Vietnam Flashcards
Why did USA get involved?
It could not stabilise the south, the North would not stop
What was the pre vietnam failure of the USA?
Americanisation of the south did not not work.
- They couldn’t force the north into behavioural changes
When was a full US commitment to the war?
- 1965 (enormous bombing of the north)
what die Ho Chi Minh proclaim in september 1945?
- proclaimed independence from French colonial rule and looked to President truman for support
When did Truman decide to help finance the war effort openly? Why?
- March 1950
- Wanted Japan to have open access to Asian markets
- To stabilise governments on the periphery of china
When was truman presidency?
1945 - 1953
When was Eisenhower presidency?
1953 - 1961
When was JFK Presidency?
1961 - 1963
when was Nixon presidency?
1969 - 1974
When was Ford presidency?
1974 - 1977
When was Carter presidency?
1977 - 1981
When was Reagan presidency?
1981 - 1989
What did the 1954 geneva accords mean?
- End of French colonial rule
- Temporary division of Vietnam at 17th parallel
- 1956 national elections
What did the Eisenhowe administration refuse to sign? But what did it commit to?
- Geneva accords
- Nation building in south vietnam ($1 billion in economic and military assistance – 650 military advisers)
When did the Diem government exist?
Describe what it was like
1954 -1963
- it lacked legitimacy, there was little support for it in the countryside
Why did the south refuse to hold elections in 1956?
- because communists would win
When did the vietcong start guerilla war against Diem? When did North vietnam set up the national liberation front?
- 1960
Describe the situation by the early 1960s
- communist forces control half of south vietnam
- Diem opposition growing
What was the strategy of Kennedy? How did this strategy manifest itself?
- Flexible response (learnt from CMC)
- an increased flow of military advisers to the region
What was the point in special advisors?
- to help the training of south Vietnamese army
How many military advisors were in Vietnam by 1965?
- 16,000 (MAAG)
Why was there tension between Diem and the USA? Which meant they were happy for what to happen?
- Diem refused to conform to US pressures for land reform and greater democracy
- it meant in 1963 USA did nothing to discourage anti government protests and a coup by the army republic of vietnam
- Government was overthrown and diem was killed in the same year as Kennedy
Between 1965 and 1968 Johnson made the decision to do what? How did he do this?
- Decision to escalate the war, opposing the northern suggestion to holding free and fair elections
- He was able to do this by using the Tonkin incident as an excuse (security agency report from freedom of info request suggests second attack may have been fabricated) Revisionism.
When was the Tonkin incident and why is it significant?
- tonkin incident August 1964, election year
How many troops were there by 1968?
- half a million
According to secretary of state Rob McNamara what were the options of LBJ?
- Withdraw and face humiliation
- Continue at the present level
- Substantially expand, pressurise the VC in south and North, negotiate from favourable position
What did LBJ do in July 1965?
- Dispatches 200,000 combat forces
Who was supporting the north?
- China and the soviet union with logistics etc, especially along Laos/Cambodian border
When was a peak of men in Vietnam?
- 58,000
What was the difference to British forces fighting in Malaya from 1948 to 1968?
- Small units, impact, gain popularity. USA was just geared up for tank warfare
When and what was the tet offensive?
- 1968 Jan 31 (day of celebrations for Vietnamese)
- 70,000 north Vietnamese and Viet cong launch attacks on 100 cities / towns in the south (big shock to USA)
- Saigon embassy
What was LBJ response to the tet offensive of Jan 31 1968?
- stopped bombing of the north
- did not run for re-election in 1968 and democrats still lost
Why was Europe a key focus area for Nixon?
- 1968 had seen Czech rebellion, Prague spring
What was nixon strategy of 69 - 73
- Strategy of vietnamisation
- increase vastly the military supplies to the south
- continue bombing
- Highly contested extension of the war to Cambodia
By 1972 US ground forces were reduced to?
- 72,000
What is evidence that Vietnam crippled the American economy?
- Dropping of the Bretton woods system and the gold standard
When did Nixon announce extension of war to Cambodia? This meant the commitment of how many more troops?
- April 1970
- 170,000
(protests, 4 students killed at kent state university)
When were secret talks between the Vietnamese and US?
- Paris 1969
Why was a peace agreement reached by 1973?
- massive air campaigns against the north with attacks on Hanoi and Haiphong (christmas bombings 1972)
- Russia and China were putting pressure on the north
- US will had gone
What were the terms of the 1973 peace agreement?
- cease fire
- withdrawal of US forces and release of US POWs
- South Vietnam self determination
- Cambodia, Laos self determination
(critics point out that these terms were previously unavailable)
Why were Le duc Tho and Kissinger awareded nobel peace prizes after 1973? Which of these refused the award?
- because all the troops were out of vietnam
- Le duc tho refused it
What happened after the US left when did fighting continue until?
- fighting continued until the fall of Saigon in April 1975
- USA couldn’t do anything because congress ruled out US military action in Indochina
What are two theories for the involvement in vietnam?
- Munich Syndrome: Aggression appeased is aggression repeated - could not let aggressors get land
- Domino Theory: needed to be part of a bigger struggle, spread
What is Schliesinger’s thesis of US involvement in Vietnam
- Quagmire thesis, USA drawn into vietnam by accident by accident, series of presidents took steps into what became an unwinable conflict
What is the theory of Herring for US involvement in Vietnam? (revisionist)
- Vietnam syndrome, feared the political fallout if vietnam fell to communism
(see fellow revisionist Kattenberg)
Why did the Vietnam war go wrong?
- misunderstood the situation as political and not military
- underestimation of opponents
- Vietnam was of peripheral interest and less important than w. Europe, Japan
What effect did the war have on US FP?
- Contributes to the military and economic weakening of USA
- Fucked US image
- Communist gov in Laos and Brutal regime in Cambodia
What was biggest intervention since Vietnam?
- 1989 panama canal, 27,000
How much did war cost?
- $167, 000
What was a law made by congress after Vietnam?
- War powers resolution 1973 can’t send troops out longer than 30 days
What did Reagan say about El Salvador civil war in 80s?
- We will not Americanise this conflict
what did Reagan set up in 1984?
- a commission to promote economic and military aid to gain support in central America
But what civil wars did USA support against the USSR in 1975?
- Lebanese civil war 75-90
- Western saharan civil war 75-91
