The Geneva Accords divided Vietnam in half, creating North and South Vietnam. It also stated that free elections had to be held to decide Vietnam’s fate. Except this was ignored, and South Vietnam announced themselves as ant-communist. This assured the United States support which would provide aid and protection from the communists in the North. South Vietnam’s new president was Ngo Dinh Diem.
The Vietnam War was supposed to be a demonstration of how willing the U.S. was to battle communism, but ended up a personal vendetta against the North Vietnamese as the U.S. escalated its commitment in Vietnam infinitely greater than it had ever intended. After World War II, France returned to Vietnam to reclaim their Indochinese colonies after the Ho Chi Minh had declared Vietnamese independence in 1945 (Goldstein 3). The U.S. had just ended a war started by German conquest in Europe, and now was being asked to help France conquer the colonies it lost control of during the war. The Vietnam Nationalists, the same ones who had supported the U.S. in the war against the Japanese not more than a year previous, sought only to peacefully gain their independence from France (Chant 25). In January of 1950, the Viet Minh gained recognition by the governments of the USSR and China, who supplied weapons and places to train (Chant 25).
Exploring Reasons Behind United States' Involvement in Vietnam The involvement of the USA was not a sudden event; it was a gradual slide into war that began with financial support of the French to regain power of Vietnam. After World War II, the Vietminh were very quick to replace the Japanese in Vietnam, and by September 1945, Ho Chi Minh announced that it was an independent, democratic republic. But the French also wanted to regain power of Vietnam and by March 1946, the French claimed victory over the communist Vietnamese. At this time the USA was not really very interested in who was in power of Vietnam. They were even sympathetic towards the Vietnamese people, who, the US felt, deserved independence after so many years of colonial French reign.
The Vietminh were a communist group fighting for independence. The USA desperately wanted the French to keep control , If Vietnam became communist then according to the domino theory all the countries around it would too. The USA gave large amounts of money and aid to the French. Despite this the French were loosing and in the battle of Dien Bien Phu were finally defeated and pulled their troops out of Vietnam. As a result, the Geneva agreement was set up to try and keep order in Vietnam, the north would be ruled by communist Ho Chi Minh and the south by Ngo Dinh Diem.
Although many democratic countries disliked his support for Communism, Ho was strongly passionate about liberating Vietnam. As a prime minster, a president, and a leader of Vietnam, Ho majorly contributed to the Vietnamese independence movement through 1941. While Ho Chi Minh is considered a tyrant by democratic countries such as France and the US, he stands a force for good in the founding of an independent Vietnam based on the ideals of freedom and communism. Ho Chi Minh’s philosophy began to develop in adolescence. Ho spent his early years in Vietnam studying under Vietnamese nationalism.
The United States supplied Diem and has party with economical and military assistance to fight the forces of Ho Chi Minh, who was fighting for a united Vietnam and at the same opposed American and French intervention. What the United States did not realize was that Ho Chi Minh had the backing of the people of Vietnam, " By Supporting Her (France) attempt to establish a Vietnamese regime which lacked nationalist support, we helped insure that Vietnamese patriots would have no real alternative but to rally to the banner of Ho Chi Minh". Deim himself acknowledged that he was not excepted by the people of Vietnam nor did he have their support " Gained popularity as a leader of the resistance, not as a communist", and that the vast majority of his followers were nationalist and in no way pro communist. America failed to open It's eyes and realize that a man such as Ho Chi Minh, who was the established leader of the nationalist movement, could never be replaced by a man, Deim, who was supported by foreign forces and was lesser known then Ho Chi Minh. Deim was a leader of a government that was deeply corrupted and inefficient, resulting in it being unpopular with it's people in Saigon and villagers in the interior, who were neglected by the government.
At this point in time, Vietnam was divided into a North Vietnam lead by Ho Chi Minh and South Vietnam lead by President Ngo Diem Dinh. But that’s not the end of the war. Ho Chi Minh wanted to claim Vietnam for himself and have it under his communist rule, so he began militarizing his soldiers, which were known to be the “Viet Cong”. Diem was strongly against communism and had to defend the Southern part of the country with the allied help from
America wanted to prevent this from occurring and that is why they were so quick to help the South combat the Communist North. In the end however, their attempts were fruitless for they were unable to overthrow or prevent the spread of communism through all of Vietnam. The roots of the Vietnam War started after the First Indochina War and the Geneva Accords. After the first Indochina War, the French who had colonized Vietnam withdrew from the country leaving its former colony with two different and fighting parties, the communist party, Vietminh, and the capitalist party in the South. These two sides split Vietnam into two different countries the North and South with two different rulers, Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Dinh Diem.
The Vietnamese Emperor, Bao Dai, neglected his duties and vacationed in France, forcing the United States to intervene in order to give the inexperienced emperor a chance to contain communism. With the growing communist threat in North Vietnam, the United States saw Bao Dai as “the defender of ‘democracy’ and ‘independent nationalism’” (Puppets). As a supporter of freedom and equality, the United States must do all that it can to contain communism─ which the United States saw as a type of dictat... ... middle of paper ... ...came a major threat, as he gained access to enough resources to create an army that could overthrow Diem’s government. Reacting to the declaration, the United States sent advisors to Vietnam to make sure that Diem’s government is impregnable to the communists. With the incapable Bao Dai and the obdurate Ngo Dinh Diem against the resourceful Ho Chi Minh, American intervention became mandatory in preventing the spread of communism.
The north part became a communist republic, controlled by the Viet Minh, and the southern Vietnam became a republic led by and Ngo Dinh Diem. It was hoped by the North Vietnamese that when elections were held the country would be united again under communist leadership. The USA didn't want th... ... middle of paper ... ...they needed the raw materials from these countries again giving them the authority to involve themselves in Vietnam. Also another reason is because of the Truman Doctrine, this was the containment of the expansion of communism. This is linked with the dominoes theory as they basically state the same kind of thing, if one country falls to communism it will spread.