Vietnam War Chapter 22
North Vietnam- communist South Vietnam- non-communist
17th Parallel Division
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.
From 1965 to 1969, the U.S. was involved in a limited war in Vietnam. Although there were aerial bombings of the North, President Johnson wanted the fighting to be limited to South Vietnam.
A Limited War in Vietnam
Search & Destory Missions
A U.S. military raid on a South Vietnamese village, intended to root out villagers with ties to the Vietcong by often resulting in the destruction of the village and the displacement of its Inhabitants
Napalm
A gasoline-based substance used in bombs that U.S. planes dropped in Vietnam in order to burn away jungle and expose Vietcong hideouts.
War Powers Act
A law enacted in 1973, limiting a president's right to send troops into battle without consulting Congress.
Tet Offensive
A massive surprise attack by the Vietcong on South Vietnamese towns and cities early in 1968.
Silent Majority
A name given by President Richard Nixon to the moderate, mainstream Americans who quietly supported his Vietnam War policies.
Ho Chi Minh Trail
A network of paths used by North Vietnam to transport supplies to the Vietcong in South Vietnam.
Dove
A person who opposed the Vietnam war and believed that the United States should withdraw from it.
Hawk
A person who supported U.S involvement in the Vietnam War and believed that the United States should use increased military force to win it.
Credibility gap
A public distrust of statements made by the government.
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
A resolution adopted by Congress in 1964, giving the president broad powers to wage war in Vietnam.
Dien Bien Phu
A town in North Vietnam where the defeat of French forces by Vietminh in 1954, bringing an end to the French rule of Indochina.
Agent Orange
A toxic leaf-killing chemical sprayed by U.S. planes in Vietnam to expose Vietcong hideouts.
My Lai
A village in northern South Vietnam where more than 200 unarmed civilians, including women and children, were massacred by U.S troops in May 1968.
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.
William Westmorland
American commander in South Vietnam who graduated from West Point and served in WW2 and Korea. Requested for more soldiers even after 180,000 were deployed.
Kent State University
An Ohio university where National Guardsmen opened fire on students protesting the Vietnam War on May 4, 1970, wounding nine and killing four.
Students for a Democratic Society
An anti-establishment New Left group, founded in 1960, that called for greater individual freedom and responsibility.
Free Speech Movement
An anti-establishment New Left organization that originated in a 1964 clash between students and administrators at the University of California at Berkeley.
Vietminh
An organization of Vietnamese Communists and other nationalist groups that between 1946 and 1954 fought for Vietnamese independence from the French.
The Vietnamese had suffered under the French colonial rule for nearly six decades and then Japan invaded portions of Vietnam in 1940. In 1941, Ho Chi Minh returned back to Vietnam and he established the Viet Minh to get rid of the invaders of Vietnam.
Before the U.S. got involved, what was going on in Vietnam?
Robert Kennedy
Brother of JFK and senator of New York. Once saw Johnson's weakness at the polls, declared candidacy for president. After winning a crucial California primary, was assassinated by Palestinian immigrant, Sirhan Sirhan.
The United States foreign policy of containing communism at all costs.
Containment
Established by the Viet Minh to announce the creation of an independent Vietnam which had a new government called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Eugene McCarthy
Democratic candidate and Minnesota senator who declared to run for president against Johnson on a platform to end the war in Vietnam. His early campaign got notice after Tet but had little chance of defeating Humphrey.
By entering the Vietnam War without a goal to win, Johnson set the stage for future public and troop disappointment when the U.S. found themselves in a stalemate with the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong.
Downfall of Johson's goal (listed way above)
South Vietnam only held the election in South Vietnam. Ngo Dinh Diem was elected.
Effect of the U.S. refusing the democratic election of 1956 all over Vietnam?
The Viet Cong was extremely skilled in guerrilla warfare and the United States found it to be very difficult to find them.
Fighting the Viet Cong
George Wallace
Former Alabama governor who ran for president as a third-party candidate. Was a Democrat running on the American Independent Party ticket. Longtime champion of school segregation and states' rights.
Stipulated a cease fire for the peaceful withdrawal of French forces and the temporary division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel. In addition, a general democratic election was to be held in 1956 that would reunite the country under one government.
Geneva Accords
At this conference, nations met to determine how France could peacefully withdraw of the Vietnam War. The Geneva Accords were created and put in place.
Geneva Conference of 1954
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which a small group of combatants such as armed civilians or irregulars use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics, and mobility to fight a larger and less-mobile traditional military.
Guerrilla Warfare
When the North Vietnamese fired directly upon two U.S. ships in international waters on August 2 and 4, 1964.
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
This resolution gave the President the authority to escalate U.S. involvement in Vietnam. President Lyndon Johnson used that authority to order the first U.S. ground troops to Vietnam in March 1965.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Clark Clifford
He was picked to fill the defense Secretary position. Friend and supporter of President Johnson's Vietnam policy. He later concluded that war was unwinnable.
The communist Vietnamese revolutionary leader
Ho Chi Minh
He bribed them with military secrets of the Japanese. The United States resisted because of their dedication to their foreign policy of containment.
How did Ho Chi Minh try and convince the U.S. to help him with the Vietnam War?
Created thousands of protests, especially on college campuses, back in America.
How did Nixon's expansion of the war cause a reaction among people?
They did not give up easily and they fought back
How did the French react to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam?
They did not like it because then that provided a chance for the communist group to win and take over Vietnam. The U.S. refused to participate.
How did the U.S. react to the proposal of a democratic election in 1956?
The Vietnam War was the prolonged struggle between nationalist forces attempting to unify the country of Vietnam under a communist government and the United States (with the aid of the South Vietnamese) attempting to prevent the spread of communism.
In a nutshell, what was the Vietnam War about?
Hubert Humphrey
Johnson's vice-president that ran against McCarthy. He was a loyal party man for the Democrats and had Johnson's support and in the end won the Democratic presidential nominee.
Established by the communist sympathizers of South Vietnam in order to use guerrilla warfare against the South Vietnamese in 1960.
National Liberation Front/ Viet Cong
His leadership was so horrible that he was killed in 1963 by a coup supported by the United States. (US helped bring him down from power.)
Ngo Dinh Diem
Henry Kissinger
Nixon's National Security Adviser and planned with him to end America's involvement in Vietnam. Was an expert on international relations.
On January 27, 1973, the peace talks in Paris finally succeeded in producing a cease-fire agreement. The last U.S. troops left Vietnam on March 29, 1973, knowing they were leaving a weak South Vietnam who would not be able to withstand another major communist North Vietnam attack.
Paris Peace Accords
These were papers that held the secret plans of the United States government and Nixon tried very hard to keep them from the American people. They were revealed and this widened the credibility gap.
Pentagon Papers
Vietnamization
President Nixon's strategy for ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, involving the gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops and their replacement with South Vietnamese forces.
Richard Nixon
President elected in 1969, announced the first U.S troops withdrawals from Vietnam. He created a plan with Henry Kissinger called Vietnamization. He secretly ordered a massive bombing campaigns against supply routes and bases in North Vietnam.
Draft
Required enrollment in the armed services.
Robert McNamara
Secretary of Defense and one of President Johnson's foreign-policy advisers.
Dean Rusk
Secretary of State and one of President Johnson's foreign-policy advisers.
Ngo Dinh Diem
South Vietnam's president, strong anti-Communist who refused to take part in election of 1956 for fear of losing to Ho Chi Minh. U.S. provided aid to Diem for same reason . But could not win Vietnamese majority
When the U.S. had withdrawn most of its troops from Vietnam, the North Vietnamese staged another massive assault on March 30, 1972. North Vietnamese troops crossed over the demilitarized zone (DMZ) at the 17th parallel and invaded South Vietnam. The remaining U.S. forces and the South Vietnamese army fought back.
Spring/Easter Offensive
On January 30, 1968, the North Vietnamese surprised both the U.S. forces and the South Vietnamese by orchestrating a coordinated assault with the Viet Cong to attack about a hundred South Vietnamese cities and towns. Even though the United States and South Vietnam could easily battle off the attack, the realization came that they were up against a big enemy.
Tet Offensive
The United States had this theory that if the one country of Southeast Asia fell to communism, then all would fall, causing a domino effect.
The "Domino Theory"
Vietcong
The South Vietnamese Communists who, with North Vietnamese support, fought against the government of South Vietnam in the Vietnam War.
Domino Theory
The idea that if a nation falls under communist control, nearby nations will also fall under communist control.
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The southern Vietnamese soldiers with whom U.S. troops fought against communism and forces in the North during the Vietnam War.
Ho Chi Minh
Vietnamese Communist statesman, President of North Vietnam 1954-1969.
President Nixon outlined a plan which was a process to remove U.S. troops from Vietnam while handing back the fighting to the South Vietnamese. The withdrawal of U.S. troops began in July 1969. To bring a faster end to hostilities, President Nixon also expanded the war into other countries, such as Laos and Cambodia.
Vietnamization
After the U.S. had withdrawn all its troops, the fighting continued in Vietnam. In early 1975, North Vietnam made another big push south which toppled the South Vietnamese government. South Vietnam officially surrendered to communist North Vietnam on April 30, 1975. On July 2, 1976, Vietnam was reunited as a communist country, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
What happened after the United States withdrew from the war?
The Americans were starting to question whether or not the United States government was a credible source. The Pentagon Papers proved they were not.
What is the credibility gap?
President Johnson's goal for U.S. involvement in Vietnam was not for the U.S. to win the war, but for U.S. troops to bolster South Vietnam's defenses until South Vietnam could take over.
What was Johnson's goal for the Vietnam War?
A group whose goal was to rid Vietnam of their invaders: Japan and France
What was the Viet Minh?
1959-1975
When was the Vietnam War?
Ho Chi Minh had been asking the United States for a while to support him against the French, but the United States did not want to contradict their policy of containment (Ho Chi Minh was communist), so instead they began aiding France in 1950.
Who did the U.S. support?
Ho Chi Minh
Who was communist in Vietnam?
France and Japan
Who was invading Vietnam?
Lyndon B. Johnson for the main part and the ending part was Richard Nixon
Who was president during the Vietnam War?
Viet Cong v. South Vietnam; the United States continually sent additional advisers to South Vietnam.
Who was the fighting between during the war?
The North Vietnam and Viet Cong really did not win because there were many more casualties for them than for the United States and South Vietnam.
Who won the Tet Offensive?
The communists: Viet Cong and North Vietnam
Who won the Vietnam War?
They suffered from a large defeat at Dien Bien Phu.
Why did the French pull out of the war in 1954?
Because of the fact that Ho Chi Minh was communist, the United States refused to support him. Therefore, they decided to support the "good guys" which was France.
Why did the United States decide to help France and not communist leader, Ho Chi Minh?
The French colonized Vietnam in 1859
Why was France in Vietnam?
The Tet Offensive was a turning point in the war because President Johnson, faced now with an unhappy American public and bad news from his military leaders in Vietnam, decided to no longer escalate the war.
Why was the Tet Offensive a turning point?
Pentagon Papers
a 7,000-page document leaked to the press in 1971 by the former Defense Department worker Daniel Ellsberg, revealing that the U.S. government had not been honest about its intentions in the Vietnam War.
