The Vietnam War and the Trojan War were two separate tragedies that took place in very different time periods yet. They have many things in common such as their senselessness, the brutality shown, and the way the soldiers were treated when they returned to their homeland. In this paper we will touch on those three topics explaining the petty causes of the war and how cruelly the opposing potencies attacked the enemy. Also, we will discover the great similarity in how the soldiers were treated upon returning from the war and how the war affected their lives.
Most historians view the nature of the Vietnam War as rooted in the history of the French colonies in Vietnam and the growing ethnic, political, and economical division between Catholic and Buddhist Vietnamese. (Brigham, Robert, Hoffman, Kenneth)
At the end of World War II, Japanese forces in Indochina turned over power to Vietnamese Nationalists. Japan had created an independent Vietnamese government. Japan allowed this government to be displaced by the Viet Minh under Ho Chi Minh. (The History Place, Beginner’s Guide)
The next month, a British force landed in southern Vietnam and occupied Indochina. (The History Place)
The French eventually gained back some control over parts of Vietnam. In early 1946, the French began a series of dual negotiations with the Chinese and Viet Minh over the future of Vietnam. After failed negotiations with the French over the future of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh and his Viet Minh retreated into remote parts of the countryside to fight a small-scale insurgency against the French. (The History Place, Beginner’s Guide)
Though the U.S had no direct role in the return of the French to Indochina, Washington’s desire for a more uniform European economy and European cooperation on a variety of other things required French cooperation. Because successive French governments threatened to become more uncooperative in Europe if the United States refused to accede to their demands overseas, Washington committed itself to a policy of supporting the French in Indochina. (The History Place, Wikipedia)
In this way we can see that the United State’s involvement in the Vietnam War was manipulated and “arranged” by the French who needed help and knew that the United States would have no choice but to accede to their proposal.
The Trojan War was also manipulated although not in the same way. Eris or Strife, the goddess of discord, after not being invited to a wedding party for the gods devised a plan to spoil the wedding.
Lawrence’s purpose in writing this book was concise and to the point. In recent history, due to the fall of the Soviet bloc, new information has been made available for use in Vietnam. As stated in the introduction, “This book aims to take account of this new scholarship in a brief, accessible narrative of the Vietnam War… It places the war within the long flow of Vietnamese history and then captures the goals and experiences of various governments that became deeply embroiled in the country during the second half of the twentieth century” (Lawrence, 3.) This study is not only about the American government and how they were involved in the Vietnam conflict, but highlights other such countries as France, China, and the Soviet Union. Lawrence goes on to say that one of his major goals in writing this book is to examine the American role in Vietnam within an international context (Lawrence, 4.) Again, this goes to show that the major purpose of Lawrence’s study included not only ...
The Vietnam War was a war over communism that started in 1950, when Ho Chi Minh, the national leader of Vietnam, introduced a communist government into North Vietnam. In 1954 it was decided to split the country at the 17th parallel, and was ruled under opposing governments, Bao Dai leading the south and Ho Chi Mihn the north. North Vietnam went to war with South Vietnam with the north being supported by Russia and China, as they were also Communist countries, and the south being supported by Britain and the USA.
After returning, Minh had help from the Vietminh; an organization of communist that wanted freedom from other countries. Their main goal was to turn Vietnam into a self-governed communist country. France wanted none of this non-sense. In 1945 they had moved back into southern Vietnam and ruled most of the cities. Ho Chi Minh swore to fight France to gain control of the whole country. U.S. promised to aid France, and sent almost $15 million worth of financial aid to France. The French fought for four years, being financially aided by the U.S. the whole time. The U.S. spent nearly one billion dollars in order to help France regain control of the tiny country. The only reason that much effort was put into a small area was the fear of the y. Domino Theory. The Domino Theory first showed it's head during a 1954 news conference by U.S. President Eisenhower. The domino theory is the fear of the spread of communism from one country to the next, and so on. Even with the assistance of the U.S. France could not gain the control it once had on Vietnam.
The history of Vietnam was not recorded until 111 B.C when the Chinese first entered the capital of Nam Viet (Buttinger 25). For a thousand years, the Chinese ruled Vietnam which as a result led to “Chinese cultural and technical influences” to which brought “new tools, and new materials… and Chinese customs and learning…” (Buttinger 28). When the French first came to Vietnam in 1669, they came because they saw how the Dutch and Portuguese were doing so well in trading with Vietnam so they wanted to make a profit as well but when they landed onto the shores of Vietnam, they realized that they came too late and trading in Vietnam became unprofitable so they left (Buttinger 60). Although, French trading with Vietnam did not start until 1669, French influence was already upon the Vietnamese due to the Jesuits.
Vietnam struggled for its independence from France in the First Indochina War. It was divided into North Vietnam, which fell under the control of Communists, and South Vietnam, which attempted to establish a republican form of government. The Northern Vietnamese were determined to reunite Vietnam under Communist rule. However, the United States subscribing to the “Domino Theory” was determined to prevent this from occurring (Encarta). Essentially, this theory stated that if one country fell under Communist rule, then many others would follow in a chain reaction, or domino effect (Encarta). The United States was resolute upon containing communism and spreading capitalism and democracy, and therefore supported South Vietnam’s resistance to...
Allen (2008), Young (2002), and Joes (2001) expressed great distrust in regards to America’s motives for entering the war. They argued that from the beginning Vietnam was not a threat nor did it seek to pursue ties with Communist superpowers; Vietnam only sought independence and was willing to cooperate with the United States in order to resolve this misunderstanding. A lack of education in Vietnamese history and the general exaggerated sentiments of paranoia in regards to the spread of Communism led to a miscalculated decision that reverberated repercussions for decades. As a result, these authors accused the United States of having attempted to prevent the nationalist forces in Bien Phu, of engineering the divide between a “Communist” North and an “Anticommunist” South in Vietnam, and of invading to prevent the Nationa...
... the Viet Minh. However by April it was clear that the French forces were losing the battle, and it was now it was clear that the French were putting their last remaining efforts in to Dien Ben Phu. It was an all or nothing situation. The French high command had hoped that Giap would throw his army in to the will of the occupying French forces and in the end be forced to retreat and regroup with a battered down weak force. However this was not the case and by May 7th the remaining French forces at Dien ben Phu will surrender. Peace talks between the French and Viet Minh open up in May of 1954. The agreement at Geneva would once again split Vietnam in to two. The North would be a pro Communist government at Hanoi led by Ho Chi Minh, and the South a pro democratic government backed by the United States out of Saigon. By 1956 the last remaining French forces would leave Vietnam, and a new struggle would begin in the South. The beginning of the American War in Vietnam was just around the corner. The Viet Minh had defeated a major European power, however it would be another 20 years before the reunification was complete.
Lawrence makes a lot of observations about the Vietnam War and the way that we handled it. He starts his essay by arguing that many different things influenced the policies that the U.S. had during the time of the Cold War. Interactions with other countries and other governments are what crafted the Western policies of the United States and our allies. He argues that the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War was not inevitable. This counters what Michael Lind says; he believes that “the war was both moral and necessary” (Hoffman 439). Lawrence says the reasons we started supplying France with war supplies in the first place were that we wanted t...
President Harry Truman authorized economic and military aid to the French who were fighting to regain control of Laos and Cambodia along with Vietnam. The United States refused to accept the agreement the French had made to the creation of communist Vietnam North and South. President Eisenhower dispatched military advisors to train South Vietnamese Army and the CIA to conduct psychological warfare against the North.
In 1965, Lyndon Johnson, with solid support from the American public, made the decision to deploy combat troops to Vietnam, a small country in Southeast Asia (Vietnam War Timeline). This was done with the intention of halting the takeover of South Vietnam by communist North Vietnam. The rise of communist North Vietnam and their attempted control over South Vietnam made the United States feel that they must intervene.
1. Japan wanted Vietnam so they overthrew the French in March of 1945. In August 1945, the Vietnamese nationalists proclaimed Independence when Japan surrendered. France wanted to regain Vietnam and in November of 1946, a war broke out.
Vietnam has a very rich and cultural diverse background dating all the way back to 1066 when William the Conqueror invaded and paved the way for English colonization. The French had been colonizing since the 19th century. The French role in Vietnams history is critical; they started out by bringing these simple peasants to the latest technology of farming and hunting (Yancey 37). The French helped these people out greatly in the beginning, but like all stories of occupation go they just got worse. They started forcing rules and laws on the people of Vietnam. Thus started the First Vietnam War, also known as the Indochina War between France and Vietnam. "The French possessed military superiority, but the Vietnamese had already the hearts and minds of the country. (38). Even from the beginning the Vietnamese had the odds to there favor. The French looked at the wars in numbers and how many lost on each side. They gathered from all the battles that they were winning because the Vietnamese casualties far outweighed the French; nonetheless they were wrong. To a certain point the French were fighting a game that they could not win at any cost. The French had the military superiority but the Vietnamese had the manpower and the Guerilla tactics. The Indochina War ended with French loosing terrible at Dienbienphu, where a whole French garrison was wiped out.
The French had colonized Vietnam in the mid 1800s. France had officially taken over Vietnam In 1887. But on September 2, 1945 hours after japan had just surrendered to the allies the leader of the republic Ho Chi Minh announced their independence. On the day he made a speech he
As a consequence, September 2nd, 1945, Vietnam declared independence from French imperialist and the Japanese military, which invaded Indochina (Vietnam) during the World War II. Kevin Reilly in his Readings in the World Civilizations recorded Ho Chi Minh’s speech while declaring the independence of Vietnam in 1945, where Ho Chi Min captured the frustration Vietnamese felt over the 80 years of French dominance. Ironically, Ho Chi Min, out of respect started his speech with the citation of American declaration of independence. He talked about unequal laws, role in ...
...ence of 1957 would support the cession of foreign involvement in Vietnam. However the French would not relinquish any territorial claims until the electoral conference in 1956. It was there that the French finally gave up its remaining control in Vietnam, however, the United States and South Vietnam rejected the decisions made between the two conferences and thus began a new chapter in Vietnam’s history with American involvement and further wartime.