1 - How effective were guerrilla tactics during the Vietnam war? Flashcards Preview

AQA History GCSE - Vietnam > 1 - How effective were guerrilla tactics during the Vietnam war? > Flashcards

Flashcards in 1 - How effective were guerrilla tactics during the Vietnam war? Deck (11)
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1
Q

what were the consequences of the French defeat at Dien Bien phu?

A
  • Ended their plans fir holding onto their empire in the east
  • End of French influence in Indo-China
2
Q

The Geneva Conference, 1954: what was decided?

A
  • Vietnam ‘temporarily’ divided along the 17th parallel
  • North=Communist=Ho Chi Minh
  • South=Anti-communist, Catholic=Ngo Dinh Diem
  • General election to be held in 1956 for the whole of Vietnam to decide it’s future
3
Q

How and why did the USA become increasingly involved in Vietnam?

A
  • Domino Theory: USA afraid communism would spread and get out of hand
  • Support for Diem in South Vietnam: USA thought they could control Diem
  • Advisors and Strategic Hamlets: the USA tried to keep peasants away from Vietcong
  • Gulf of Tonkin incident: claimed North Vietnam fired at their ship
4
Q

Gulf of Tonkin incident

A
  • 1964
  • North Vietnam: they claimed a US battleship - the Maddox - went into North Vietnam waters. They warned it off.
  • US: they claimed the Maddox was attacked in international waters by Norh Vietnamese gunships

US used this as a excuse to go to war

5
Q

Guerilla Warfare

A

What is it?
-ambush tactics, fighting on a small scale
-not trying to kill
Tactics
-booby traps eg Punji traps, trip wires, concealed holes
-ambush and sabotage US bases
-VC looked normal and blended in, making them impossible to defeat
-VC also used an underground tunnel system which was very effective
-VC got supplies from North via Ho Chi Minh trail
-other communist countries eg USSR and China also gave VC supplies

6
Q

How effective were guerilla tactics?

A
  • very effective
  • guerillas knew the jungle
  • VC were used to the hot climate and jungle, unlike the US soldiers
  • US soldiers too big and bulky for the tunnel system
  • VC were unrecognisable as they wore black peasant pyjamas and were of all ages and genders
7
Q

The US response to guerilla tactics - Winning hearts and minds

A

Winning hearts and minds

  • US tried to help ordinary South Vietnamese people
  • spent money and materials eg on roads, schools and health cincs
  • ineffective as there was some success however VC had more support and influence
8
Q

The US response to guerilla tactics - Operation Rolling Thunder

A

Operation Rolling Thunder

  • this was a response to an attack on the American airbase, Pleiku
  • it was President Johnson’s response
  • it began on 11th February, 1965
  • lasted years
  • Destroyed military and industrial sites eg bridges and railways etc using ‘saturation bombing’
9
Q

The US response to guerilla tactics - Chemical warfare

A

Agent Orange

  • spray defoliant designed to get rid of jungle and reveal the Ho Chi Minh trail
  • both Vietnamese and US soldiers affected (genetic abnormlaities)
  • in 1969, over a million hectares of forest destroyed

Napalm

  • burning jelly designed also a defoliant
  • could cause 5th degree burns

Both ineffective Turned the world against USA - more South Vietnamese turned VC

10
Q

The US response to guerilla tactics - Search and Destroy

A
  • American platoons taken into villages to find and kill VC
  • took place early in the morning
  • difficult to distinguish between peasants and VC
  • US soldiers were too hot (temperature not hunkiness) and couldn’t deal with the jungle and mosquitoes
  • civilian casualties were very high
  • excessive brutality made the US and South Vietnamese very unpopular
11
Q

My Lai Massacre

A
  • March 1968
  • worst of many US inhumane cases
  • Lieutenant William Calley led a group of soldiers
  • 300-500 unarmed civilians (mainly women and children) killed in just a few hours