Communism During The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was costly not only to our armed forces but to our American economy and American morale. We entered the war in an attempt to end the communist regime of North Vietnam and their southern allies, the Vietcong, from taking over South Vietnam. South Vietnam was an ally of the United States and due to this political relationship; the United States was entitled to help defend their ally. More than 58,000 Americans were killed in the Vietnam War. By 1969 it was the peak of American involvement in the war and more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were involved in the Vietnam conflict. Throughout the war growing opposition towards participation of military forces threatened the support of the war. American citizens began to

The Vietnam war has been referred to by many names, one of the longer ones was 'the cornerstone of the free world southeast Asia'. It was called that by John F. Kennedy. He was talking about Vietnam being and essential country in a non-communist world. He believed that if Vietnam became a communist country, all of the surrounding countries would also become communists. This is the main reason America was involved in the Vietnam war. Another reason was that America wanted to spread their “political ideas around the globe”. They wanted to do this so that their anti-communism stance was clear. The public also wanted to keep communism from spreading. To soldiers, the war was like a crusade, a great journey to purge the communists from Vietnam.

The Vietnam War was a conflict, which the United States involved itself in unnecessarily and ultimately lost. The basis of the conflict was simple enough: Communism vs. Capitalism, yet the conduct of the Vietnam War was complex and strategic, and brought repercussions which had never been seen before. The struggle between North and South had an almost inevitable outcome, yet the Americans entered the War optimistic that they could aid the falling South and sustain democracy. The American intentions for entering the Vietnam conflict were good, yet when the conflict went horribly wrong, and the resilient North Vietnamese forces, or ‘Viet Cong' as they were known, refused to yield, the United States saw they were fighting a losing battle.

Vietnam War veterans are particularly aware of the anti-war movement of the 1960s, which tried to denigrate them and tarnish their service. A survey of events, from the 1950s to today, shows that the Vietnam anti-war movement was one of a succession of activities against contemporary U.S. events and also against American history.

America’s devotion to capitalism triggered a constant fight against communism, which was spread throughout the world. Ronald H. Spector, a military historian, states from Britannica encyclopedia that, “Not until 1995 did Vietnam release its official estimate of war dead: as many as 2 million civilians on both sides and some 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Vietcong fighters. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war” (Spector 1). Surprisingly 250,000 of the Vietnamese soldiers were killed, while the civilian deaths were nearly ten times more devastating. Moreover, demonstrating the effects of the Vietnam War and the lost lives as a result. The US government and military caused the murders of innocent lives, and constant deaths and rape. These horrendous acts were all committed in the name of capitalism and freedom, with the selfish desire to expand their socioeconomic influence. Regulating the formation of such governments is not America's responsibility. They had no right to interfere in Vietnam in the name of capitalism, thrusting the country into war and devastation. Trying to wipe the stain will be difficult, the 2 million lives lost cannot be brought back. However the fear and hatred felt towards communism not only affected the Vietnam War but also the Cold War.

Cambodia, a southeastern Asian country, was under the rule of prince Norodom Sihanouk since its independence from France in 1953. Cambodians lived in prosperity, and were self-sufficient under a “Buddhist socialist” government, but this peace was interrupted by the Vietnamese war (1955-1975) in its neighbor country. Although the prince tried to keep his people unaware of the war, by 1969 the United

“During the three years, eight months and twenty days that the Khmer Rouge held power it is estimated that around 2 million people perished…from torture and execution or from starvation or untreated illness”. One may look at this figure, and automatically assume that these brutalities committed by the Khmer Rouge, fit the definition of genocide. Through a critical appraisal of a variety of sources, one may discover two very contradictory arguments towards this statement. One perspective illustrates that because the Khmer Rouge targeted specific groups, such as the Cham Muslims, Vietnamese and Buddhist monks it can be considered, ‘clear cases of genocide’. However, there is a great degree of counter arguments revealing that the actions of the

Greatly diminished by World War II, Communism was a dying ideology that was trying to be even further contained by the U.S.A. By the 20th century, most Americans saw communism as a threat to democracy, so when the Vietnam War started there was initially a lot of support for it. The U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War was unsuccessful because the South Vietnamese leader was just as bad, if not worse, than Ho Chi Minh, the North still won, and unlike popular belief at the time, communism did not spread.

Before any research, I vaguely understood why Vietnam liberated the Cambodians. As I was the first generation in the United States, it concealed me from Vietnam’s history and their interactions with foreign nations. Nonetheless, I understood that North Vietnam previously sponsored the Khmer Rouge Regime. The financing was as a result of the Allies funding the Lon Nol, Capitalistic Administration during the Vietnam War. A few years after the war ended, the new Communist Regime turned against their subsidized, Vietnamese government and commenced a war. Unfortunately, lacking information meant I could only conclude one thing: Communistic expansion commenced the war. Cambodia’s extreme ideologies must have angered Vietnam. When juxtaposed, the

We left World War II with a victory. However, the end of the war left us scared and paranoid of another rise in communism. We enacted containment policies to attempt to keep communism at bay. The Cold War made our country even more scared. Soon after, we entered into the Korean War to help save democracy in South Korea. The fear of communism spreading would have us do anything to stop it, including helping our ally France take control of Vietnam. Before WWII France controlled Vietnam, unfortunately, during the war it was taken over and the Vietnamese established their own government run by Ho Chi Minh. At the end of the war South Vietnam was given to France and the North was given to non-communist Chinese, this would be taken over by Ho

Ever since the actions in Cambodia occurred, it has been debated whether it was an actual genocide. The general definition of genocide is the purposeful and methodical execution of a national, racial, political, or cultural group. The Khmer Rouge in Cambodia demonstrated that a government can be guilty of genocide against its own nation. The radical communist party led by Pol Pot took over Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. After 1979, the Khmer Rouge left a traumatized Cambodian culture that continues to undergo the repercussions of the genocide. People over the age of forty in Cambodia have stories to tell of fear, cruelty, hunger and the loss of family members. However, the Cambodian government is not making an effort to recognize the negative occurrences that have posed itself in the history of their culture.

Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge had both an immediate and long lasting affect on the condition of Cambodia’s population and the nation itself. Cambodia is a nation where 50% of the urban population is dissatisfied with their standard of living and available resources and services. The events of 1975 to 1979 caused repercussions in the society which has impacted the livelihood and wellbeing of the whole

During the initial stages of the Khmer Rouge, there was a lack of understanding and misconception presented by the government, on why the change was being implemented. Many survivors recalls initially believing

Every religion was banned; all the monks were killed. The khmer people forced people to eat pork to insult and stop following their religion. Then the Khmer Rouge told and forced all the cambodian people to obey and respect Angkar Padevat which meant their “ father and mother”. Even music and radios were banned. they killed people for everything , like knowing a foreign language or laughing; it was very absurd. One Khmer slogan said : “ To destroy you is no loss.” People that escaped murder were going to be unpaid labour farmers and also working for a really long time. Another thing that was done is that they ate and slept in horrible places that were much different from their old home. When all these people got sick, diseases came and there was no cure or no medicine so people died. The only way the people could survive was to have a good ability to work. When the Khmer Rouge was gaining power the US Embassy did nothing to help with the horrifying events that were happening. They cared really little and neglected the victims. 3,314,768 people died in the genocide, almost 25 percent of the population in Cambodia because of the Khmer Rouge. Every person died in different and painful ways , like torture, forced labour and

Education in Cambodia is in a dismal array. Modern education in Cambodia has progressed gradually.The first high school in Cambodia did not open until the late 1930’s (2001). Manual labor and political correctness was emphasized in the educational system over knowledge by the Khmer. The Khmer Rouge claimed that rice fields were books, and hoes were pencils” (2001). A deliberate attempt was made to destroy the foundations of a modern education system by the Khmer Rouge as they killed any with a higher education such as doctors, lawyers, teachers, and former college students. If the Khmer Rouge did not kill them, they