Trivia: History Of The Vietnam War! Quiz

Vietnam spent more than a millennium under the rule of China. This is because China had a significant influence on Vietnam's history and culture. The Chinese ruled over Vietnam for various periods, starting from the 2nd century BC until the 10th century AD. During this time, Vietnam adopted many aspects of Chinese governance, administration, language, and Confucianism. The Chinese rule had a lasting impact on Vietnam's political, social, and cultural development, making it an important part of Vietnam's history.

Afetr the Geneva Accords, the United States’ Cold War foreign policy began to play a major part in Vietnam. U.S. policy at the time was dominated by the domino theory, which believed that the “fall” of North Vietnam to Communism might trigger all of Southeast Asia to fall, setting off a sort of Communist chain reaction.

Although Nixon made good on his promise, he also illegally expanded the geographic scope of the war by authorizing the bombing of Viet Cong sites in the neutral nations of Cambodia and Laos, all without the knowledge or consent of the U.S. Congress. The revelation of these illegal actions, along with the publication of the secret Pentagon Papers in U.S. newspapers in 1971, caused an enormous scandal in the United States and forced Nixon to push for a peace settlement.

As the United States became increasingly mired in Vietnam, it pursued a strategy of attrition, attempting to bury the Vietnamese Communist forces under an avalanche of casualties. The United States, therefore, used unconventional weapons such as napalm and the herbicide defoliant Agent Orange but still managed to make little headway.

France assumed sovereignty over Annam and Tonkin after the Franco-Chinese War (1884–1885). French Indochina was formed in October 1887, from Annam, Tonkin, Cochin-China, and the Kingdom of Cambodia; Laos was added in 1893.

Within a year of the Geneva Accords, the United States therefore began to offer support to the anti-Communist politician Ngo Dinh Diem. With U.S. assistance, Diem took control of the South Vietnamese government in 1955, declared the Republic of Vietnam, and promptly canceled the elections that had been scheduled for 1956.

Victims included men, women, children, and infants. Some of the women were gang-raped and their bodies mutilated. The incident prompted global outrage when it became public knowledge in November 1969. The My Lai massacre increased to some extent domestic opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

Despite the protests, Johnson’s successor, President Richard M. Nixon, declared that a “silent majority” of Americans still supported the war. Four demonstrating students were shot at Kent State University in 1970 when Ohio National Guardsmen fired on a crowd.

The Viet Cong proved a formidable enemy for several reasons. Firstly, its members believed passionately in the Vietnamese nationalist cause, which motivated them to fight with great determination. Secondly, the Viet Cong had constructed a vast network of underground tunnels and hideouts, which allowed them to launch surprise attacks and evade capture. Additionally, the members of the Viet Cong could easily blend into the Vietnamese peasant population, making it difficult for the U.S. forces to identify and target them. However, the statement that "Its firepower was superior to U.S. firepower" is incorrect. The Viet Cong did not possess superior firepower compared to the U.S., but they relied on guerrilla tactics and knowledge of the terrain to counter the U.S. military strength.

After WW2, France attempted to reassert itself in the region but came into conflict with the Viet Minh, an organization of Communist Vietnamese nationalists under French-educated Ho Chi Minh. During World War II, the USA had supported the Viet Minh in resistance against the Japanese; the group was in control of the country apart from the cities.

In 1962, U.S. President John F. Kennedy sent American “military advisors” to Vietnam to help train the South Vietnamese army. However actual troops were sent after Kennedy's assassination, under Johnson's presidency.

Although the offensive was a military defeat for the communists, it had a profound effect on the US government and shocked the US public, which had been led to believe by its political and military leaders that the communists were being defeated and incapable of launching such an ambitious military operation. U.S. public support for the war declined and the U.S. sought negotiations to end the war.

The fighting lasted until March 1954, this led to the partition of Vietnam into North, under Viet Minh control, and South. The Geneva Accords stipulated that the divide was temporary and that Vietnam was to be reunified under free elections to be held in 1956.

After secret negotiations between U.S. emissary Henry A. Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Le Duc Tho in 1972, Nixon engaged in diplomatic maneuvering with China and the USSR to pressure the North Vietnamese into a settlement. This cease-fire was finally signed on 27 January 1973.

After North Vietnamese forces allegedly attacked U.S. Navy ships in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964, Johnson was given carte blanche in the form of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and began to send U.S. troops to Vietnam.