United States' Reasons for Involvement in Vietnam
opinion Essay
615 words
United States' Reasons for Involvement in Vietnam From my own knowledge, I know that the USA's reason for their
involvement in Vietnam was to prevent the spread of communism. This
was referred to as the domino effect. If one country fell to
communism, then the other countries would fall. America wanted to
contain communism behind the iron curtain across Asia and part of
Europe.
Source A is a speech by the president at the time, Johnson. He says
their involvement is to give South Vietnam independence and freedom
for the people. The source was written one month after the start of
military action, the author is the president at the time. This is
useful because it gives the official view of the war, it is what
Johnson told people was his reason to start war. The date of the
source is April 1965; war has started. It is useful because the source
is produced at the time; the audience is the people from America and
other nations, to justify the war. The purpose is to tell people why
there is a war. The source is useful because it does not tell of what
the Americans and Vietnamese thought of the war. Also, the source is
not useful because the purpose of this speech is to rally support for
the war in Vietnam. Johnson will be biased. He will tell of the good
reasons for war, and ignore the negatives. This speech may not be his
personal opinion on the war, but it will be what his advisors have
told him.
Source B is from a private conversation.
In this essay, the author
- Describes the usa's reasons for involvement in vietnam.
- Explains that america wanted to contain communism behind the iron curtain across asia and part of europe.
- Explains that the source was written one month after the start of military action, is the president at the time. it is useful because it gives the official view of the war.
- Opines that johnson's speech is biased. he will tell of the good reasons for war, and ignore the negatives.
- Analyzes johnson's personal opinion on the war, but it will be what his advisors have told him. source b is from a private conversation before america sent in the troops to vietnam.
- Explains that the source was produced in may 1964, shortly before military action began in vietnam. the audience for this source would be advisors of the president.
- Explains that the source is useful because it shows that president johnson is taking military action in vietnam because he fears losing his job. he doesn't want to be involved, but politicians are in favor of going in.
- Explains that the date the source is produced is useful because it is recorded before military action, but the circumstance for why it was made is unknown. source c is a historian's opinion
- Opines that the major war fought against the south vietnamese. they wanted the country to be communist, and disliked their leader.
- Explains that will have been able to research his evidence for disliking the war. the date the source was produced is from an interview in october 1982.
- Explains that source is useful because it gives a well-researched opinion, his opinion is trusted and he is knowledgeable in the matter. source c has plenty of facts for the start of the war.
Related
- explanatory
- analytical
- opinion
- Reasons for United States' Involvement in Vietnamexplanatory essayReasons for United States' Involvement in Vietnam In this essay I will be writing about why America got involved in the Vietnam War, between the 1950s to the 1960s. This was a steady and slow process with many deaths all because of communism. It was very costly and bloody. This essay will focus on political reasons, military reasons and economy reasons.
In this essay, the author
- Explains why america got involved in the vietnam war, between the 1950s to the 1960s. it was a slow and costly process with many deaths all because of communism.
- Explains that with the cold war, two different styles of living had emerged, the capitalists (america) and the communist (russia).
- Narrates the history of vietnam, which was under french control in the 1880s, and the japanese attacked it after ww2.
- Describes how the french come back to vietnam in 1945 looking to control it once again but find that the vietminh have taken a large amount of the land who are controlled by ho chi minh who just wants vietnam to be independent.
- Explains how america got involved in the war between france and the vietminh and persuaded the americans they were combating communism.
- Describes how the vietminh opened fire on the french with their artillery destroying the base. the french left vietnam agreeing to most of their demands.
- Explains that geneva and a treaty was signed called the geneva peace agreement. america did not sign this; they saw this as giving into communism and hated it completely.
- Opines that ho chi minh would have been elected premier if an election had been held.
- Explains that the seato treaty was set up to stop communism countries signed on faithly saying they would not turn communist.
- Explains that diem's regime was corrupt as he set his family and christians to positions of power, and as vietnam was a buddhist country. he was supported by the americans purely because of his hate of communism.
- Explains that diem's successors are still not much better than diem himself. lynden b. johnson, elected in 1963, knows very little about vietnam but when he decides to take a trip out, it was "the biggest damn mess i ever saw."
- Explains that america became involved in vietnam for political reasons and military reasons. the vietcong posed a threat to diem and his government because they could overthrow him.
- Explains that jfk sent in military advisors to train the arvn to combat communism in vietnam.
- Explains that vietnam increased economic aid to $1.6 billion a year for diem, provided weapons and military advisors to train the arvn, and set up strategic hamlet programmes to stop communists entering the country.
- Explains that vietcong started to step up their attacks as attacks on the bases tongking and pleiku. the us used this as an excuse to bomb back.
- Describes how america and the arvn bombed key targets of military importance to north vietnam. the vietcong increased their activity and so does johnson.
- Explains that the us became directly involved in the vietnam war because of economic reasons in vietnam.
- Explains that the us started to pour money into diem's regime $1.6 billion a year, which was costly for the americans.
- Opines that america's involvement in the vietnam war was due to the cold war and the battle between china and russia.
1077 wordsRead More - United States' Involvement in the Vietnam Warexplanatory essayUnited States' Involvement in the Vietnam War There are many reasons for American intervention in Vietnam whether it is political causes, economic causes or military causes. The Americans want to secure capitalism all over the world and get rid of communism. The French used to run Vietnam in a capitalist manner.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that the united states' involvement in the vietnam war is due to political, economic, or military reasons. the americans want to secure capitalism and get rid of communism.
- Explains that france refused to recognize the democratic republic of vietnam declared by ho chi minh, and fighting soon broke out against the vietminh and the french troops. their situation improved in 1949 after mao zedong’s communist victory over chaing kai-shek in china
- Describes how general giap was forced to organize a massive attack on the french at dien bien phu.
- Explains that the vietminh pushed the french right back until they only occupied a small area of dien bien phu. the french surrendered on may 7th 1954.
- Explains that the united states was concerned about the elections and whether communism (ho chi minh) or capitalist (ngo dinh diem).
- Explains that corruption in the diem government sparked a flame that would send us troops into vietnam. america was certain that if vietnam fell into communism then the surrounding countries e.g.
- Describes the failures of the geneva agreement, vc attacks on american air bases, growing strength of nlf, failure of us advisors, collapse of french indo-china, failure of strategic hamlets, and us weapons manufacturers saw a market for their products developing.
- Explains how us tried various methods to crack down and rid vietnam of communism. strategic hamlets were little american secured villages which peasants around south vietnam were put into to live.
- Explains that the strategic hamlets were a failure and the american advisors in diem's government were also reasons for intervention.
- Explains that troops tried training the arvn to get them to the highest standard, but this proved another failure. the growing crisis in vietnam was unthinkable.
- Explains how the french were defeated at dien bien phu, the growing success of the nlf (national front for the liberation of south vietnam) was getting worse, and the us had one option: operation plan 34a.
- Explains that operation rolling thunder involved sending out asian mercenaries into north vietnam to kidnap or kill any communist officials.
- Explains that the self-imposed restrictions of operation rolling thunder created large safe areas which protected 80% of north vietnam's industry and 75% of its population.
- Narrates how lyndon b. johnson took over the presidency in 1963 after john f. kennedy was murdered in dallas.
785 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 - Why USA Became Involved in Vietnamanalytical essayWhy USA Became Involved in Vietnam Before the Second World War, the region between India and China which now includes Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos was part of the French Empire. During the Second World War, however, Japan controlled Vietnam. After the war, the French tried to take over again but a communist group, the Vietminh wanted independence. During this war of independence the USA became involved as well.
In this essay, the author
- Explains why the usa became involved in vietnam during the second world war.
- Explains that president eisenhower used the domino theory in 1954 to justify us involvement in south east asia, particularly vietnam. it was evident in eastern europe when stalin took over the eastern european countries one by one with communism.
- Explains that the domino theory was a long-term cause of why the usa became involved in vietnam because the term was invented long before the vietnam war.
- Explains that containment was the backbone of us foreign policy to stop the spread of communism to other regions of the world. marshall aid and truman doctrine helped launch containment in europe.
- Explains that truman supported the french in the hope that communism would not spread into vietnam and thus preventing it from spreading to the rest of the world.
- Analyzes how eisenhower supported diem's corrupt government in the south, despite a civil war between the communist north and the capitalist south.
- Explains that the usa became involved in vietnam because of kennedy's foreign policy, which was to protect the free world from communism. kennedy sent 16 500 us troops and advisors to vietnam by 1962.
- Opines that kennedy's foreign policy could be linked to containment as he increased the budget of anti communist activity to try and stop communism spreading.
- Explains that the usa became involved in vietnam because of the 'great society', which was the domestic program of us president lyndon b. johnson.
- Explains that the usa became involved in vietnam because it was introduced during the time the war was taking place.
- Analyzes how the attack on us ships in the gulf of tonkin was purposefully misconstrued when presented to congress and the public by president johnson and his administration.
- Analyzes how president johnson's foreign policy led to the usa becoming involved in vietnam. he stated that he was not going to lose south east asia to communism and escalated the war.
- Opines that kennedy's policy of containment aims to stop communism from spreading any further. his decision to escalate the war happened during the vietnam war.
- Explains that containment is linked to most of the reasons above and is the backbone of us foreign policy.
- Explains how usa became involved in fighting communism in vietnam. it didn't want to be the country that allowed communists to win, so it used its policy of containment to weaken and demolish it.
847 wordsRead More - Why the United States Became Increasingly Involved in the War in Vietnam The Vietnam conflict originated from a struggle against the colonial rule from France. Vietnam, previously known as Indochina, had been part of the French empire up until 1940, when France was defeated in the Second World War by Germany. During the German occupation of France, Japan seized control of Vietnam and it’s main resources like coal, rice and rubber. While the war was still being fought however, a strong anti-Japanese movement known as the Viet Minh emerged under the leadership of Communist Ho Chi Minh. This group fought against Japanese rule, and by the end of the Second World War, had successfully taken control of North Vietnam while still determined to declare Vietnamese independence across the whole country.
In this essay, the author
- Explains why the united states became increasingly involved in the war in vietnam. the vietnam conflict originated from a struggle against the colonial rule from france.
- Narrates how the viet minh, a strong anti-japanese movement, took control of north vietnam and declared vietnam's independence.
- Explains that in 1945, the french arrived to resume their control over vietnam and hoped the viet minh could be victorious again over france.
- Explains how china became a communist state and offered support to ho chi minh. america feared the communist plan to dominate south-east asia and quickly set about pouring money into the french war effort.
- Describes the "truman doctrine", a mission designed to protect free peoples and contain communism. the war dragged on from 1946 to 1954.
- Narrates how france's paratroopers were defeated by the viet minh in 1954, and a peace conference was held in geneva following the defeat.
- Narrates how the united states became physically involved in vietnam. the terms of the ceasefire stated that elections were to be held in order to decide the country's future.
- Explains that the americans feared a communist victory because president eisenhower and his government were convinced that china and the ussr were trying to spread communism throughout asia.
- Explains that diem set up the republic of south vietnam. the usa supported him because he was anti-communist and was willing to imprison or exile any acting communists.
- Explains how diem's regime continued to support his regime with $1.6 billion throughout the 1950s. president kennedy allowed cia officials to assist in assassinating him and removing his government from power.
- Analyzes how the actions of anti-communist governments only served to increase support for a communist state amongst vietnamese peasants, who were not treated with any form of respect by the acting governments.
- Analyzes how the viet cong's guerrilla war against the south vietnamese government escalated into a war. they attacked government forces, officials, buildings, american airfields and supply.
- Explains how the attacks made the countryside unsafe for government forces. president kennedy sent members of the military and advisors to offer guidance and support against guerrilla fighters.
- Explains that kennedy's support continued to grow, but he was determined to not "blunder into war." kennedy was assassinated in 1963, with his successor lyndon johnson more prepared to commit the usa to more extreme actions.
- Explains that in 1964, the us ship maddox was fired on by north vietnamese patrol boats in the gulf of tonkin, which allowed johnson the power to take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression and achieve peace and security.
1044 wordsRead More - Why the United States Became Increasingly Involved in the War in Vietnam In the years after the Second World War, it became necessary for the Allies to decide the future of the French colony, Indochina, when the Japanese who had been occupying the country, surrendered. Prior to the Second World War, the French had ruled over the regions of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The French ruling was unpopular, forcing ideas of democracy upon the Vietnamese people and the French overthrew any efforts of resistance. When the Japanese invaded the French colony, to resist the Japanese rule, an organisation was founded, the Vietminh, led by Ho Chi Minh. In order to defeat the Japanese, it was essential for the Vietminh to co-operate with the Allies and at the end of the war, Vietnam was declared independent.
In this essay, the author
- Explains the domino theory and the fact that vietnam was in such a good position.
- Describes the gi's and what they had to go through.
- Explains that the gi's were only in vietnam for the duration of the war.
- Analyzes the impact of the study on the public opinion at home and the fact that it was drawn for a summary
3181 wordsRead More - Exploring Why the United States Became Increasingly Involved in the War in Vietnam In 1945 American had no involvement in Vietnam and in 1965 President Johnson took American to full-scale war with Vietnam. During World War 2, 1939-1945, French were defeated by the Japanese and they took over Vietnam. A strong ant Japanese emerged called Viet Minh under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh. He defeated the Japanese and declared Vietnamese independence. Although this took place, America was reluctant to get involved and just felt sympathetic towards Ho Chi Minh, as he had fought for Vietnamese independence.
In this essay, the author
- Explains why the united states became increasingly involved in the war in vietnam. during world war 2, 1939-1945, the french were defeated by the japanese.
- Explains that america was reluctant to get involved and just felt sympathetic towards ho chi minh, as he had fought for vietnamese independence.
- Explains that america got economically involved to communist spreading, hence they found $500 million a year into the french war effort. in 1954-1955, french troops were defeated at dien bien phu.
- Explains how the us helped ngo dinh diem set up the republic of south vietnam and supported it with $1.6 billion. eisenhower was convinced ussr and china were planning communism in asia.
- Explains that vietnam fell to communism then laos, cambodia, thailand, burma, and even india would fall. communist needed to be contained.
- Explains that president johnson supported the war in vietnam. north vietnamese patrol boats opened fire on us ships in the gulf of tokin, which gave the president the power to go to war.
- Explains that america got economically involved because they thought that the chinese communist were giving the viet minh instructions and feared a communist plan to dominate asia.
403 wordsRead More - The War that Changed America Foreverexplanatory essayThe reasons for the Vietnam War took place long before the war even began. For years, the Vietnamese had been under French colonial rule. But, when Communist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh came back to Vietnam, he established a group called the Viet Minh, the goal of which was to remove all French occupation from Vietnam. So, the fighting started, and Ho Chi Minh tried to get the US to support them. But, being true to their policies of containment, the US started supporting France. The United States' thoughts about Communism's potential growth can be summed up in one basic idea: the Domino Theory. This theory stated that if one country in a region fell to Communism, the surrounding countries would soon follow. Because of this, the US committed to keeping the North Vietnamese contained once the French withdrew from Vietnam. But, the thing that really pushed the US into sending troops into Vietnam was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. On August 2nd and 4th, 1964, the North Vietnamese fired upon two US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. Following this, Congress approved the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on August 7, 1964, which gave the president authority to send military troops into Vietnam without declaring war. So, President Johnson sent troops into Vietnam, which had already erupted into civil war, to aid the South Vietnamese.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the vietnam war changed america forever. it was a long, costly war between communist north vietnam and capitalist south vietnam, aided by the united states.
- Explains the reasons for the vietnam war, which began long before the war began. the us committed to keeping the north vietnamese contained once the french withdrew from vietnam.
- Explains how the viet cong, a guerilla fighting group disguised as south vietnamese citizens, was difficult for the us to find, let alone fight, and developed napalm and agent orange.
- Explains that the war attracted negative attention from many americans, causing them to protest the idea of war. many songs protesting america's involvement in vietnam were written during this period.
- Explains that the end of the vietnam war was marked by the fall of saigon. the gulf of tonkin resolution caused americans to distrust their government.
931 wordsRead More - Why the United States Withdrew Its Forces From Vietnam The U.S withdrew its forces from Vietnam in 1973 for many reasons, one being the highly effective method of Guerilla Warfare used by the Vietcong. Another reason why the U.S withdrew its forces was because of the involvement of the media and the protests that followed. The final reason that I am going to talk about is the cost of the war for America, not only in terms of the amount money that it spent on the war, but the lives that were lost and the respect that it lost as a nation. In my opinion, these reasons are strangely interlinked and in my essay, I aim to prove this.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that the last reason they are going to talk about is the cost of the war.
- Opines that war, but the lives that were lost and the respect that it lost as a summary
- Opines that fish are of the sea in the same way.
- Explains that the peasants made an effort to get to know them.
- Opines that the cost of the war for america was huge.
- Opines that it was safer to be an ally of the world.
1279 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