American Studies 300: The Vietnam War - Vocabulary Flashcards

Use these flashcards to review key vocabulary terms related to the Vietnam War. Each card contains a term and its definition to help you prepare for your exam.

Location of Vietnam

Easternmost country of Southeast Asia

Countries that surround Vietnam

South of China, bordered by Laos and Cambodia

Capital of North Vietnam

Hanoi

Capital of South Vietnam

Saigon (previous city name) / Ho Chi Minh City (present day capital)

IndoChina

Region in Southeast Asia including Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, colonized by France in the 19th century

France's role in Vietnam

Controlled Vietnam in the late 1800s, wanted Asian trade and Catholic converts

Ho Chi Minh

Communist revolutionary who led North Vietnam, believed communism was the country’s last hope for independence, wanted the French gone

Vietminh

Communist-led nationalist group under Ho Chi Minh that fought for Vietnam’s independence from France

Domino Theory

Belief that if one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would too; used to justify U.S. involvement in Vietnam

Guerilla tactics

Hit and run tactics, disappearing into the jungle, no uniform, disguised as civilians

Dien Bien Phu (1954)

Major French defeat by the Vietminh in 1954, leading to French withdrawal from Vietnam

Geneva Conference (1954)

International meeting in 1954 that split Vietnam into Communist and Anti-Communist

Vietcong

Communist guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam who supported North Vietnam’s cause and wanted to overthrow Diem

JFK’s policy on Vietnam

Provided military aid to prevent communism, asserted U.S. power by sending military advisors to South Vietnam

Tonkin Gulf incident

Incident in August 1964 where the U.S. claimed North Vietnamese patrol boats attacked the USS Maddox, leading to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Tonkin Gulf Resolution

Gave LBJ broad military powers in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war, allowing him to escalate U.S. involvement

Operation Rolling Thunder

Massive bombing campaign in North Vietnam ordered by LBJ in 1965 to increase U.S. military presence

Demographics of American soldiers in Vietnam

Mostly working-class and poor, disproportionately from minority communities (especially African Americans), average age was 19

The draft

The Selective Service System drafted men aged 18–26, viewed by many as unfair, leading to draft resistance

Ho Chi Minh Trail

Network of routes that supplied the North Vietnamese Army with weapons and supplies from North Vietnam to South Vietnam

Napalm

Gasoline mixture used in bombs

Cluster bombs

Metal Fragment bombs

Agent Orange

Sprayed from airplanes to burn vegetation

Media coverage of the war

First televised war, exposing Americans to the brutal reality of combat and fueling anti-war sentiment

SDS

Student activist group that opposed the war and called for participatory democracy

Tet Offensive

Surprise attacks by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong on major South Vietnamese cities in 1968, shaking U.S. confidence and support

The ‘silent majority’

Nixon appealed to these Americans who supported the war or opposed the protest movement but weren’t outspoken

Kent State

National Guard troops shot and killed 4 students during a protest against the Cambodian invasion on May 4th, 1970

The Pentagon Papers (1971)

Leaked government documents in 1971 showing officials had misled the public about the war’s progress, damaging trust in the government

Saigon (1975)

The capital of South Vietnam fell to North Vietnamese forces in 1975, marking the end of the Vietnam War