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History Core Assessment - CTA: Vietnam Revision - Coggle Diagram
History Core Assessment - CTA: Vietnam Revision
War Tactics
Vietcong Tactics
Many used their knowledge of the forest and Guerrilla warfare:
Retreat when the enemy attacks
Attack when your enemy retreats
Raid enemy camps whenever possible
Don't wear uniform, blend in,
Work in small groups, no more than 10
Ho Chi Minh Trail
Vital supply route through Laos and Cambodia from North Vietnam
Ran through thick jungle which provided coverage and concealment
If the enemy destroyed one part, a new track would open up, impossible to destroy completely
Developments in travel services, by the end of the war, a porter could travel from North Vietnam to Saigon in 6 weeks, it was 6 months before the war.
'Hanging on the belts'
Looked like ordinary peasants, locals helped them with food, travelled lightweight and had a reliable AK-47
Stayed close to Americans and ambushed and easily disappeared into the jungle after.
Mentally draining for US soldiers as they didn't know where or how the VC would attack
This close action discouraged US from bombing the VC in case US soliders were hit in the process
Around 51% of US causalities due to VC ambushes.
Tunnel systems
-VC moved underground as well, making it even more hard for US to find them
They were 300km long
Easier to ambush enemy from underground
They included hospitals, workshops, bedrooms and kitchens
Booby Traps
Punji traps -> sharpened bamboo stakes hidden in shallow pits and disguised with leaves, sometimes smares with human/animal faeces, causing infections in wounds
Bouncing Betty -> mines which exploded 1 metre from the ground to target stomach/groin area
Created challenging conditions for US
Violence and Propoganda
VC attacked government and public workers of South Vietnam, 27,000 civillians killed between 1966-1971
Posters distributed showing the VC being emporing and superior, supporting women and children
US Tactics
Search and destroy
VC hard to identify so they searched villages in South Vietnam and burned the whole thing if there was anyone suspected of being VC.
These were known as 'zippo raids'
They removes any VC bases they discovered
Bombing
Operation Rolling Thunder was a period of continuous bombing
More than 1 million tonnes of bombs dropped, some where cluster bombs which were designed to explode and release 600 smaller bombs
Chemical Warfare
Examples include Agent Orange and napalm to destroy huge areas of forests
Agent Orange was a toxic chemical that caused cancer and deformities in unborn children
Napalm burned through the jungle and forest but also skin and bones
Conscripting troops
The US troops were called GIs (Government/General Issue), average age was 19
Conscripted for 1 year 'tour of duty' or faced prison sentence.
M-16 rifles jammed easily if they became wet/dirty
Protest Movements in the USA
US Tactics
Operation Rolling Thunder in 1965 led to an increase in the anti-war feeling, people supported anti-communism in South Vietnam, not aggressive bombing of North Vietnam
The Role of TV
US public saw innocent civillians being killed, either as victims of napam, search and destory or Agent Orange
They also saw young US soldiers being killed
The Draft
Men aged 18-26 had to register the draft board to ensure there were enough men fighting in times of war.
Many refused to fight, known as draft dodgers, there were around half a million people who conducted draft evasion causing Nixon to make the US military a voluntary force in 1973. Some burnt their draft cards in protest as well
Costs of war
1967 - US $30 billion a year, 15,000 killed, 110,000 injured
Many young men returned from war missing limbs, addicted to drugs and suffering mental impacts
Civil Rights
Martin Luther King spoke out against the War in 1967, he was disappointed that so much money was spent by Johnson on the war instead of his promise of the Great Society priorities (education, housing, employment and housing)
The boxer Muhammad Ali spoke out against the war as he felt the government should focus on racism in America instead of communism abroad
Events that were revealed through the media
My Lai Massacre
Tet offensive
brutal fighting, couldnt trsut government as they had been fed lies, VC was strong, why were Americans involved
Walter crokite - msot trusted man of USA, famous newsreader, publicly voiced his dispporval
Kent State 1970, 4 dead, 9 injured
1968, Tet was a holiday, ceasefire, costly,
Gulf of Tonkin
Lack of support for the South Vietnamese Government
Many Americans felt that government of South Vietnam was corrupt and brutal, and questioned why the USA was defending them
Media importance
Korean War - 9% TV, 93% by 1961, 400 journalists in 1965, previously 40
Largest anti-war demonstration was in 1969, 500,000 people in the US, biggest of history, located in Washington
Indochina War
French in Asia
In the 18th century, the French has taken over large parts of Southeast Asia in a bid to extend their empire, this area of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam became known as French Indochina.
They also made good money off trade in raw materials like rubber, tin, coal and zinc
In the 1940s, WW2 meant that the French control started to weaken, leading to a conflict known as the first Indochina War
First Indochina War 1946-54
Japan invades Vietnam during WW2
Vietnam declares independance in 1945 with Ho Chi Minh as president
French re-invaded in 1946, backing non-communism of the South, supported by USA who gave $3 billion by 1954
Vietminh, led by Ho Chi Minh fight back
Communist China after 1949 help Vietminh in the North with training and supplies
War
Turning point - Battle of Dien Bien Phu
Spring 1954, Dien Bien Phu was a small French air force base surrounded by 50,000 Vietminh soldiers, Vietnminh dropped bombed the runaway and trapped the soldiers, French ran out of supplies causing them to surrender in May 1954, survivors had to walk hundreds of km, many died on the way to prisoner of war camps, French PM resigned and the new PM withdrew from Vietnam and the war was over
Geneva Agreement - 1954, signed by Britain, China, USSR, USA, met in Switzerland, Ho Chi Minh in North, Diem in south, Vietminh stay in North, French leave Vietnam, Vietnam people live wherever they want, Loas and Cambodia are independant,
Both Minh and Diem wanted united Vietnam not the Geneva Agreement
Diem Civil War in South Vietnam
To win July 1956 elections to unite Vietnam in his name
USA picked him as he was the best chance for anti-communism so they thought they could control him, but no
Diem pushed peasants off their land, gave key jobs to his family and friends, punished (sometime sby death) anyone who opposed him, called elections in South a year ealier which angered North Vietnam
NLF and buddists opposed him
NFL - Ho Chi Minh organisation political in South, wanted to get rid of catholic influence (DIem), wnted land back to peasants, unite North and South, wanted someone who represented both social and religious classes
Buddists - DIem instroduced anti-buddist policies, like stating that Buddists needed permission to worship, they went on hunger strikes and held mass frallies, some set on fire (self-immolation) which gained media coverage and causedd America to loose support of DIem