

Answer 46

19

Question 47

What was the problem with the draft?

Answer 47

Because nobody wanted to join the war, the rules changed and allowed each soldier to only serve for 1 year. This lead to a lack of experience.