Vocab 1/4 Flashcards
Ho Chi Minh
Communist leader of North Vietnam
Domino Theory
an idea that if a nation falls under communist control, nearby nations will also fall under communist control
Vietminh
an organization of Vietnamese communists and other nationalists groups that between 1946 and 1954 fought for Vietnamese independence from the French
Dien Bein Phu
site of major French military defeat in 1954 in Vietnam
Geneva Accords
a 1954 peace agreement that divided vietnam into communist-controlled North Vietnam and non-communist South Vietnam until unification elections could be held in 1956
Ngo Dinh Diem
leader of South Vietnam
Vietcong
the south Vietnamese communists who fought against the government of south vietnam in the vietnam war
Ho Chi Minh Trail
a network of path used by North Vietnam to transport supplies to the vietcong in South Vietnam
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
a resolution adopted by Congress in 1964, giving the president broad powers to wage war in Vietnam
Robert McNamara
US secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War
Dean Rusk
US secretary of state during the Vietnam war
Napalm
a gasoline-based substance used in bombs that US planes dropped in Vietnam in order to burn away jungle and expose Vietcong hideouts
Agent Orange
a toxic leaf-killing chemical sprayed by the US planes in Vietnam to expose Vietcong hideouts
William Westmoreland
American general who commanded American military operation
Search-and-destroy mission
a US military raid on a South Vietnamese village, intended to root out villagers with ties to the Vietcong but often resulting in the destruction of the village and the displacement of its inhabitants
Credibility gap
a public distrust of statements made by the government
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
the southern Vietnamese solders with whom the US troops fought against communism and forces in the North during the Vietnam War
Draft
requirement enrollment in the armed services
New Left
a youth-dominated political movement of the 1960s, embodied in such organizations as students for a democratic society and the free speech movement
Students for a Democratic Society
an antiestablishment New Left group, founded in 1960, that called for greater individual freedom and responsibility
Free speech movement
an antiestablishment New Left organization that originated in a 1964 clash between students and administrators at the university of California at Berkeley
Dove
a person who opposed the Vietnam war and believed that the united states should withdraw from it
Hawk
a person who supported US involvement in the Vietnam War and believed that the US should use increased military force to win it
Tet offensive
a massive surprise attack by the Vietcong on south Vietnamese towns and cities early in 1968
Clark Clifford
a Lyndon Johnson adviser who became his Secretary of defense
Robert Kennedy
JFK’s brother who was unable to complete his political race because he was assassinated
Eugene McCarthy
the first antiwar advocate to challenge Johnson for Democratic Presidental nomination
Hubert Humphrey
Johnson’s vice president
George Wallace
Alabama governor best known for his pro-segregation attitudes during the Civil Rights Movement
Richard Nixon
vice president under Eisenhower and 37th president of the US
Henry Kissinger
the main negotiator of the peace treaty with the north Vietnamese; secretary of state during Nixon’s presidency
Vietnamization
President Nixon’s strategy for ending US involvement in the Vietnam War, involving the gradual withdrawal of US troops and their replacement with south vietnamese forces
Silent majority
name given by Nixon to the moderate mainstream Americans who quietly supported his vietnam war policies
My Lai
a village in northern south Vietnam where mor than 200 unarmed civilians, including women and children were massacred by US troops in May 1986
Kent State University
an ohio university where national guardsmen opened fire on students protesting the vietnam war on may 4, 1970. wounding 9, killing 4
Pentagon Papers
a 7,000 oage document leaked to the press in 1971 by the former defense Department worker Daniel Ellsberg - revealing to the public that the us was not honest with its intentions in the vietnam war
war powers act
a law enacted in 1973, limiting a president’s right to send troops into battle without consulting congress
