DSST Vietnam War key terms

The colonial federation created in 1887 that grouped Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos under French rule. It ended after the 1954 Geneva Accords and the collapse of French authority in Southeast Asia.

Vietnam's last ruling dynasty, founded in 1802 with French help and lasting until 1945. Its emperors governed a unified Vietnam but progressively lost real power to French colonial administrators.

The war fought from 1946 to 1954 between France and the Viet Minh. It ended with the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu and the partition of Vietnam at the Geneva Conference.

The League for the Independence of Vietnam, a nationalist and communist front founded by Ho Chi Minh in 1941. It fought the French and later helped direct resistance in North Vietnam.

Vietnamese communist revolutionary who led the independence movement and served as president of North Vietnam from 1945 to 1969. He symbolized the struggle for a unified, independent Vietnam.

A 1954 siege in which Viet Minh forces surrounded and defeated a French garrison in northwestern Vietnam. The loss forced France to negotiate and hastened the end of its Indochina empire.

North Vietnam's leading military commander, known for organizing the victory at Dien Bien Phu. He later directed People's Army of Vietnam strategy during the American war.

Agreements that ended the First Indochina War and temporarily divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel. They called for nationwide elections in 1956, which were never held.

The line of latitude near which Vietnam was temporarily divided in 1954, separating North and South. It became a symbol of partition rather than a permanent political border.

The buffer strip along the 17th parallel between North and South Vietnam. It was intended to be free of military forces but became a heavily fortified and contested frontier.

The communist state formally called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, based in Hanoi. It supported the insurgency in the South and received military and economic aid from China and the Soviet Union.

The anti-communist state formally called the Republic of Vietnam, based in Saigon. It was created after the 1954 partition and depended heavily on American political and military support.

The first president of South Vietnam, installed in 1955 with American backing. His authoritarian, Catholic-dominated rule alienated many Buddhists and was ended by a coup in 1963.

The last emperor of Vietnam, who served as head of state of the Associated State of Vietnam. He was pushed aside in a 1955 referendum that confirmed Ngo Dinh Diem as leader.

The communist guerrilla force in South Vietnam, formally the National Liberation Front's armed wing. It relied on infiltration, local recruitment, and support from North Vietnam.

The political coalition founded in 1960 to oppose the South Vietnamese government. Often called the Viet Cong by opponents, it sought to unify Vietnam under communist leadership.

A network of supply routes running through Laos and Cambodia that moved troops and material from North to South Vietnam. It was heavily bombed but never fully cut.

South Vietnam's national army, trained and equipped largely by the United States. Its performance and leadership problems shaped debates over Americanization and Vietnamization.

North Vietnam's regular army, also known as the North Vietnamese Army. It supplied main-force units that increasingly fought alongside or in place of southern guerrillas.

A reported clash between North Vietnamese torpedo boats and U.S. destroyers in August 1964. It prompted Congress to pass a resolution authorizing broader military action in Vietnam.

A 1964 congressional measure that allowed the president to use military force in Southeast Asia without a formal declaration of war. It became the legal basis for large-scale U.S. involvement.

U.S. president from 1963 to 1969 who escalated American involvement in Vietnam. He pursued domestic Great Society reforms while facing growing antiwar opposition over the war.

U.S. president from 1953 to 1961 who supported France in Indochina and then backed South Vietnam. He articulated the domino theory to justify containment in Southeast Asia.

The belief that if one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would follow. It was a central justification for American intervention in Vietnam and elsewhere in Asia.

The U.S. Cold War policy of preventing the spread of communism beyond its existing borders. In Vietnam it translated into support for anti-communist governments and military intervention.

A remote valley in northwestern Vietnam where the decisive 1954 battle of the First Indochina War took place. Its fall undermined French resolve to continue fighting.

Radical redistribution of land in areas controlled by the Viet Minh during and after the First Indochina War. It built rural support but also provoked resistance and violence.

A South Vietnamese and American effort to relocate rural villagers into fortified settlements to isolate them from guerrillas. It often alienated peasants and produced mixed results.

A period of protest in 1963 against religious discrimination by Ngo Dinh Diem's government. Self-immolations and crackdowns damaged his regime's legitimacy and preceded his overthrow.

A sustained U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam from 1965 to 1968. It aimed to pressure Hanoi but failed to stop infiltration or break North Vietnamese will.

A coordinated communist offensive across South Vietnam in early 1968. Though militarily costly for the attackers, it shattered American public confidence in the war effort.

President Nixon's policy of shifting combat responsibility to South Vietnamese forces while withdrawing U.S. troops. It aimed to reduce American casualties and sustain the Saigon government.

U.S. president from 1969 to 1974 who pursued Vietnamization, expanded bombing, and negotiated the Paris Peace Accords. His administration ended direct U.S. combat involvement in 1973.

The 1973 agreement that formally ended direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. It left North Vietnamese troops in the South and did not produce a lasting political settlement.

The capture of South Vietnam's capital by North Vietnamese forces in April 1975. It marked the end of the war and the reunification of Vietnam under communist rule.

The body of water off North Vietnam's coast where U.S. and North Vietnamese naval forces clashed in 1964. The episode led to expanded American military authority.

The French defensive position in the valley of Dien Bien Phu, supplied only by air. Its encirclement and surrender in 1954 ended French hopes of holding Indochina.