Vietnam War Flashcards
1
Q
French Indochina
A
- No direct threat to national security as the nation was incredibly far away from America
- Vietnam meant nothing to US but it meant a lot to France, France was a key western European ally in the Cold War.
- France would be attracted to Communism was a worry in the 40s, that spooked the US
- France was a colonial power for Vietnam, but had lost all their money in WWII and when they reasserted themselves as colonial power they were met with nationalism.
2
Q
Ho Chi Minh
A
- Ho Chi Minh, educated in France but was also a communist. Believer in Western democracy, and had American ideas such as free speech. Interested in land reform, improving lives of the peasants who were farming the land. WWII HCM regarded US as an anti-colonial power, a power that would bring about anti-colonial liberation and help the Vietnamese people gain independence. He had most influence in Northern Vietnam which was he poorest part of the country with most peasants but also where France had eased control.
- Attempt to emancipate Vietnam from colonialism
- He suggested US to invest in Vietnam and have bases in the country
- He was looking at how to reform the country
- However, 1946 US supports the France in regaining this colony. US did have anti-colonial credentials but they needed France as an ally in the Cold War which was more important.
- Threats of communism was why US got involved, they didn’t want to be seen as soft on communism.
3
Q
The Domino Theory
A
- Articulated by president Eisenhower, who is associated with this theory. He is asked at a conference to explain why US should care about French and china. Effectively is Vietnam fell to the communists, neighbouring countries would also fall as well.
- Cold War thinking, black or white, they choose to support France, see the other countries as dominoes
4
Q
Dienbienphu, May 1954
A
- US is paying a huge amount of money to fund this war, gets to 2 billion dollars. The difficulty France was already having in this war should have been a warning sign
- Minh was a good leader, he did gorilla warfare, they would attack, retreat and harass and do the whole thing again, which wore down the French
- By 1954, Ho Chi has a lot of support, knows US isn’t an ally, and France makes their last stand in the North of Vietnam. 50 day siege, French surrender and formalises the French defeat
- National peace negotiations, result independence to Vietnam, Cambodia and Lause, and Vietnam is divided. Promise there will be free elections in 1956, which decide the countries ultimate fate. However, US begins to support the south of Vietnam
5
Q
Ngo Dinh Diem
A
- President of south Vietnam
- Known for corruption and colonialism, not a popular man
- Diem refuses to hold these elections cos he knows Ho Chi would win them
- Referendum, was fraudulent as Diem won 98% of votes, as in places there were more votes than voters.
- 1955, the US is backing the Diem of Vietnam with military visors with 2 million dollars in aid a year
- US tries to persuade Diem into engaging with reform, Vietnam was a poor country, there were poor peasants and issue with land reform but Diem was not interested, he was universally unpopular and his religion was a factor, 90% of the country was Buddhism but he was a Catholic
6
Q
Buddhist Protest 1963
A
- A Buddhist self emulates himself in protest against Diem
7
Q
JFK and Vietnam
A
- JFK is under no illusions that Diem is a huge problem
- He sends more troops and funding into Vietnam as he is threatened by the national movement by Ho Chi
- US getting frustrated, losing money and getting vert few possible results
- Diem is assissinated in 1963, but JFK is also assassinated at this time too
- New pro American gov established in Vietnam after Diem’s death, that makes some American polices makers believe that the war will now be over quickly
- However, there are prolonged stability issues and the south is become increasingly unstablealised.
- Johnson is now faced with vexing issue after JFK death, and he doesn’t know whether to withdraw or not. He ends up choosing to escalate, chooses to war
- Johnson wants to safeguard his domestic reforms, he doesn’t want to look more weak and vulnerable.
8
Q
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964
A
- Excuse Johnson uses to escalate the war
- There is an attack against 2 American ships patrolling in the gulf of Tokin
- Johnson makes a national tv address and distorts the facts and inflates what happens and makes it seem that US is being attacked by Vietnam
- This resolution gives him all necessary measures to get US to defeat the attack
- Johnson gets the ride to repel and forces against America anywhere
- This turns Vietnam into an undeclared war, and is being carried out by executive branch, congress hasn’t announced war.
- Johnson chooses to go for a strategy of area bombardment to support ground forces
9
Q
Operation Rolling Thunder
A
- Bombing mission
- America combat troops in 1965
- Ho Chi Minh this means a reassessment of their own war strategy, so they go to protracted warfare, idea to get US bog down into a war they can’t win.
- These massive bombardments are bad for US as they are damaging and distressing for Vietnam people, more bombs are dropped in one month than all together in WWII. 1,000 die a week in these heavy bombings, but this data is kept from American public
- Napalm is used, a lot of Vietnam rainforests are destroyed, napalm has awful affects on people
- 180,000 1965 they have US troops in Vietnam
- Over half a million, 1967 US troops in Vietnam
- North Vietnam is not weakening, so it is disappointing, American soldiers found this war incredibly hard to fight, the people they were fighting for opposed them.
10
Q
Search and Destroy
A
- The US Search and Destroy missions, alienated Vietnamese people, to route out communists. This made normal Vietnamese hostile to the US as they would put booby traps in these villages and run them to the ground
- There is a lot of racial contempt, American soldiers not distinguishing between Vietnamese people and the so-called gorilla fighters.
- The Vietnamese rely on gorilla warfare, and a big network of supply tunnels
11
Q
Anti-War Protest
A
- A lot of college students were involved in this
- March on Washington, 1965, 20,000 people attend this
- For a lot of protesters, the V war is also a symptom things that are very wrong in US with economic justice and racism. They believe war is wrong in general but especially as V war was a huge mistake
- The war radicalises the student movement drastically
- Johnson administration is notorious for lying to the public and becomes noticeable in the late 60s, giving hope to the American public when they are completely losing against the strong Northern Vietnam with their Gorilla warfare.
- 1968, major setback occurs and total PR disaster. Tet offensive, Vietnamese new year, massive military offensive by North Vietnamese against the South Vietnam, and they take over US embassy and some of South Vietnam temporarily. Embarrassing for US for how far North Vietnam got.
- There was wide tv spread of the Tet offensive and many realised they had been lied to and the war wasn’t going well and completely lose faith in the Johnson administration.
12
Q
My Lai Massacre 1968
A
- Most horrific incident in the war
- Soldiers patrolling in the village and rounded up people, raped the women and opened fire on the people, predominantly women and children (400 Vietnamese civilians killed) and is only stopped two American soldiers from a airborne helicopter and threatened to turn their helicopter guns on the American troops. This story becomes public news, and there is a trial, the leader was put in prison.
13
Q
A scar on the president
A
- 1968, struggle for re-election for Johnson
- McCarthy wins
- Johnson faces not having the democratic nomination and not stand again for the US
- This is when he starts peace talks with North Vietnamese
- Big impact on Johnsons social welfare programme and withdraws.
- Richard Nixon, why in 1968 do the Americans vote in a republican? He promises an end to chaos, he capitalises on the fact of the anti-war movement which was very unemployment. People saw the movement as an extremely destructive and radical/leftist movement, they didn’t like the handling of the war but weren’t necessarily part of the peace movement
- Military failure and rising body count is what concerns Americans the most
14
Q
Division over Vietnam at home: pro-war protest
A
- Nixon speak of silent majority, people who have no interest in radical views and just want to get on with life
- He promises Vietnamisation, he will withdraw American troops and let the Vietnamese do it themselves. Troops number are reduced from over a half a million in 1968 to 60,000 by 1972
- However, increases air war over North Vietnam
- Relies on South Vietnamese to launch ground attacks
- He expands the war to Louse and Cambodia
15
Q
Kissinger-Tho Peace Talk
A
- War keeps going badly for US
- Lei Duk Tho and Henry Kissinger (secretary of state for Nixon) they hammer out a preliminary peace draft in secret meetings
- They want to achieve peace with honour, a youthimism of acknowledging US defeat in Vietnam
- Diplomatic pressure form US to bring the war in Vietnam to an end
