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VICModern HistoryQuick questions
Unit 2: Change and conflict (The changing world order, 1945 onwards)
Quick questions on The Vietnam War, 1955-1975 (VCE Modern History Unit 2)
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 french Indochina war?Show answer
Viet Minh (Ho Chi Minh) vs French colonial forces. Climactic defeat at Dien Bien Phu (May 1954). Geneva Accords (July 1954) divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel pending elections that never occurred.
What is two Vietnamese states?Show answer
North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam, communist) under Ho Chi Minh. South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) under Ngo Dinh Diem.
What is uS involvement?Show answer
Eisenhower extended military aid to Diem. Kennedy expanded advisory presence to $16\,000$ by 1963.
What is uS troop deployment?Show answer
$184\,000$ by end of 1965; peak of $543\,000$ in 1969.
What is australian involvement?Show answer
Approximately $60\,000$ Australian troops served. $521$ killed. National Service Act (1964) introduced conscription.
What is coordinated attacks?Show answer
During Tet (Vietnamese New Year), Viet Cong and PAVN forces struck $100$ cities and towns including Saigon and the US Embassy.
What is outcome?Show answer
Tactical US/ARVN victory (Viet Cong took heavy casualties); strategic shock that destroyed official narrative of progress.
What is domestic consequences?Show answer
Walter Cronkite editorial (February 1968). Johnson withdrew from re-election (31 March 1968).
What is vietnamisation under Nixon?Show answer
US troop levels reduced; ARVN expanded; bombing campaigns intensified (Cambodia 1970, Laos 1971).