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How was communism contained in vietnam
Vietnam war history
Short summary on the vietnam war
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The Vietnam War
The Vietnam war was a very hard and emotional time for many people. From the vietnamese to the u.s., the vietnam war was a tradgedy. People said that the vietnam war had been the longest lasting battle that took place in the cold war. The whole thing started because the vietnamese wasnted to have their independence. They no longer wanted to be under the control of france. France did not want to give up the land that they had ruled for years. France was getting supplies and goods from vietnam so they didnt want to give it up so they fought for it. Ho Chi Minh was vietnams president as you can say he was in control of north vietnam. He wanted vietnam to be a communist country much like the soviet union.
After Ho Chi Minh took over independence on vietnam , the french started to fight to regain control of south vietnam . so they entered the war. They came to the war with complete confidence. They ended up regaining two major cities they had lost before. The french was not doing too well after that so they communicated with the U.S. The U.S. joined because president Truman didn't want to loose france as an ally so he helped out by giving them aid. Truman did not want to lose vietnam to communism. France was losing the war , even though the U.S. was supporting them . Soon they realized the war was over for the french because the vietnamese were controlling too much of the south for them too win vietnam back.
Meanwhile, the Soviet Union was trying to get other countries to be communist countries. " President Eisenhower felt that if the U.S. lost vietnam to communism, they would not be able to get the reasorces they need in any part of South East Asia." ( Gary B. Nash " american odyssey " p.770). Eisen...
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bibliography
Bonds, Ray. The Vietnam War: The Illustrated History of the Conflict in Southeast Asia. London: Salamander, 1983. Print.
Isserman, Maurice. The Vietnam War. New York: Facts on File, 1992. Print.
Nash, Gary B. "23." American Odyssey: The United States in the Twentieth Century. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 1999. 768-801. Print.
“China and Soviet Union recognize Democratic Republic of Vietnam.” 2014. The History Channel website. Mar 30 2014, 12:12 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/china-and-soviet-union-recognize-democratic-republic-of-vietnam
picture citations:
America Protest against the War. 2013. N.p.
Szczepanski, Kallie. The Vietnam War ( American War). N.d. N.p.
Browne, Malcolm. Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist Monk Immolating Himself. 1963. N.p.
Pulitzer, Nick Ut's. Trang Bang after Napalm Attack. 1972. N.p.
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 Americans entered the war in 1964 because they believed in the domino theory, that if one nation fell into communism then other nations would follow. Soon America found it almost impossible to fight against people who were so determined to win, so America pulled its troops out of Vietnam in 1973. Withdrawing the American troops resulted in the South Vietnamese forces being defeated by the communists who then took over the country.
The Vietnam War: A Concise International History is a strong book that portrays a vivid picture of both sides of the war. By getting access to new information and using valid sources, Lawrence’s study deserves credibility. After reading this book, a new light and understanding of the Vietnam war exists.
The true answer to why the United States got involved in Vietnam lies in part in the Truman Doctrine. This statement is true for two reasons. First, the Truman Doctrine set forth a policy that was applied the international spread of Communism. Second, the Truman Doctrine was brought up when the conflict in Vietnam was increasing. The first United States involvement in Vietnam began in the late 1940's, long before it escalated to include the United States Military. Because of the basic terms or the Truman Doctrine, the United States was drawn in the Vietnam conflict. The Truman Doctrine dealt with fears of Communism, the domino theory, and a feeling there was a need for containment. All of Vietnam was in danger of falling into the hands of Communism.
Fussell, Paul. "Vietnam." The Bloody Game: An Anthology of Modern War. Ed. Paul Fussell. London: Scribners, 1991. 651-6.
...ary B. American Odyssey: The United States in the 20th Century. New York, 2002. 513. Print
Robert S. McNamara's book, In Retrospect, tells the story of one man's journey throughout the trials and tribulations of what seems to be the United States utmost fatality; the Vietnam War. McNamara's personal encounters gives an inside perspective never before heard of, and exposes the truth behind the administration.
It consisted of North Vietnam trying to make South Vietnam a communist government. The United States later joined this conflict because of the stress North Vietnam was putting on South Vietnam to become a government that America did not want. The main reason why America joined was because of a theory called the Domino Effect. America and Russia were going through what has been dubbed the Cold War. The Domino Effect is the theory that communism will spread from one country to another.
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.
...e fight against communism placed a great responsibility on United States and its European allies. In order to back their beliefs, they were responsible to help in the fight against communism. Each country believed strongly in their individual views concerning communism and they were willing to do anything to stop the advancement of this particular form of government. This eventually led to the deaths of thousands of U.S. troops in a war that was being fought for controversial reasons.
... was willing to do everything in its power to stop any spread of communism, even in its least significant form? France was only looking to maintain its standing as a colonial power, and its goals and rewards were obvious. While France was still involved, the U.S. could share the same goals, but what could a country without colonial interests gain by fighting to put down a colonial independence movement? England had lost its American colonies because it was unfocused in exactly how to go about regaining control, and for the same reason, the France and the U.S. were unable to crush the nationalistic Vietnamese freedom fighters.
The Vietnam war has been referred to by many names, one of the longest being 'the cornerstone of the free world southeast Asia'. It was called that by John F. Kennedy. He was talking about Vietnam being an essential country in a non-communist world. He believed that if Vietnam became a communist country, all of the surrounding countries would also become communists. This is the main reason America was involved in the Vietnam War.
In the early 1960s the U.S. began sending military advisors to South Vietnam beginning the Vietnam War, arguably the most controversial war in United States history. This incident followed Vietnam gaining its independence from the French Empire’s Indochina in 1954. The nation soon split, creating a communist North Vietnam, and a noncommunist South Vietnam. In fear of communism spreading the U.S. supported South Vietnam and sent troops. As the incident dragged on it caused a huge anti-war movement and a lot of political turmoil.The troops were withdrawn in 1973, the whole country fell to communism, and the U.S. failed. How did a superpower such as the U.S. take defeat from a small country like Vietnam? Many have wondered and continue to wonder
Vietnam was a struggle which, in all honesty, the United States should never have been involved in. North Vietnam was battling for ownership of South Vietnam, so that they would be a unified communist nation. To prevent the domino effect and the further spread of communism, the U.S. held on to the Truman Doctrine and stood behind the South Vietnamese leader, Diem.
Within the war the U.S had the intention to keep South-Vietnam free for communism, and that was also the intention under the war until 1965, where it more than less was gone. In the mid-nineteenth century, France had the control of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. But in 1954, France was forced out of Vietnam and therefore there were no one left to be the anticommunist in the region, except South-Vietnam.