...The Causes of the Vietnam War The Vietnam War is now considered as one of the most distressing moments during the 20th Century. The Vietnam War was caused by many factors that contributed to the war in Vietnam during the years of 1959 to April 30, 1975. This war just prolonged the struggles between nationalist forces attempting to unify the country of Vietnam. Most of the factors that contribute to the 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...
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...didn’t the French win the war against the Vietminh? The French lost their Indochinese colonies due to political, military, diplomatic, economic and socio-cultural factors. Armed struggle for the unity and total independence started in 1946 and eventually terminated with the reunification of the country’s desire years later, which constituted the most important phase of modern colonial history resulting in the loss of French power by the end of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Indochina suffered subjugation from the Chinese, the French, and the Japanese. The events of World War II, including the defeat, humiliation, and compromise of the French, galvanized the revolutionary movements. Two worlds collided, a European colonial power and an Indo-Chinese traditional society....
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...The Legacy of Ho Chi Minh Vietnam is a country which has suffered a lot of turmoil, both political and regional, over the years. After gaining independence from the Chinese in 938 AD, successive Vietnamese dynasties ruled the nation while expanding geographically and politically into Southeast Asia, until the French colonized the nation into of a federation of states called Indochina, which consisted of North, Central and South Vietnam, along with Cambodia in the 19th century. During such turmoil, Ho Chi Minh was born in Hoang Tru village of French Indochina on May 19, 1890. His birth name was Nguyen Sinh Cung, but he was more popular with other names. After completing his primary education, Ho travelled to the city of Hue and attended the Franco – Vietnamese academy. Post-graduation, at the age of 21, Ho obtained a job as a cook aboard a French steam ship, and travelled to France. He later travelled through various parts of Europe, US and other countries. While in France, he was introduced to Communism, and became involved in leftist and anticolonial activism. Influenced by the communism ideas, he started the Association for Annamite Patriots, an organization composed of Vietnamese nationals living in France who opposed the French colonial occupation, and later became part of the French Communist party in 1920. He also started a journal to serve as a platform for anti-colonial activists to express and disseminate their views about the French colonial regime. Later...
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...Decolonisation in Indo-China Assessment “You can kill ten of my men for every one I kill of yours. But even at these odds, you will lose and I will win.” – Ho Chi Minh • Assess France’s attempts to restore its colonial rule in Indo-China between 1945-1954. Between 1945 and 1954 France’s attempts to restore its colonial rule in Indo-China, through both negotiation and military conflict, were largely unsuccessful. This lack of success on the part of a major European power in putting down the resistance of a (relatively) small guerilla force of rebels within its own colony is a cause for much debate. There are many opinions as to where France’s biggest short comings fell or what their biggest mistake was. Some argue it was their treatment of the Vietnamese villagers, while others believe the environment posed an insurmountable barrier for the French. Still others argue that France’s biggest short coming was its lack of adaptability or its limited understanding of Vietnamese society. It is undeniable that these factors could all be explanations to the problems France faced in its attempts to restore its colonial rule in Indo-China, however, it was the combination of all these factors (and more) within the volatile environment which was world politics at the time which resulted in France’s ultimate lack of success. One thing which was certainly a contributing factor to France’s lack of success was that the French underestimated the resistance they were faced with...
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...1. Blah 2 Vietnam- Part of Indochina -France gains control in 1885 and all of Indochina under French control by 1893. -Japan controlled Indochina during WW2. - Ho Chi Minh fought against Japan - Ho Minh advocated for Viatnamese independence all of his life. Wanted to talk to Pres. Wilson at the Versailles Conference about Vietnamese independence. He was a communist who was educated in communist universities in the Soviet Union. Much stronger nationalist (wanted Vietnam free from France. - Ho formed a government in North Vietnam due to his successful guerilla attacks that drove ou the Japanese. -Guerilla attack means you hit and run an enemy and live off the land. -French attempted to reassert control- At the end of ww2, France attempted to reassert control over its colonial holdings. America tried to negotiate with Ho to form a provisional gov. The French refused and Ho returned fighting for Vietnamese independence. - America assists with funds- America helped the French with Marshall plan funds. The French used funds to rebuild their nation to fight Ho. -Dien Bien Phu- French Defeated- Ho’s forces surrounded them (Indochina- fall of military) causing them to surrender. France realized they couldn’t keep the area in their empire 3.Geneva Conference - Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam formed- (from Indochina) -Vietnam divided into North and South Ho and communists in the north -Ngo Diem in...
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...history of Vietnam was defined by conflict. Between periods of resistance to French colonization, fighting Japanese occupation in WWII, the war with the United States and regional conflicts involving Cambodia and China, Vietnam was left with little time for nation building. Recently, Vietnam has finally experienced an extended period of peace and is using this opportunity to emerge from obscurity and become a major player in the world economy. The nation of Vietnam, officially called the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is located on the eastern side of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. Vietnam is bordered to the north by People’s Republic of China, to the northwest by Laos, to the southwest by Cambodia and to the east by the South China Sea. Vietnam’s long coastline with the South China Sea is of strategic importance as this allows for significant control of this body of water (Burke, 2011). The location of Vietnam was also considered of vital importance during the Cold War. Many politicians and military officials believed that if Vietnam fell to the communists that a domino effect would begin and several other East Asian countries would become communist as well (Moise, 2011). This theory led to the Vietnam War which greatly impacted the history of Vietnam. This war, however, was but one chapter in the Vietnamese struggle for a unified and independent nation. At the beginning of the 20th century Vietnam was a French colony and been a part of French Indochina since 1887...
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...The Vietnam War (Vietnamese: Chiến tranh Việt Nam), also known as the Second Indochina War,[32] and also known in Vietnam as Resistance War Against America (Vietnamese: Kháng chiến chống Mỹ) or simply the American War, was a Cold War-era proxy war[citation needed] that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955[A 1] to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War (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...
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...A factor which led to the Cold War spreading to the Far East in the years 1949-53 is the decline of European imperialism . Vietnam had been part of French Indochina until it had been seized by the Japanese during the Second World War. The French tried to regain control over former colonies .the USA were strongly opposed to imperialism and critical of the overseas empires ruled by European power.the countries of Europe no longer had the resources to run vast empires after WW2,this posed a problems to the USA and this could be the reason for the expansion as if France did not regain control over Indochina, it would be taken into the soviets union power vacuum to spread communism .In Vietnam the forces of nationalism and communism were combined by the Vietminh, led by the communist honcho Minh. Moreover Vietnam being positioned by south of china meant they were to receive assistance from Mao's communist in 1949 this therefore meant that communism was more likely to spread as Vietnam would need assistance ,by manipulating them in this way they are able to spread the belief of communism by making them on their side. The defeat of Japan in the Second World War was also another factor for the Cold War spreading to the Far East between 1949 and 1953 as the defeat of Japan had left much of china without any form of control, the communists were successful in quickly gaining a hold of these areas and by 1949 were strong enough to push the nationalists out of mainland china. As well...
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...American Foreign Policy Leading to the Vietnam War American involvement in the Vietnam War is one of the most controversial issues in our history. However, the United States foreign policies had been dictating our involvement in Vietnam long before the initial deployment of troops into Vietnam. The fear of communism and developments of the policy of containment and the domino theory set the stage for the eventual escalation of the Vietnam Conflict into a war which would claim the lives of thousands of Americans. United States' involvement in Vietnam began as early as World War II, when American forces of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor of the CIA, parachuted into the mountains in the northern region of Vietnam. Led by Major Allison Thomas, their mission, "Deer," was to rendezvous with and train a small group of Vietnamese soldiers that were fighting Japanese occupation troops, and were rescuing downed pilots, this group of Vietnamese were known as the Vietminh. This group of Vietnamese soldiers would soon be the communist leaders of North Vietnam, however, at the time American forces were not concerned that Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap were communists because America was still allied with the Soviet Union, a communist state, at that point during World War II (Westheider 2). The Vietminh under leadership of Ho Chi Minh and with training from American OSS forces were simultaneously fighting the Japanese, while at the same time gaining more political...
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...United States did more damage going into the Vietnam War than just staying away and letting them handle it. The Vietnam War was a long and confusion war, it had many causes, a huge cost, and difficulty on the home front. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident was a big cause in the US joining the Vietnam War because this pushed the president to join and send American troops to fight. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident occurred when the US destroyer Maddox had gotten attacked by a Vietnamese torpedo boat. Two days later another destroyer reported the exact same thing. Later proved by historians that the second attack never actually happened, it was just to help push the US into the war (). President Lyndon B. Johnson had later ordered an air strike and by...
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...as the “Berlin Airlift,” lasted for more than a year and carried more than 2.3 million tons of cargo into West Berlin. Korean War The Korean War was a war between North Korea and South Korea (with the principal support of the...
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...The ultimate cause of the Vietnam War was that America was against communism and was threatened that communism would spread throughout Southeast Asia. However, prior into America entering the war, the French was fighting against the North Vietnam. Why? Because Vietnam had wanted their independence from France. President Harry S. Truman had supplied the French with military equipment, however, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu results in the French defeat and the peace talk in Geneva. The Geneva Accords ends the French Indochina War. As a result, Vietnam signed the Geneva Accords, and divides Vietnam into Communist North and supported by the US, South at the 17th parallel. Yet, North Vietnam tried to infiltrate South Vietnam by joining with Viet Cong...
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...The Powerful Vietnam War and the Effect on American Foreign Policy In the United States’ history, many disputes have been escalated by our foreign policy’s role in international affairs. Because of the democratic beliefs and ideals we as a country hold , we often feel obligated to act as world leaders in aiding others in need leading to these disputes mentioned afore. One such war fought with this belief was the Vietnam War when the United States attempted to help the Vietnamese but ultimately ended up hurting themselves and worsening the war’s progress. The war’s severe implications revealed numerous areas of weaknesses in American society primarily with governmental policies. Specifically, this inevitable loss of the Vietnam...
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...resignation of a president, the ending of a major Southeast Asian conflict, and the birth of two new forms of youth culture identity – streaking and disco. The 1970s began with the Beatles releasing Let It Be, which would be their last album, the Kent State shooting involving the death of the four students, the conviction of Charles Mansion for the murder of actress Sharon Tate, and the conviction of American soldiers for killing entire towns of Vietnamese villagers. This action marked the beginning of the end for America’s support of the American soldier. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War lasted between 1959 and 1975, ending with the fall of Saigon. This war or police action as some Americans referred to the `war would cost the American taxpayer billions of dollars and countless lives. Vietnam, like Korea, stemmed from America’s policy of containment, which was a product of the Cold War era. The fall of Saigon also sealed the fate for Vietnam’s neighbors. Cambodia’s government, which was supported by western...
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...Carl von Clausewitz once said: “No one starts a war—or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so—without first being clear in is mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it.” One hundred and forty years later Dr. Fred Charles Iklé, a noted sociologist and expert defense strategist authored Every War Must End where he shares his insights on the difficult process which wars have been brought to a close and how those lessons learned from the past influence the strategies of the future. In Dr. Iklé’s book, he states: “fighting often continues long past the point where a ‘rational’ calculation would indicate that the war should be ended—ended, perhaps, even at the price of major concessions.” In my short lifespan...
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