Vietnam history gcse

• Cold War


  Long period of tension between America and the Soviet Union (USSR) after WW2, with very different ideas about economics and government
• Communism


  Government controls all businesses and resources, and decides where people live and work. Wealth is shared equally.
• The Cold War was a long period of tension between America and the Soviet Union (USSR) after WW2. The two countries had very different ideas about economics and government.
• The Soviet Union was communist. Communism is where the government controls all businesses and resources, and decides where people live and work. In theory, this means that wealth is shared equally amongst everyone in the country.
• America was a capitalist country. Capitalism is where people and businesses control themselves, and people decide where they live and work. This might mean that some people in society are very rich and some people are very poor.
• The Cold War: The USA and USSR never actually fought each other – this is why it's known as a cold war. However, they did get involved in other wars between other communist and capitalist countries.
• The End of French Rule in Vietnam


  • Vietminh had the support of local people
  • Vietminh had more troops - 50,000 v. 15,000 French
  • Vietminh had support from communist China
• The Vietminh defeated the French in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu


  1954
• Vietminh


  Communist group that fought against the French for Vietnam's independence, led by Ho Chi Minh
• In the south, the French put former emperor Bao Dai in charge. They wanted a democratic country and were backed by the anti-communist USA.
• The Geneva Accords (1954)


  Agreement that temporarily divided Vietnam into North and South along the 17th parallel, with elections to be held in 1956 to create a united Vietnam
• South Vietnam's prime minister Diem refused to hold elections in 1956, because he feared Ho Chi Minh (North Vietnam) would win. As a result, Vietnam stayed divided.
• Vietcong


  Vietnamese communists who began to fight against Diem in South Vietnam, supported by North Vietnam
• North Vietnam sent troops and weapons into the South via the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
• Vietnam had once been a colony belonging to France.
• In 1954, the French were defeated by the Vietnamese at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.
• 9 countries then met and reached an agreement called the Geneva Accords.
• They decided to divide Vietnam in two along the 17th parallel.

  
• North Vietnam


  Ruled by Ho Chi Minh, who was a communist
• South Vietnam


  Ruled by Bao Dai, who was anti-communist
• A communist group called the Vietcong began to fight against Diem in the South.
• North Vietnam sent troops and weapons into the South along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
• The 'domino theory'


  America's fear that if Vietnam became communist, other countries in that part of Asia would also become communist
• Diem's government


  Cruel and unpopular government of South Vietnam, led by Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem
• Diem got rid of Bao Dai in a fixed referendum in 1955, then made himself president.
• Diem hunted and killed suspected communists in South Vietnam.
• Diem was a Catholic and he treated Vietnam's Buddhists harshly.
• Diem gave most government jobs to family members and Catholics.
• Diem didn't introduce reforms to help ordinary village peasants.
• Diem was seen as a puppet of the USA, not a man of the people.
• By the end of 1960, Diem's government had control of less than half of South Vietnam – without America's help, it seemed unlikely to survive.
• Eisenhower's policy


  • Sending advisers to train the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN), but not fighting with them
• Eisenhower set up the South East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO): a group of countries who would work together to stop communism spreading in the region.
• Kennedy's policy


  Pacification - winning over local people so that they wouldn't support communism
• Kennedy sent 16,000 more US advisers to train the ARVN.
• Kennedy sent in US Special Forces ('Green Berets'), who trained villagers to protect themselves from the Vietcong.
• Kennedy agreed the use of chemical spraying to kill crops and jungle areas where the Vietcong could be hiding.
• Strategic Hamlets


  Large villages guarded by the ARVN, where people could feel safe and protected by the government
• About 5,000 strategic hamlets had been built by September 1962.
• The Strategic Hamlet Program actually turned more people against Diem's government.</b>