Why Did USA Lose The Vietnam War?

Question 1

How did bombing contribute to the USA losing the war?

Answer 1

More bombs were dropped on Vietnam in 3.5 years than on Germany and Japan in the whole of WWII, this lost the USA popularity and people went against USA involvement in Vietnam

Question 2

How did low moral and inexperience of the U.S. Troops contribute to USA losing the war?

Answer 2

Conscription was brought it again in 1967 so most of the soldiers were young and inexperienced, there was tension between the soldiers and the officers and most of them didn’t want to be there or had little knowledge of why they were there

Question 3

How did Vietnams neighbouring countries contribute to USA losing the war?

Answer 3

Vietnams neighbouring countries were sympathetic to the Vietcong and helped them with supplies via the Ho Chi Minh trail. They had base camps in their countries for the Vietcong to recover and were more likely to turn to communism

Question 4

How did hearts and minds contribute to USA losing the war?

Answer 4

USA needed to win hearts and minds of people in Vietnam but they never succeeded

Question 5

How did media coverage in USA contribute to USA losing the war?

Answer 5

Tech had advanced so there was extensive media coverage of the events of the war, which upset the people in America and turned them against USA involvement in Vietnam

Question 6

How did the my Lai massacre contribute to USA losing the war?

Answer 6

USA killed over 500 innocent people which lost them popularity in USA

Question 7

How did events at Kent state university contribute to USA losing the war?

Answer 7

In March 1970, 4 student protestors were shot dead by the national guard at Kent state uni which caused a lot of public uproar

Question 8

How did draft dodgers contribute to USA losing the war?

Answer 8

Many young people became drafter Dodgers to avoid conscription of the Vietnam war

Question 9

How did Vietcong guerrilla warfare contribute to the USA losing the war?

Answer 9

Unconventional warfare from the Vietcong caused the USA army surprise as they weren’t used to it, the psychological warfare also terrified them

Question 10

Who was Cyrus vance?

Answer 10

The deputy defence secretary, he initially supported the war and then changed his views, advising the president to withdraw troops from South Vietnam, and then resigned in protest of the war

Question 11

When had USA lost support for the Vietnam war?

Answer 11

1967/68

Question 12

What was the tet offensive?

Answer 12

Surprise attacks by the Vietcong with the national liberation front against the USA

Question 13

When was the tet offensive?

Answer 13

Started on the 30th January 1968, on the tet holiday Vietnamese new year

Question 14

What was the U.S. Reaction to the start of the tet offensive?

Answer 14

They felt they didn’t need any widespread defensive measures

Question 15

What happened in the main onslaught of the tet offensive?

Answer 15

80,000 troops crashed over 100 USA towns in South Vietnam

Question 16

How did USA react to the main onslaught of the tet offensive?

Answer 16

They lost control of their occupied cities momentarily but regained control quickly to fight back against the Vietcong

Question 17

How long did the intense fighting last for in the tet offensive?

Answer 17

Intense fighting lasted for months

Question 18

What was the massacre at hue?

Answer 18

Where communists executed thousands of people at the massacre of hue

Question 19

What did USA force destroy in the tet offensive?

Answer 19

USA forces destroyed many communist cities

Question 20

What was the offensive impacts for the communists?

Answer 20

A military defeat for the communists

Question 21

What were the philosophical effects on the USA government of the tet offensive?

Answer 21

U.S. Government and public had previously been led to believe that communists were being defeated and were incapable of starting such a massive effort

Question 22

What happened to the public opinion about USA involvement in Vietnam after the tet offensive?

Answer 22

USA public support for the war effort declined and the USA sought negotiations to end the war

Question 23

Why was the tet offensive a turning point in the Vietnam war?

Answer 23

It was the first time the U.S. Government were truly unsupported by the public, U.S. Opinion shifted against the war which led to U.S. Decline in the involvement of the jet am war

Question 24

Who was Walter cronkite?

Answer 24

A reporter who reported throughout the tet offensive that the war was unwinnable

Question 25

What was clear from 1969?

Answer 25

It was clear that the U.S. Troops were only able to eradicate a small proportion of the Vietcong

Question 26

Why was the media thought of as undermining the war efforts?

Answer 26

It brought the horrors of the war into people’s homes which ultimately turned them against USA involvement in Vietnam

Question 27

What was Vietnamization?

Answer 27

Where the South Vietnamese were trained by the USA so they could take their place as USA backed out of the Vietnam war

Question 28

Why was Vietnamization unsuccessful?

Answer 28

The South Vietnamese were no match for the communists

Question 29

When was the ceasefire of the Vietnam war signed and where?

Answer 29

A ceasefire was signed on the 23rd January 1973 in Paris

Question 30

How did USA remove themselves from the Vietnam war?

Answer 30

They tried Vietnamization which was unsuccessful so in the end they stopped sending money and troops to Vietnam

Question 31

By 1969, how many USA troops were killed?

Answer 31

69,000

Question 32

What happened in the USA from 1973-1975?

Answer 32

• Nixon promised to give Vietnam money but the congress refused as it was a waste of money as Vietnam was corrupt
• Nixon resigned in 1974 due to the watergate scandal
• Gerald ford took over from Nixon but still failed to get congress on board with sending money to Vietnam

Question 33

What happened in Vietnam from 1973-1975?

Answer 33

• December 1974, both Vietnamese launched a major military offensive against South Vietnam
• South Vietnam fell under communist forces in 1975 when they took over Saigon

Question 34

Name 5 consequences of the war for USA

Answer 34

• spent $300 billion
• was a propaganda disaster for USA for supporting corrupt Vietnam
• Nixon doctrine
• Johnson was very unpopular
• USA bad reputation for my Lai massacre etc

Question 35

What was the Nixon doctrine?

Answer 35

New policy where USA expected its own allies to look after their own military defence and become less willing to get involved in future conflicts

Question 36

How many USA deaths came from the Vietnam war?

Answer 36

Over 58,000

Question 37

Name a consequence of the war on Vietnam

Answer 37

•by 1975, communist forces had defeated South Vietnam and reunited Vietnam

Question 38

Name 3 consequences for the policy of containment of the war?

Answer 38

• USA had sped up the domino effect due to their heavy bombing campaign in Vietnams neighbouring countries
• USA policy of containment had failed
• Nixon decided to improve relations with China and Russia to drive a wedge between the 2 supporters of North Vietnam