...The Vietnam War Elizabeth Guerra Chamberlain College of Nursing The Vietnam War had first started as a “police action” for the United States. In 1954, France had lost control of Korea and they signed an agreement with Vietnam called the Geneva Accord. The country was separated into North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The terms of the agreement stated that each side would not have a leader until 1956 when an election would be held to determine if they wanted the country to be unified. The United States was afraid that because North Vietnam was a pre dominantly communist country, that the spread of communism would flow to South Vietnam. In 1955, Unites States helped Ngo Dinh Diem win the presidential election. Early into his term, Ngo Dinh Diem claimed that North Vietnam, which was called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, was attacking South Vietnam. In 1957, America began to give military aid to help South Vietnam stop the spread of communism. President Eisenhower started the ‘police action” and it continued through until after President Kennedy was assassinated. In August of 1964, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam attacked two American ships that were anchored in the gulf of Tonkin. The gulf of Tonkin was supposed to neutral waters. This gave President Johnson the ammunition he needed to use his Congressional resolution that gave him broad war powers. In 1964, the police actin ended and Johnson started to send troops to South Vietnam. Johnson wanted to fight this war...
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...Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Dinh Diem had different leadership styles with very few similarities. The northern Vietnamese people respected Minh because they viewed him as one of their own and the southern Vietnamese people respected Diem because they respected his patriotism. The Vietnamese people had been ruled by other countries for such a long time that when true leaders emerged the people embraced them. Ho Chi Minh is described as an emaciated goateed figure that was often seen wearing peasant clothing and frayed rubber sandals (Karnow, 1998). He was a seasoned revolutionary who was a passionate nationalist with a single goal of independence for Vietnam (Karnow, 1998). He was often referred to as ‘Uncle Ho’ and still today is referred to as the uncle of Vietnam by the Vietnamese people. Ho Chi Minh, which is roughly translated as ‘bringer of light’, portrayed himself as celibate but he is believed to have had two wives or possibly concubines. One was a Chinese woman and the other a cousin of his top general. Minh’s dream was to unify Vietnam under his flag and under communism. There was no flexibility in his beliefs or bending of his will (Karnow, 1998). Minh was viewed as a man of the people and a simple man who wanted only to see his country through to independence. His humble appearance helped inspire people to follow him. Ngo Dinh Diem was also a nationalist leader who believed that Vietnam needed a strong leader who could make tough decisions. Diem was often associated...
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...in the fight against the communists (Moss, 2010, p. 102). This optimism, despite numerous reports from diplomats as well as military personnel, advising Kennedy of the disintegration of the armed forces, as well as Diem’s dictatorial approach to his job (Winters, 1988). Definite Dictator Diem, although not a communist, based his stewardship of South Vietnam on an equally autocratic approach, described in his terms, as the management of “…an enlightened sovereign” (Moss, 2010, p.69). To Diem, those words meant centralizing all political powers under direct control of his government, much akin to the imperialists he displaced, abolishing traditional local authorities, consolidating power onto himself, and, by extension, the rest of the Ngo Dinh clan, ruling alongside him (Moss, 2010, p. 69). Funding from the American government was unfairly channeled y to fellow Catholics, who were generally treated with favoritism over the rest of the population; jobs both in the military as well as civilian positions were...
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...The Sources 1. Extract “If I left (the war in Vietnam) and let the Communists take over South Vietnam, then I would be seen as a coward and my nation would be seen as an appeaser, and we would both find it impossible to accomplish anything for anybody anywhere in the entire world.” USA President Lyndon B. Johnson – 1964 2. An evening with Hanoi Hanna Ms Trinh Thi Ngo, North Vietnam’s chief female radio propagandist during the war was labelled ‘Hanoi Hanna’ by the American troops. In fact there were many ‘Hannas – all females with persuasive voices – who saturated radio frequencies easily found by American soldiers in the field. Hanoi Hanna always operated at night and continually focused on conditions in Vietnam and the American homefront. Hanna’s primary goal was to destabilise the emotions and fortitude of the US troops. The following is an extract from one of her broadcasts: ‘... Intelligent American GIs, why have you come to Vietnam? Your government has betrayed you. There is nothing noble about your mission. There is no reason why you should be here. You will never defeat the forces of our Fatherland. The French never learned, will you? Do you miss your families and homes? There are questioning why you are here. In America there is no unity there is violence, there is protest against you. Why are you here? When you sit alone at night and think of your loved ones, our gallant soldiers are watching you. You cannot escape. Do you have a watch, American servicemen...
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...THE KOREAN WAR * The Korean War lasted from 1950-1953. * The peninsula was divided after World War Two into a Russian-backed north (The People’s Democratic Republic) and the American-backed south (the Republic of Korea). Each claimed the right to the other half in an effort to unify both. The division was the result of the occupation of Korea by the communists after the end of the war with the country eventually being divided at the 38th parallel. * In June 1950, the North Koreans launched a surprise attack against the south and the capital Seoul fell in just three days. * The United Nations Security Council (which was being boycotted by Russia at this time) asked for UN states to send troops to the region under a UN flag. The huge bulk of the troops sent were American (15 nations sent troops) and command of them was given to Gen. Douglas MacArthur. * By the end of August 1950 only Pusan in the south-east corner of South Korea had not fallen to the North. * In September, MacArthur took the huge risk of launching an amphibious landing at Inchon 200 miles behind enemy lines and from here he launched an attack against the North Koreans at Pusan. * The North Koreans had no choice but to retreat as they faced being cut in two. * MacArthur chose to ignore his orders and advanced north towards the Chinese border at the Yalu River. This provoked the Chinese to launch a massive attack against the UN forces and South Korea. A Chinese army of 180,000 men supported...
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...northern Catholics, who looked down on them and were not concerned to their well-being. The preferential treatment the Catholic’s received from Diem created impossibility for Diem’s administration to gain the confidence and devotion of many southern peasants (Moss, 2010). The government prohibiting the flying of the Buddhist flag prompted the Buddhist crisis (Moss, 2010). South Vietnam Buddhists started to gain attention around the world for their religious persecution through the circulation of writings in addition to demonstrations through hunger strikes, extreme acts that included of self-sacrifice, along with peaceful protests (Toong, 2008). As these protests and exhibitions elevated to extreme levels, the public that had once supported Ngo Dinh Diem and the US’ role in backing his leadership began to decline. According to Moss, “Diem’s extreme actions caused U.S. officials, including President Kennedy, to support the coup that destroyed the Diem family oligarchy” (pg. xv). Diem and Nhu, Diem’s younger brother, executed a...
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...is sometimes difficult. Many Individuals and organizations involved on both sides of the 17th parallel fought for control of the country. In the context of the Vietnamese society, the wars in Vietnam are better understood by taking a look at the leaders of North and South Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Dinh Diem. Learning more about the two different styles of leadership will help to understand how they gained support from the Vietnamese people and other nations for their cause. The Democratic Republic of North Vietnam consisted of the land in Southeast Asia located north of the 17th parallel, as defined by the 1954 Geneva Agreements. The Soviet Union and China supported the DRV in its fight against the Republic of Vietnam in the south, which was supported by the United States. Ho Chi Minh was the leader of the Vietnamese nationalist movement that opposed French colonial rule, and president of the DRV from 1945 until he died in 1969. Ngo Dinh Diem served as prime minister and then was the first president of the RVN from 1945-1963. The DRV was based on the communist model and the RVN was based on a democratically elected government modeled after the U.S. Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Dinh Diem both gained support for their initiative, but with a very different approach. The details of Ho Chi Minh’s life are vague causing much speculation about how his worldview was shaped. It is believed that Ho’s father was a strong Vietnamese nationalist who passed along to him the belief...
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...Before the United States became militarily involved in defending the sovereignty of South Vietnam, it had to, as one historian recently put it, "invent" the country and the political issues at stake there. The Vietnam War was in many ways a wild and terrible work of fiction written by some dangerous and frightening story tellers. First the United States decided what constituted good and evil, right and wrong, civilized and uncivilized, freedom and oppression for Vietnam, according to American standards; then it traveled the long physical distance to Vietnam and attempted to make its own notions about these things clear to the Vietnamese people—ultimately by brute, technological force. For the U.S. military and government, the Vietnam that they had in effect invented became fact. For the soldiers that the government then sent there, however, the facts that their government had created about who was the enemy, what were the issues, and how the war was to be won were quickly overshadowed by a world of uncertainty. Ultimately, trying to stay alive long enough to return home in one piece was the only thing that made any sense to them. As David Halberstam puts it in his novel, One Very Hot Day, the only fact of which an American soldier in Vietnam could be certain was that "yes was no longer yes, no was no longer no, maybe was more certainly maybe." Almost all of the literature on the war, both fictional and nonfictional, makes clear that the only certain thing during the Vietnam War...
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...The meaning of Coup D'état according to Merriam-Webster dictionary is a sudden attempt by a small group of people to take over the government usually through violence. Ngo Dihm Diem was the first president of South Vietnam in October 1955. The coup d'état of Diem was a turning point in the Vietnam war and world history. South Vietnam was supported by United States but during his presidency the civil war still continued between anti-communist and communist guerrillas backed by North Vietnam. Diem valued power more than people of Vietnam. He was a core Catholic and was against all Buddhist. President Kennedy's administration urged government reform upon Diem- he was asked clean up the corruption within his government. He ignored the plea from the States and that was an insult to Kennedy Administration. Thus coup d'état against Diem on November 1, 1963 was plotted so it was a turning point in history. An event is what happened in history. A turning point is considered when something changes the direction. It was not a event because it was not supposed to happen this way but had to do the plotting against diem to avoid more conflict and spread of communism. The event preceding the turning point was necessary and essential in preparing for the turning point because Diem misuses his political power with his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu and his wife. Population in South Vietnam 80 percent were peasants. Majority of the Christians who were wealthy landowners were on Diem's side. Diem's regime...
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...experienced decades of religious persecution during French colonialism that continued with the Catholic government, which was backed by the United States (Toong, 2008). The demonstrations, protests and self-immolations that followed as a result of this religious persecution and the media coverage it generated encouraged the Kennedy administration to back a coup d’état against Ngo Dinh Diem, the leader of South Vietnam, which was a major turning point in the war. This paper will examine why the Buddhist crisis was a turning point in the Vietnam War, as well as why the events leading up to the Buddhist riots in 1963 were essential in preparing for the turning point and what subsequent events were dependent on the action of the turning point. Buddhists in South Vietnam began gaining the world’s attention for their plight of religious persecution through the distribution of literature, as well as through hunger strikes and peaceful demonstrations (Toong, 2008). As these demonstrations became more dramatic, including acts of self-immolation, public opinion around the world began to turn against Ngo Dinh Diem, the leader of South Vietnam as well as the United States’ role in backing such leadership. The subsequent handling of the Buddhist crisis by the Diem administration and the international media coverage that followed played a major role in the Kennedy administration’s decision to overthrow the Diem government, thus changing the course of the Vietnam War. For this reason...
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...source – 1950’s/1960 * 5 books – Secondary sources * Watch films, documentaries and videos. * Historians point of views(opinions) Geneva Agreement – election to be held in 1956 to reunify Vietnam but did not happen because Ngo Dinh Diem cancelled it because he knew he would not win it. If Ho chi Minh wins 1956 elections: * Vietnam will re-unify as a communist country * Other surrounding countries will follow – communism will spread ‘Domino Theory’ (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Bangladesh, and India. Geneva Agreement – election to be held in 1956 to reunify Vietnam but did not happen because Ngo Dinh Diem cancelled it because he knew he would not win it. If Ho chi Minh wins 1956 elections: * Vietnam will re-unify as a communist country * Other surrounding countries will follow – communism will spread ‘Domino Theory’ (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Bangladesh, and India. Communist Communist Vietnam was split into North and South in 1954 – Geneva agreement officially split into North led by Ho Chi Minh and South ruled by Ngo Dinh Diem. Vietnam was split into North and South in 1954 – Geneva agreement officially split into North led by Ho Chi Minh and South ruled by Ngo Dinh Diem. Capitalist Capitalist Primary Sources Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the "falling domino" principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what...
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...United States continued to support South Vietnam even though they were under the repressive dictatorship of Ngo Dinh Diem. His family was appointed as government members by him and they were just as corrupt as he was. Ngo Dinh Diem was catholic and mistreated Buddhists and other religious sects. Also, he failed to introduce a workable land reform programme and used millions of dollars of economic aid from the United States to make himself and his family richer. Along with this he failed to hold the proposed 1956 elections. Diem was overthrown in 1963 in a military coup. Unfortunately, the men who took over were equally corrupt and were still unpopular with the people. The United States continual support of South Vietnam was clearly a desperate attempt to contain communism. There was a heavy struggle in Vietnam between the South Vietnamese army and the communist-trained rebels. This was caused by Diem’s actions which enraged the people of South Vietnam causing opposition to increase. Viet Minh members had established a base in the South and conducted low-level guerrilla activities against the...
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...Peloponnesian War vs. Vietnam War -Both were initiated because of the difference and collapse of conventional values. In the Peloponnesian War (metaphorical/symbolic) and Clouds aspect (physical) -Main message that if you stray away from traditional values or challenge the authority of old values, it will lead to consequences -Importance of key alliances – those with more power always won (Sparta and South Vietnam won) -There is the parallel of Pericle’s death in the Peloponnesian War and John F. Kennedy’s assassination in the Vietnam War – both were respected and held as important political leaders -In Clouds, Pheidippedes is forced to attend the Thoughtery by his father Strepsiades in order to win a debate against creditors. However, instead of acting exactly as his father wanted, Pheidippedes turns against his father and argues that he should be able to hit his father and mother like how his father hits him. On the other hand, North Vietnam was creating havoc by trying to unify Vietnam under communist belief but failed causing a huge number of fatalities. These two are similar in that in both situations two parties who didn’t want to be involved were forced against their will and it caused a bigger conflict than before. -In both Lysistrata and Hair, it talks about individuals who don’t want to partake in the war. In Lysistrata it talks about women who want their husbands and sons to be withdrawn from the war while in Hair it’s about individuals themselves who want...
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.... The Vietnam War left many scars on the people of the United States and had an even greater effect on the country. The reputation of our country changed as people began to have different views on the government, people’s constitutional rights, and the proper role of the media. The changing of perspectives of the people led to the country being split and angry. The Vietnam War was a fight over the government’s power, the war itself, and the draft for the war. The Truman doctrine was created to make sure the South Vietnamese did not become communist. America began to send in massive amounts of money to Vietnam in hopes that it would not become communist. Vietnam was previously property of the French empire. During World War II the Japanese seized control of Vietnam. The communism of the Vietnamese was meant to be an opposition to the Japanese. France then later tried to take Vietnam back but failed. The United States had sent in money to France but when the Japanese defeated France the United States was forced to send money and military advisors to South Vietnam. By 1960, America sent in troops to Vietnam to fight in a war that eventually led to fifty-eight thousand Americans losing their lives. The subsequent loss on the Vietnamese side was even greater than that. The long standing war ended up costing $150 billion dollars. American intervention began in 1955 when the first military advisors came into power. Many of the government’s agencies became involved in the war at...
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...event. The magnitude of the riots and loss of innocent lives that characterized the six month period make the occurrences part of the turning point in American history (Schmidt, 2015). The Buddhist riots were religiously and politically instigated events in South Vietnam between the months of May and November in 1963. However these events did not only have repercussions in America, they proved to be instrumental in Ngo Dinh Diem’s demise. Prior to the Buddhist crisis, after the Geneva Accords, Vietnamese civilians were granted the opportunity to stay where they living currently or the option to move to North or South Vietnam depending on their preference. A million Catholics emigrated from the North to South to form support for Diem’s government. It was known that Ngo Dinh Diem was Catholic and favored other Catholics along with providing them special privileges. He discriminated against and ignored the wishes of the Buddhists, which was 85% of the South Vietnamese population. He prohibited the Buddhists to practice as they chose. Tension had escalated when Ngo Dinh Diem had banned flying any religious flags to prohibit the display of the Buddhist flag on Buddha’s birthday. The main event that led to the start of the riots was the shooting of nine unarmed civilians who were protesting the ban of the flag. The shootings happened in the city of Hue, on May 8, 1963. By May 13th, Buddhist clergy in Hue had drafted a list of demands to give the government officials titled ‘Manifesto...
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