Vietnam War Lecture Notes

Vocabulary flashcards created from lecture notes on the Vietnam War.

Counterculture

A social movement in the 1960s that rejected the dominant cultural norms.

Hippies

Members of the counterculture movement known for their anti-establishment views and lifestyle.

Indochina

A historical region in Southeast Asia that includes Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, previously ruled by France.

Ho Chi Minh

A key Vietnamese nationalist leader who sought independence for Vietnam and was influenced by communist ideologies.

Diem

The anti-communist leader of South Vietnam who was unpopular and opposed Ho Chi Minh.

Vietcong

A guerrilla group in South Vietnam that supported the North and opposed the Diem government.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

A resolution that granted President LBJ permission to take military action in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war.

Chemical Warfare

The use of chemical agents like napalm and Agent Orange during the Vietnam War to eliminate vegetation and harm enemy forces.

My Lai Massacre

A mass killing of Vietnamese civilians by U.S. Army soldiers during a search and destroy mission in 1968.

Credibility gap

The term used to describe the public's skepticism about the government's honesty regarding the Vietnam War.

Domino Theory

The belief that if one country fell to communism, others in the region would also fall like dominoes.

Vietnamization

Nixon's policy to withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam and transfer responsibility to South Vietnamese forces.

Kent State Shootings

The shooting of four college students by the National Guard during a protest against the Vietnam War in 1970.

Pentagon Papers

A classified report detailing the U.S. political and military involvement in Vietnam, leaked to the press in 1971.

Fall of Saigon

The capture of the South Vietnamese capital by North Vietnamese forces in April 1975, marking the end of the Vietnam War.

Agent Orange

A herbicide used by U.S. forces to defoliate forest areas, which caused long-term health effects on Vietnamese populations.

Operation Rolling Thunder

A U.S. campaign of sustained bombing against North Vietnam from 1965 to 1968 to weaken the Vietcong.

Guerrilla warfare

A form of irregular warfare in which small groups use hit-and-run tactics against a larger, traditional military.