Why the U.S. Withdrew Its Forces from Vietnam in 1973
After an 8-year involvement in Vietnam, the US finally withdrew its
forces from Vietnam to end one of the most controversial wars in
American history, which had lasted from 1965-1973. This all started
when, not long after the Second World War, and more recently the Cuban
Missile Crisis, over which American and Russia, the world’s two
superpowers, came frighteningly close to a nuclear war, a communist
uprising saw tension with the capitalist regime in Vietnam escalating
beyond the control of the Geneva Agreement. At this point, the
Americans were in a difficult position as Ngo Dinh Diem, South
Vietnamese PM, although supported by the USA due to his capitalist
ideas, was disliked greatly by both the communists in North Vietnam
and the Vietminh sympathisers in the South because he refused to allow
free elections and used oppressive methods to crush those he believed
to be his opponents, in an attempt to eradicate communism from South
Vietnam. The widespread corruption of his regime, however, caused many
people to turn against him and soon, after the communist leader of
North Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh restarted a guerrilla campaign to take
control of the uncooperative South Vietnam, America gradually became
increasingly involved, as they tried to ensure that the spread of
communism in the East progressed no further. These were the stems of
the conflict, which spanned 8 years, caused much hardship and
destruction, and eventually led to the withdrawal of American forces
from Vietnam in 1973.
I feel that there were many factors which attributed to the US
withdrawing its troops in 1973, o...
... middle of paper ...
...owever, without the
media involvement in the war, the people back home may have shown more
support for the effort in Vietnam and the government wouldn’t have
been forced to worry about public opinion as much as it would be hard
for people to form factually-based views on what was going on. On the
other hand, due to the changing international scene, there may have
still been a great opposition to the war even if images weren’t shown
to the public back home as people felt strongly against violence and
would still have rebelled against the government. The media definitely
increased support for a peace agreement, by educating the public about
the terrors of war and, without it, the removal of troops would have
most likely have taken place later than 1973, making it the main cause
of the final withdrawal of troops, in 1973.