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VICModern HistoryQuick questions
Unit 2: The changing world order (1945 to 2010)
Quick questions on Vietnam War 1954-1975: VCE Modern History Unit 2 Cold War
9short 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 the Republic of Vietnam under Diem (1954 to 1963)?Show answer
The US backed Ngo Dinh Diem as Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam (later President of the Republic of Vietnam from 26 October 1955). Diem rigged a referendum to depose Bao Dai (98.2 per cent for Diem) and refused to hold the 1956 reunification elections, which the State Department believed Ho Chi Minh would win comfortably.
What is the Tet Offensive (January to February 1968)?Show answer
On 30 to 31 January 1968 (Tet, Vietnamese lunar new year), around 80,000 PAVN and NLF troops attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including 36 of 44 provincial capitals. NLF commandos briefly entered the grounds of the US embassy in Saigon. The imperial city of Hue was held for 26 days (and the Hue Massacre saw around 2,800 residents killed by the NLF before recapture).
What is vietnamisation under Nixon (1969 to 1973)?Show answer
Richard Nixon was inaugurated on 20 January 1969. His national security adviser Henry Kissinger ran negotiations with Hanoi's Le Duc Tho. "Vietnamisation" combined gradual American troop withdrawal with expanded South Vietnamese forces, intensified bombing of North Vietnam, and expanded operations against communist sanctuaries in Cambodia and Laos.
What is indochina?Show answer
Cambodia fell to the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot on 17 April 1975; the subsequent genocide killed around 1.7 to 2 million people. Laos fell to the Pathet Lao in August 1975. Vietnam invaded Cambodia in December 1978 to topple the Khmer Rouge, fighting a 10-year war.
What are the United States?Show answer
The War Powers Resolution (passed over Nixon's veto on 7 November 1973) limited presidential war-making to 60 days without Congressional approval. Conscription ended in January 1973. The "Vietnam Syndrome" constrained American military intervention until at least the 1991 Gulf War.
What is the Cold War?Show answer
The Soviet Union and China both supported Hanoi but did not extract a strategic prize commensurate with the American defeat. The Sino-Soviet split (open from 1969) and Nixon's opening to China (Beijing visit, February 1972) showed that Vietnam was a regional defeat within a more complicated global game.
What is q1?Show answer
Evaluate the reasons for American failure in Vietnam (1965-1975). [10 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Explain the significance of the Tet Offensive (1968). [4 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Analyse the consequences of the fall of Saigon (1975). [6 marks]