America's Role in the Vietnam War

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America's Role in the Vietnam War

Before the 2nd World War, Vietnam was a colony of France. During the war, French Indo China was occupied by the Japanese. When the war was over, the French took the place of the Japanese in Vietnam. In the period between 1945 and 1954 there was a struggle for independence headed by the communist Vietminh, headed by Ho Chi Minh, against the French rulers of Indochina. In August 1945 Vietminh guerrillas seized the capital city of Hanoi. They fought for an independent Vietnam, with Ho Chi Minh as their president. During this uprising the French lost their colony and they wanted to regain their power. This started a long war in 1946. During this war, the former emperor of Vietnam, Bao Dai, was given help by the French to become the leader of the country. In July 1949 he set up the state of Vietnam (South Vietnam) with as new capital Saigon. America had already interfered with the war, but became more and more involved with it. In 1950 they wanted to help the south of Vietnam by sending over a military advisory group. This group was engaged in the training of South Vietnamese troops in the use of U.S. weapons. In the spring of 1954 the Vietminh won a big battle against the French at Ðien Biên Phu. Even with the help of America, France was unsuccessful, and they gave up the fight. Vietnam was partioned at the 17th parallel between North and South Vietnam. The north became a communist republic, while the south became a republic under the right wing dictator, Ngo Dinh Diem.

On May 8, 1954 there was a peace conference in Geneva. The North and South Vietnamese delegates met with those of France, Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States, Communist China, Laos and Cambodia to discuss the future o...

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...me, he had to finish what Kennedy started. Only if he would go along with all the terms demanded by the North Vietnamese, just to suit the public, the whole war would have been a total waste. Nixon was provided with all the political motivations to use military force against North Vietnam. I think it is therefor a pity that in the end he listened to the public and made concessions. If he hadn’t done this, North Vietnam might have ‘broken’ and America might then have won the war.

Bibliography:

Book list

Nixon

A Study in Extremes of Fortune

By: Lord Longford

ISBN: 0 297 77708 4

The hidden history of the Vietnam war

By: John Prados

ISBN: 1 56663 079 7

The origins of

The Vietnam War

By: Anthony Short

ISBN: 0 582 49080 4

The Modern World

1914 to 1980

By: Philip Sauvain

ISBN: 0 7487 0049 8

Internet

www.encarta.com

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