Cold War: Part 2

Question 1

Vietnam War

Answer 1

• 1955-1975
• one of the most broadcasted wars in US
• 20 years of fighting
• 2 million deaths
• large areas devastated

Question 2

after the Japanese left Indochina following WWII

Answer 2

• France wanted to regain control of Vietnam
• A Vietnamese nationalist group had developed, however, that wanted an independent Vietnam - called the Vietminh
• • Leader = Ho Chi Minh
• • this group = communist
• • supported by the Soviet Union and China
• Vietminh and France could not agree on how to share power in Vietnam
• 1946: two sides went to war
• US sent military and financial aid to help France
• French still couldn’t pull out a victory

Question 3

one month after battle

Answer 3

• the Vietminh, France, and US met to negotiate a settlement to the Vietnam conflict
• agreed to divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel
• created a communist North Vietnam and a democratic South Vietnam
• division supposed to last until 1956: when elections were to be held
• Ngo Dinh Diem (leader of South Vietnam) rejected the proposed elections
• • Diem = weak and unpopular, even with his own people
• • Ho Chi Minh = VERY popular

Question 4

Viet Cong

Answer 4

• communist guerrillas in South Vietnam fought Diem in hopes of uniting Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh
• 1963: South Vietnamese military staged a coup in which Diem was killed
• US quietly approved of this coup

Question 5

late 1963, 1964

Answer 5

• by later 1963, 16,000 American advisors were in Vietnam
• 1964 = US approved of secret South Vietnamese naval raids against North Vietnam
• August 2, 1964 = US president Lyndon Johnson announced that North Vietnam had fired on 2 US ships off the coast of Vietnam
• incident never confirmed
• President Johnson used it to increase American involvement in the war

Question 6

gulf of tonkin resolution

Answer 6

• gave the President broad war powers
• march 1965 = Johnson sent first ground troops to Vietnam
• by 1968 = more than 500,000 American troops were in Vietnam
• south Vietnamese army = numbered 800,000
• north Vietnamese army and the viet cong - numbered 300,000
• China and soviet union sent aid, but no troops, to help north Vietnam

Question 7

1968

Answer 7

• early 1968 = the Tet offensive = when the Viet Cong launched a major military offensive during the Vietnamese New Year holiday (tet)
• did no capture any major cities
• bitter fighting made even more Americans realize, however, that years of US involvement in Vietnam had failed to weaken the Viet Cong
• opposition to the war intensified - Johnson did not run for reelection in 1968 (President Nixon elected0

Question 8

President Richard M. Nixon

Answer 8

• US began to withdraw troops
• 1973 = South Vietnam, the US, and the communists agreed to a cease-fire
• US withdrew the rest of its troops
• 1975 = the war resumed North Vietnamese and viet cong forces defeated the South Vietnamese

Question 9

who had control of Indochina before WWII

Answer 9

• France

Question 10

the Viet Minh was the national independence coalition developed in North Vietnam after WWII. who was the leader of the viet minh?

Answer 10

• Ho Chi Minh

Question 11

who was the President that started the withdrawl of American troops from vietnam?

Answer 11

• Richard Nixon

Question 12

in 1964 President Lyndon B Johnson announced that North Vietnamese had fire on an American ship in the _______

Answer 12

• Tonkin Gulf

Question 13

the Vietnam war was the first war to be ______

Answer 13

• covered by the TV and the press

Question 14

how many American troops were stationed in Korea?

Answer 14

• 500,000

Question 15

Walter Cronkite was an American news anchor who concluded that _____

Answer 15

• it looked like the war couldn’t be won

Question 16

north Vietnam had half as many troops, but they were still able to beat South Korea because of _____

Answer 16

• guerilla warfare

Question 17

in 1975 after the US withdrew form Vietnam, the viet cong took over all of Vietnam making it ______

Answer 17

• united as one communist state

Question 18

why did the US sent troops and aid to South Korea

Answer 18

• to contain communism from spreading