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Ch. 17 Vietnam War
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| guerrilla | armed band that carries out surprise attacks and sabotage rather than open warfare |
| domino theory | the belief that if one nation in Asia fell to the Communists, neighboring countries would follow |
| Dien Bien Phu | Vietnamese mountain town occupied by the French; fell to Vietminh forces on May 7, 1954 |
| Ho Chi Minh | Vietnamese leader of the Nationalist and Communist movement and first president of North Vietnam (1954-1969); his army won the French Indochina War (1946-54); he later led North Vietnam Communists to defeat the U.S.-supported government of South Vietnam |
| Ngo Dinh Diem | Vietnamese leader who was pro-Western and anti-Communist; became the first President of South Vietnam (1955-63) |
| Agent Orange | a chemical defoliant used to clear Vietnamese jungles during the Vietnam War |
| napalm | a jellied gasoline used for bombs |
| Gulf of Tonkin Resolution | Congress passed this act effectively authorizing the President to begin the American escalation of the Vietnam War after a series of battles between two U.S. destroyers and North Vietnamese gunboats in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964. |
| Ho Chi Minh Trail | trail through jungle built from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through the neighboring countries of Laos and Cambodia; provided logistical support to the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army during the Vietnam War |
| Vietcong | guerrilla soldiers of the Communist faction in Vietnam, also known as the National Liberation Front |
| alternative | something that is different from what is normal |
| credibility gap | lack of trust or believability |
| dove | a person in favor of the United States withdrawing from the Vietnam War |
| hawk | someone who believed the United States should continue its military efforts in Vietnam |
| teach-in | an extended meeting or class held to discuss a social or political issue |
| Tet offensive | Vietcong's massive surprise attack on American airbases and most of the South's major cities in January, 1968; North Vietnam suffered heavy losses but won a political victory by shocking Americans as to the strength of the Vietcong |
| William Westmoreland | U.S. General who commanded U.S. military in the Vietnam War from 1964-68; claims that the U.S. was winning the war were completely contradicted by the 1968 Tet Offensive in which Communist forces attacked all American airbases in South Vietnam and in most |
| linkage | policy of improving relations with the Soviet Union and China in hopes of persuading them to cut back their aid to North Vietnam |
| Henry Kissinger | Nixon's special assistant for national security affairs; later became his national security advisor |
| Pentagon Papers | leaked documents by Daniel Ellsberg; confirmed that the U.S. government officials privately questioned the war while publicly defending it |
| Vietnamization | process of making South Vietnam assume more of the war effort by slowly withdrawing American troops from Vietnam |
| War Powers Act | passed by Congress in 1973; to re-establish some limits on executive powers by requiring that the president inform Congress of troop commitments abroad within 48 hours and to withdraw them in 60-90 days unless approved by Congress |
Created by:
dtwebb
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