Geneva
In what year was the Geneva Conference held?
1954
Which U.S. President authorised the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and what year?
Lyndon B Johnson
1964
What do these acronyms stand for?
ARVN
NVA
NLF
ARVN - Army of the Republic of Vietnam (South)
NVA - North Vietnamese Army (North army)
NLF - National Liberation Front (insurgents - Viet Cong)
Saigon
Hue
Which communist group, led by Pol Pot, took power in Cambodia in 1975?
The Khmer Rouge.
Which line of latitude divided Vietnam into North and South?
The 17th Parallel.
What was the main purpose of “Operation Rolling Thunder”?
A sustained bombing campaign to weaken North Vietnam’s war effort and morale.
Name the leaders of the North and South
North - Ho Chi Minh
South - Ngo Dinh Diem
Outline the My Lai Massacre
My Lai Massacre - 1968, where U.S. troops killed over 300 civilians
Which Cambodian leader was overthrown by Lon Nol in 1970?
Prince Norodom Sihanouk.
Which two countries were recognised as independent states under the Geneva Conventions?
Laos and Cambodia
What was the Nixon administration’s policy?
Vietnamisation - to gradually withdraw US troops and transfer responsibility to the South Vietnamese forces
What land reform program was implemented in North and South Vietnam (1954–1956) and what were the aims?
North Vietnam’s Land Reform Program - aimed to redistribute land but caused widespread unrest
Strategic Hamlets - relocating peasants into fortified villages to reduce communist influences
Why did millions of South Vietnamese become refugees after the war ended in 1975?
Fear of communist reprisals and economic hardship led many to flee
What was the name of the Khmer Rouge’s radical vision for Cambodian society?
“Year Zero” a plan to eliminate urban life, intellectuals, and modern culture to create an agrarian society.
What elections were planned under the Geneva settlement, and why did they not occur?
Nationwide elections in 1956 to unify Vietnam; Diem, backed by the U.S., refused due to fear of communist victory.
By 1968, how many U.S. troops were stationed in Vietnam?
About 536,000
Outline the effective strategies used by the NLF
They blended with civilians, built tunnels, relied on villagers for food and intelligence, and used dense jungles for cover.
How did the Tet Offensive influence U.S. public opinion about the Vietnam War?
Despite being a military setback for the Viet Cong, graphic media coverage suggested the war was far from over, undermining U.S. government claims of progress and increasing anti-war sentiment.
Which country invaded Cambodia in 1978, overthrowing the Khmer Rouge regime? Why?
Vietnam
Pol Pot’s regime (1975–1979) in Cambodia carried out mass killings, forced relocations, and border raids.
They attacked Vietnamese border villages, killing civilians, which created tension.
Vietnam after 1975) followed a Soviet-aligned, pragmatic communist model, while Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge followed an extreme Maoist, ultra-radical ideology.
Assess the overall significance of the Geneva Conference for Indochina.
It ended French colonial rule, formalised the division of Vietnam, created instability by postponing elections, and set the stage for escalating U.S. intervention and prolonged conflict.
Compare the Vietnam policies of Presidents Johnson, Nixon, and Ford. How did their approaches shape the outcome of U.S. involvement in Indochina?
Johnson escalated the war after the Gulf of Tonkin (1964), committing combat troops and authorising large-scale bombing (Operation Rolling Thunder).
Nixon pursued “Vietnamisation,” but expanded bombing into Cambodia and Laos, and negotiated the Paris Peace Accords (1973).
Ford oversaw the final U.S. withdrawal and could not prevent the fall of Saigon in 1975, marking the end of U.S. involvement.
Outline two major U.S. military operations in Vietnam (Name, Year and aim)
Operation Rolling Thunder (1965–1968): Sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam to weaken morale and infrastructure.
Operation Ranch Hand (1962–1971): The U.S. chemical defoliation program, part of herbicidal warfare. Main tool: Agent Orange (and other herbicides) to destroy forest cover and crops
Explain the long-term social and environmental consequences of war in Indochina.
Lasting soil and water contamination, birth defects, ecological damage, unexploded ordnance, displacement, and long-term health issues among civilians.
After the 1975 communist victory, what was established in Laos?
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic under Pathet Lao rule.