| Term
| Date
| Nation
| Description
|
| Agent Orange
|
| USA
| Chemical herbicide used in Vietnam as a jungle clearing technique, named for the color of the barrel, associated with cancer and birth defects
|
| Appeasement
| 1920s-1930s
| Europe
| Many western governments ignored the actions of Hitler after WWI, thinking that they'd just blow over since Hitler had nothing to complain about, but he escalated his efforts instead.
|
| April Theses
| 1917
| Russia
| Lenin drafts a document rejecting support for the Provisional Government of Russa as established by the Duma.
|
| ARVN
| 1955
| Vietnam
| The Army of the Republic of Vietnam, Northern Army. Brutal reputation, sort of a KGB role in some cases.
|
| Beer Hall Putsch
| 1922
| Germany
| Hitler tries to hold hostage government officials but is arrested and sent to jail where he writes his book.
|
| Blackshirts/SS
|
| Germany
| Shutstaffel, secret police, win over SA
|
| Bolsheviks
| 1903
| Russia
| Power by violence, chosen by Lenin
|
| Brownshirts/SA
|
| Germany
| Shutzanteil, storm troopers, state control
|
| Buddhist Protest
| 1963
| Vietnam
| Buddhist monk sets himself on fire, accusing the Diem government of religious discrimination. Widely published, it led to Diem's downfall and the naming of a new President loyal to the US.
|
| Chancellor Hitler
| 1933
| Germany
| Appointed Chancellor and begins to take control of the legislative bodies.
|
| Cheka/KGB
| 1918-1991
| USSR
| Secret Police, helped meet quotas, general discipline
|
| Christmas Bombing
| 1972
| USA, Vietnam
| The bombing campaign in late December in response to the suspension of peace talks with the north Vietnamese.
|
| Civil War
| 1918-1921
| Russia
| Causes them to pull out of WWI (Brest-Litovsk), Reds versus Whites (US support)
|
| Containment of China
|
| Indochina
| A cause of the Vietnam war. With the French losing power, vaccum would be filled with Red China?
|
| Cooper-Church Amendment
| 1970
| USA
| Prevents Nixon from maintaining troops in Laos and Cambodia - forbids them from being anywhere but Vietnam. Nixon bombs the nations in response.
|
| Death of Lenin
| 1924
| USSR
| Lenin's death signals a new era of power. Struggle between Leon Trotsky and Stalin begins. Stalin has power because he is secretary of Politburo.
|
| Dien Bien Phu
| 1954
| France, Vietnam
| last battle of French in Vietnam. Vietnamese massacre French. Spurs France to leave, happens during Geneva Conference. Signals the end of the First Indochina War.
|
| Distrust of China
|
| Vietnam
| The decades of occupation by China made Vietnam distrust them greatly. It was absurd for the US to assume that the Vietnamese wanted to be like China or even part of China.
|
| Domino Theory
| 1970s
| Indochina
| If one falls, the others will follow suit. Also applies to Latin America.
|
| Evacuation of US Embassy in Saigon
| 1975
| Vietnam
| The US ordered the embassy evacuated as North Vietnamese troops neared Saigon. Just a week afterwards, Saigon fell to the North.
|
| Fall of Saigon
| 1975
| Vietnam
| The fall of the South's capital city signaled the end of the war. Finally Vietnam was reunited, though under a communist government.
|
| Five Year Plan
| 1928-1932
| USSR
| economic advances needed to become more socialist. Brutal industrialization, break power of pesants to get industrial tools (communal farms), wage scales based on production.
|
| Free Fire Zones
|
| Vietnam
| US soldiers were informed of free fire zones where they were instructed to shoot anything that moved, regardless of what it was.
|
| Green Berets
|
| USA, Vietnam
| The US Special Forces used to go directly into villages to win over the South Vietnamese over the Viet Cong.
|
| Hanoi Hotel
|
| Vietnam
| A notorious North Vietnamese prison that used tortue of POWs for information. An example of the lack of humanitarian rights.
|
| Ho Chi Minh
| 1890-1969
| Vietnam
| A nationalist Vietnamese man with a French education. Went to Paris Peace Conference, but disillusioned. Then became revolutionary with Soviet training. Disliked China, but received aid from USSR in hopes of becoming independent nation.
|
| Ho Chi Minh Trail
| 1960s-70s
| Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos
| A system of roads and paths used as supply lines for the Vietminh. Named by USA after their leader.
|
| Indochina
|
| France
| French colony in Asia that is now Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
|
| Japanese Control of Vietnam
| WWII
| France, Japan
| The Vichy government of France hands over Indochina to the advancing Japan. It is later returned to France
|
| July Days
| 1917
| Russia
| demonstrations against the provisional government
|
| Kent State
| 1970
| USA
| The shootings at Kent State by National Guardsmen during student protests of the invasion of Cambodia by Nixon.
|
| Kerensky Offensive
| 1917
| Russia
| A failed offensive movement against Germany in WWI by the provisional government. Downed morale even more, huge casualties.
|
| Khmer Rouge
| 1970
| Cambodia
| Overthrows Cambodia, communits. Humanitarian crimes, helped Viet Cong.
|
| Kornilov Revolt
| 1917
| Russia
| A Russian general tries to take power for himself and bring back the Tsar. It fails.
|
| Kristallnacht
| 1938
| Germany
| The people's response to Hitler's decree that all Jews are bad and are responsible for the bad economy, etc. Killing, looting, property destruction
|
| Lebensraum
| 1923
| Germany
| Mentioned in Mein Kampf, Hitler calls for more living space before he unites with Austria-Hungary and the Sudetenland.
|
| Marx and Engels
| 1848
|
| Communist Manifesto; all history is a class struggle, economics influences history, industrial revolution is last class struggle.
|
| My Lai
| 1968
|
| A massacre by the USA, comparable to the Rape of Nanking in WWII. William Caulley, the commander of the US troops, was later tried and convicted for the event.
|
| Mensheviks
| 1903
| Russia
| Power by democratic process
|
| Munich Conference
| 1938
| Europe
| Russia and Czechoslovakia not invited, appeasement rules that USSR isn't doing anything wrong. They are within the limits.
|
| Napalm
|
| USA
| A gasoline-based flamethrower used since WWII. It produces horrible wounds when in contact with people. In Vietnam, it was used as a jungle clearing technique, often harmful to the villages and people living there.
|
| National Women's Day Riot
| 1917
| Russia
| Led to the "February" revolution in March
|
| NEP (New Economic Policy)
| 1921-1928
| USSR
| let communism go for now (hands-off), economy recovers from wars, mixed economy
|
| Ngo Dinh Diem
|
|
| The S. Vietnamese President, Catholic, unpopular, US supported
|
| Night of the Long Knives
| 1934
| Germany
| SA Falls to SS, establishing the country's secret police system.
|
| Nuremberg Laws
| 1935
| Germany
| Discrimination against the Jews, causes some to go into hiding, reveals Hitler's racism to the core.
|
| Operation Rolling Thunder
|
| USA
| The first bombing of North Vietnam in response to the Tonkin Gulf incident. This escalates the conflict.
|
| PeMex
| 1938
| Mexico
| American companies lose their holdings in Mexican oil as they are nationalized.
|
| Pentagon Papers
| 1971
| USA
| The release of these papers during the Vietnam war fueled anti-war sentiment. The papers referred to US policy in Vietnam during the Truman Presidency. The aftermath formed the committee who burglarized the Democratic National Headquarters (Watergate Scandal).
|
| Politburo
|
| USSR
| 7 key men making decisions (Lenin alive)
|
| Provisional Government
| 1917
| Russia
| A weak democracy that was still involved in WWI, unpopular with people, Bolsheviks still want power. Lenin does not cooperate with them (April Theses)
|
| Purges
| 1936-1938
| USSR
| Stalin becomes paranoid, rids army of valuable officers from WWI, doesn't trust anyone. Exile and death common. Quotas for traitors must be met.
|
| Reichstag fire
| 1933
| Germany
| Hitler uses this fire set by a 'communist' to justify more power and the emergency decree, allowing him to act out against any communists trying to harm Germany.
|
| Reparations
| 1921
| Europe
| 33 Billion US Dollars to be repayed by Germany after WWI. Money goes into Germany through US, Germany to France/Britain, France/Britain back to US to repay the debt. Germany defaults in 1923, Rhur Valley is occupied by France.
|
| SEATO
| 1955
| Asia
| The South East Asian Treaty Organization, modeled after NATO, came into power as the struggle with the French ended. South Vietnam signed, but North did not.
|
| Senator Wayne Morse
|
| Oregon
| A senator during the Gulf of Tonkin resolution who voted against it because of suspicions that President Johnson was lying about the incident in SE Asia. He was also a civil rights supporter.
|
| Spartakist Uprising
| 1919
| Germany
| After WWI, the communists in Germany rise up, but fail to overthrow the government.
|
| Stakhanov
| 1928-1932
| USSR
| The model worker, produced more than anyone else, Paul Bunyan of Russia.
|
| Tet Offensive
| 1968
| Vietnam
| The Communists attacked virtually every major city in S. Vietnam on the first day of Tet, a holiday. American and S. Vietnamese troops were surprised because of a holiday truce. It took several months for the South to regain control of those cities, and they inflicted large casualties on the North. The North held the US Embassy in Saigon for 8 hours, allowing for the further decline of confidence in the US. Inspired Walter Cronkite's "stalemate" comment.
|
| Tonkin Gulf Resolution
| 1964
| USA
| The legislation pushed through Congress by Johnson with the promise that things wouldn't escalate. It gave Johnson the power to make war without Congress' permission.
|
| Trade Agreements Act
| 1934
| USA
| Roosevelt has the power to lover tariffs as part of the Good Neighbor Policy. Increased trade results.
|
| Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
| 1918
| Russia, Germany
| ends Russian involvement in WWI, lose territory to Germans, get on with civil war at home.
|
| Truman Doctrine
| 1947
| USA
| Truman, in a speech with the goal of getting money for Greece, declared a new policy: any nation wishing to be free (democratic) would be supported militarily by the US (against communism.)
|
| U.S.S. Maddox
| 1964
| USA
| The US Navy ship 'attacked' by the North Vietnamese in 1964. Spurs the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. The ship was in disputed waters.
|
| Ukrainian Famine
| 1932
| USSR
| The famine of Ukraine was due to collectivization and harse collection policies of the USSR government coupled with a severe draught. Est. 5 million die
|
| Viet Cong
| 1955-1975
| Vietnam
| A derogatory term meaning Vietnamese Communists, the equivalent to "Commie"
|
| Vietminh
| 1941-Present
| Vietnam
| League for the Independence of Vietnam, founded by Ho Chi Minh, mixture of many ideological groups.
|
| Vietnamization
| 1970-1975
| USA, Vietnam
| The movement of American troops to simply put the conflict back in the hands of the Vietnamese.
|
| War Communism
| 1918-1921
| Russia
| not real communism, just trying to win the war, lots of looting, grain at gunpoint on both sides.
|
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|
|
|
| Black: Rise of Single Party States
|
|
|
|
| Red: Vietnam
|
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|
| Green: Politics in Latin America
|
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