Vietnam Flashcards
What was formed in 1947?
Joint Chiefs of Staff. SecDef, CIA, NSA formed in the 1947 National Security Act
Who inspired the containment policy?
George Kennan
What in 1949 increased US fear of the Vietminh?
Communist victory in China’s civil war heightened American fears of the Vietminh
What did Eisenhower fail to do in 1954?
Conflict escalation between France and Vietnam - Eisenhower would permit intervention if preconditions were met - when met, he failed to act - Dienbienphu fell to the Vietminh on 7 May 1954
What happened to the role of military advisors in 64?
− Role of military advisors translated to combatants
What was the Gulf of Tonkin incident and what did it lead to?
− Passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution – August 7th 1964 – provided authorisation for LBJ to use military force in Asia following the Tonkin Incident – naval engagement of the Maddox with North Vietnamese ships.
Detail troop influx between 1965-8
1965- 184,300 troops in Vietnam, more on the way 1966 – 385,000 1967 – 485,600 1968 – 534,700
What was 1967 - Operation Cedar
- 20 miles NW of Saigon - Destruction of NFL infrastructure - Slash and burn tactics - Artillery, explosives, levelling villages etc
What is the significance of the Tet Offensive?
1968 – Tet Offensive was one of the most important events of the Vietnam War, but revisionist and orthodox accounts vary sharply on its meaning. They disagree on fundamental points: which side “won” why? What were the political-military results of the battle of Tet?
Detail the economic situation in 1974
1974 - At the same time, South Vietnam’s perennial economic and political problems had been sharply aggravated, in part as a result of the American withdrawal. Loss of the $400 million which the United States spent annually in South Vietnam, the reduction of American military aid from $2.3 billion in 1973 to about $1 billion in 1974, and a sharp rise in worldwide inflation combined to produce an annual inflation rate of 90 percent, massive unemployment, a drastic decline in morale in the armed forces and among the urban population, and an increase in the ever present corruption
What was the changing role of the military advisor, from pre-Kennedy to LBJ?
- At the start of Kennedy’s administration - ~700 - By Dallas, 1963 – 16,000 - By 1964, under LBJ, 23,000 - ‘Advisors’ were field ops, essentially military - Advised escalation to Kennedy on several occasions
What were the ARVN?
Army of the Republic of Vietnam – soldiers domestic to the South, who were to undergo Vietnamisation.
Who were the Vietcong?
The Viet Cong, like their Viet Minh forerunners, liked to operate at night and in the bush; the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), with its formidable U.S.-supplied firepower, was afraid of the darkness and the jungle, just as the French Union forces had been.
Detail Ngo Dihn Diem
Unpopular Catholic President of Vietnam, dwarfed in popularity by Ho Chi – assassinated in US backed coup d’etat in 1963
What faith was Kennedy?
Catholic
Provide some background information about LBJ
− Often accused as the primary warmonger in Vietnam, essentially caused the first wave of escalation with the Rolling Thunder project of 1965. − Committed to continuing the efforts of JFK, tried desperately not to lose face in Vietnam (even if commitment was questionable) − Recognised the problems of waging limited war. Their determination to exercise restraint on the battleground and at home was evident in Johnson’s statement of July 28, 1965, in which he announced an open-ended commitment of US forces − LBJ’s determination to avoid a larger war was a mistake – Chinese threat suggested by revisionists = not substantiated − Believed TV reporting undermined support for his war at home and would have had the same effect during WWII
Who was Walter Lippmann?
Renowned columnist who had partial influence on the government
Provide some background for Nixon
− Republican, President from 1969-1974 − “ I’m not going to end up like LBJ,” he observed in November after his electoral victory, “holed up in the White House afraid to show my face on the street. I’m going to stop that war. Fast.” − Initiated the Cambodia campaign – highly controversial − Pursued policy of Vietnamization
Provide some background for Kissinger
− Proponent of Realpolitik, key agent in Détente, instrumental in opening China. Credited with achieving ceasefire in Vietnam
What is diplomatic history?
The history of international relations
What is the madman theory?
The madman theory was a feature of Richard Nixon’s foreign policy. He and his administration tried to make the leaders of hostile Communist Bloc nations think Nixon was irrational and volatile. According to the theory, those leaders would then avoid provoking the United States, fearing an unpredictable American response.
What are the Hawks and Doves?
Hawks encouraged war, whereas doves desired disengagement. Women tended towards dove position – alongside anti-nuclear sentiment and civil rights
Revisionist position: Lost Cause
Defeat was a stab-in-the-back - America was undermined by popular media and disruption
Revisionist Position: The First Lost Victory
US failed to use its power effectively in the early 1960s, resultantly, it became harder to support a corrupt regime and to desist an aggressive North.
Revisionist Position: Necessary War
Involvement in Vietnam was vital to US national security.
Revisionist Position: Strategy for Defeat
Civilian-directed strategy of 1965-8 failed to follow the classic tenets of effective strategy. Johnson and McNamara placed limitations on the military leadership, which denied an opportunity to achieve victory and instead led to a stalemate
Revisionist Position: Hearts and Minds
The emphasis on counter-insurgency ignored the importance of securing the South Vietnamese countryside and winning the loyalty of the peasantry
Revisionist Position: The Second Lost Victory
US actually won the war a second time after 1968, but that achievement was squandered by an irresolute Congress and demoralised public.
Defenders of the necessity of war - Michael Lind – Vietnam: The Necessary War
Most comprehensive account of necessity of war
Defenders of the necessity of war - Mark Moyar – Triumph Forsaken: the Vietnam War
- US objectives were realistic and were attained – but lost
Defenders of the necessity of war - William Westmoreland – A Soldier Reports
Strategy employed in Vietnam was too constrained to achieve victory
Defenders of the necessity of war - Colonel Harry Summers – On Strategy
Military and civilian leaders failed
Who were the VVAW?
Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW)” - stated war crimes in My Lai, although discounted, “VVAW’s presence in Washington D.C. During several days of spring demonstrations brought increased notoriety and legitimacy to the movement”
What were the Pentagon papers?
The Pentagon Papers, exposed by the NYT, damaged govt credibility - documents showed that US leaders ignored international agreements, manipulated Saigon governments, and lied to Congress and the public - this finally provided the smoking gun which supported critics’ assertions of the deception in Vietnam.
What supported the second lost victory proposal?
Nixon & Kissinger – Memoirs Lewis Sorley - A Better War: The Unexarnined Victories and Final Tragedy of America’s Last Years in Vietnam Comprehensive statement of the lost victory claim Robert Elegant – How to Lose a War Indicts the writing of his contemporaries in distorting the coverage of war
Examples of orthodoxy (dovish / illegal/ immoral position)
- George Herring’s America’s Longest War - William Turley’s The Second Indochina War - Marilyn Blatt Young The Vietnam Wars 1945-1990 - George Donelson Moss’s Vietnam: An American Ordeal - William Duiker’s U.S. Containment Policy and the Conflict in Indochina - David L Anderson’s The Vietnam War
What is the flawed containment principle? (orthodoxy)
US National Security was not on the line in Vietnam – containment was misapplied
Unwinnable War (orthodoxy)
American military effort was undermined by the forces of history and the resident political disparity between ally and enemy- “What was wrong in backing a weak, corrupt, inefficient regime against a brutally powerful, fanatically puritanical, ruthlessly efficient adversary, was that our side was likely to lose.”
Rational Disengagement (orthodoxy)
The Tet Offensive was a military and political defeat for America and South Vietnam, revealing the hopelessness of the war. War wariness justifies the downturn in support
Nixon’s Flawed Strategy (orthodoxy)
Nixon’s promise of peace with honor was not and could not be achieved. The 1973 Paris Peace Accords left a weak and divided South Vietnam which was not the basis for a lasting peace. Congressional decision to not get involved beyond 1973 was the rational choice.
What is the orthodox position?
- War was unwinnable, and fought on false pretences - First wave of historical thought, authored at the time of the conflict
What is the revisionist position?
- War was not unwinnable, however elements within and without the state conspired in order to undermine the war effort – chief among these being the attitude of Congress, the military decisions made, the impact of media, grassroots activism. - Tended to be of the ranks of the men who supported the war at the time – characters such as General Westmoreland. Hawkish argument predominates these articles - Not all revisionists are Clauswitzians. Hearts and minds interpretation – unlike Clauswitzians (and their focus on North Vietnam
Schulzinger (4)
1- The Vietnam war was not about Vietnam for the Americans who fought in it and opposed it. It was strictly a Cold War affair 2- CW alone however cannot justify the procession of the VW – maintenance of US credibility was also an important factor, and one which was challenged by the democratic elements of the state 3- Nixon won the presidency by focusing on the frustrations Americas felt towards the liberal agenda of the 1960s – domestic reform, civil rights, and the involvement in Vietnam to contain the Soviet Union. 4- Why did Nixon not end the VW in 1969? “Nixon, Kissinger, Defense Secretary Melvin Laird – nearly everyone in power from 1969 to 1973 – still thought the CW mattered as it had for the previous twenty years” Credibility was still very important.
Preston
1- Emphasises the failings of National Security Advisors – specifically, McGeorge Bundy “Just as Bundy embodied the Kennedy and Johnson administrations’ intelligence, drive and sophistication, he also epitomised their hubris, blind ambition, and overconfidence” 2- The main challenge of the Vietnam War is to distinguish contingency from structural issues 3- 1961-5, Bundy and NSC moved quickly and effectively to squash dissent and limit the president’s choice to a very narrow one. Bundy critical to elevating the profile of the NSA to the level of a cabinet secretary. 4- Under Truman and Eisenhower, the Special Assastant (Sec of NSA) was an administrative position. A facilitator, not a formulator. 5- Bundy, with assistance from Rostow, changed this arrangement – reformulated the NSA into a “Little State Department” 6- Bundy was initially more active in Cuba, Berlin, nuclear strategy – but equally adamant on containment 7- Other important individuals – Rostow, Komer, Forrestal – emphatic believers in containment 8- War in Vietnam could not have happened without full Presidential support 9- The Tet offensive was a decisive blow to the US effort in Vietnam
Ernst May (1)
1- Members of the Truman administration believed, axiomatically, that the advance of communism on the Korean peninsula represented a grave threat to US national security.
