Vietnam (1954-75) Flashcards
Why was the communist party established in 1930?
Ho Chi Minh founded the Indochinese communist party to work towards independence from the French. It had been in the colony since 1858.
When did the Japanese occupy Indochina?
When WW2 began the Japanese forces occupied Indochina and the ICP created a guerrilla organisation to resist them and work towards independence. US began to support them after 1941.
When WW2 ended Japanese withdrew from Indochina and the Viet Minh organisation in September 1945 seized power and declared its independence from Indochina.
What was Indochina?
The countries of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos combined.
When did the war between France and Vietnam start?
1946 - the year following their independence the French attacked. Viet Minh forces which sparked an ongoing war for control over the country. They Viet Minh attacked the French in 1954 at Dien Bien phu and the French lost.
What happened once the French lost?
After their defeat in July, the Geneva conference was held and this officially split Vietnam along the 17 parallel in the North communist led by Ho Chi Minh supported by China and in the south non communist led by Ngo Dinh supported by the USA.
What did the USSR suggest that should be done on Vietnam?
The USSR put forward a proposal in 1957 to make permanent the split between North and South Vietnam by the USA refused this on the basis that they would not formally recognise a communist North.
What did Ho Chi Minh do in March 1959?
In March 1959 Ho Chi Minh of the North declared a revolution in a vid to unite the whole of Vietnam under his communist leadership.
When was the leader of the South, Diem, overthrown?
By the 1960 US aid to South Vietnam had increased and they began to train SVA (South Vietnamese army) By 1963, the southern leader, Diem, had become so unpopular that he was overthrown by Viet Congress troops and replaced by General Nguyen Khanh.
What did North Vietnamese ships do to a US ship?
Two North Vietnamese ships opened fire on a US destroyer, the Maddox, in 1964. As a consequence, the US congress passed the ‘Gulf of Tonkin Resolution’ which officially declared US military action in the Vietnamese conflict and troops flooded into the south as a result.
What did the US do in 1956?
By 1966 500,000 US troops were stationed out in Vietnam and the US army began to use ‘search and destroy’ as a military strategy - this was a tactic where aerial bombing was used to seek Viet Cong troops along the ‘Ho Chi Minh’ trail.
When did the North’s leader die?
In 1969 the northern leader, Ho Chi Minh died and the US president, Richard Nixon, sought peaceful negotiations with the north. These peace talks ended in March 1973 when a cease fire was signed in Paris and American troops withdrew from from Vietnam.
What happened in 1975 in Vietnam after the ceasefire was signed?
In 1975 the north invaded the south and took control of the whole country, using it as a communist country. The following year, the socialist Republican of Vietnam was officially created and the ‘old’ southern capital city Saigon was renamed ‘Ho Chi Minh city’ after the old northern leader who began the communist revolution.
