DSST Vietnam War flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

French Indochina

The French colonial territory comprising Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, consolidated from the 1860s to 1880s; Vietnam itself was split into the protectorates of Tonkin and Annam plus the direct colony of Cochinchina.

Ho Chi Minh

Vietnamese revolutionary and founder of the Indochinese Communist Party (1930) who led the Viet Minh and later served as president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from 1945 until his death in 1969.

Indochinese Communist Party

Communist party founded in 1930 by Ho Chi Minh, uniting earlier revolutionary groups; it provided the organizational and ideological core of the Vietnamese independence movement against French rule.

Viet Minh

The League for the Independence of Vietnam, formed in 1941 under Ho Chi Minh to fight both Japanese occupiers and French colonial rule; it became the political and military vehicle of Vietnamese independence.

Vo Nguyen Giap

Viet Minh and North Vietnamese general who built the People's Army of Vietnam and commanded the victory at Dien Bien Phu in 1954; he later directed communist forces during the American war.

Japanese occupation of Indochina

Japan's control of French Indochina from 1940–41, initially through the Vichy French administration; in March 1945 Japan seized direct control, collapsing French authority and creating a political vacuum.

August Revolution

The Viet Minh's nationwide seizure of power in August 1945 following Japan's surrender, culminating in Ho Chi Minh's declaration of Vietnamese independence in Hanoi on 2 September 1945.

Potsdam 16th parallel division

The July 1945 Potsdam decision assigning Chinese Nationalist forces to disarm Japanese troops north of the 16th parallel and British forces south of it, temporarily splitting Vietnam into two occupation zones.

First Indochina War

War fought from 1946 to 1954 between France and the Viet Minh, beginning with clashes at Haiphong and Hanoi and ending with the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu and the Geneva accords.

Battle of Dien Bien Phu

A 1954 siege in which General Giap's Viet Minh forces surrounded and defeated a French garrison in a remote valley, forcing France to negotiate an end to the First Indochina War.

Geneva Conference 1954

Multilateral conference that produced accords dividing Vietnam at the 17th parallel, providing for regrouping of forces and nationwide reunification elections in July 1956; the United States did not sign.

17th parallel

The latitude line established by the 1954 Geneva accords as the temporary demarcation between North and South Vietnam, with a demilitarized zone and elections planned for 1956.

Domino theory

The Cold War belief, articulated by President Eisenhower in 1954, that if one Southeast Asian nation fell to communism its neighbors would follow, justifying U.S. intervention in Vietnam.

Containment policy

U.S. Cold War strategy of preventing the spread of communism beyond its existing borders; applied to Vietnam from Truman onward through economic aid, military advisors, and eventually combat forces.

Bao Dai

The last emperor of Vietnam, who served as head of state of the French-backed State of Vietnam from 1949 to 1955 and was later displaced by Ngo Dinh Diem in a 1955 referendum.

Ngo Dinh Diem

Anti-communist Catholic nationalist who became prime minister of the State of Vietnam in 1954 and president of the Republic of Vietnam in 1955; he was overthrown and killed in a 1963 coup.

Cochinchina

The southern region of Vietnam, administered by France as a direct colony rather than a protectorate; its status was a key issue at the 1954 Geneva Conference.

Tonkin

The northern region of Vietnam under French colonial administration as a protectorate, containing Hanoi and the Red River delta; the name was later used for the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident.

Annam

The central region of Vietnam under French rule as a protectorate, with its historic capital at Hue; the term referred to the narrow coastal strip between Tonkin and Cochinchina.

Haiphong bombardment 1946

A French naval and artillery attack on the port city of Haiphong in November 1946 that killed thousands and marked the effective start of full-scale war with the Viet Minh.

Democratic Republic of Vietnam

The government proclaimed by Ho Chi Minh on 2 September 1945 in Hanoi, claiming sovereignty over all Vietnam; it became the official name of the communist state in the north.

State of Vietnam

The French-backed government established in 1949 under former emperor Bao Dai, competing with the Viet Minh for legitimacy; it was the predecessor to the Republic of Vietnam declared by Diem.

1945 famine

A catastrophic famine in northern Vietnam in 1944–45, worsened by Japanese and French requisitioning, that killed roughly one to two million people and fueled support for the Viet Minh.

O.S.S. and Ho Chi Minh

During World War II, U.S. Office of Strategic Services officers cooperated with Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh against Japan, an early and temporary American-Vietnamese alignment that ended after 1945.

French Union

The 1946 French constitutional framework that nominally associated colonial territories with France; Vietnam's status within it was a central point of failed negotiations before the First Indochina War.

Fontainebleau negotiations 1946

Failed talks between France and the Viet Minh in summer 1946 over Vietnamese independence; their collapse preceded the outbreak of full-scale war in December 1946.

1941 Pac Bo meeting

A meeting in northern Vietnam where Ho Chi Minh and colleagues founded the Viet Minh league in May 1941, adopting a united-front strategy against Japan and France.

March 1945 Japanese coup

Japan's overthrow of French colonial administration in Indochina, which eliminated French power and allowed the Viet Minh to expand into a political and military vacuum.

Truman and Vietnam 1945–1953

President Truman's administration initially tolerated French return to Indochina, then by 1950 provided military aid to France to contain communism, tying the U.S. to the conflict.

Eisenhower 1954 press conference

A press conference where President Eisenhower described the falling-domino principle in Southeast Asia, popularizing the domino theory as a rationale for U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

Vietnamese nationalism

A broad anti-colonial movement predating communism, including groups such as the VNQDD and Cao Dai; its fragmentation and the communists' superior organization shaped Vietnam's political trajectory.

VNQDD

The Vietnamese Nationalist Party, founded in 1927 and inspired by Chinese nationalism; its failed 1930 Yen Bai mutiny weakened non-communist nationalism and strengthened the communists' position.