VIETNAM WAR REVIEW
For Final
QUESTION: WHO IS HO CHI MINH?
• A revolutionary leader in Vietnam
• United three communist groups to form the Indochinese Communist Party
• Urged freedom from the French- and won
• Took over in North Vietnam
WHAT IS THE DOMINO THEORY?
• Both Truman and Eisenhower used this theory to explain the need to support
anti-communists in Vietnam. According to this theory, if a country fell to
communism, nearby countries would also topple, like a row of dominoes.
WHAT WERE THE TERMS OF THE
GENEVA ACCORDS?
• An agreement that divided Vietnam into a North and South at the 17N
Latitude- Surrounding this line was a demilitarized zone, or DMZ.
• The two sides agreed to hold an election in 1956 for a single government.
CONTROL IN THE NORTH?
• Ho Chi Minh and the communists controlled North Vietnam. Thousands of
anti-communists from the North fled to the South, and the U.S. provided ships
for their transportation.
CONTROL IN THE SOUTH?
• Ngo Dinh Diem, and anti communist became Prime Minister (and later
President) of South Vietnam.
• Though Ho Chi Minh was very popular in the North, Diem was not popular in
the south. He knew that if the promised elections were held, 80% of the
population would vote for Ho Chi Minh. So, Diem refused to hold the national
election, and a corrupt government was established in South Vietnam.
WHO WERE THE VIET CONG?
• This is the derisive name that Diem gave to his opponents- the dissatisfied
South Vietnamese- who formed the National Liberation Front (NLF). It stands
for Vietnamese Communists.
HO CHI MINH TRAIL
• North Vietnam supported the Viet Cong, sending soldiers and supplies along
a network of paths called the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This supply line wove through
the jungles and mountains of neighboring Laos and Cambodia.
BAY OF PIGS, CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
AND THE BERLIN WALL- WHAT IS THE
CONNECTION TO VIETNAM?
• Kennedy had to deal with these three cold war crises that influence him to
keep supporting the fight against communism in Vietnam.
• Bay of Pigs Invasion: An army of Cuban Exiles, trained by the U.S., aiming to
overthrow Castro- epic failure.
• Berlin Wall: Heavily guarded barrier Dividing West Berlin from Communist East
Berlin and East Germany. Became a symbol of Communist oppression.
• Cuban Missile Crisis- those crazy days.
WHY DID THE DIEM GOVERNMENT
FALL?
• Diem got stranger and more dangerous as the days went by, and his
oppression of the local religion (he was Catholic) angered Americans. After
the world watch a monk set himself on fire in protest, the U.S. supported a
military coup which overthrew Diem. He was later killed.
GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENT
• The U.S. destroyer Maddox was patrolling the Gulf of Tonkin- an area off of
the coast of N. Vietnam. Vietnamese torpedo boats fired upon it. The next
day the Maddox and another destroyer reported a second attack. No one
could confirm this second attack, but that didn’t stop the U.S. from issuing
the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
THE GULF OF TONKIN RESOLUTION
• Congress passes this resolution which gives the president the power to use
military force in Vietnam. All but two Senators approved it, and the House
was a unanimous yes. Johnson begins bombing North Vietnam, and sends
the first ground troops in- March, 1965.
ESCILATION?
• The policy of increasing military
involvement in Vietnam.
WHO WAS THE COMMANDER OF
U.S. FORCES IN SOUTH VIETNAM?
• General William Westmoreland
WHAT IS GUERRILLA WARFARE?
• Surprise attacks by small bands of fighters. The story of fighting the Viet Cong
relied upon. They would suddenly emerge from networks of underground
tunnels to fight, then disappear back into the tunnels. Also, they riddled the
countryside and jungles with land mines and booby traps.
WHAT WAS THE DRAFT?
• In order to supply the needed soldiers, the U.S. government initiated a lottery
type system. Men ages 18 and older had to register with the government,
and they could be called up any day, and had to report to basic training.
Burning draft cards was a common protest technique. The draft ended in
1973 because so many people opposed it. We now rely on an all volunteer
military.
WHAT IS NAPALM?
• Jellied gasoline that burns violently.
WHAT IS AGENT ORANGE?
• A chemical that kills plants, spread across the
jungles. Also caused cancer and birth defects
in the locals and US soldiers.
WHAT WAS A SEARCH AND
DESTROY MISSION?
• A tactic used by Americans that terrorized Vienamese villagers. In these
missions, soldiers hunted the Viet Cong and burned or bombed villages
thought to be sheltering them. Very destructive, and turned the people
against the U.S.
WHAT IS THE TET OFFENSIVE?
• The North called a cease fire to celebrate the Vietnamese Lunar New Year.
Then, they prepared for a series of surprise attacks on U.S. military bases and
more than 100 cities. Though they were ultimately defeated, these attacks
raised doubts amongst Americans as to the ultimate cost of the war.
WHAT TRANSPORTATION WAS
WIDELY USED?
• Helicopters: used to transport troops quickly,
carry weapons, and also used as an
ambulance.
WHAT HAPPENED AT KENT STATE IN
OHIO?
• During a protest on the campus, the National Guard opened fire on a crowd
of students, killing four of them. Led to even more anti-government feelings.
HAWKS VS. DOVES
• People who opposed the war: Doves
• People who supported the war: Hawks
• Lots of division, even within families, for or against the war.
WHO WON THE 1968 PRESIDENTIAL
CAMPAIGN?
• Richard Nixon. He promised to bring an honorable end to the war.
HOW WAS JOHNSON’S VIETNAM
POLICY DIFFERENT FROM KENNEDY’S?
• Johnson went beyond Kennedy by starting a heavy bombing campaign
and sending large numbers of combat troops to Vietnam.
WHAT KEPT THE U.S. TROOPS FROM
DEFEATING THE VIET CONG QUICKLY?
• The need to limit the war to avoid China’s
entry; soldier’s youth and inexperience,
guerrilla warfare; difficult terrain and
climate.
WHAT IS VIETNAMIZATION?
• Nixon’s strategy of gradually withdrawing
troops, and turning over the ground fighting to
the South Vietnamese.
LAOS AND CAMBODIA- WHAT
WAS GOING ON OVER THERE??
• Nixon had been carrying out secret bombings
in Laos and Cambodia, in an effort to shut
down the Ho Chi Minh trail in those bordering
countries. This sparked enormous outrage
when the public learned that the government
had widened the war and hidden its actions.
THE 26TH AMENDMENT
• Passed in 1971, this amendment lowered the
voting age from 21 to 18. After all, if you were
old enough to die for your country, shouldn’t
you be old enough to choose who runs it?
WAR POWERS ACT?
• Passed in 1973, this limits the president’s war-making powers. The president
must report to Congress within 48 hours if troops have been sent into a hostile
situation without a declaration of war. They can remain for no more than 90
days, unless Congress permits them to.