Term
| Who was Ho Chi Minh? And what did he declare when WWII ended? |
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Definition
| He was a charismatic whose Vietminh communist party wished to establish an independent Vietnam free of foreign control. When WWII ended he declared independence, however recognition of the new nation from the U.S. was not forthcoming from President Truman because of Ho's communist ties (the U.S. instead chose to back the return of the French who wanted to re-establish their colonies in S.E. Asia) |
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Term
| After WWII what happened between The Vietminh and France? |
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Definition
| French troops moved back into Vietnam in 1945, regaining control of the cities and the country's southern half. Ho Chi Minh vowed to cintinue his fight against foreign occupation from his bases in the north. By 1950 a guerilla war against the French was being fought inithe eranest and the U.S. was assisting France by underwriting (providing funds) 80% of the cost of the war. |
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Term
| What did America do to help the war between Vietnam and France? |
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Definition
| Eisenhower continued along the same lines as Truman by supplying money and miltary surplus items for the French Army in Vietnam. Eisenhower, in a press confrence in 1953, likened the coutnries of Southeast Asia to a row of dominoes. In this now-famous domino theory Eisenhower explained that if one country fell to communist domination then it would spread to other countries as well. |
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Term
| How long did the war between France and the Vietminh last and what happened? |
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Definition
For the better part of eight years the French fight a frustrating guerilla war against a determined and wiley foe. In May of 1954, Vietminh forces under the leadership of General Vo Nguyen overran the French garrison at the battle of Dienbienphu. The Vietminh took some 11,000 French soldiers into captivity. Some 70% of these never made it back to France. The died either on their way to or in POW camps. From May through July 1954, representatives of France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States, China, Laos, and Cambodia met in Geneva Switzerland with representatives of the Vietminh and South Vietnam's anticommunist faction to hammer out peace agreements. |
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Term
| What happened to North and South Vietnam after the peace agreements? |
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Definition
The coutnry was temporarily divided along the 17th parallel. 1. The north was controlled by the Communists under Ho with Hanoi as their capital. 2. South Vietnam was governed by the anti-communists with Saigon ail their capital. 3. Elections were supposed to be held in 1956 thatwould unify the country. |
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Term
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Definition
He was a strong anti-communist. Diem ushered in a corrupt government in the south that repressed all opposition to his regime. Diem was a member of the Catholic minority and he was particularly hard on the Buddhists who were in the majority. He also did not hold elections because of North Vietnam's president who was extremely popular. |
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Term
| How did Kennedy get involved with Vietnam? Why did he make the decisions that he did? |
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Definition
| Kennedy initialy chose to stay in Vietnam and continued to supply aid to the Diem regime despite Diem's failure to deliver on promised reforms. Kennedy increased the U.S. presence in Vietnam as a result of accusations that the Democrats were 'soft' on communism. By the end of 1963 some 16,000 U.S. 'advisors' were in the country. |
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Term
| Why did Diem's popularity continue to drop? |
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Definition
| He failed to redistribute land to the peasants. Because of the 'strategic hamlet' program that moved peasants from areas constituted to the VC to 'safe' areas. Diem also intensified his attacks on Buddhists, imprisoning or killing many Buddhist monks and closing or destroying their temples. To protest his repressive policies, several Buddhist monks and nuns publicly burned themselves to death. |
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Term
| When Diem's popularity dropped what did America do? |
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Definition
Horrified by the turn of events the U.S. prodded Diem to make changes but he refused. It became clear that if S. Vietnam as to have stability than Diem must go. In November of 1963 a US-sponsored military coup toppled Diem's government. Diem was assassinated along with his brother. A few weeks later, kennedy too was assassinated and the crisis in Vietnam was inherited by Kennedy's successor President Lyndon B. Johnson. |
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Term
Shorty before Kennedy's death he indicated that he would withdraw the U.S. from Vietnam. After Kennedy's assassination where did Lyndon B. Johnson stand on the issue? |
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Definition
| Lyndon Johnson escalated the nation's role in Vietnam and eventually began what wuld become America's longest war. Diems' death only brought more chaos to S. Vietnam. A series of military coups toppled one government after another. In just under two years the government leadership of S. Vietnam had changed hands no more than five times. Each successive regime was as unstable or more unstable than Diem's was. The influence of the Vietcong meanwhile, continued to grow steadily. President Johnson believed a communist victory in S. Vietnamwould have disastrous consequences. Like Kennedy he was particularly sensitive to the idea that he might be seen as 'soft' on communism to his political opponents. |
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Term
| What is the Tonkin Gulf Resolution? And how was it started? |
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Definition
| In August of 1964, American navy destroyers patrolling in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of N. Vietnam were allegedly fired at by N. Vietnamese torpedo boats. The facts of these incidents are fuzzy but the upshot was that President Johnson launched retaliatory bombing strikes against N. Vietnam fromAmerican aircraft cariers in the Gulf. Johnson then asked Congress for powers to 'take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.' Congress approved Johnson's request with only two Senators voting against it and passed what came to be known as The Tonkin Gulf Resolution. |
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Term
| What did Johnson not tell Congress about the Tonkin Gulf Resolution so it would be passed? |
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Definition
| What Johnson had neglected to tell Congress was that the two destroyers that had been fired on had not been minding their own business but had been engaged in hostile actions against N. Vietnam when they were attacked. Furthermore, Johnson had prepared the resolution months beforehand and was only waiting for the chance to push it through Congress. |
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Term
Because of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution what was Johnson able to do? |
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Definition
| Johnson was able to conduct a war without going through the formality of asking Congress to declare war against N. Vietnam. In February of 1965, President Johnson used his newly granted powers to unleash a bombing offensive against N. Vietnam in response to a Vietcong attack that killed eight Americans. |
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Term
| What was Operation Rolling Thunder? |
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Definition
| Thi was the first bombing offensive against Vietnam by the Americans. |
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Term
| Who was Johnson's secretary of State and Secretary of Defense? |
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Definition
S.O.S - Dean Rusk S.O.D. - Robert McNamara |
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Term
| Who was the overall U.S. commander in Vietnam? What did he believe and ask for? |
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Definition
| General William Westmoreland did not beleive in the fighting ability of the ARVN troops and continually requested more U.S. troops be sent into the combat zone. The Johnson Administration gave Westmoreland what he asked for and by 1967 there were aproximately 500,000 Americans assigned the Vietnam. |
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Term
| Define attrition. Who used this? |
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Definition
| Attrition is a gradual wearing dorm of te other side. General Westmoreland used this strategy. |
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Term
| Define Search-and-Destroy missions |
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Definition
| they were missions that sometimes resulted in the destruction of whole villages as well |
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Term
| What did the growing youth movement of the 1960's became known as? Why was it called this? |
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Definition
| It was called the New Left. This was to distinguish itself from the 'old' leftists of the 1930's who preached socailism or communism. |
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Term
What were the SDS and FSD? |
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Definition
| They were groups that exploded on college campuses and protested an America that they believed was run by faceless corporate bureaucrats who put profit ahead of all else and who had squetched participatory democracy. SDS = Students for a Democratic Society. FSM = Free Speech Movement. |
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Term
| Who were the hawks and doves? |
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Definition
| The Hawks were people who believed that we should stay in Vietnam and give it all we got. The Doves were people who believed that we should withdraw from the war. |
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Term
| What happened between McNamara and Johnson? |
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Definition
| McNamara resigns over differences with Johnson's war policy. McNamara had come to believe that the U.S. could not win the war. This happened six months before the war and Johnson's presidency would take a turn for the worse. |
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Term
| What was the Tet Offensive? |
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Definition
| The Tet Offensive, as it came to be known, was a month long battle between the VC forces and the U.S. and ARVN forces in the cities and streets of S. Vietnam. January 30th was the eve of Vietnam's new years celebration known as Tet. Many civilians used the week long truce that had been declared to go into the cities to celebrated and bury their dead. This week was peacful. This was when the VC struck. |
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Term
| Who was Johnson's new Secretary of Defense? |
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Definition
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Term
| During the 1968 election what three things shocked the public? |
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Definition
1. Johnson did not run for re-election 2 + 3. In April and June of 1968 both Martin Luther King Jr. and presidential canidate Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated |
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Term
| With Kennedy and Johnson out of the 1968 election who did the Democrats nominate? |
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Definition
Democrats pitted anti war candidate and senator from Minnesota Eugene McCarthy, against Johnson's Vice President Hubert Humphrey |
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Term
Who was the Republican nominee for the 1968 election? What was his background? Where did he stand on issues? |
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Definition
| Richard M. Nixon was the Republican nominee (former fice president under Eisenhower.) After his defeat by kennedy and an ill-fated run for Governor of California, Nixon had been quietly working for the Republicans to help them win back more seats in Congress. During the campaign of 1968, he said that he wanted to restore law and order on the the streets. He appealed to many iddle class Americans tired of years of riots in the streets of America. He also said that he would end the war in Vietnam though he was very vague of his plans to do so. |
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Term
| Who won the 1968 election? |
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Definition
| Richard M. Nixon was the clear winner |
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Term
| What was Nixon's view on Vietnam? |
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Definition
| He wanted to pull out, so in the summer of 1969 Nixon announced the first withdrawls form Vietnam |
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Term
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Definition
he was Nixon's National Security Advisor. He was consulted by Nixon about a way to break the deadlock in negotiations with the leaders of North Vietnam. |
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Term
| After Kissinger and Nixon discussed Vietnam, they came up with a plan. What was this plan called? |
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Definition
Vietnamization - it called for the gradual withdrawal of American troops in order for the ARVN troops to take on a more active combate role. Over the next three years the U.S. troop levels dropped form over 500,000 to 25,000 |
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Term
| Define the silent majority |
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Definition
| It was the moderate, mainstream Americans who quietly supported the U.S. efforts in Vietnam. While many did continue to support the president events occurred which continued to divide the country. |
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Term
| Who was Lt. Willin Calley? |
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Definition
| In Nov. of 1969, Americans learned that the previous march an American Army unit under the command of Lt. William Calley had massacred innocent civilians in the Vietnamese village of My Lai. The American public was outraged. |
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Term
| What two colleges were involved in anti-war protests that ended in violence? |
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Definition
| Violence struck at Kent State University when students there burned the campus ROTC building to protest war. The National Guard, called out by mayor of kent when students got rowdy in town, fired on the protesters killing four and wounding nine. Ten days later a similar incident occurred at the mostly black college of jackson State in Mississippi. There the National Guard confronted antiwar demonstrators and fired on them killing two and wounding twelve. In the national debate that followed some Americans sided with the soldiers and others sided with the students. |
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Term
| What were the Pentagon Papers? |
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Definition
| Support for the war eroded further when the New York Times published excerpts from what were called the Pentagon Papers. This was based on a study that had been prepared for Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara back in 1967. The goverment had prepared to enter the war even while President Johnson was saying he wouldn't send American boys to Vietnam. There were never any plans to end the war as long as N. Vietnam continued to fight. These articles continued to fuel the debate and made peole suspicious of government intentions and cynical about government honesty. |
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Term
| How did the Vietnam army end? |
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Definition
Nixon unleashed a massing bombing campaign against Hanoi and Haiphong. THis prompted calls from Congress, Beijing, and Moscow for the war to end. On March 29th, 1973 the last American troops left for home. |
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Term
| What lead to the fall of Saigon? |
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Definition
| Despite the withdrawal of American troops the war itself continued. After two more years, North Vietnam launched a full scale incasion of the south. The U.s. send nilitary supplies, but no troops to assist the south. It was only a matter of time before the ARVN troops collapsed and the country fell to the Communists in April of 1975. |
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Term
| What was the outcome of Vietnam? |
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Definition
In all 58,000 Americans lost their lives in Vietnam another 303,000 were wounded. Vietnamese deaths topped 2 million. While families welcomed home their sons and daughters, the nation as a whole extended a cold hand to its returning Vietnam veterans. Many faced indifference or outright hostility. Most readjusted to civilian life but about 15% of the 3.3 million who served ended up suffering from psychological problems. In 1982 the U.S. government unveiled the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
IN SHORT: IT WAS A STALEMATE |
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Term
| Define the War Powers Act |
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Definition
1. The President must inform Congress withing 48 hours of a troop deployment in hostile area without a declaration of war 2. The troops may not be there longer than 90 days without Congress' approval or a declaration of war |
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Term
| Describe the 'domino theory' |
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Definition
| Eisenhower, in a press confrence in 1953, likened the coutnries of Southeast Asia to a row of dominores. In this now-famous domino theory Eisenhower explained that if one coutnry there fell to communism then it would spread to other coutnries there as well. |
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Term
| Who was the first ruler in South Vietnam after the Geneva Conference established a non-communist regime in that location? |
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Definition
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Term
| From whom did the Vietcong draw most of their support in South Vietnam? |
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Definition
| From Rural peasant farmers |
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Term
| What was 'Vietnamization?' Why did President Nixon implement this plan? |
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Definition
| It was plan to turn more fo the fighting over to the ARVN troop to bring Americans home. Nixon wanted to keep his word and bring the troops home like he said he would during the election. |
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Term
| What happened in Vietnam once American troops withdrew from there? |
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Definition
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