Vietnam War 1968-1993 Flashcards
Did Nixon achieve peace with honour?
Leave a strong South Vietnam with a peace treaty [3]
- Nixon’s Madman theory + Going to capitals of his former enemies puts diplomatic pressure on NV for peace.
- Paris Peace Accord, January 1973 - Thieu still remained in power! Communists could stay in South! SV failed 2 years later!
- US leaves, economic chaos - 56,000 Prostitutes in Saigon, Poor harvest in 1972, NOT STRONG!
Did Nixon achieve peace with honour?
Keep Home Front onside whilst withdrawing troops [3]
- Kent State Massacre, 4 students killed as protests escalate, May 1970
- 1972 Election, Nixon wins landslide
- Xmas 1972 bombing campaign = MASSIVE + CRITICISM
Did Nixon achieve peace with honour?
Communism out of Indochina [4]
- Cambodia turned Communist in 1975.
- Sihanouk regime destabilized by Operation Menu
- Operation Ho Chi Minh 1975 led to the falling of SV when no US support
- But Nixon had no funding from congress to help?
Why did the US lose in Vietnam?
Lack of a Viable state * [5]
- South Vietnam was politically corrupt:
Nepotism - Diem appointed his brother and Madame Nhu to positions of power, corrupt
Diem didn’t do land reform, 1% land ownership
Buddhist uprisings 1963, Madame Nhu: ‘barbecued monks’ - Economic chaos: 57,000 prostitutes in Saigon, dependent on US money
Why did the US lose in Vietnam?
US military strategy [4]
- Average soldier age 19; 1 year tour of duty
- Soldiers had comfortable lives - drug, sex, rock & roll - addicted to Class A drugs & had STIs
- Soldiers more likely to go to hospital for drug/sti’s rather than war wounds
- 730 fraggings between 1969-71
After Tet Offensive, soldiers lost morale.
Why did the US lose in Vietnam?
Communist tactics [4]
- Chu Chi Tunnels - 250km long, locatred outside Saigon
- Ho Chi Minh trail - had hospitals, carried food, weapons - Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam
- Used guerilla warfare
- Had determination & organisation, whilst Americans didn’t
Why did the US lose in Vietnam?
Home Front [4]
- Tet Offensive 1968 - TV footage in Saigon presented it as a military failure, 126 urban areas attacked simultaneously
- American cover-up of My Lai massacre - US soldiers raping and murdering 500
- McNamara Secretary of Defence standing down in 1967 - cried in public
- Johnson: “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost America” - famous TV producer loses hope
How and with what results did Nixon extricate America from Vietnam?
Military [3]
- Madman Theory (Nixon maintained threats he might do anything):
Operation Menu 1969 - secret bombing of Cambodia, 20,000 villagers killed - Vietnamization (Nixon said US forces should be withdrawn whilst ARVN built up)
1969-71 - 400,000 US troops left Vietnam & went home - Bombing NV meant US could leave in good order but 1972 Xmas bombing campaign caused mass outrage
How and with what results did Nixon extricate America from Vietnam?
Diplomatic [2]
- Detente (relaxation of strained relations): Nixon visited Brezhnev & Mao in 1972 to play them off each other - put pressure on NV for peace
- Paris Peace Accord Jan 1973 - ceasefire throughout Vietnam, POWs exchanged, US troops withdrawn - however US only agreed to ceasefire as it meant they would be able to leave
How and with what results did Nixon extricate America from Vietnam?
Home front onside [3]
- Kent State Massacre 1970: 4 students shot, 2 being bystanders to an escalating protest about Nixon invading Cambodia
- 1972 Nixon won a landslide election victory - 2nd term presidency
- 100,000 NYC protesting for Nixon
Who bore a greater responsibility for the continuation of the Vietnam War?
Truman (2nd) [3]
- Sides with the French to defend against Communism - x support Ho Chi Minh
- US helped drafting HCM’s independence speech in 1945 - undermined Ho Chi Minh
- 80% of French bill for ruling Indochina paid by USA
Who bore a greater responsibility for the continuation of the Vietnam War?
Eisenhower (1st) [4]
- Domino Theory - convinces the US public to become more involved -> Commitment trap established
- Support for establishing SV under Diem - nepotism, Catholics, no land reform (1% of people own all SV land)
- NV shares land SV doesn’t -> led to poor turning to Communism
- 1500 advisors sent in - half political, half military
Who bore a greater responsibility for the continuation of the Vietnam War?
Johnson (4th) [5]
- Maintains Kennedy’s policies
- Added 2,400 advisers by Summer of 1964
- Secured Gulf of Tonkin Resolution - ‘grandma’s nightshirt’ - President authorised to take all neccessary steps to defend SV freedom
- May 1965 - $700 million granted by Congress
- 200,000 soldiers in Vietnam by end of 1965 -> peaked at 550,000 early 1968
Who bore a greater responsibility for the continuation of the Vietnam War?
Kennedy (3rd) [4]
- Leader when Diem gets assassinated 1963 = political commitment trap
- US military involvement escalates - 12,000 ‘advisors’ by 1962, 16,000 by 1963
- Failure at Ap Bac - US losses deepen commitment trap, strategic hamlets programme
- Commitment trap means it would be political suicide to leave
To what extent was US public support for the war in Vietnam the most important reason for US escalation?
Johnson and his advisors * [4]
- Abhorred appeasement - recalling the appeasement of Hitler in the 1930’s “he’ll rape your wife in your own bed” - hated bullies.
- Believed in the Domino Theory - didn’t want Vietnam to fall to Communism
- Kennedy was assassinated 1963 - ‘Commitment trap to reaffirm his policies’
- Told Lodge (Ambassador to SV) he wasn’t going to lose Vietnam
