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| Domino Theory was a widely accepted theory in the 1950's through the 1980's that speculated that if one state in a region came unde the influence of communism then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect. Several American president's cited this theory as rational for the Vietnam war and their reason for drawing the line at Vietnam. |
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| Rice Buckets are a common site in Vietnam. However this term is more than just referencing an everyday scene, it is referencing the nation itself. The North and South portions can be seen as rice buckets as they produce large quantities of the nations rice due to the waters of the Mekong river in the South and the Red River in the North. These rice buckets are connected by a pole, in this case the thin piece of land primarily made up of the Annamite mountains. |
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| Central Highlands is an area within Vietnam that is a plateau surrounded by the Anamite mountain range. This area is populated by what are known as the Montagnards. |
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| The Red River is the main source of water for the Southern part of the nation. The Red River delta is where much of the nations rice crops are grown and was where the majority of it was grown prior to 1975. |
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| The Trung Sisters are two first century Vietnamese female rebellion leaders. The sisters successfully rebelled against the Chinese Han-Dynasty and ruled for a couple of years until the Chinese sent their military to Vietnam to deal with the Rebellion. Though they tried to fight the Chinese, they realized they could not win. They decided to die with honor by commiting suicide by drowning themselves. Today they are still revered by the Vietnamese and set the precedent for female rebellion fighters and leaders. |
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| Montagnard is a French term that literally means "people from the mountains." In Vietnam this term refers to an indigenous people that inhabit the Central Highlands. These people are descendents from the multiple tribal groups that lived in the Southern part of the country and were displaced as the Viet began to expand farther South driving the montagnards into the mountains. |
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| The Battle of Bach Dang took place at the Bach Dang River near Ha Long Bay in Northern Vietnam. There were actually three famous battles at Bach Dang, two against the Chinese and one against the Mongolians. The area they chose was a small inlet that at high tide was full enough to allow ships in. At low tide the Vietnamese warriors had placed pikes underneath the water line. At low tide the ships began to sink with the water level and became stuck on the pikes. This gave the Vietnamese the upperhand through surprise and allowed them to win each time they employed this method. |
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| The Champa or Chams were indigenous to the central and southern portions of Vietnam. They were a seafaring people and conducted trade with many countries. Their culture was a mix of many cultures and was attributed to their seafaring history. They held many important ports like Indrapura, Vijaya, and Panduranga. These people were also displace during the Southern migration of the Viet people. |
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| Le Loi is known as the Vietnamese King Arthur. Loi was tired of being under Chinese rule, as were many Vietnamese, and decided to establish an insurrection. The tale says Loi was a fisherman and one day when he cast his nets he pulled up a magical sword. With it he was invincible. The truth is he was likely the son of a wealthy landowner and was tired of paying tribute to China. He overthrew the Chinese rule and established independence and the Le Dynasty in the early to mid 1400s. |
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| Southward Expansion took place under the Le dynasty by Le Loi's successor Le Thanh Tong. Tong is said to be one of the greates leaders under the Le dynasty as he instituted many reforms. During the expansion South many rich families fought over the newly available land. A good example is the Trinh and Nguyen families. This migration displaced many native inhabitants of the area, that eventually became the Montagnards. |
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| War broke out between the two ruling families, the Nguyen and Trinh's, in the mid to late 1600s. Both families were descended from aids to the hero Le Loi. At one time the Trinh and Nguyen family fought as allies against a usurper. |
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| Ultimately ended the Le and Trinh dynasties. |
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| Hue is located near the center of the country of Vietnam. It was the imperial capital from the early 1800s to mid 1900s. |
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| Napoleon III wanted to put France on a playing field with other leading nations and decided reestablishing colonies was necessary. He looked to Indochina to do this, primarily Vietnam. The French had already colonized the nation but didn't hold much power there. Under the pretext of protecting catholic missionaries Napoleon III sent troops to Vietnam. This eventually led to an all out year long war. Eventually Vietnam conceded and gave France three southern provinces which the French renamed Cochin-China. This opened ports to French Trade. |
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| The French rationalized their colonializing of Indochina and Vietnam by calling it a civilizing mission. This mission required them to bring their progressive thinking to these backwards nations, this included politics and religion. |
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| Tonkin, Annam, Cochin-China |
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| During the French colonial period the nation of Vietnam was divided into three portions. Tonkin was the Northern part. Annam was the Middle part. And Cochin-China was the Southern part of China. Dividing the nation up this way was not favored by the Vietnamese people who saw themselves as one nation. Both Tonkin and Annam were only protectorate territories while Cochin-China was a colony. The division into three different territories angered the Vietnamese and caused war for many years as they wished to achieve an independent state. |
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| Phung was a revolutionary who led rebel armies against the French colonial forces in Vietnam in the mid to late 1800s. Today he is still held as a national hero. This was one of the earliest examples of gorilla warfare. |
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| Phan Boi Chau came after Phung. He was a pioneer Vietnamese nationalist. For many years he worked producing literature that called for the liberation of Vietnam from the French. |
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| Phan Chu Trinh was another famous early 20th century Vietnamese Nationalist. He sought to end France's occupation of Vietnam. He opposed violence and turning to other countries for support. He believed in attaining Vietnamese liberation by education the population and by appealing to French democratic principles. |
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| Ho Chi Minh is more commonly referred to as Uncle Ho. He went by many alias's and held many job positions in his life. However he's most commonly known for being a Vietnamese Nationalist who wished to establish and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. He was recognized as the President of the DRV in the 1940's but lost power in mid 1950s. |
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| The Geneva Conference were held in 1954. The conference had two tasks. One was to try and find a way to unify Korea. The second was to discuss restoring peace to Indochina. The French suffered a major defeat the day prior to the Geneva Accords at Dien Bien Phu. |
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| The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was a climactic confrontation between the French and the Vietnamese during the first Indochina war. This battle occurred the same year as the Geneva Conference in 1954. The French believed the place was a strong holding for them and that the gorilla army would have no way of bringing in enough troop support to the area. They were wrong and eventually lost the day before the Genvera Conference. |
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| Is a French Army General. He was in overall charge during the Battle and defeat of Dien Bien Phu. |
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| Lessons of the Korean War |
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| The United States and China seemingly fought each other through proxies the North and South Koreans. This war taught both the United States and China to be weary of entering another battle like this as in the end no one won and it took up a lot of man power, resources, and money. |
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| Is one of the ancestral origin places for the Vietnamese people. It is a province. It was used as a base for the Vietminh forces during their war with the French. it was close to China and they Chinese were providing them with weapons and other supplies. |
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| Was a national independence movement founded in South China. The formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. They also sought independence from Japanese. They were lead by Ho Chi Minh. |
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| Was an american advisor, diplomat who was placed in Russia. he knew much about russian politics. Kennan tried to advise Truman of the containment theory. Which meant that the Soviets were seeking to create a heightened sense of terror to remain in control of their people and protect them from the evil capitalists. he published a paper signed X. |
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| Kennan sent Harry S. Truman a nearly 5 thousand word telegram that described why the Russians were not playing ball with americans and other capitalist nations. Kennan urged the united states to quit cooperating with the Soviet Union. |
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| IN August of 1945 after the Japanese surrendered to the allies. Ho chi Minh was officially left in charge he declared Vietnam's independence this was worded much like the US's dec of independence. |
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| National Security Act of 1947 |
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| The act did many things including merging the dept of war and navy into the national military establishment headed by the sec of def. Created the air force. NME was named dept of def. Created CIA the first peacetime intelligence agency. This is important because it signifies the effects of the coldwar on the us. |
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| policy set forth by Truman in 1840s stating the us would support Greece and Turkey with economic military aid to prevent falling into Soviet Sphere. |
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