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1975 BCE
war of attrition
Military strategy that attempts to win a war by wearing down the enemy -
Guerrilla warfare
Irregular fighting in which a small group of combatants use military tactics such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, hit-and-run attacks, and mobility to fight a larger traditional military -
Vietcong
Communist political organization in South Vietnam who fought against the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War -
The Berlin Wall
on August 13, 1961, the Communist government of East Germany built a wall separating East and West Berlin. The wall was built to keep the country's people in. But the Soviets and East German government said it was to keep capitalism out. -
Bay of pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs invasion was a failed attempt by US-sponsored Cuban exiles to reverse Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution, beginning with a military invasion of northern Cuba. A Central Intelligence Agency-sponsored rebel group attempted an invasion on 17 April 1961 that lasted just three days. -
Peace corps
On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy establish's the Peace Corps as a new agency within the Department of State. The same day, he sent a message to Congress asking for permanent funding for the agency, which would send trained American men and women to foreign nations to assist in development efforts. The Peace Corps captured the imagination of the U.S. public, and during the week after its creation thousands of letters poured into Washington from young Americans hoping to volunteer -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis of 1962, the Caribbean Crisis, or the Missile Scare, was a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union initiated by the American discovery of Soviet ballistic missile deployment in Cuba. -
New Frontier
The programme included massive expenditure on social reforms and welfare, as well as ambitious new projects such as the Peace Corps and space exploration. New Frontier (1961–63) Term describing the legislative programme of US President John F. Kennedy. -
Great society
President Lyndon B. Johnson’s domestic programs which aimed at eliminating poverty and racial injustice -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Passed by Congress in 1964, gave President Lyndon B. Johnson the power to use conventional military force in Southeast Asia without a formal declaration of war by Congress -
Mediacare
Federal and state insurance program that helps with medical costs for people who have limited income -
The tet offensive
One of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War in which the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese army led a surprise attack against South Vietnam during the Tet holiday, the Vietnamese New Year -
My Lai Massacre
Mass murder of between 347 to 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians (men, women, children, and infants) in South Vietnam by U.S. Army soldiers, some bodies were raped and mutilated -
Warren Court
Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren which expanded civil rights/due process and federal power. -
Vietnamization
Policy of President Richard Nixon to end U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War by equipping/training South Vietnamese forces while steadily reducing the number of U.S. combat troops -
War powers resolution
A federal law intended to check the President’s power to commit the U.S. to an armed conflict without the consent of Congress; requires the President to notify Congress 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action and forbids armed forces from remaining for more than 60 days -
Ho Chi Minh Trail
System that ran from North to South Vietnam through the countries of Laos and Cambodia which provided manpower and material to support the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese army -
fall of saigon
Capture of the capital of South Vietnam in 1975 by Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces; ended the Vietnam War and started reunification of Vietnam under a communist regime -
Napalm
Flammable mixture of a gelling agent and gasoline used extensively in U.S. airstrikes on Vietnam
