South Vietnam Case Study

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Recommended: Social and economic impacts of Vietnam

Murray, Joshua
HST 456
Exam One
February 21, 2014
Thomas, Sabrina

Short Answer # 1
Due to an immense fear of South Vietnam falling prey to the Communist powers of The People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union, The United States government enacted various refugee, military and economic policies to create a self-sufficient democratic nation-state in South Vietnam. In an attempt to diversify South Vietnam’s economy, The United States initiated the Commercial Import Program (CIP) which started in January of 1955, in which the United States assisted South Vietnam in the growth of industrialization and commerce through economic aid, consumer imports and supporter through middle class Vietnamese. The goal was to create a self-sufficient free market in South Vietnam beyond agricultural products long after the United States intervention was over. The next policy to aid the South Vietnamese was called the Agroville Program which was established to protect and urbanize rural Vietnamese people to increase support for the Diem regime by relocating them from their lands to secure built communities. This policy had huge repercussions as it did not aid anti-communist support but increased Communist favor in rural Vietnamese as some Vietnamese people felt forcibly relocated to the land that they were ancestrally bound too. In order to ensure South Vietnam had an effective military to combat North Vietnam and the Communist forces such as China which supplied automatic weapons, the United States sent the Military Assistance and Advisory Group (MAAG) which provided military advisors to the South Vietnam government, assisting them with information on military tactics and efficient training skills.

Short Answer #2
John F....

... middle of paper ...

...nd engaging in full scale military engagement in Vietnam was a rash decision as it contained little investigation and inadequate research on the battle techniques of the Northern Vietnamese before engaging. Altogether, President Johnson’s response and executed action towards the events occurring in Southeast Asia were rash, rushed and researched. His elitist attitude towards the power that the United States held compared to the “guerilla” forces of the Viet Cong created a mentality that the United States would easily suppress the opposing forces as they were the dominant world power; however Johnson neglected major elements of geopolitical situations and warfare style needed to be successful. President Johnson had a chance to withdraw from Vietnam after Kennedy’s assassination but chose to escalate the situation that had been brewing since the Truman administration.

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