United States' Involvement in Vietnam
explanatory Essay
508 words
United States' Involvement in Vietnam
The background to Vietnam has been influenced by religion, French
missionaries were sent in to convert the Vietnamese population, who
was mostly Buddhist, to Catholics, the reason for this was to 'divert'
their loyalty to God rather than there Emperor, the Vietnamese never
took lightly to these Missionaries convert the people and most of all
de-valuing their Emperor, the ruler of their country. A few Vietnamese
people, or movements, felt threatened by this and a few priests ended
up dead. In 1847, because of the murders and violence towards the
French priests/missionaries, the French sent combat troops into
Vietnam to protect their people. The French noticed that Vietnamwould
make a good addition to their Empire, so after much discussion and
finally the Chinese signed over control of Vietnam. In there near
future, the French also occupied and took control of Cambodia and
Laos.
Vietnam has an abundance of Coal, Zinc, Tin, Rubber and Rice, a lot of
this was sent to France. Vietnam proved profitable to France, as they
earned a lot of money from imports/exports. The Vietnamese had no
choice but to take to their new way of life, some adapted to join the
new governments, and also to keep the citizens in line. When the
Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was attacked by the U.S.A.'s
'test' weapons, the atom bombs also known as 'A-bombs', Japan
surrendered to the Allies, which left Vietnam in position to be taken
over by the Vietminh. Ho Chi Minh was given the name 'Nguyễn Tất
Thà nh' at the young age of 10. Ho Chi Minh embraced the was of
communism whilst he lived in England (he trained as a pastry chef
there), he also lived in France for 8 years before moving to Hong
Kong, and in Hong Kong he funded the Vietnamese communist party. In
September 1940, the Japanese invaded Indochina (which was occupied by
the French), Ho Chi Minh saw this as an opportunity to take back
Vietnam, so Ho Chi Minh, formed a group called Vietminh, Ho Chi Minh
In this essay, the author
- Explains how the united states' involvement in vietnam was influenced by religion. french missionaries were sent to convert the vietnamese population to catholics to 'divert' their loyalty to god.
- Narrates how the french sent combat troops into vietnam in 1847 to protect their people. after much discussion, the chinese signed over control of vietnam.
- Explains that vietnam proved profitable to france, as they earned a lot of money from imports/exports. the vietnamese had no choice but to adapt to their new way of life.
- Describes how ho chi minh embraced communism while living in england and trained as a pastry chef.
- Narrates how ho chi minh funded the vietnamese communist party in hong kong. in september 1940, the japanese invaded indochina, so he formed vietminh.
- Explains that ho chi minh's group, the vietminh, received ammunition and weapons from the soviet union, and soon after pearl harbour was bombed, they also received supplies from america.
- Explains that the cold war was a war against two ideologies, capitalism and communism.
- Explains that america's negation to share nuclear secrets, and also for russia spreading communism through the world, was a big one, because america traded with other countries and communist countries never traded, they where self sufficient.
- Explains that britain, joseph stalin and harry truman met in potsdam for a meeting on the outcome of germany and vietnam. stalin wanted economic help because of the 31,000 factories destroyed.
Related
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- USA's Involvement in the Vietnam Warnarrative essayUSA's Involvement in the Vietnam War The USA had a colossal hatred for the strong spread of communism that seemed to sweep across Eastern Asia. Although Vietnam, part of Indochina in South-East Asia was many thousands of miles away from the USA, due to obsessive paranoia and the threat of its national interest, America felt threatened adequately enough to fight a war there. The USA’s suspicion that the communists were taking over the world was exceptionally strong. Their explanation for their most paranoid attitude lay in the Korean War, the communist take-over of China, the Cold War and also the communist success over the French in Vietnam.
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In this essay, the author
- Explains that since clinton normalized relations between the united states and vietnam, the two countries have been working towards a trade agreement for over four years.
- Argues that the clinton administration views the trade agreement as one that "has great potential benefits for both countries."
- Argues that the trade agreement with vietnam will increase regional stability. with china's increasing influence in the region, u.s. presence is as important as ever.
- Opines that vietnam could become the turkey of the far east to the united states.
- Explains that the bilateral trade agreement would give american companies "opportunities to build relations that have never before existed in the history of u.s.-vietnam relations."
- Opines that for those with emotional ties to the vietnam war, relations with vietnam will serve as another great step towards reconciliation. president clinton states that the agreement is one more reminder that former adversaries can come together to find common ground.
- Cites cnnfyi.com's "opening doors to vietnam". defense link. "time for us-vietnam military ties, cohen says".
- Cites landler, mark, peterson, douglass, and peterson's testimony on us-vietnam trade relations.
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1473 wordsRead More - United States' Withdrawal From Vietnamopinionated essayUnited States' Withdrawal From Vietnam America went to war in Vietnam with an aim of destroying the Vietcong to protect South Vietnam from Communism. America was against communism and they wanted to stop the spread of it. They did not achieve what they set out to do as they had many boundaries in their way. Events both inside and outside of Vietnam led to the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that they will be looking at the reasons as to why troops from vietnam were sent to vietnam.
- Explains that the tet offensive is one of the reasons they are going to start with.
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1126 wordsRead More - The Differing Reactions to United States' Involvement in Vietnamanalytical essayThe Differing Reactions to United States' Involvement in Vietnam Everyone in America had a different reaction to the Vietnam War. Some people supported the war because they feared Communism. They were afraid that if they did not stop the Communism in Vietnam, that type of government would affect all other countries. This was according to the Domino Theory. They thought that stopping the Vietnamese would be the correct and easy thing to do, but they were wrong.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that america had different reactions to the vietnam war. some people supported the war because they feared communism.
- Explains that others did not support the war because they didn't want the usa to be involved with something that was not their business. these reactions were caused by different events in history.
- Explains that the american public knew that they were winning the war, but when the vietcong attacked and held the south vietnamese cities and towns, the americans began to question whether it could be won.
- Analyzes how the americans struggled to win the guerilla war. president johnson didn't seek re-election and richard nixon started 'vietnamization'.
- Explains how the american community came to terms with the my lai massacre in 1968, which hit the government's support for the war.
- Explains how the mission unfolded into a massacre killing over 300 unarmed civilians including women, children, and the elderly. the commander of the troops ordered his men to enter the village firing, although there had been no report of opposing fire.
- Explains that the investigation on the my laimassacre found a lot of mistakes in the army, including widespread failures of leadership, discipline, and morale.
429 wordsRead More - The Reason USA got Involved in Vietnamexplanatory essayThe Reason USA got Involved in Vietnam At the beginning of World War 2 Vietnam, a small country to the south of China, was under the control of the French. However, The Chinese had control before the war. The Chinese rule had influenced the Vietnamese who based their everyday lives on the Chinese ways of life. E.g. Language, as the French took power Vietnam had to take a dramatic change in the way that they lived. They had to become Catholic, like the French, which was not very popular as they had already become Buddhist and were not ready to change their religion.
In this essay, the author
- Explains how the usa got involved in vietnam, a small country to the south of china, at the beginning of world war 2. the chinese rule had influenced the vietnamese who based their everyday lives on the chinese ways of life.
- Explains how the french, which was not very popular as they had already become buddhist, attacked the catholic priests to try and keep vietnam as a buddhist country.
- Describes how ho chi minh grew up to lead the resistance against the french. his power and determination influenced the vietnamese to fight for an independent vietnam and eliminate all french rule.
- Explains that japan invaded indochina during world war 2 and the french decided that they couldn't help vietnam due to the german occupation of paris. the japanese had no other opposition and eventually overwhelmed the vietnamese.
- Describes how ho chi minh founded the indochinese communist party in 1930, which provided the inspiration to make the vietnamese fight without the aid and support of the french.
- Describes how the usa backed the french by supplying them with arms and money, but they were defeated by vietnam and china.
- Explains that vietnam was to be divided into north and south vietnam. ho chi minh and ngo dinh diem opposed communism ruled the north.
- Explains that communism has always been opposed by the usa and at the end of world war 2, the world was divided into the communist east and the capitalist west.
- Explains that harry truman was anti-communist during the cold war. he suggested that western countries could contain communism, which might stop it spreading to other countries.
- Explains that america offered financial backing and stability to any country that accepted capitalism and became democratic. truman felt that communist countries would be competing for power in and around europe.
- Explains that the american people were encouraged to accuse others of holding left wing views.
- Explains that the us tried to ban communism in korea and cuba before vietnam. north korea was communist whereas the south was anti-communist. russia and the people's republic of china assisted the north.
- Explains that president truman sent 135,000 troops into the south to try and cut short the journey made by the northern troops and force them back up north. mcarthur wanted to send the communists out of korea and away from china.
- Explains that fidel castro, instead of the party supported by the americans after the revolution, took power in cuba. the usa stopped any relationship between the two in 1961.
- Describes the "bay of pigs incident" in which the cubans were arrested and asked for russia's help. the arrival of nuclear weapons in cuba worried the usa.
- Analyzes how truman and khrushchev agreed that ussr would take their nuclear weapons back but only if kennedy never entered cuba again.
- Explains that eisenhower was worried that if vietnam became communist, other countries would follow. he gave the french troops more materials to assist them in the war.
- Explains that kennedy was anti-communist at first sight, put into power, and sent military advisors to assist the french in the war. he felt that vietnam becoming communist would put other countries at risk.
- Explains how kennedy used america's resources to convince civilians to join the army. the sending of advisors proved to be a major advantage.
- Narrates how diem arrested and imprisoned buddhist monks and increased the number of military advisors he had in vietnam.
- Explains that johnson wanted to be decisive so he decided that america should stand tall and fight for an independent and non-communist vietnam.
- Explains that johnson decided to send in more us troops and declared a bombing on north vietnam on 2nd march. the gulf of tonkin resolution authorized johnson's decision.
- Describes how johnson was pressured into launching operation rolling thunder and the gulf of tonkin resolution because he was losing so many troops and his ships were badly damaged.
- Opines that the usa sent troops into vietnam because it was a last resort. the arvn did not have the full support of the south vietnamese people.
- Opines that it was a bad idea to send vast numbers of troops in at one time because the death toll will start to increase rapidly.
- Explains the reasons for sending troops into vietnam is a mixture of long and short term effects because some of the pressure came from the long term events leading up to and during the war.
1440 wordsRead More - USA's Withdrawal From Vietnamopinionated essayUSA's Withdrawal From Vietnam The USA withdrew from Vietnam for a variety of reasons. The very fact that the largest super power of the time withdrew from this largely unheard of region proves that there can be no substitute for careful planning prior to a major conflict including money. The Failure Of American Tactics There were many ill thought out and sometimes barbaric tactics used by the USA which all contributed to withdrawal and the failure of American tactics in Vietnam. One of the major contributing factors for this was that right from the very start the American government believed that it could succeed in its mission in this campaign, simply by ploughing billions of dollars of the US tax payers money into what eventually proved to be a worthless cause, as a pose to spending time in careful preparation planning necessary action that could have been taken before committing countless young prosperous American lives to the on going conflict. This however, was by no means the only failing of the U.S government during the Vietnam conflict.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that the u.s did not make the task of locating them a hard one for the v.c.
- Opines that events such as the mai lai massacre, as it is now known, show that the events of the massacre have a significant impact.
- Opines that vietnam would be seen as a country 9000 miles away from vietnam.
- Explains that this was a modern war and was broadcast 24 hours per day 7 days per week.
2120 wordsRead More - Different Reactions in the USA to the Country’s Involvement in Vietnam At the beginning of the Vietnam war, the Americans were the favoured force. This was mainly because of the strong opposition to communism, the fear of the domino theory, which America thought would happen if they didn’t get involved, and also young patriotic men wanted to become war heroes although they didn’t realise the horrific reality of it. By the end of the 60’s calls for the end of the war were increasing due to the amount of losses of American soldiers, particularly young men, and peace protests were happening. The opinion of the war was suddenly changing. The media’s influence caused a problem because at the start of the war, they reported of the fact that communism was the enemy, but as things went on the media started to spread stories of things going on that were wrong.
In this essay, the author
- Describes the calls for the end of the war in the 1960s.
- Opines that they didn't want their sons to be sent off and be killed.
- Explains that because of all these people getting out of it, they are unable to go to war.
- Explains that the late 60’s were a time of hippies with the reaction to the war.
383 wordsRead More - United States' Withdrawal of Forces From Vietnamexplanatory essayUnited States' Withdrawal of Forces From Vietnam There were many reasons on why the Americans withdrew their troops. One of the biggest reasons on why America had to withdraw their troops was the lack of training and they were fighting an experienced side which knew their surrounding very well, which made it very hard for them to attack and try and win the war against the Vietcong. They also didn't know who the enemies were and who civilians were. This made it very hard for the American to win the war.
In this essay, the author
- Explains the reasons why the americans withdrew their troops from vietnam, including the lack of training and the fact that they were fighting an experienced side.
- Explains that the media was showing pictures of innocent people's villages being attacked and the large amount of american troops being killed or injured.
- Explains that conscripts and not professional troops were young, mostly from lower social groups and often from america's minority groups. they were trained in conventional warfare unlike the vietcong that had been training for a log time.
- Explains that the vietcong had years to perfect their tactics unlike the american soldiers in vietnam had only had their basic training.
- Explains that the vietcong used no tanks and mostly moved by foot. us troops responded with the use of helicopter gun ships and treated all civilians alike as potential enemy.
- Describes the my lai massacre, where 109 civilians were murdered as the us troops thought they were vietcong soldiers.
- Explains that the vietcong moved further inland or further into laos meaning keeping away from the defoliated areas. the american front line troops were nicknamed "grunts".
- Describes how a "grunt" was 19 years old and knew that the land they operated in was full of booby-traps. anywhere they moved in the jungle or in long grass could result in serious injury.
- Explains how the vietcong used mines called "bouncing bellies" which were on springs and when tripped would spring up to about waist height and explode.
- Explains that vietcong were big holes in the ground with spikes in them which were covered in grass and leaves soldier couldn't see them. they changed tactics with the tet offensive in 1968.
- Narrates how the north vietnamese army attacked south vietnamese cities and us military bases, but the attack was never decisive and the americans forced the vietnamese back though both sides suffered serious losses.
- Explains that the south vietnamese were assisted in material matters by the americans, but the fighting was done by south vietnam's army.
- Explains that america's involvement in vietnam ended in 1973. the war had cost her one billion dollars a day at its peak; she dropped 7 million tons of bombs - more than the entire total of all participants in world war two.
- Explains that increasing us involvement saw increasing u.s casualties since the tonkin incident of august 1964. increased involvement required more troops and conscription, also known as the draft.
- Opines that america didn't like the casualties and brutalising effects of the war, especially the number of civilians being killed at my lai massacre.
- Explains that the vietcong allowed broadcasters to move into areas where innocent people were injured. the war costing huge amounts of money led to inflation and left the value of the dollar lower than usual.
- Describes how the vietcong launched devastating attacks in the south during the tet offensive in 1968.
977 wordsRead More - Why The USA Became Increasingly Involved in Vietnamanalytical essayWhy The USA Became Increasingly Involved in Vietnam In the nineteen forties when the war had ended many countries economics were in an appalling state. Germany and other eastern European countries had inflation and mass poverty. These countries were gradually being influenced by communist USSR. This was because communism meant that everyone equal no matter what there status which meant no poverty.
In this essay, the author
- Explains why the usa became increasingly involved in vietnam. in the nineteen forties, many countries' economics were in an appalling state and were being influenced by communist ussr.
- Analyzes how the west capitalist governments hated the idea of confiscating private businesses, which led to the collapse of the system.
- Analyzes how churchill referred to the point where communism of eastern europe met the capitalist west as the 'iron curtain.'
- Explains how the ussr and china's influence on the rest of the world turned communist in 1954. the french colonised vietnam to exploit its paddy fields, but lost it to the japanese in the second world war.
- Explains that the usa had become indirectly involved by funding the war for the french, but this was not enough for them. the french who primarily fought to preserve their empire differed in the reason why america became involved.
- Explains that the americans boycotted the elections at the u.n. because they felt they would join north vietnam, who was communist.
- Explains that president johnson needed an excuse to seize control of the war and send troops into vietnam. the american destroyer reported that it had been attacked.
- Explains that the usa was dragged into the war by their hatred of communism and would do anything to defeat the communist vietminh.
462 wordsRead More