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The USA, 1954–75: Conflict at Home and Abroad

Escalation of the conflict under Johnson

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 3

Overview

Who the Vietcong were and their growing threat, their support among peasants, the Gulf of Tonkin incident and Resolution, the first combat troops in 1965, why Johnson escalated and troop numbers by 1968.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Who and when

Who were the Vietcong?

Key term

Why was the Vietcong seen as a growing threat by 1964?

Key term

What was the condition of the South Vietnamese army by 1964?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Who were the Vietcong?

    Model answer

    Communist guerrillas fighting inside South Vietnam, armed and directed from the North, whose aim was to overthrow the Saigon government and unite the country.

  2. 2

    Why was the Vietcong seen as a growing threat by 1964?

    Model answer

    It controlled much of the countryside, its numbers were rising fast, and men and supplies were reaching it steadily along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

  3. 3

    How did the Vietcong win support from South Vietnamese peasants?

    Model answer

    Its fighters lived in the villages, helped with the harvest, redistributed land and punished corrupt landlords, while government troops treated villagers roughly.

  4. 4

    What was the condition of the South Vietnamese army by 1964?

    Model answer

    Badly led, riddled with corruption and losing men to desertion, so it was steadily losing ground to the guerrillas.

  5. 5

    What was reported to have happened in the Gulf of Tonkin in August 1964?

    Model answer

    North Vietnamese patrol boats attacked the US destroyer Maddox, and a second attack was reported two days later that almost certainly never took place.

  6. 6

    What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?

    Model answer

    A vote of Congress giving Johnson authority to take whatever military action he judged necessary in South East Asia.

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