March 1965 - Bombing North Vietnam for 8 months. American soldiers went on foot patrols with the help of the air force to bomb the enemy.
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Ho Chi Minh
Was a communist, who was supported by China.
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NLF
National Liberation Front (Vietcong). Set up in South Vietnam, which started a guerrilla war.
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Diem's government
Was made up of rich Christian landowners. It was corrupt and unpopular and persecuted the poor Buddhist peasants.
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ARVN
South Vietnamese Army
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Gulf of Tonkin Incident
In August 1964, sailors on the American warship USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin claimed they had been attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats.
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February 1965
The Vietcong attacked American air bases and killed American soldiers. President Johnson declared war against North Vietnam.
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4 Main Reasons why the US got involved
Containment, Domino Theory, ARVN's weakness and that the USA were attacked.
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Containment
America didn't want the spread of communism. The US president, Lyndon B. Johnson, said: "I am not going to be the president who saw South-East Asia go the way China went."
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Domino Theory
Americans believed that, if South Vietnam fell, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand - and then Burma and India - would follow.
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ARVN's Weakness
The American's believed that the ARVN - the South Vietnamese army - were "ill-equipped local militia who more often than not were killed asleep in their defensive positions."
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The US were attacked
The North Vietnamese had attacked the USS Maddox in August 1964, and then killed US soldiers in February 1965. Therefore they wanted their revenge
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The Vietcong's Tactics 1
They fought a guerrilla war, ambushing US patrols, setting booby traps and landmines, and planting bombs in towns. They mingled in with the peasants, wearing ordinary clothes They were supplied with rockets and weapons by China and Russia..
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The Vietcong's Tactics 2
They were supplied with rockets and weapons by China and Russia. They used the Ho Chi Minh Trail - a jungle route through Laos and Cambodia - to supply their armies.
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The Vietcong's Tactics 3
Their tactic was "hanging onto the belts" of the Americans - staying so close to the Americans so they could not use air or artillery backup without killing their own men.
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The American's Tactics 1
They fought a hi-tech war, using B52 bombers, artillery, helicopters, napalm and defoliants (Agent Orange). This killed many innocent civilians, and failed to stop the Vietcong guerrillas.
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The American's Tactics 2
They forced the peasants to leave Vietcong-controlled areas and made them live in defended strategic hamlets in loyal areas. This created immense opposition, and allowed Vietcong infiltrators into loyal areas.
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The American's Tactics 3
Search and Destroy patrols went out looking for the Vietcong. But the patrols were visible, and easy to ambush. This lead to atrocities such as 'zippo raids' and the My Lai massacre in 1968.
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Why did the USA lose?
58,000 American's were killed - average age of 19. Extensive media coverage brought all the failures and horrors of the war home. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre questioned the morale. The cost of the war meant the Great Society was cancelled.
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Results of the Vietnam War
The NVA massacred thousands of South Vietnamese after the Americans had left. Many people tried to flee South Vietnam (eg the "boat people"). America lost confidence in their authority as they had failed to 'contain' communism.
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
Was a communist, who was supported by China.
Back
Ho Chi Minh
Card 3
Front
National Liberation Front (Vietcong). Set up in South Vietnam, which started a guerrilla war.
Back
Card 4
Front
Was made up of rich Christian landowners. It was corrupt and unpopular and persecuted the poor Buddhist peasants.
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