Vietnam Flashcards
who was ho chi minh
one of the leaders of the nationalist movement; supported communism
what was ho chi minh trying to do
overthrow the french rule and become an advocated of communism
how did others view ho chi minh
they did not really like him; he was a wanted man
how did ho chi minh escape the people
fled indochina and spent several years in exile in the Soviet union and china
when did ho chi minh return to Vietnam
1941
what group did Ho chi minh organize
Vietminh
what did the group unite and what was its purpose
communist and non communists to expel the Japanese forces that had taken over the country
what did the US do in response to the formation of the Vietminh
they began sending aid to them
what happened to japan in 1945
surrendered to the allies; which gave up control of Indochina
what did ho chi minh do in response to japans surrendering
declared Vietnman to be an indpendent nation
how did the french feel about letting vietnman being independent
they had no intention of that; they then sent troops to Vietnam to drive out the Vietminh forces back into hiding in the countryside
as the Vietminh started to gain more land against the French, what did the french do
reached out to the US for help
what did the US do in regards to frances request
they ended up helping France because although they did not France to control Vietnam, they especially didn’t want Vietnam to be communist
domino theory
the idea that if Vietnam fell to communism, the rest of southeast asia would follow; put forth by Eisenhower
guerrillas
irregular troops who blend into the civilian population and are difficult for regular armies to fight; what the Vietminh used against france
how was the french doing against the Vietminh
awful; they were losing a lot of men and battles
what did the french try to do to take control of Vietminh and how did it go
tried to occupy the mountain town of Dien Bien Phu (it would interfere with everything); but they lost and eventually made peace and withdrew from indochina
geneva records
divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel, with Ho chi minh and the Vietminh in control of North Vietnam
who was in control of the south
pro western regime
whose independence did the Geneva records recognize
cambodia and laos (gained the previous year)
what happened shortly after the geneva records portend Vietnam
french troops left; leaving the US the principal protector of the new government
who was the new nationalist leader
ngo dinh diem
what was diem all about
was pro western and anti-communist; was also catholic
what happened with the elections of 1956
Diem refused to permit them because he though that Minh would win (lolz that rhymes)
how did Eisenhower feel about Diem’s call with the election
approved it and sent over more aid
what did Minh do in response to the no election
organzied guerrilla army called Vietcong; US sent over troops to train them
when did Kennedy take office
1961
strategic hamlets
protected villages by machine guns, bunkers, trenches, and barbed wire
how did Diem make himself even more unpopular
discriminated against Buddhism
who was responsible for the execution of Diem
american ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge; launched military coup (this all only made matters worse)
Gulf of Tonkin
august 2, 1964; north V. torpedo boats had fired on two american destroyers in the gulf.. two days later a similar attack had taken place again
what did johnson do in regards to the Gulf of Tonkin and how did it go
asled congress for the authority to defend the American forces and american allies in Southeast asia; was given full permission to do whatever he wanted
gulf of tonkin resolution
gave the president the ability to whatever he wanted basically
what did american troops do to counter the Vietcongs guerrilla tactics
went on search and destroy
napalm
jellied gasoline that explods on contact
agent orange
a chemical that strips leaves from tress and shrubs, turning everything into wasteland
ho chi minh trail
network of jungle paths that wound through the countries of cambodia and laos
william westmoreland
south vietnam general
credibility gap
it was hard to believe what the Johnson administration had said about the war
teach in
group of faculty members and students joined together to discuss the issues surrounding the war and reaffirmed their reasons for opposing it
doves
wanted the us to withdraw from Vietnam
hawks
those who wanted to stay
why doves
peace
why hawks
prey
why did some people view the draft as unfair
because whose who were in college could defer their services until after, so those who could not afford college who had to stay home to work were more likely to be drafted
significane of TET offensive
it was the Vietnamese new year
what strategic targets the the Vietcong strike
most american airbases in S. Vietnam and most of the south’s major cities
why was the TET offensive eventually a failure for the vietcong
because in the long run they ended up losing a lot of troops
approximately how many troops were stationed in Vietnam in 1968
710,000 troops
what happened in 1968
TET offensive/president johnson lost a lot of support; did not run agin/ martin luther king shot/ robert kennedy shot/police riots
henry kissinger
secretary of state
what was kissinger role
use diplomacy to end the conflic
Richard nixons vietnamization
gradual withdraw of troops while the South Vietnamese assumed more of the fighting themselves
my lai massacre
spring of 1968; hamlet of My lai
who was involved in my lai
US platoon, William Calley, S. Vietnamese civilians
linkage
improving relations with the Soviet union and China
what happened at my lai
american platoon (under control of calley) had massacred unarmed S. Vietnamese civilians in the hamlet of my lai
pentagon papers
documents that revealed many government officials privately questioned johnson administrations but publicly defended it
kent state university
ohio national guard, armed with tear gas and rifles, fired upon demonstrators
war powers act
required president to inform congress of any commitment to send troops abroad within 48 hours/ withdraw them within 90 days
What is the SDS and what did they form
Students for a democratic society and formed the new left
what was the new left
the “new” left differed from the “old” left of the 1930s
what did the old left of the 1930s advocate
socialism and communism
what did the new left advocate
stop big corporations and big government
what did the SDS focus on
protesting the war, address issues like poverty, campus regulations, nuclear power, and racism
what was an example of a protest on college campus
university of california berkley
why was there a protest at cal berkley
didn’t like how they divided huge classes into sections taught by graduate students bc professors said they were busy doing research, many people were arrested and this started a chain reaction
what was the selective service act, who was involved, and when did it started
the draft, men 18-25 (now), started in 1950, originally in 1917 men from
- february 1917
- at first men 21-30
- August 1918, men 18-45
- Terminated in July 1919
- 1940 - FDR approved the act
- men 26-35 during the 2nd world war
who were conscientious objectors?
people who oppose fighting/killing on moral/religious grounds
what were deferments?
postponement of military service, maybe after college or something, some people left the U.S. so they didn’t have to get drafted
what are hippies
we talked about in class lots
what is counterculture
what the hippies created by doing all the stuff and going against society norms
what are communes?
group living arrangements in which members shared everything and worked together
drugs
common during this time until people started overdosing and such, got big because people got addicted
counterculture did what with music
use folk music nd rock n roll rhtyms to express fear of their generations
What was woodstock?
festival in upstate new york, where people gathered to listen to new music, could use drugs, people like bob dylan and the who were there
in jan 1973 what was the agreement
U.S. withdraw troops within 60 days, all POW (prisoners of war to be released), end military actions in laos and cambodia,, the 7th parallel to continue to divide north and south vietnam
