Vietnam

Question 1

When did France colonise Indochina?

Answer 1

19th century

Question 2

Who led the VietMinh leader?

Answer 2

Ho Chi Minh

Question 3

When did Japan surrender in WWII?

Answer 3

August 15th 1945

Question 4

How much money did the US give the French to help them win them back their colony?

Answer 4

$1 billion.

Question 5

Where and when did the French suffer a major setback?

Answer 5

Dien Bien Phu in 1954. After this they were defeated and signed an armistice in 1954.

Question 6

How many troops did France loose in Dien Bien Phu?

Answer 6

13,500 of their 16,500

Question 7

Where was Vietnam partitioned along the 17th parallel?

Answer 7

Geneva Peace Conference

Question 8

When were the elections scheduled for which America didn’t support?

Answer 8

1956

Question 9

Under who did the US support?

Answer 9

Ngo Dinh Diem a catholic nationalist

Question 10

When did Diem stay in power until?

Answer 10

1963, he was assassinated

Question 11

How did Kennedy describe Vietnam?

Answer 11

‘Cornerstone of the free world in south-east Asia’

Question 12

What resources was Vietnam rich in?

Answer 12

Tungsten and rubber

Question 13

How did the US describe the NLF ( Vietcong )?

Answer 13

‘….a bunch of guerrillas in black pyjamas’.

‘…a fourth rate, raggedy ass little country’.

Question 14

When did the Tonkin incident occur?

Answer 14

August 1964

Question 15

What in the gulf of Tonkin?

Answer 15

A US destroyer, the Maddox, was fired upon by the North Vietnamese.

Question 16

What was the Tonkin resolution?

Answer 16

This gave he President the right to use,’.. all necessary measures, in the war’.

Question 17

What did President Johnson do as a result of the Tonkin resolution?

Answer 17

He ordered air strikes against North Vietnam in March 1965 and sent US troops in South Vietnam.

Question 18

Why was the US war effort hampered?

Answer 18

The inexperience of the US soldiers and the rotation policy.
The Vietcong were an experienced guerrilla army with civilian support.
The US had made no efforts to win ‘hearts and minds’. The US made little effort with to people and treated them all as the enemy.

Question 19

What was one of the main reasons why the US lost all support?

Answer 19

My Lai in March 1968, 300 fatalities for 3 guns. This and many other similar incidents.

Question 20

What were all the American Tactics in Vietnam?

Answer 20

Bombs
Strategic Hamlets
Chemicals
Search and destroy missions.

Question 21

At the peak how many bombing missions were there a day.?

Answer 21

164 per day.
They wanted to bomb the Vietnamese into submission.
More bombs dropped on Vietnam than all of Europe in WWII.

Question 22

What % of the South Vietnamese were moved by Strategic Hamlets?

Answer 22

40%

Question 23

What were the NLF tactics?

Answer 23

Guerrilla warfare.

Punjee Traps

Question 24

How did the Vietcong use Guerrilla warfare?

Answer 24

They had experience from the French campaign. They hid in the jungle and mingled with the peasants. They knew the terrain intimately. There was a system of tunnels stretching for 200 miles under south Vietnam. The Viet Cong were idealogically cohesive and believed in their cause.

Question 25

What happened at the Tet Offensive January 1968?

Answer 25

Largest Vietcong attack of the war. 70,000 troops attacked all major cities and towns. Vietcong suffered heavy losses and were pushed back but it was a turning point in the war.

Question 26

Where were the main attacks in the Tet offensive?

Answer 26

Saigon

Question 27

What policy was introduced after the Tet offensive?

Answer 27

Vietnamisation.

Question 28

When was a ceasefire agreed?

Answer 28

January 1973.

Question 29

When and how did the war end?

Answer 29

1975 with the fall of Saigon and the forced reunification of the country.

Question 30

How many troops were lost in Vietnam?

Answer 30

58,000 US troops and 300,000 wounded.

2,000,000 Vietnamese were killed in the conflict.