...2014 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...
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...“War, what is it good for.” These words, sung by Edwin Starr, characterized American youth during the 70’s. The Vietnam war had been raging since 1955 and most Americans were sick and tired of reasons behind the conflict. As Muhammad Ali, who refused to engage in the Vietnam War, was immortalized with his quote “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong.” However, wars have existed in some form or other since the dawn of human history. Why do societies go to war, and what is the best explanation for this behavior? The answer lies inside the history of war, throughout all of its incarnations and propagators. First, humans are not the only species to engage in warfare. Ants and bees are both seen engaging in large scale aggression against...
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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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...independence in what is known as the “First Vietnam War”. France was supported by the United States, who paid 80% of their war costs in hopes of containing communism. France wanted all of Vietnam to be democratic but Ho Chi Minh wanted a communist country. The eight year war ended with the signing of the Geneva Accords of 1954, stating that Vietnam would be split into a northern communist country and a southern democratic country. The new leader of South Vietnam was Ngo Dinh Diem. Nearly 600 american advisors were sent by President Dwight Eisenhower, to South Vietnam to help patrol the land and train the South vietnamese military. John F. Kennedy sent 16,500 advisors or Green Beret by 1963. He witnessed 200 of his men killed in action....
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...military service in the Vietnam War. Only men were put into the draft lottery, receiving a random number that corresponded with their birthdays. The men with the lower numbers were called to serve in the war first . This meant many of our soldiers were young and not trained well. Many people were not in favor of the war in Vietnam. People believed the United States were fighting for a losing cause....
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...Can WAR ever be just? Can there be rules about war so that fair play is possible? Has there ever been a war with a just cause? This has been a debate for ages. It depends on who you are asking if you ask a Christian they will tell you any war is unjust because god would not want you to kill others. He would want you to turn the cheek. Others may say it is just if it’s in defense. In this paper, I will explain why the Vietnam War was just. The United States got involved in the Vietnam War from 1954 -1964 to prevent and contain communism. In Vietnam, an independence movement under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh rose to challenge French rule. The United States helped France by giving financial and military aid. The US had moral and ethical reasons to stand up and face unethical leaders that oppressed other weaker people and to contain the spread of communism. Communism is horrible because the government controls every move you make and you have no say in what happens in your life. Such as no right to vote, no freedom of speech, no right to a fair trial, etc. This is what the United States was trying to protect South Vietnam from. Communists used terrorism, murdered and subversion to destabilize countries. Just this alone was a just cause for the United States to get involved in the Vietnam War. Many feel that this wasn’t a good enough reason for the United States to get involved and was immoral unjust war, or that communism is not that bad. According to Aquinas four things...
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...The Vietnam War between USA with South Vietnam and North Vietnam with Viet Cong had lasted about 10 years and had many significant consequences. Therefore, it’s one of the most important wars in the recent years and has possessed many resonances so far. It is an unforgettable war for the USA because it has unexpectedly lost the war. The USA has lost the war against a fragile,undeveloped country which is North Vietnam. USA has lost the war against a fragile,undeveloped country which is North Vietnam. There has been a lot of controversies about this war so far. These controversies are concentrated on the moral dimension of the war. In other words, the experts and the analysts are concerned about whether this war is just or not. The Vietnam War can’t be considered as just war when we evaluate it with the aid of the Jus Ad Bellum critters. It doesn’t meet the 6 critters such as just cause, comparative justice, legitimate authority, right intention, probability of success and last resort. First of all, the USA doesn’t have a just cause to declare a war against North Vietnam and Viet Cong. In this war, USA struggles against communism and wants to terminate the so-called dangerous activities of the North Vietnam and Viet Cong founded by Ho Min Cinh in South Vietnam. USA doesn’t correct a suffered wrong here although it regards communism as great public evil. Western countries which adopt liberalism disapprove communism and they think that communism have to be removed. In this war, USA...
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...The Vietnam War “I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service.” This quote from John. F Kerry shows the reality of the Vietnam War. This war persisted for almost 20 years, and it ended in stalemate. Many Americans were protesting the war at home. Protests occurred all throughout the war, but many of the people in the United States were not aware what the war was like until the media covered Hamburger Hill. Even after ten days of bloody battle, the UN forces decided to abandon the hill, and it was later reclaimed by North Vietnam. Many American citizens thought of the war as pointless, as the troops had no place in this civil war between North and...
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...2016 North Vietnam and the French “It was patriotism, not communism, that inspired me.” --Ho Chi Minh Ho Chi Minh declared independence from France on September 2 1945 for Vietnam. As a response, France asserted its colonial dominance and this caused a war between them and the Viet Minh. The Viet Minh was a group of nationalists who were communist. By 1954 the Viet Minh almost conquered most areas of Vietnam. The French were defeated and the negotiation of the Geneva Accord stopped the war between the French and the Viet Minh. Vietnam was soon divided into North Vietnam and South Vietnam along the 17th parallel in 1956. While the Viet Minh and the French were fighting, the Cold War between the U.S and the Soviet Union began to take form. The U.S tried to prevent communism from spreading...
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...United States pulls out of Vietnam Nkiruka Bridget Ofunne Chamberlain College of Nursing Identification of Vietnam War Between 1858-1884, France invades Vietnam and makes Vietnam a colony. The United States pledges $15 million worth of military aid to France to help them fight in Vietnam. South Vietnam declares itself the Republic of Vietnam, with newly elected Ngo Dinh Diem as president. South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem is executed during a coup. Cause of Vietnam war In 1964, North Vietnamese attack two U.S. destroyers sitting in international waters (the Gulf of Tonkin Incident). In response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, the U.S. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. A sustained U.S. aerial bombing campaign of North Vietnam begins (Operation Rolling Thunder). In March 1965, the first U.S. combat troops arrive in Vietnam. Historical Interpretation of the war Why did the United States government finally decide to leave Vietnam? What was our exit strategy? What happened to the troops that came home? What happened to those we left behind? No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now. "Rarely have so many people been so wrong about so much. Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so tragic." (Nixon) Nixon and Kissinger quickly agreed upon two premises about American policy in Vietnam. First, the war in Vietnam was not "winnable" in any conventional...
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...The Vietnam War The Vietnam War The Vietnam War was hard on all countries; one in particular was the United States. As Americans thought the end was near they soon found out that it all was going to begin with the Vietnam War. This particular war caused hardships for not only the financial aspect of the country, but for the citizens of it as well. To put it simply it divided much of the country. Student Unrest One of the main groups of people that the Vietnam War affected was college students. As the war escalated, the draft began. College students were affected by this mostly because of the military’s rules for joining. The poor and underclass usually could not pass the tests to get in the war and many others had jobs, such as teaching or engineering that was cause for the military to not draft them. This is when student unrest began. As time went on and the war continued to drag on, students all over the country began to question the war. Students began to question the president’s decisions when it came to the war, as well as began questioning what they were fighting for. Martina Bexte 2002 wrote that “People realized that the glowing reviews of the war effort their government had been releasing were “sanitized” and far from the truth.” Students all over the country began protesting against the war. They were angry at the president for what he was doing to the Vietcong’s, as well as the fact that Americans were fighting for a cause that no one believed in anymore...
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...Agent Orange and Napalm were types of gases used in Vietnam to cause a great deal of destruction. Agent orange was used as a powerful mixture of chemicals by the Us against Vietnam to eliminate the Vietnamese and the Viet Cong soldiers. The release of Agent Orange was codenamed Operation Ranch Hand.There were more than 19 million gallons used to overed a great amount of land over Vietnam. It caused many health issues to those who breathed in the gas, Americans and Vietnamese. Napalm was also used in the Vietnam war to stop the Vietnamese. Napalm was a mixture of plastic polystyrene, hydrocarbon benzene, and gasoline. Both of these very poisonous and caused a lot of damage during the Vietnam war. From 1961-1972 the U.S. wanted to do a wide-scale damage on the forests in Vietnam where all the Viet Cong and soldiers were to cause damage. For Agent Orange the U.S aircrafts used this to spray the area, affecting the forests and everything in it. Agent Orange had many herbicides in it and many other poisonous components in it, it was highly toxic having affected Vietnam’s crops and water sources so anyone eating or drinking water were affected by the poison. It had caused many health problems such as: muscular dysfunction, birth defects, nervous system disorders, etc. It...
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...The Vietnam War HIS/135 The Vietnam War Prior to the war in Vietnam, Americans were enjoying post-war prosperity with the acquisiton of homes and new home conveniences such as dishwashers and televisions. They were comfortable, relatively affluent, and becoming quite complacent while living the American dream. The youth of the 1960’s are responsible for the creation of the counter-culture formation. They rejected the perfect American life they inherited from their parent’s generation and many of the fundamental values that their parents tried to instill in them. The children of the post-war generation grew up with many luxuries and advantages their parents had not been privy to. Leaving home to attend college gave many students the freedom to participate in various movements for causes. The lack of parental supervision, and the ability to mobilize with other like minds created the environment that they could correct the wrongs of American society. The War in Vietnam was a perfect platform for their voices to be heard. In the mid 1960’s, a poll showed that more than half the population was opposed to the war. The formation of youth movements were created. The Students for a Democratic Society called on students to help build a society based on “participatory democracy” was the most well known. The U.S. and the South Vietnamese joint invasion on Cambodia triggered more protests on college campuses as the invasion was in violation of international law. Students...
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...War photographers had profound effects on the Vietnam war. The Vietnam War raged roughly two decades’ worth of bloody and world-changing years. On television screens and magazine pages around the world, massive photographs showed the most searing and painful images of the Vietnam War era. The pictures from that period helped illuminated the “demons” of Vietnam, revealing the brutality of the war. A perfect example is the infamous picture of general Loan executed a Vietcong fighter on the street of Saigon, fired a bullet into his head. The picture taken by Eddie Adams gave Americans a stark glimpse of the brutality of the Vietnam War and helped fuel a decisive shift in public opinion. It was a shocking sight for Americans because this image...
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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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