Vietnam War Flashcards
What three countries made up idochina?
Loas
Cambodia
Vietnam
Who controlled Indochina? (Before ww2)
France
Who were the Vietminh?
The league for the independence of Vietnam, a nationalist, communist - dominated movement originally formed in 1941 to fight for Vietnamese independence from French rule
What was the name of the battle where the french lost control over Vietnam?
Dien Bien Phu
Was NORTH Vietnam communist or capitalist? And who led it?
Communist and led by Ho Chi Minh
Was SOUTH Vietnam communist or capitalist? Who led it?
Capitalist and led by Ngo Dinh Diem
When France was fighting for control over Vietnam who supported each side?
The USA supported France and China supported Vietnam
When was the battle of Dien Bien Phu?
March 1954
How many French soldiers were sent into the battle of Dien Bien Phu? And how many survived?
16,500 were sent in but only 3,000 survived
How much money did the USA supply France with to defeat the Vietminh and why would they?
$3 billion and they did this to prevent the spread of communism as the Vietnam war took place at the same time as the Cold War
What were some of the reasons why the Vietminh won at the battle of Bien Dien Phu?
- The Vietminh knew the country well (home advantage)
- China supplied the Vietminh with weapons, ammunition and troops
- The Vietminh were very committed (they worked even during the night)
- Villagers helped the Vietminh move supplies and spy.
- The Vietminh were more motivated as they were defending their country
- The french underestimated the local support for the Vietminh and how armed they were
- The French supply planes were shot down by the Vietminh using anti-aircraft guns
- China supplied Vietminh with 20,000 bikes to move supplies
What was decided at the Geneva accords?
Vietnam would be split into two separate countries, separated by a demilitarised zone.
Ho Chi Minh would run the northern part
Bao Dai would run the southern part
Vietnamese troops and people could move North or South during 300 days after the agreement
And in July 1956, elections would take place
On what parallel was Vietnam split?
17th
In October 1955, Ngo Dinh Diem was elected. What is a bit of evidence that proved that the elections were rigged?
he got 650,000 votes from Saigon but only 450,000 people lived there
Why was Diem and his government unpopular?
- He was a catholic (most Vietnamese were Buddhists)
- He persecuted Buddhists
- He policies favoured the catholic landowners
What did the Buddhists do as protest in 1963?
They set themselves on fire with petrol
Eisenhower encouraged Diem to make reforms. He didnt. What did he do instead?
- He raised taxes
- He took land from peasants
In 1960 the NLF began a guerilla movement against Diem. What does NLF stand for?
National Liberation Front
How much money did Kennedy spend on military support for Diem?
$270 million
What was the Strategic Hamlet Program?
The US policy of creating fake villages and moving peasants in. These villages were fortified and surrounded by troops.
How many hamlets were set up?
Around 3,000
What does ARVN mean?
It is the acronym for the south Vietnamese army
Why did the strategic hamlets fail?
They just trapped communists in with capitalists.
The peasants missed their homes
They were unable to identify communists and capitalists.
How many troops were in the Vietcong in 1963 vs 1965
1963 - 23,000
1965 - 170,000
What is it called when you set yourself on fire as protest?
Self-immulating
What was the Ho Chi Minh trail?
A series of dirt paths which ran through Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
North Vietnam sent troops and supplies to Vietcong in the South
What was the golf of tonkins resolution? And when?
In 1964. And it was when Johnson claimed they were being attacked for the second time so America had a reason to start the Vietnam war
By 1964 the Vietcong were more of a threat. Why?
Communist China and the USSR supplied ammunition, troops and general support
The Vietcong won local support ( helped farmers)
North Vietnam sent more people over
The south Vietnamese government was very unpopular and seen as a puppet of the US. (In -fighting)
The Vietcong had time on their side
Vietcong propaganda claimed they were fighting the us to end poverty, injustice and unite vietnam
How long was the Vietnamese tunnel network?
Over 250km