Vietnamisation Flashcards

1
Q

Why was Nixon voted as president?

A

His opponent Hubert Humphrey was from the Democrats (Johnson’s party) and had been Johnson’s Vice President meaning he was closely associated with the failures of the war
Nixon promised ‘peace with honour’ and claimed he had a ‘secret plan’ to end the fighting

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2
Q

When was Nixon voted as president?

A

November 1968

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3
Q

What did Nixon promise when he became president in January 1969?

A

“I’m not going to be like LBJ. I’m going to stop that war fast”

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4
Q

What was Nixon’s dilema?

A

Realised the war could not be won by using conventional weapons and tactics
He could not risk using nuclear weapons because the communists were backed by China and USSR
If he did use nuclear weapons, the situation could escalate into an all-out nuclear war between the world’s two superpowers- the USA and USSR

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5
Q

Why couldn’t Nixon simply bring US troops home form Vietnam and allow communist forces to take over?

A
Truman Doctrine (March 1947)
For many years the US government had been saying how important it was to fight against the spread of communism in this region of the world 
Any chance in this message could result in the US public having an even greater distrust of their politicians
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6
Q

What did Nixon have to do?

A

Find a way of gradually reducing the amount of troops in Vietnam without losing the trust of the US public
He had to do this in a way that stopped South Vietnam being taken over by the communists
His solution was known to become Vietnamisation

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7
Q

Why was the USA’s reputation being damaged?

A

It couldn’t achieve a military victory

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8
Q

What policy had failed under LBJ?

A

Americanisation

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9
Q

When did Nixon announce the strategy of Vietnamisation?

A

3 November 1969

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10
Q

What was Vietnamisation?

A

The withdrawal of US forces and their replacement by South Vietnamese forces
To build up the ARVN (army of the republic of Vietnam) to such a high level that it could carry on the war against the Vietcong and North Vietnamese without the help of the US troops

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11
Q

What did Vietnamisation include?

A

The Americans would train, equip and expand the ARVN
US soldiers could return home (ground troops withdrawn)
Burden would shift to AVRN trained by US

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12
Q

What did Nixon provide to South Vietnam?

A

Vast sums of money

Spent money on the best planes, tanks, machine guns and rifles for South Vietnam

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13
Q

How many helicopters did he provide?

A

600

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14
Q

Around what % of the South Vietnamese population had signed up to the AVRN to be trained by US officers?

A

Within months around half

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15
Q

When did Nixon begin to withdraw troops?

A

1969

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16
Q

How many troops had returned home by August 1969?

A

Over 25,000

Over the next 3 years only 25,000 troops remained in Vietnam

17
Q

How many troops in June 1969, how many by June 1972?

A

June 1969= 543,000

June 1972= 47,000

18
Q

What rifle did the USA give the ARVN?

A

M16 Armalite rifles

19
Q

How much did the ARVN increase in size by (1968-1970)

A
1968= 82,000
1970= 1 million
20
Q

Successes of Vietnamisation

A

AVRN transformed into a modern fighting force which kept stability in the South
In 1972 an attempted invasion by the North (Spring Offensive) failed with 40,000 North casualties to the South’s 8000
Between May and October 1972, Operation Linebacker saw 150,000 tons of bombs on North Vietnam. Boosted morale against AVRN and proved that Vietnamisation was working

21
Q

Failures of Vietnamisation

A

Morale generally lower in AVRN and casualty rates much higher than they had been for US troops
Corruption and favouritism existed
Nixon rushed Vietnamisation through
AVRN still fully dependent on US for weapons and it was more for maintaining a political war than a military one
Corruption meant that officers were selected on their loyalty to Thieu not on military ability
Levels of desertion high
Vietnamisation didn’t create patriotism
Did little to strengthen USA’s aim of peace with honour
In February 1971, AVRN was beaten by NVA in Laos, highlighting poor leadership and training