...war were the beliefs by a lot of people who wanted to prevent Vietnam of becoming an Independent Country. There are many people who suffered a lot due to this war going on and still due to this day people still picturing how they fought the war. What were the causes of the Vietnam War? Why did the United States become involved in this war? Why did the Vietnam War have such a huge impact both on the Vietnam and the United States? What was the impact that Ho Chi Minh had during the War? One of the most important features when describing the Vietnam War was why the United States became involved in the war, and their reasons for conflict amongst the Vietnamese in the North of the 17th Parallel. It is known that the US was involved for many reasons, particularly their belief in the Domino theory where if one country fell to Communism, the rest of South-East Asia would fall along with it. There are many other reasons why the United States became involved in this war. There are many reasons why the United States became involved was them being concerned with Vietnam and that would lead to the Domino Theory. The Domino Theory began when US policy-makers and most Americans considered Communism as the antithesis to what they believed in. Communists ridiculed Democracy, desecrated Human Rights, withheld Trading from industrialist nations, and used excessive military conflict within its country. America...
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...the spread of communism, the U.S defeat was to produce nothing of the kind: apart from the fact that Cambodia and Laos became embroiled, the effects were essentially confined to Vietnam”. This quote embodies the reason for the involvement in the war and also the end result. Communism was the number one factor for entering the war in Vietnam and containment was the policy. In the end, Vietnam fell to communism and the United States failed at their goal. Communism was the main reason for the initial involvement in the war that escalated into a full scale conflict; leading the United States to learn some valuable lessons. The era in which the war took place was one plagued with the fear of communism. The foreign policy known as containment was used to as a justification to intervene in numerous foreign conflicts. This policy is centered around the idea of containing communism to its borders and not...
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...sets rooted in fears that helped shape the world we know today. On the 12th of March 1947, then President Harry S. Truman addressed a joint session of Congress requesting $400 million in military funding and other foreign aid to support the struggling nations of Turkey and Greece. Truman implored Congress to act quickly to provide aid and support to both nations. Truman described the current state of affairs in Greece as an environment of “political chaos” and that its internal security and very survival were threatened by “terrorist activities of several thousand armed men, led by Communists…” (Truman, 1947) In this speech lay the foundation for the resulting Cold War, and idea that the spread of Communism should be halted and contained. With further analysis of this same speech one can also locate early indication of how America would emerge in the post World War II, arena. The Truman Doctrine was to become the defining policy set that governed and promoted the United States foreign policies over the next 50 years. President Truman himself described it as "the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside...
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...World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union were allies, fighting against Germany and Japan. During World War II, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill needed Stalin and the Soviet forces to help defeat Germany. When the “Big Three” met at the Yalta conference in Crimea, Soviet Union, in February 1945, Roosevelt was convinced that he still needed the support of Stalin to defeat the Japanese, because the United States had not yet tested the atomic bomb. The American Truman Doctrine of containment was meant to keep a lid on Soviet military adventurism that might spark a Third World War and a nuclear exchange. Despite revisionist historians trying to read all kinds of sinister subtext into our actions from 1945 to 1991 this simple objective was the only really important thing to the US during the Cold War. Everything else is smoke and mirrors. The primary threat was an unstable world that would descend back into WW III and a nuclear confrontation. The American policy called the Truman Doctrine of containment was not some hysterical fear that the Communists were going to invade America. The fear was that one of their little military adventures would get out of hand and blow up into a worldwide military confrontation that would end in a nuclear exchange. The policy was intended to keep a lid on small and/or regional wars and confrontations and keep them small and regional. Americans were in fear that maybe communism would expand...
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... Vietnam The U.S. Army’s first encounters with Ho Chi Minh were brief and generally sympathetic. During World War II, Ho Chi Minh’s anti-Japanese resistance fighters helped to rescue shoot down American pilots and supplied information on Japanese forces in Indochina. United States Army officers stood at Ho Chi Minh’s side in August of 1945 as he celebrated in the brief contentment of proclaiming Vietnam’s independence. Five years later, however, in a worldwide sense overwrought with ideological and military confrontation between Communist and non-Communist powers. Army advisers of the newly formed United States Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG), and Indochina, were assisting France against the Viet Minh. With combat rampant in mainland China and Korea experiencing a recent collapse to the Communists, the war in Indochina now became visible to Americans as one more stressing point to be inhibited on a broad sweep of Communist expansion in Asia. By supporting the French military hard work in Southeast Asia, the United States permitted France to maintain its economic recovery and to play a role, through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), to the shared defense of Western Europe (Fall, B. B.). The Vietnam War was the longest war ever...
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...The Vietnam Conflict Introduction It is difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons why the U.S. became involved in the Vietnam Conflict. Perhaps one of the more convincing reasons can be attributed to the strong disdain most Americans had for Communism. The U.S. government feared that Communism, if not prevented, would spread throughout the nations. The federal government used President Eisenhower’s “domino theory,” which stated, “if one country in Southeast Asia collapsed to Communism then surrounding countries would soon fall” to rally support for their intentions to save Vietnam from Communism (Davidson, 2011, p. 839). The true reasons for U.S. involvement in the Vietnam Conflict is debatable, however one thing is clear, the war caused further division in a country already suffering from its own social issues. There had been conflict in the Vietnam long before the U.S. became involved in the conflict. Vietnam had been occupied by foreign countries for many years, and by 1940, Vietnam was under both French and Japanese rule. Ho Chi Minh, a Communist Vietnamese revolutionary leader, vowed to create a Vietnam that was independent of foreign rule (Davidson, 2011, p. 839). Ho Chi Minh established the Viet Minh whose main purpose was to liberate Vietnam from French and Japanese control. Northern Vietnam supported the Viet Minh efforts to create an independent Vietnam and joined forces with southern communist Vietcong to overthrow South Vietnam and unite Vietnam under one...
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...considered one of the major events taking place since the Second World War. The Soviet fall besides various internal factors has been facilitated by US and Western counter parts to attempt to contain further Communism. The Truman doctrine was a US strategy to halt expansion of Soviet Union in the course of the Cold War. In this doctrine the then US President Harry S. Truman vowed to contain the spread of communism in the world particularly in Europe. This doctrine encouraged the US to back every country with both economic and military assistance if the Soviet Union or communism threats its stability. The aim of this paper is to review The Truman Doctrine was one of the significant historical approaches deployed between 1945 and 2008 that has had both negative and positive outcomes for the world. Historical Background In order to analyze the Truman doctrine and its different elements, it is necessary to consider the complex historical context in which it originated, and one that explains how a president such as Harry Truman, laid the foundations seated on the principles of the emerging American political realism after the Second World War (Bostdorff, 2008). The creation of international organizations like the UN itself and its Security Council, had brought hope back to the role, they were going to have to condition the behavior of the great powers towards peace, in a way that the League of Nations, in the thirties failed to achieve. However, this hope was short lived and proven...
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...fifties, but as history proved it by the events that unfolded years later, leading to the US war in Viet Nam. Or for what is happening now in Iraq, if you will. Fowler had the "old colonialist" wisdom that questioned Pyle's justification for violence. He had already learned that "democracy" is something many countries neither understand nor want, and any foreign attempt to impose it is doomed to failure. I don't know that this helps, but I can't see the novel any other way. | | Outline of characters | Thomas Fowler is a British journalist in his fifties who has been covering the French war in Viet Nam for over two years. He meets a young American idealist named Alden Pyle, who is a student of York Harding. Harding's theory is that neither Communism nor colonialism are the answer in foreign lands like Viet Nam, but rather a "Third Force," usually a combination of traditions, works best. Unlike most Americans, Pyle is thoughtful and soft-spoken. Fowler finds him naïve. Alden Pyle is the "quiet American" of the title. He is the opposite of a stereotypical American abroad: the loud obnoxious American in a Hawaiian shirt with a camera....
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...Why did the US become militarily involved in Korea? In June 1950, 90,000 soldiers from the communist Korean People’s Army crossed the 38th Parallel into South Korea. The most important reason for a military response from the US was the document NSC 68, which stated that they must meet communism wherever it arises. Due to this document, it was the US assumption that the invasion on South Korea was not a Civil War due to the events in Korea, and the permanent divide in 1948. However, there was also US domestic policies, and Truman’s fear of being accused of being ‘soft on communism,’ as well as the US based organisation, the UN, which was a new institution, which Truman had to support. Furthermore, containment in Europe and Asia and the threat to the balance of power in these continents prompted US retaliation, as did the threat to Japan and the US defence perimeter. NSC 68 highlights the importance of the defeat of Communism due to the threat of the ‘destruction of civilisation itself,’ and that the ‘peace of the free world’ is in peril. Due to the US assumptions that communism is evil, which is demonstrated in countries such as Czechoslovakia, where political parties and freedom of speech were banned, Hungary, where political opposition meant imprisonment, and Bulgaria, when any opposition was executed, Truman understood the importance of this document. It recommended rearmament and increase of defence, as well as ‘keeping the US public fully informed and cognizant of...
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...to judge whether John F. Kennedy lacked a clear policy in Vietnam we have to compare the policies of Dwight Eisenhower’s in Vietnam and John F. Kennedys policies and how it contradicted with their ideologies. The view by some historians is that The Dwight Eisenhower foreign policy was popularly known as the “New Look”. This policy aimed to maintain the American financial economy while Eisenhower was planning the Cold war and continue the containment of communism regime. Also, the “New look” policy relied heavily on nuclear weapons to stop communism. Therefore the policy was been...
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...address five. Each will be worth 5 points, for a total of 25 points for the whole section. A good ID will be more than a sentence. You should write at least 4-5 sentences for each ID, being sure to define the term, explain its context, and identify its significance. Terms in BOLD are primarily from American Society since 1900. Paul Robeson: African American singer and actor who became involved with the Civil Rights Movement. He became politically involved in response to the Spanish Civil War, Fascism, and social injustices. His advocacy of anti-imperialism, affiliation with Communism, and his criticism of the US government caused him to be blacklisted during McCarthyism. Furthermore, Native Land was labeled by the FBI as communist propaganda. Anschluss: the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938.[2] This was in contrast with the Anschluss movement (Austria and Germany united as one country) which had been attempted since as early as 1918 when the Republic of German-Austria attempted union with Germany which was forbidden by the Treaty of Saint Germain and Treaty of Versailles peace treaties. Germany became a dictatorship in 1933, when Adolf Hitler became chancellor. Hitler openly defied the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which stated that Germany was not to acquire new territory or build up its military. Hitler, originally from Austria, saw the opportunity to take over Austria as beneficial to his plan of a German Reich (empire). Appeasement:...
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...(1946–54) and was fought between North Vietnam—supported by the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies—and the government of South Vietnam—supported by the United States and other anti-communist allies.[37] The Viet Cong (also known as the National Liberation Front, or NLF), a South Vietnamese communist common front aided by the North, fought a guerrilla war against anti-communist forces in the region. The People's Army of Vietnam (also known as the North Vietnamese Army) engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large units to battle. As the war wore on, the part of the Viet Cong in the fighting decreased as the role of the NVA grew. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, and airstrikes. In the course of the war, the U.S. conducted a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam, and over time the North Vietnamese airspace became the most heavily defended in the world. The U.S. government viewed American involvement in the war as a way to prevent a Communist takeover of South Vietnam. This was part of a wider containment strategy, with the stated aim of stopping the spread of communism. According to the U.S. domino theory, if one state went Communist, other states in the region would follow, and U.S. policy thus held that Communist rule over all of Vietnam was unacceptable. The North...
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...Containing Communism Through CIA Covert Operations Kurt Trendle PS335-01 American Foreign Policy Dr. Holzhauer 11/25/12 Kurt Trendle PS335-01 Major Film Analysis In my film analysis I chose three films that deal with previous U.S. administrations and more specifically the CIA's covert operations in supporting and aiding groups in other countries that ultimately opposed communism. The support of these groups was a way to perpetuate the containment policy. Chile: The Other 9/11 (2003), color, 60 minutes. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).:d Nicholas White; p Nicholas White; c Chris Openshaw Chile: The Other 9/11 is a documentary by the BBC which details the hour-by hour events of the military coup that led General Augusto Pinochet to power during the Cold War. On September 11th, 1973 President Salvador Allende was warned of a possible rebellion but continued on to the Presidential Palace of La Moneda in Santiago, Chile. That day President Allende sent out a broadcast that he will not step down. Allende was the first Marxist to be democratically elected. He put into place reforms that raised wages, lowered prices, and advocated for free education and healthcare. He nationalized banks and industries such as American-owned copper mines which really infuriated President Nixon (White 2003). On September 11th, the military, led by the Commander of the Army General Augusto Pinochet, surrounded the palace demanding that President Allende transfer...
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...communists took over YET ANOTHER country. Background Truman’s Speech to Congress, March 1947 On 12 March 1947, President Truman spoke to Congress. His speech is very famous. What he said became known later as the ‘Truman Doctrine’. Truman began by outlining the situation in Greece. ‘Assistance is imperative if Greece is to survive as a free nation’, he told Congress. ‘Greece must have assistance if it is to become a self-supporting and self-respecting democracy.’ Without help, Greece would fall to Communism. Nearby Turkey, he added, was in a similar situation. Getting involved in Greece, Truman knew, would go against the belief of many Americans that America should not get involved in European affairs. Therefore the key part of his speech was designed to explain and justify his change in foreign policy to the Congress: I am fully aware of the broad implications involved if the United States extends assistance to Greece and Turkey, and I shall discuss these implications with you at this time. First,...
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...and the USA in the years 1953–61? Mark Scheme: Candidates should have knowledge about the main features of ‘peaceful coexistence’ in the period 1953-61. Developments which helped to ease Cold War tensions might include: the end of the Korean War (1953); Soviet settlement of border disputes with Turkey and Iran (1953) and recognition of Israel (1953); Austrian independence and improved Soviet-Yugoslav relations (1955); the ‘Geneva spirit’ based on east-west summit diplomacy and Khrushchev’s visit to the USA in 1959. Developments which sustained Cold War tensions during the period might include: US attitudes towards communism in the 1950s (domino theory, ‘roll back’, Eisenhower doctrine); Soviet concept of peaceful coexistence based on long-term victory of communism; the impact of the Hungarian Rising (1956) and the launch of Sputnik (1957); the U2 spy plane incident (1960) and the issue of Germany (1958-1961). At Levels 1 and 2 simple or more developed statements will provide either only simple or more developed statements about peaceful coexistence with either only implicit reference to the extent tensions were eased or argument based on insufficient evidence. At Level 3, students should provide some sustained analysis related to the extent tensions were eased but the detail may be hazy in places and/or the material unbalanced chronologically or thematically. At Level 4, there will be sustained analysis of US-Soviet relations...
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