Vietnam War Flashcards
What problems did the US army face?
- Fighting a guerilla war in unfamiliar territory
- The South Vietnamese government was very unpopular
“Search and Destory”
US Tactic to win war
Problem: Could not find the enemy
Underground Tunnels
“Operation Rolling Thunder”
Stymied on the ground the US turned to air power
Bombing Campaign
Result: more peasant opposition because of huge peasant casualties
What happened due to the war becoming televised?
War became extremely unpopular in the USA
Created Hippies
Who were Hippies?
Flower Children - Opposed the War
Motto: Make Love not War!
What did the Hippies do?
They led an Anti-War/Government movement
Led mostly by college students
Kent State University - 4 students killed
“Draft Dodgers”
Went to Canada to avoid the war
Doves vs Hawks
Anti-War (Young People) vs Pro-War (Adults)
Vietnamization
President Richard Nixon Pressured into a new plan
Gradually pull out of US troops - replaced by South Vietnamese troops
Paris Accords
All US troops were out! - Communists promised to give south free elections - did not keep promise
How did the Paris Accords Fail?
South Vietnam fell to the communists
Vietnam - Communist country today
Results of the Vietnam War
58000 US troops died
2 million Vietnamese dead
Only war in US History that we lost!
Post-Vietnam War
Cambodia
Taken over by the communists (Khmer Rouge) led by Pol Pot
Killed over 1.5 million people
Who was Indochina controlled by?
France during imperialism
What was the French Indochina War?
A revolt by the communists against the French led by Ho Chi Minh but was crushed and he had to flee into exile
