Cold War Glossary

ICP- Indochinese Communist Party

Founded by Ho Chi Minh

Presided in October 1930

Vietnamese nationalist and communist

Inspired by left-wing literature (Karl Marx)

Founded the ICP

Against colonialists and wanted independence for Vietnam

US ideal

Used on Philippines and Korea

Gave military support, trade links and overall economic support

Used as part of containment policy

Anti-Communist

Viet Cong tunnels

45 miles from Saigon

Underground city with schools, hospitals and houses

10,000 people lived underground

Viet Cong used guerilla warfare tactics and used places like this as a base

USA combatted places like this with carpet bombing and Agent Orange

Viet Cong soldiers could easily find and kill uniformed American soldiers from the tunnels

Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh forces defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu

It was a French stronghold - besieged by Viet Minh communists for 57 days

Viet Minh victory saw the end of French colonial influence in Indochina

A herbidcide defoliant used by the USA

Effects are still visible in the 3rd generation of soldiers

Deformed many US soliders and Vietnamese soldiers/civilians

Fortified settlements set up by Diem in South Vietnam

Part of the Strateguc Hamlet Programme

Kept peasantry isolated from communists and aimed to keep ties with South Vietnamese governement (GVN)

Provided peasantry with security (but many saw it as imprisonment)

Suspended in August 1960 due to peasant hostility

Asian version of the 'iron curtain'

Imaginary line separating Communist Asia from Capitalist Asia

Ran along the 17th parallel

Pushing a dangerous situation to the edge in order to acheive the most beneficial outcome

Usually without any real means of pursuing threats

Policy used by USA

Uniting many countries to stop the another country attacking them

Indochina was part of the USA's collective security policy against USSR

Jellied gasoline

Causes severe burns deep into skin

Used by USA on Vietnamese villages

A geographical or political area of safety

An area that can be influenced by a dominating power (USA/USSR)

Diem's plan to separate rural peasants from Communist insurgents

The creation of fortified, high security, isolated villages

Where a client state fights a war on behalf of a superpower

A political system/type of leadership

The state regulates every aspect of life

Communist Vietnamese soliders

Usually supporters of Viet Minh and Ho Chi Minh

Defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu

A military strategy

Wearing down the enemy by continual losses in personell and materials

USA adopted this stragety as seen in the Mai Lai Massacre and the use of carpet bombings/agent orange

US conscription policy

Used to recruit soliders during the Vietnam war

Caused many disputes in America

A way to ensure that a non self-governing body were administered in a way that catered to the interest of their inhabitants