Vietnam War Flashcards

1
Q

US involvement in Vietnam under Truman (1950-54) (3)

A
  1. USA paying for 80% of French bill for Vietnam
  2. $2 billion payed for army, $50 million for people
  3. Byrnes: “mindset of the Truman administration” which led to the “tragic and misguided war”
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

US involvement in Vietnam under Eisenhower (5)

A
  1. $385 million in aid - “must not lose Asia”
  2. Sent US bombers and 200 technicians yet showed restraint at Dien Bien Phu
  3. Rejection of the Geneva Accords (Ho Chi Minh - 80% predicted 1956 elections)
  4. SEATO and $7 billion in aid
  5. Anderson: “Trapped itself and its successors”
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

US involvement in Vietnam under Kennedy (6)

A
  1. 20,000 advisors
  2. Failure of battle of Ap Bac Jan 1963 - 2,000 ARVN vs 350 North Vietnamese yet refused to mount a rescue mission
  3. Diem deposed after 1963 Catholic flag disputes lead to the deaths of 7 Buddhists
  4. Fortified hamlets led to a 300% rise in opposition group numbers
  5. Kaiser: Kennedy resisted pressure from advisors to send troops (e.g JCS recommendation) but was seen as too soft domestically
  6. Ellen Hammer: coup against Diem morally locked the US into the interests of South Vietnam
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

US involvement in Vietnam under Johnson (6)

A
  1. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution 1964 - landslide Nov 1964 elections, 42->72% rating
  2. Rolling Thunder - sustained US bombing campaign from 1965-68 (67% approval amongst public)
  3. Sent 200,000 to 500,000 ground troops by 1968
  4. Emotionally and constitutionally bound to continue polices and advisors of Kennedy so had no new ideas
  5. Schmitz: Johnson was a victim of the containment trap “all logic and rational… called for escalation”
  6. David Logevall: Johnson can be blamed for escalation
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Historiography of Vietnam (4)

A

1, George Herring: Little choice, had to stop Communism

  1. Kolko: US motivated by Asian markets and cheap raw materials
  2. J Schell: Quagmire theory where US was trapped due to ignorance and credibility concerns
  3. Richard Betts: Stalemate theory where both sides knew they couldn’t win but didn’t want to lose either
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Reasons for US failure in Vietnam (3)

A
  1. Losing hearts and minds: high civilian casualties (6:1 VC), 1/3 of peasants forced to move, prostitution, My Lai Massacre 1968 (347 killed)
  2. Strengths of Communists vs ARVN weaknesses: search and avoid, unpopular regime (Thieu fled with millions in gold for aid)
  3. Morale of US troops: disunity, UUUU, African Americans, 1967-71: 730 fraggings killing 83 officers, ineffective tactics, 25% STDs, 58% marijuana, 22% heroin, airlifts
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

The role of the protest movement in the Vietnam War

A
  1. 1964: Near mountainous support
  2. 1965: 25,000 marched on Washington yet 1,000s singed pro-Johnson petitions and only 25% thought US had erred
  3. 1967: 70,000 marched on Washington and 46% thought it had been a mistake
  4. 1968: Tet Offensive (11,000 troops, 3 weeks, Saigon, 58,000 Communists to 9,000 ARVN/US) was a major psychological defeat, Walter Cronkite, 48%->36% approval rating, 74% not handling it well, deficit rose from $1.6 bill to $25.3 bill angering tax payers
  5. 1969: 500,000. March against Death, Washington. 100,000 Kent State Shootings, Washington (forced Nixon to take troops out of Cambodia by June)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

US involvement in the Vietnam War under Nixon (4)

A
  1. Nixon reversed his position after the Tet Offensive, supporting a policy of Vietnamization and peace with honour. He was also encouraged by the Sino-Soivet split. (Silent majority 68%)
  2. 1970: Cambodian offensive - destroyed some war materiel
  3. 1971: Failure of vietnamization, attempts at linkage, approval rating 31%
  4. 1972: Attempts to compromise yet Christmas Bombings condemned, Paris Peace Accords 1975
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Vietnam and the Cold War (4)

A
  1. Initial preoccupation with Europe shifted to Asia after the fall of China and the activity of Communists in Indochina and Malaysia
  2. Vietnam hindered detente (e.g meeting between US and Soviet leader)
  3. Soviets encouraged to invade Czechoslovakia in 196, the Horn of African and the Afghanistan
  4. Alienated US allies
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

The domestic effects of the Vietnam war

A
  1. Spent just $15.5 billion on the Great Society compared to $120 billion on the war (1965-73)
  2. 200,000 US troops killed or wounded
  3. The president was seen as too powerful especially after the Watergate scandal of 1972 which damaged respect for the office
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Canada and the Vietnam War

A
  1. Some aid to French, part of the ICC and passed info onto the US whilst focusing on Communist violations of the Geneva Accords in 1954
  2. Pearson publicly supported US involvement and was rewarded (Defense Production Sharing Agreement 1959, £2 million in war materiel 1965-73). However spoke of the need for an “imperative” settlement in 1965
  3. Trudeau - not “mirror image,” cut budget to NATO, condemned Christmas bombings
  4. Canada welcomed 50,000 draft dodgers and 125,000 anti war Americans
  5. 30,00 Canadians volunteered
  6. Victor Levant: “quiet complicity”
  7. J.M Bumbsted: reason for deterioration in relations between US and Canada
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Latin America and the Vietnam War

A
  1. Chile: 1967 Peace March of 1,000 demonstrators, University of Chile riot, uneasy about US domination of copper industry
  2. Cuba: Tri-continental conference- left wing representatives opposed Vietnam war
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly