Contention: The Vietnam War was a civil war that was heavily influenced by Cold War ideology. The Vietnam War was a multinational conflict lasting from 1955 until 1973. Due to international events and relations of the time, the Vietnam War was a civil war that was heavily influenced by Cold War ideology. Western politicians who accepted the reality of the Domino Theory implemented many policies to increase their countries’ involvement in Vietnam, in order to stop the progress of Communism through South-East Asia. America’s increase in military involvement in the Vietnam War was founded upon the basis of ideological tensions between Communism and Democracy. However, at its core, the Vietnam War was a struggle against the French, and did not …show more content…
In Australia, the government’s anti-Communist stance and dedication to its allies shaped the amount of support Australia contributed to the War effort. Menzies’ government had a strong anti-Communist view, demonstrated in the Communist Party Dissolution Bill of 1950. The declaration that the Communist Part was an “unlawful association” is indicative of the Australian governments’ anti-Communist stance, which directly influenced the level of Australian involvement in the Vietnam War. Further, Menzies viewed Communism as “debased, treasonable, utterly undemocratic; in form a subversive conspiracy; in practice opposed to high standards of living and real prosperity; destructive, if it succeeds, of all human freedom.” The outworking of the Menzies governments’ anti-Communist stance had direct impact on Australian involvement in the Vietnam War: In total, Australia sent 46,852 people to serve in Vietnam, of which 494 …show more content…
Australia’s fears of isolation should South-East Asia fall to Communism were allayed through the improvement of diplomatic ties with the United States; the formation of the ANZUS treaty under the premise that “an armed attack in the Pacific Area on any of the Parties would be dangerous to its own peace and safety” demonstrates the level of commitment Australia desired from the United States in order to maintain its safety. The natural outworking of this policy was for Australia to side with America on many of its policies in Vietnam; Historian Mackerras states that “Vietnam was never the central issue; the central issue was the ‘insurance policy’ should Australia require United States support in the future.” However, the fostering of good international standing with the United States was not the only factor that contributed to Australian involvement in the Vietnam War; Grey and Doyle argue that “even if the United States had not existed, the Australian Government would have been deeply concerned over the perceived threat from communism in South East Asia” . Thus, a combination of both Australia’s interest in maintaining good relations with the United States and a fear of the fulfilment of the Domino Theory, as well as
Only in the Vietnam War was the United States’ participation criticized. This is such a gigantic change from prior wars that it bears study as to why it happened, and better yet, should have it happened. This paper will discuss the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, by asking the simple question, Should have the United States’ gotten involved in the first place? This paper will prove that, in fact, America should not have gotten involved in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War took place between 1947- 1975.
My thesis concludes that apart from the containment argument, what America sought by intervening in Vietnam was the opportunity to demonstrate its credibility as a world power. Allen (2008), Young (2002), and Jones (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 National Liberation Front from coming to power in 1965 and reuniting the country that the U.S. had conquered....
During the Lyndon Baines Johnson presidential administration, both those policy makers who supported America’s involvement in Vietnam and those who opposed the war were part of the “containment generation.” They had reached political maturity during World War II and the early years of the Cold War and had experienced the intense anticommunism of the McCarthy era of the early 1950s. These leaders understood and applied the lessons of American nationalism, which had the primary message that the U.S. was the dominating nation that had to embrace its responsibility to aid and improve nations in America’s image. Therefore, when they saw that there was a threat of the spread of communism to areas of Southeast Asia, a majority of the politicians were in favor of the war, which was the most costly U.S. foreign policy intervention during the Cold War. President Johnson and others considered Vietnam a crucial Cold war battleground where an American loss would trigger dire domestic and international repercussions. This view led him to decide to enter the Vietnam War, which was a condemnable action considering that there were intensifying domestic issues that he neglected because he was engrossed in the Vietnam situation. Anti-War protesters, a few politicians, and even the South Vietnamese all pointed out that this war was immoral and was resulting in destruction. Ultimately, Johnson’s decision resulted in a huge price paid on America’s part for its determination to prevent the spread of communism through this war and in the deaths of more 50,000 in an overseas war that was extremely difficult to win and that deepened divisions at home.
The Vietnam war was a war fought against the uprise of communism in South-East Asia from 1955 to 9175. The Soviet Union, China and other communist allies supported the North Vietnamese army against the South army who was allied with United States, South Korea, Australia and Thailand. The war affected Australia’s society as whole is many ways,
In 1960’s, according to American government’s “Domino Theory”, if the Vietnam came under control of the communism, then the entire southeastern Asia would fall in communism too. American had already lost China, we certainly wouldn’t allow the southeastern Asia follow in China’s footsteps, otherwise we would lose an access to the huge resources and markets of Asia. The South Vietnam was struggling with the communism at the North Vietnam by chance, and we had a promise to protect their freedom. So our government got a chance to use the South Vietnam as a hindrance to prevent the happen of Domino Theory. We started to send troops, money and military advisors to the South Vietnam government. And we supported Ngo Dinh Diem who became the Vietnam president through a false poll. Our government knew Diem wasn’t a good leader, but we still supported him because he was an intense anti-communism.
The Vietnam War began in 1954 and came to an end in 1975. It was a conflict that set in opposition the communist regime of North Vietnam and the Viet Cong (its southern allies) against South Vietnam and its chief ally, the United States. The war began after Ho Chi Minh’s rise to power along with his communist Viet Minh party. More than 3 million people died in this war, which included over 58,000 Americans. By 1969, the U.S. had reached peak involvement in the war, involving over 500,000 American military personnel. As time went on, there was growing opposition in America to the war. This opposition led to a bitter divide among those in support of the war and those against it. By 1975, the communist Vietnamese forces had gained control of Saigon, ending the Vietnam War (History.com). Most people consider this war a huge loss and a tragic waste of time. The sting of disappointment from this war is still widely felt today among Americans.
Vietnam’s involvement in the Vietnam War impacted Vietnam in various significant ways. The Vietnam War was a very crucial war in Vietnamese history and changed Vietnamese society. The war was enduring and lasted for twenty-one years. It began in 1954 and ended in 1975. The war commenced due to disagreement of communism in Vietnam. The war was between North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and The United States. North Vietnam supported and encouraged communism in Vietnam. On the other hand, South Vietnam and The Untied States opposed communism and tried to prevent communism from spreading throughout the country. This eventually led to the chaotic Vietnam War. The war gained national attention and created pandemonium worldwide. The war impacted Vietnam in major ways and also impacted vital factors such as health, life in Vietnam, and economy. The leaders of North and South Vietnam also impacted all the involvement that took place in the war. The Vietnam War changed Vietnam greatly. The war left Vietnam in shambles and the war was also a calamity.
The Vietnam War was a cold war that spanned from 1956 to the fall of Saigon on April 30th 1975. It can be seen that the end result of the Vietnam War tainted America’s image through its failure to demolish the Vietnamese Communist Government . It should be noted that many years before America was directly involved with the war, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos were under French colonial rule where the Việt Minh (the communist nationalist independence coalition) spent many years fighting for freedom from the French.
The Vietnam War is labeled as a controversial war in the mid twentieth century. Many ethical disputes occurred in the United States during the war with a great amount of the population protesting the war. Taking place during the Cold War, the Vietnam War was the result from the spread of communism through out south-east Asia. The United States viewed communism as not an ideal way that a government should be. Communism is used to organize a nation in which the government dictates the nations individual freedoms such as preventing ownership of private property and businesses, it assigns noncompetitive salaries, and it prevents freedom of speech. Being allied with South Vietnam, America wanted to prevent the entry of communism from North Vietnam
The Vietnam War focused on the spreading communism and others trying to stop North Vietnam. The domino theory was the theory that believed if South Vietnam were to become a communist party then it would only spread. John F. Kennedy was against communism and wanted to contain it, so the U.S. joined the war, following former president Dwight D. Eisenhower’s policy to support the Diem government in South Vietnam.
The Vietnam War was the aftermath of the Cold War. America believed that communism was spreading and was threatening to expand all over South-East Asia. President Eisenhower promised America a ‘communist-free’ Vietnam. U.S. support for South Vietnam began as soon as January 1955. Vietnamese “communists”, also known as the Viet Cong were fighting against the South Vietnamese government and the United States. The Viet Cong were known for their brutal behaviors, such as forcefully taking food from villagers and the assassinations of people who supported the South Vietnamese government.
The culture or counterculture of America was significantly impacted by the Vietnam War, and these impacts can still be felt today. As McCoy describes, “The Anti-Vietnam War Movement was on to something-an ideology that war was not the answer, and that, given a chance peace could work-and the movement brought the United States to a previously unseen cultural crossroads” (McCoy 100). During the Vietnam War, the citizens of America were predominately divided in two groups. The “doves” who were against the war in Vietnam, and the “hawks” who supported the war in Vietnam. These separate views in America would cause cultural chaos, and protest became a normal occurrence in the United States and around the world. When America first became involved in Vietnam the majority of Americans believed the United States was stopping the spread of communism and supported the government, but that all change in 1965 with the commitment of combat troops to Vietnam. As a result of the troop movements, the first major protest against the war in Vietnam took place, and for the years to come, protest and demonstrations would become more abundant until the war was over.
At the start of vietnam in 1955 many americans believed that “defending South Vietnam from communist aggression was in the national interest.” Because communism was spreading to smaller governments across the world by the U.S stepping in it might prevent further spreading of communism.
The threat of Communism on Australia domestic politics was high from 1945 towards the 1950s. The Menzies government presented policies that were directly connected to the communism matter in Australia. These policies were established during the Cold War period, at a time when the fear of communism was at its highest. The fear in Australia was demonstrated by the Petrov Affair. Furthermore, communist fears in Australia were demonstrated by political action and proposed legislation. The Alp spilt was a major turn in the Labor Party in 1955. The 1950's were a time of great distrust and tension over communism on Australian domestic politcis.
The Liberal Party despised the Communist Movement. The party was led by Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies, who despised the idea of Communism. Menzies attempted to ban the Communist Party of Australia in 1951, but failed this task after the law was challenged in the High Court of Australia where the law was deemed unconstitutional. The Liberals aimed to stop communism from spreading by joining treaties such as the Australia New Zealand United Stated of America treaty (ANZUZ) and the South East Asian Treaty Organisation (SEATO). These treaties stood to say that whenever America would be at war, Australia would follow suit as their one of their allies. This also worked if Australia would go to war, America would stand with Australia. Treaties were considered “Soft Law” and could not be forced upon a particular person or group. Other groups who were in favour of the Vietnam War included the Press, the Catholic Church and the Democratic Labor Party. The Liberal Party was in favour of the Vietnam War and unlike that Labor Party, did not split on ideologies. They were united throughout the movement and built a strong relationship with America during the