Vietnam (2) Flashcards
What was the reason for the growth of opposition
- Tet Offensive, Cambodia, rising death toll, injuries, cost and length of the war, black American opposition, Role of individuals like Muhammed Ali
What was the draft
- The draft was compulsory service in the military. Many opposed it because it was sending young men who were not well trained to war. It was also felt that mainly poor families were least able to avoid it. A ‘Lottery’ system was introduced in 1969 but this didn’t make it any more popular. In total 650,000 soldiers were draftees with1 million draftees were in reserve
How people avoided the draft
- College students could delay it until graduation, Family’s only son was exempt, some workers exempt, studying or working abroad
What was the impact on media for the opinions against war
- Reporters were allowed to travel with the troops into the war zone and were not censored. Became known as ‘The living room war’ as many people saw footage of the war on their TV screens. This bought the horror of the conflict closer to home
What was The Student Movement
- In the 1960s, a significant amount of students became part of the counter-culture movement – refused to live by the cultural rules of their society
What is the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society)
- . By 1965, it had 3,000 members over 80 College campuses. SDS angered many people because they opposed the war and openly supported the North Vietnamese.
What was the public reaction too the My Lai Massacre, 1968
- Charlie Company, led by Lieutenant Calley, killed all the people and animals in My Lai village.
- They claimed that they had been ordered to do so. After a cover up and then an investigation the truth emerged in 1970.
- The Public were not sure what to believe at first but after photos shown on CBS news, there was a huge public outcry. Lt Calley’s trial – convicted of killing 22 civilians in 1971, the only one brought to trial.
What were The Kent State University shootings, 1970
- After Nixon’s announcement of the invasion of Cambodia, peaceful protests began.
- Several demonstrations and an Officer Training building on Campus burned down.
- Mayor declared state of emergency. Officials banned a demonstration, but this was ignored.
- After National Guards had bricks etc. thrown at them, they opened fire, killing 4 students (2 students also killed at Jackson State Uni 2 weeks later)
Reasons for support for the war
- Cold War - fear of communism – Domino Theory, Moral/religious reasons, Freedom (as above), Patriotism - superiority of capitalism & democracy
What was The Hard Hat riot 1970
- Construction workers that clashed with anti-war protestors in New York. Peter J Brennan then led a pro-war rally on 20 May of 60,000 people. They were seen to represent general working-class support for the war
What was The Silent majority
- Nixon appealed to support for the silent majority in 1969 – those that supported his policies but didn’t campaign for or against the war. His speech was remarkably successful and showed that a lot of people supported his policy
Reasons for, and features of, the peace negotiations, 1972–73
- Difficult for sides to agree over whether/how to unite Vietnam, what to do with the South, how to manage troop withdrawals, Secret Peace talks made it difficult for South to agree to anything, 1972 Easter Offensive by North Vietnam shocked the US. South Vietnamese leader, Thieu, refused to sign agreement in October 1972 as he felt he had no say in the agreement. The North felt that the US were using this as an excuse, showed lack of trust on all sides
The significance of the Paris Peace Agreement 1973
- US troops, bases to be withdrawn in 60 days, Ceasefire to begin, All countries accept Vietnam as a single country, US to help reconstruction of north and south.
Impact of the Paris Agreement
The USA – enabled them to remove soldiers, Congress cut financial support to South leaving the ARVN badly supplied
Both the North and South saw this ‘peace’ as little more than a ‘brief ceasefire’
What happened in the North
- became impatient, attacked south in December 1974. Lack of US support meant that the South was defeated quickly by April 1975
What happened in the south
- economy collapsed, Thieu did not make his government any more democratic nor did he attempt to negotiate with the communists so VC gained control in villages
What were The economic and human costs of the war for the USA
- Cost an estimated $167bn, US had lost face abroad and had failed to keep Vietnam free from Communism, 58,220 dead, Poor treatment of returning soldiers – many treated with hostility, Suicide rate for veterans much higher than other men of a similar age, More divided society was shown by protest movements
The strengths of North Vietnam
- They understood the landscape, climate and language; North Vietnamese fully committed to the cause; VC were popular with the South Vietnamese villagers: North had support from other countries – USSR, China and Laos and Cambodia allowed the Ho Chi Minh Trail to operate; Guerrilla tactics used by VC were very effective
The weaknesses of the US armed forces
Completely misunderstood the Vietnamese villagers; did not understand the landscape, climate and language; Mistakes – area bombing, use of defoliants, focusing on the bodycount rather than gaining control of areas; did not win the hearts and minds of the people; growing public opposition at home made it almost impossible for the US government to continue the war; the draft meant that soldiers were normally young and inexperienced; they were supporting a very unpopular South Vietnamese government
