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Section III (Peace and Conflict): Conflict in Indochina 1954-1979
Quick questions on US escalation and the Gulf of Tonkin 1964: HSC Modern History Indochina
10short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is containment and the domino theory?Show answer
The doctrine of containment, articulated by George Kennan ("The Sources of Soviet Conduct", Foreign Affairs, July 1947) and codified in NSC-68 (April 1950), committed the United States to resisting the global expansion of communism. The Truman Doctrine (12 March 1947), the Marshall Plan (1948), NATO (April 1949), and the response to the Korean War (June 1950) were the European and East Asian precedents.
What is from Geneva to advisory commitment?Show answer
From 1954 Eisenhower authorised the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG, Vietnam) to train the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. By 1961 the MAAG had around 900 personnel. The CIA station built an extensive network. US aid to the Diem regime totalled around $1.6 billion through 1961.
What is johnson and the planning for escalation?Show answer
President Kennedy was assassinated on 22 November 1963. President Johnson inherited an unravelling commitment. NSAM 273 (26 November 1963) reaffirmed support. Johnson was committed to the Great Society domestic program and to winning the 1964 election; he was reluctant to ask Congress for a large escalation before November.
What is the Gulf of Tonkin incidents?Show answer
On 2 August 1964 the destroyer USS Maddox, on a DESOTO patrol in international waters near Hon Me Island (the site of an OPLAN 34A raid on 30 July to 31 July), was approached by three North Vietnamese P-4 torpedo boats. The Maddox opened fire; F-8 Crusaders from USS Ticonderoga joined. One Vietnamese boat was damaged; two crew killed. The Maddox took one machine-gun bullet.
What is the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?Show answer
The Southeast Asia Resolution, drafted in advance by McGeorge Bundy and Nicholas Katzenbach, was introduced on 5 August 1964 and passed Congress on 7 August. The vote was 416 to 0 in the House and 88 to 2 in the Senate; Senators Wayne Morse (D-Oregon) and Ernest Gruening (D-Alaska) opposed.
What is direct combat from 1965?Show answer
The Viet Cong attack on Camp Holloway at Pleiku (7 February 1965) killed 9 US personnel. Operation Flaming Dart I and II (7 and 11 February 1965) responded with tactical strikes. Johnson approved Operation Rolling Thunder (NSAM 328, 6 April 1965), the systematic bombing of the north, which began on 2 March 1965 and ran (with pauses) to 1 November 1968.
What is historiography?Show answer
Fredrik Logevall (Choosing War, 1999) is the standard on the Kennedy-Johnson decision-making.
What is treating the Tonkin Resolution as a declaration of war?Show answer
It was an open-ended authorisation, not a declaration; that is its constitutional novelty.
What is misdating the Da Nang landing?Show answer
8 March 1965, after Rolling Thunder began on 2 March.
What is forgetting Eisenhower's prior commitments?Show answer
Containment, the domino theory, and SEATO were 1950s decisions.