vietnam exam 2

1. Geneva Conference

diplomatic meeting on the subject of Indochina

attended by the Soviet Union, PRC, North and South Vietnam, GB, Fr., US

2. Dien Bien Phu

1. defining battle of first Indochina war (Viet Minh vs Fr.)

2. Fr. tempts VM to attack, Fr suffers defeat

3. Geneva Accords

1. final decisions of Geneva Conference

2. set DMZ at 17th parallel and set elections for july 1956 (two years later)

3. also set parameters for communist troops in cambodia and laos

4. US and SV did not sign

5. generally favorable for US, VM lost a lot of the land they won in battle

4. European Defense Community

1. proposition of continental military force

2. used as bargaining point

1. SU pressures DRV to make concessions to encourage Fr to not join

2. US supports Fr in war to encourage Fr to join

5. "Diem Experiment"

1. US's installation of Ngo Dinh Diem as leader of GVN

2. appointed after Geneva

3. autocratic rule, Buddhist crisis

4. assassinated during 1963 coup

6. Buddhist Crisis

1. 5/8/1963: troops fire at buddhists protesting the restriction of flying buddhist flags

2. 6/11/1963: Thich Quang Duc burns to death → sparks other self-immolations

3. Madame Nhu

4. Ngo Dinh Diem blames communists and doesn't make concessions

7. Diem's assassination

1. assassinated 11/2/1963

2. ends military coup

8. America's Third Great Awakening

1. revival of religious beliefs in 1950s under eisenhower

2. Catholicism on the rise, strong anti-communism

3. religion infiltrated media

9. Passage to freedom

1. movement of north vietnamese catholics to south vietnam

2. propaganda painted communism as being anti-christian

3. used as propaganda point to increase Diem's popularity in the US

10. *Deliver Us from Evil,* Tom Dooley

1. book written about the passage to freedom

2. highlighted evil of viet minh

3. extremely popular, made tom dooley a hero

11. JFK's Thousand Days

1. presidency of JFK

2. significance: peak of cold war: Cuban Missile Crisis, Space program; also civil rights, limited nuclear test ban treaty, launched peace corps

3. chronology: 1961-1963

12. Stages of Kennedy Scholarship

1. stage 1: considered young, handsome hero during lifetime

2. stage 2: considered dangerous for bringing US to brink of nuclear war (Cuban missile crisis)

3. stage 3: viewed as more pragmatic, cautionary, scandals of private life

13. domino theory

1. policy first introduced by truman but accepted by eisenhower and kennedy

2. idea that if one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would be vulnerable to the spread

14. isolationism

1. political philosophy that advocates staying out of other nations conflicts

2. rejected under both jfk and eisenhower

15. Third World

1. countries not aligned with US or Soviet bloc;

16. massive retaliation,

1. dulles's military policy → eisenhower

2. focuses on nuclear weapons

17. flexible response

1. taylor's policy → jfk

2. maintained a wide range of military possibilities to match scale of enemy's attack

3. ranges from diplomacy and economic pressures to nukes

18. Bay of Pigs

1. invasion of Cuba under JFK, failed due to inadequate air support and lack of support from Cubans

2. significance: US is humiliated, beginning of credibility gap

3. chronology: 1961: contributed to escalation of cold war under kennedy

19. Vienna Summit

1. meeting between JFK and Khrushchev, JFK is "bullied"

2. significance: showed US's weakness after bay of pigs

3. chronology: after bay of pigs, before construction of berlin wall

20. Berlin Wall

1. wall built by Khrushchev between east and west berlin

2. significance: Soviet power play → Khrushchev raising stakes

3. chronology: after JFK embarrassment at Congress of Vienna

21. Armageddon

1. threat of nuclear war

2. significance: heightened under JFK due to Cuban Missile Crisis

3. chronology: lead up to Cuban missile crisis

22. Cuban Missile Crisis

1. soviet missiles positioned in cuba → threat of nuclear war, Kennedy and Khrushchev solve issue diplomatically with removal of missiles from cuba in return for removal of US missiles from Turkey and promise to not invade cuba without provocation

2. significance: closest cold war came to nuclear war, test of JFK's "macho" but considered diplomatic success

3. chronology: 1962: after berlin wall is built

23. Hue incident

1. GVN troops fire into crowd protesting discrimination of Buddhists

2. significance: start of Buddhist crisis, highlights authoritarian characteristics of Diem regime

3. chronology: may 8, 1963 : beginning of Buddhist crisis

24. self-immolation

1. Buddhist leader lights himself on fire and burns to death

2. significance: photographed by Malcolm Browne → revealed Diem's authoritarian globally, loses american public support

3. chronology: june 1963: after hue incident on may 8, buildup to coup?

25. martial law

1. temporary replacement of civil government with military authority

2. significance: instituted by diem during buddhist crisis, troops ransack pagadas and arrest many

3. chronology: during buddhist crisis

26. coup cable

1. cable sent to newly appointed ambassador to vietnam, henry cabot lodge, in respose to buddhist crisis, demanded the diem remove Nhu and opened possibility of coup if refuses

2. significance: first notion of coup

3. chronology: august 1963: buddhist crisis, leads to coup

27. Krulak and Mendenhall Fact Finding Mission

1. JFK sent to vietnam

1. Krulak talks to US military, comes back optimistic that war could be won

2. Mendenall talks to urban bureaucrats, comes back pessimistic due to diem's lack of popular support

3. JFK: "You two did visit the same country, didn't you?"

2. significance: showed conflicting opinions on the state of vietnam, whether war could be won

3. chronology: september 1963: buddhist crisis, leads to coup

28. McNamara and Taylor Fact Finding Mission

1. another fact finding mission sent by JFK

2. significance: confirmed diem's unpopularity and problems with Nhu and progress of military campaign → leads to decision to not encourage coup but to not thwart coup

3. chronology: 1963: after Krulak-Mendenhall, before coup

29. daylight coup

1. military generals overthrow Diem government

2. signficance: end of diem's regime, institution of new government

3. chronology: november 1963 after jfk hints at US support

30. Election of 1964

1. johnson vs goldwater

1. johnson is very liberal → great society is similar to new deal, forms of social reform

2. goldwater is very conservative

2. significance: shows divisiveness of politics/public opinion

3. chronology: 1964: after tonkin gulf resolution and LBJ's reluctance to send US troops

31. "best and brightest"

1. Kennedy's cabinet, made up of very intelligent men

2. significance: inherited by LBJ, decisionmakers of war

3. chronology: 1960s, through jfk and lbj's presidencies

32. Great Society

1. LBJ's domestic policy to help poverty, liberal

2. significance: limited by vietnam war, diverted LBJ's attention and funds

3. chronology: mid 1960s, keystone of johnson's campaign

33. "Mad bomber" Goldwater

1. Goldwater's harshness on communism/willingness to use bomb

2. significance: criticized LBJ's "softness" on communism and inexperience in foreign policy

3. chronology: election of 1964

34. The Jenkins scandal

1. LBJ's top administrative assistant, Walter Jenkins, caught with another man in a YMCA bathroom

2. significance: considered a security risk, Goldwater used to criticize LBJ

3. chronology: election of 1964

35. Operations Plan 34A

1. highly classified program of south vietnamese secret raids in north vietnam

2. significance: led to confusion in passing to tonkin gulf resolution

3. chronology: january 1964, led to gulf of tonkin incident

36. U.S.S. Maddox

1. US destroyer on intelligence gathering mission in international waters in Gulf of Tonkin, attacked by N Viet. torpedos

2. signficiance: marked escalation of war, LBJ ordered retaliatory air strikes, led to tonkin gulf resolution

3. chronology: 1964, after beginning of Operations Plan 34A, led to passing of tonkin gulf resolution

37. Tonkin Gulf Resolution

1. "like grandma's nightie"—covers anything — congress grants LBJ authority to prevent further aggression

1. only Morse and Gruening dissent

2. acts as perfect counterpoint to Goldwater

3. not unprecedented:

1. Eisenhower's formosa resolution 1955

2. Eisenhower doctrine 1957

2. significance: gave president blank check to commit acts of war without official declaration of congress, unconstitutional??? → leads to growing involvement

3. chronology: 1964, result of USS Maddox incident

38. Operation Flaming Dart

1. air strikes in north vietnam

2. significance: escalation of war

3. chronology: 1965, in response to attack on Pleiku helicopter base

39. Operation Flaming Dart II

1. second phase of bombing of north vietnam

2. significance: escalation of war

3. chronology: 1965, prompted by VC bombing of US quarters at Qui Nhon

40. Operation Rolling Thunder

1. sustained bombing of north vietnam

1. goals:

1. stop infiltration

2. improve SV morale and allow saigon gov. to stabilize

2. significance: US offensive campaign, not really successful

3. chronology: from 1965-1968; successor to Operation Flaming Dart, escalation

41. "Search and destroy"

1. westmoreland's strategy of finding and engaging NVA and VC forces

2. significance: war of attrition, measured in body count, inflicted many casualities but did not lead to any real advancement

3. chronology: 1965-1968

42. birth-control pill

1. pill that allowed women to have sex without getting pregnant

2. significance: part of sexual revolution, represented shift from 50s to 60s

3. chronology: 1960: shift from 50s to 60s, new left

43. Chessman execution

1. man executed after convictions of sexual assault and kidnapping

2. part of anti-capital punishment movement, sparks student protest against death penalty

3. 1960: part of new left

44. Operation Abolition

1. film made by HUAC denoucning student protests and saying they're influenced by communism

2. significance: viewed by college students nation-wide, became like a joke and helped the student movements

3. chronology: 1960: spurred student movements like the berkeley free speech movement

45. Tom Hayden

1. leading activist of FSM, went to UMich

2. significance: SDS, new left

3. chronology: 1960s

46. Student League for Industrial Democracy

1. student organization

2. significance: becomes SDS, where Hayden starts

3. chronology: new left of 1960s

47. Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee

1. works for voter registration drives in S

2. significance: students in fsm/new left

3. chronology: 1960s

48. Students for a Democratic Society

1. new student groups to emerge during 60s, tom hayden was key leader

2. significance: represented new left movement, wrote port huron statement

3. chronology: founded in 1960

49. Old Left

1. depression era liberalism, more concerned with poverty

1. mentors include Marx, Engels, Lenin

2. significance: marked generational divide

3. chronology: predates '60s

50. New Left

1. emerges in affluent society, concerned with quality of life

1. mentors include Camus, Gandhi, the Beatles

2. significance: influenced politics, part of free speech movement and civil rights

3. chronology: 1960s

51. "Affluent Society"

1. well off economically

2. significance: made up new left

3. chronology: 1960s

52. Port Huron Statement

1. manifesto of new left/SDS, written mainly by tom hayden at convention in port huron

1. traditional liberal goals of disarmament, anti-poverty, etc

2. participatory democracy, "let the people decide". → individualism

3. anti-anti-communism

4. advocated consensus and smaller scale government

2. significance: outlined goals/dogma of new left

3. chronology: 1962

53. Civil Rights Movement

1. movement advocating for equality for african americans

2. students got involved

3. new left

54. Montgomery Improvement Association

1. led by MLK

2. boycotts city buses

3. peaceful civil disobedience

55. Freedom Riders

1. many travel south challenging racially discriminative norms

2. face violence that is publicized

3. represent willingness to challenge norm and stand up to status quo

56. Voter registration drives

1. movements to register african american voters

2. championed by SNCC

3. threaten powerful southern legislators

4. represents new focus of public on civil rights

57. Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party

1. challenges LBJ at democratic convention

2. advocates for voting rights

3. supported by SNCC

4. alternative to all-white mississippi delegation

58. Berkeley's Free Speech Movement (FSM)

1. movement of students sparked by prohibition of civil rights literature

2. mario savio=spokesman

3. leads to occupation of Sproul Hall

4. faculty sides with FSM and leads to president Kerr's resignation

5. represents divide between old and new left, between generations

59. multiversity

1. University of California president Clark Kerr

2. idea that redefined american education as requiring socially useful knowledge and considering the practical needs of society

1. knowledge factory

3. subsidized by Defense Department

4. upsets students → not factory products, but human beings

60. war of attrition

1. strategy of wearing down enemy

2. US aims to use superior firepower

1. has ability to out produce

61. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam

1. led by Westmoreland

2. trained, advised, and supported ARVN

3. direct military operations in vietnam

62. Army of the Republic of Vietnam

1. south vietnamese army

2. not very aggressive/"competent"

3. US ends up taking up most of the burden

63. clearing operations

1. 2nd stage of westmoreland's three stage approach

2. meant to be conducted by ARVN

64. securing operations

1. 3rd step of westmoreland's three stage approach

2. meant to be conducted by south vietnamese regional forces and popular forces

3. village pacification

65. forced urbanization

1. movement of peasants from hamlets

2. causes refugee problems → 1/4 of the vietnamese population affected, many in makeshift camps with bad conditions

66. More Flags for Vietnam

1. LBJ's campaign to get allies involved in VN

2. France denounces US's war, GB verbally offers support but no troops/aid, W Germ. gives funds but no troops

1. concerned that US's attention was being diverted from Europe's security

3. many SEATO allies deny aid except Korea, Philippines, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand

1. Thailand and Philippines send troops but US must fund/supply them

2. Australia sends 8,000 troops, NZ sends another 1,000

3. Nationalist China offers but is denied because of fears of provoking PRC and bad Sino-Viet. history

4. South Korea sends 50,000 troops in exchange for $1 billion in US aid

67. peaceful coexistence

1. Khrushchev's idea of improving relations with west

2. reluctance to get involved in VN

3. undone by Brezhnev

68. Haiphong bombing

1. bombing of NV oil reserves

2. turning point → had previously been off limits because of fear of USSR/PRC invovlement

3. sparked global debate