Vietnam 1954-1963 Flashcards
Where was the first important battle in Vietnam?
Dien Bien Phu
When was the first important battle in Vietnam?
13th March 1954 (Dien Bien Phu)
What were 2 reasons for the first important battle in Vietnam?
France wanted to regain its former colony.
The Vietnamese wanted their independence
What was the communist Vietnamese party called?
Vietminh
Who led the Vietminh?
Ho Chi Minh
What happened after Japan Surrendered in WW2?
Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam was now the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Why didn’t the US help Vietnam secure their independence?
Viewed Ho Chi Minh as a communist sympathizer; supported ally France
How did the French react to the formation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam?
Established the (Pro-French) State of Vietnam in the south (were there was less support for Ho Chi Minh)
Who ruled the the State of Vietnam?
Emperor Bao Dai who was under the control of the French
When did China become communist?
1949
Why did th fear of communism spreading grow in 1949?
China became communist and started suppling the Vietminh with supplies, weapons and advisers
By 1954 how much was the US spending in Vietnam?
80% of the cost by France including advisers
What happened right before the battle at Dien Bien Phu?
The French built an airstrip hoping to lure the Vietminh into battle
What was the Vietminh strategy at Dien Bien Phu?
Surrounded the base with 50,000 troops with artillery on the mountain (which took months) and anti-aircraft guns and cut-off the French’s from supplies and re-inforcement
Who did the Vietminh have in reserve at Dien Bien Phu?
Another 50,000 soldiers and 200,000 civilians helping them to move supplies up the mountain
How long did the battle of Dien Bien Phu last?
55 days
When did the French surrender at Dien Bien Phu?
7th May 1954
Why didn’t the Americans get involved at Dien Bien Phu?
The U.S. involvement in the Korean War, with the lost 34,000 American lives made it unlikely for Congress to support another war in Asia so quickly
What were the main reasons that the French lost at Dien Bien Phu?
Geography - French base located in a basin, surrounded by 5 hill tops
French lacked adequate supply lines; dependent on air support
Vietminh had superior fields of fire from the hill tops for their artillery and anti-aircraft weapons
Vietminh had sustainable lines of supply
How did local support lead to the Vietminh victory?
Local villagers provided the labor to move supplies, repair the roads, provided intelligence on French military activities by spying
What did the Geneva Accords do?
Divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel
Ho Chi Minh controlled North Vietnam
Bao Dai controlled South Vietnam
For up to 300 days people of Vietnam could move between the North and South freely
No foreign troops could set up bases in Vietnam
In July 1956 elections would be help for leadership for a united Vietnam (under international supervision)
Who did Bao Dai elect prime minister?
Ngo Dinh Diem
When was Diem elected Prime Minister?
June 1954
How did Diem get control of South Vietnam?
Bao Dai went to France so Diem ruled the country
What was the capital of North Vietnam?
Hanoi
What was the capital of South Vietnam?
Saigon
Which countries were at the Geneva summit?
USA, USSR, UK, Cambodia, China, France, Laos, North Vietnam, South Vietnam
What disagreements were made in Geneva?
South Vietnam and the USA refused to honor the Accords
North Vietnam wanted Vietnam to be divided at the 13th parallel and for elections to be in 6 months
Why was the agreement in Geneva a waste of time?
Neither country wanted the agreements| China pressured North Vietnam to give in
What happened to advisers (of the west) in Vietnam after the Geneva Accords?
US advisers stayed| French advisers left
Who adopted the Domino Theory?
Eisenhower
What was the Domino Theory?
The thought that is Vietnam fell to communism other countries like Laos, Cambodia and Burma would also fall to communism
What did Eisenhower set up to stop the Domino Theory?
SEATO: South East Asia Treaty Organization
When was SEATO set up?
September 1954
Which nations made up SEATO?
USA, UK, France, New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand
What did the members of SEATO agree?
They would act together with force if necesary to stop communism spreading in Southeast Asia
Why didn’t people trust Diem’s government?
Diem was Catholic (not Buddhist)
Diem mainly gave Jobs to his family and Catholics
Diem had little interest in the needs of villagers
Pro-French and seen as a U.S. puppet
Why was Diems religion a problem?
He was a Catholic in a country filled with Buddhists
Enacted laws that favored Catholics and punished Buddhists
Who ran many villages?| What effect did this have?
Corrupt and greedy landlords, many appointed by Diem
How did Eisenhower support Diem?
Sending more advisers to train the ARVN
What happened in October 1955?
Bao Dai spoke out against Diem’s government
When did Dai speak put against Diem’s government?
October 1955
What was Diem’s responce to Dai challenging him?
He held a referendum with the people voting for him to remain in power (results seen as corrupt and fixed)
Why effects did election in 1955 being fixed have?
Looked like US supported Diem as they supervised them| Made people like Diem less
Why were elections not held on the 16th July 1956?| What happened?
Diem refused to honor the Geneva Accord
How did US advisers describe Diem?
Reliant on force to stay in power
Why did the US support Diem?
Diem support Anti-Communism (Truman Doctrine)
What was a feature of Diem’s rule in Vietnam?
Took US money but not advice - assured Eisenhower that the people supported him (when they didn’t)
Started a campaign against his political opponents (mainly communists)
What happened with Diem’s campaign against his political opponents?
He arrested political and religious opponents; denounced “communists” sending the ARVN into the countryside to find and arrest communists - 65,000 arrests, 2000 killed
What was the Vietcong of (VC)?
Communists in South Vietnam
Why did the North Vietnamese support the VC?
In hope that they would start a revolution and bring communism to power so the North could take control
What was the Ho Chi Minh trail?
Pathsways (the majority in Laos and Cambodia that was used by the VC to supply the Vietnam War
What happened (the evolution) of the Ho Chi Minh trail?
By 1960 the path became wider By 1974 there were ven some underground hospitals, storages and some of the trail became paved
What happened in November 1960
Some army leaders tried to overthrown Diem but failed
What was a result of the coup on Diem?
Diem blamed the US| -the US urged him to become more democratic and popular with the people but Doem ignired the US’s advice
What does the NLF stand for?
National Liberation Front
What did the NLF do?
Organised political opposition to Diem - told villagers to ignore Diem and the governmnt
What happened in December 1960?
The VC joined with the NLF - encouraged villagers to ignore Diem and the government
By the end of 1960 how much of South Vietnam was under Diem’s control?
Under half
When did JFK become president?
1961
How did JFK escalate the Vietnam conflict?
Sent about 16,000 more advisers by November 1963 to train the ARVN in counter-insurgency tactics to further the policy of pacification
What are Counter-insurgency tactics?
Applying nonconventional guerilla warfare tactics (military) and by winning the hearts and minds of the people (political)
What is a policy of pacification?
Winning the “hearts and minds” of the population
By 1961 how many VC were there in South Vietnam?
12,000
Why was it hard for the ARVN to win the hearts and minds of the people?
The army saw the villagers as inferior to them
The villagers saw the soldiers as oppressors who were part of the corrupt government
Who were Green Berets?
US special forces who trained villagers to be part of the counterinsurgency
Why did the Green Berets mostly fail?
The VC would leave the villages in day but come back at night; many were embedded in the villages
Not trusted by the villagers
When did JFK authorize the uses of defoliants?
December 1961
When did JFK authorize the use of defoliants?
December 1961
Which thing of Diem’s work did the US support?
Stragetic Hamlet Program
What were a strategic hamlets?
Large new villagers surrounded by barbed wire and defended by the ARVN with facilities such as schools and clinics
What was the point of the strategic hamlets?
The VC wouldn’t be able to recruit new people
Hiw many green berets helped set up the strategic hamlets?
800
When did work on the strategic hamlets start?
January 1962
What was a weakness of the strategic hamlets?
Villages did not want to leave their ancestral lands
Diem’s government failed to provide enough food resulting in starvation
What was the name of the 2nd important battle?
Ap Bac
When did the South Vietnamese loose the 2nd important battle in Vietnam?
2nd January 1963
What happened at Ap Bac?
ARVN lost to the VC even though they ARVN outnumbered the VC 5-1 and had better weapons
What US casulaties were there in Ap Bac?
5 helicopters were lost; 3 advisers killed; 60 troops died
How many VC casualties were there at Ap Bac?
Only 3 bodies were found| Unlikly only 3 died but there was little casulaties
What happened on the 6th May 1963?
Diem’s troops fired on a Buddhist procession; 9 died, 14 injured
What happened in June 1963?
Diem banned the Buddhists from flying their flag for the Buddha’s birthday
What happened on the 11th of June 1963?
Having informed the press about his plans a day before, Quand Duc (a Buddhist monk) set himself on fire at a busy Saigon intersection - and burnt himself to death as the world watched (1 month after violence in Birmingham)
What was the name of the monk that set himself on fire?
Quang Duc
What was JFK’s reaction to the suicide?
He was expressing shock at the photos only 1 month after expressing shock of the photos from Birmingham
What did Diem do in August 1963?
Despite Kennedy’s requests he increased persecution of Buddists
What was a result of Diem increasing presecution of Buddists?
The US made it clear that they were no longer supporting Diem
When was Diem overthrown?
1st November
What happened on the 1st November?
Diem was overthrown by ARVN generals - the US heard what was going to happen but didn’t inform Diem - Diem was assassinated along with his brother
What did JFK’s stress his aims in Vietnam was?
Influence to make a new democratic government
To win over the people of Vietnam
Withdraw US advisers and other forces as soon as possible
When was JFK’s assassinated?
22nd November 1963
Who took over after Diem?
General Minh
