Vietnam questions Flashcards
Write a sentence or two describing the Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh.
Ho Chi Minh: He wanted Vietnamese independence.
Vietminh: They were a group of guerrilla fighters fighting for Vietnamese independence.
Why do you think the USA began to get involved in Vietnam after 1949?
They began to get involved because they wanted to assist France and stop the spread of Communism.
How did Diem secure control of South Vietnam?
He announced that he won the election.
How were Diem’s opponents in South Vietnam supplied?
They were supplied by Ho Chi Minh’s government in South Vietnam.
Define guerrilla tactics.
Guerrilla tactics are whereby soldiers would fight in small units of three to ten soldiers. They didn’t wear uniforms which made it difficult for the opposition to spot them. This made it difficult for the Americans.
Explain the Domino theory.
It was the belief held by the Americans whereby if one country fell to communism, then the rest nearby would fall.
Suggest reasons why both Eisenhower and Kennedy did not want to commit US troops to fighting in Vietnam.
- They thought that it wasn’t in the US’ best interests to spend too much money on sending troops.
- They had just fought the Korean war.
- They were worried about public opinion.
Describe the main aim of the Strategic Hamlet Programme.
- It was to stop the Vietcong influencing the peasants in their villages and to cut off the support that the Vietcong gave to the peasants.
Why did President Johnson not want to increase US involvement in Vietnam before the 1964 election?
He wanted to win the election and his support came from people as someone who wouldn’t want to send out troops.
Why did the USA start Operation Rolling Thunder?
They started it as a reaction to the Gulf of Tonkin incident and they wanted to show their strength.
What can you learn from source b about Vietcong tactics?
The tactics were guerrilla.
Why do you think the Americans were so confident in their ability to defeat the Vietcong?
They thought that they were more powerful than the Vietcong.
Why do you think the USA tried a variety of different tactics during the war?
They wanted to try different ways to defeat the Vietcong and the guerrilla forces were forcing them to use different tactics,.
What was the Tet offensive?
It was a series of attacks on US bases by North Vietnamese and Vietcong.
