Communism In The Vietnam War

During the cold war, the United States engaged in many aggressive policies both at home and abroad, in which to fight communism and the spread of communist ideas. Faced with a new challenge and new global responsibilities the U.S. needed to retain what it had fought so strongly for in World War II. It needed to contain the communist ideas pouring from the Soviet Union while preventing communist influence at home, without triggering World War III. With the policies of containment, McCarthyism, and brinkmanship, the United States hoped to effectively stop the spread of communism and their newest threat, the Soviet Union.

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.

During the Cold War, the United States did their best to stop the spread of Communism. Several incidents such as the Korean War, the birth of McCarthyism, led the United States to the brink of war with the Soviet Union over Communism. One of the most pivotal moments of the Cold War was the Vietnam War. The United States joined the war to stop Communism from spreading to South Vietnam. This war had many Americans split down the middle as to whether or not they should be participating in the war. The Vietnam War is the biggest failure in American history.

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era conflict that started in 1946 and ended in 1974, taking nearly 30 years to resolve. The war was fundamentally a conflict between North Vietnam and South Vietnam, where the North was communist and South was not. The United States, France, the United Kingdom and other non-communist allies supported the non-communist South Vietnam. China, Russia (USSR), Cuba, Cambodia and other Communist allies supported the regime in the north. North Vietnam saw the United States involvement in the North as foreign aggression, so they fought guerilla wars against the anti-communist forces in the region. Guerilla forces (the Viet Cong) and the regular North Vietnamese Army were responsible for fighting the anticommunist forces. The conflict mainly consisted of small battles until the onset of air attacks -- part of an overall strategy of massive bombing and search-and-destroy operations, which South Vietnam and the Americans hoped would win the war.

The Vietnam War was cause do to The United States wanting to stop the continuation of Communism, this war however had major consequences on several societies and communities. The war caused many American casualties and the soldiers who did survive suffer from many mental and physical problems to this day nearly forty-three years later. The Vietnam war was well known for its chemical warfare. The two most common chemicals were substances called napalm and agent orange. The war was also well known as America's biggest mistake for warfare. Soldiers who served were disrespected and disgraced after their return. And many of the politicians in office were threatened and the government was beginning to fall apart do to miscommunication.

Like a moth to a flame, the United States has always been attracted to international affairs. In this particular case communism in Vietnam was the flame that leered American bugs in, not knowing that they would be brutally burned by communism in the end. From 1953 to 1961, all the initial decisions involving Vietnam were made by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who once served as the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe as well as the first Supreme Commander of NATO. Thus, Eisenhower was very knowledgeable about war issues and was prepared to tackle pending conflicts and avert the dispersal of communism when he came into office. Communism was an immense fear of this great patriot, who witnessed to the “Red Scare” during the

One of the most prominent influences of art throughout history has been politics. The 50s through 70s in America are a great example of this, for so many of this era’s songs were arguments against America’s involvement in the Vietnam War and criticisms of American politics at the time. However, this phenomenon was prominent long before the Vietnam War and was not just an American trend; in fact, two of the most influential and famous pieces of the early 20th century were products of political oppression on the other side of the world. Both Paul Hindemith, under the Nazi Regime, and Dmitri Shostakovich, under the communist reign of Stalin, managed to fight political oppression through their music. The two composers had very different ways of doing so. Hindemith wrote two separate pieces, one that directly opposed the Nazi regime, and another that was so nationalistic he was forgiven for his previous ‘mistakes’, whereas Shostakovich wrote a single piece which seemed just as nationalistic as Hindemith’s symphony yet it had a deeper, much more rebellious underlying message. Even though their methods’ differed, both Hindemith and Shostakovich were able to express their true feelings about the totalitarian governments that were repressing their artistic ability.

The Cold War, for the most part, was a political Standoff in the nation. It was between the Capitalist, United States, and the Communist. The Cold War caused an increasing in the feelings of nationalism and anti-communist fervor. To Americans,

Throughout history, humans have tried to perfect government. Many wars have been started by world powers trying to force their faulty government upon others. In the modern world, the Fascist government of Nazi Germany oppressed minorities in the name of advancement. The Soviet Union imprisoned millions in their immoral gulags, but justified it in the name fighting crime. Even looking as far back as Ancient Greece, we saw these conflicts. Some of the greatest victories can be attributed to a superior government. And yet, some of the worst acts of immorality have been done in the name of superior government.

Due to the effects of the Cold War, the United States vowed to stop communism from spreading. President Truman declared that any country who was being threatened by Communism would receive financial aid from the United States. The Truman Doctrine, which was originally made for Europe and the Middle East, was also used by future presidents and was applied to the Vietnam War

Just imagine coming home to people who are unappreciative of other people risking their lives, fighting for their own country. The Vietnam War began over an argument between North Vietnam and South Vietnam about communism. American troops deployed in Vietnam to fight with the South during the Vietnam War, because they did not support communism. The Northern Vietnam troops were in support of communism and the Southern troops were not. The war went on for about 20 years, from 1955 until 1875. When the American soldiers who fought in Vietnam returned home, they were mistreated and unappreciated for their service.

Since World War II, Conflicts in Asia have played a major role in the Cold War and American foreign policy. One conflict was the Vietnam War, the effects of this conflict were not only felt within the region of Southeast Asia, for example Norman Morrison was a Baltimore Quaker and performed the act of self-immolation at the age of 31 to protest the US’s involvement in Vietnam, this is an example of how it was felt even in the United States and not just in Vietnam. These repercussions had a great impact on American society and even our foreign policy.

Throughout the Cold War, Korean War, and Vietnam War the main problem was communism. Although the United States and the Soviet Union were allies in World War Two, during the Cold War the United States and the Soviet Union were known as enemies. The Soviet leaders bragged to other nations that communism would “scrape apart” free-enterprise systems around the world. This attitude angered the capitalists which led into the fifty year Cold War. The United States tried creating many tactics and strategies to contain the “bleeding” of communism, but during the cold war, communism spread faster then it could be restrained. The United States used the Marshall Plan , the Trueman Doctrine, and the Berlin Airlift to help lead people to a

It is impossible to accurately describe the major events that occurred during the cold war without mentioning the war in Vietnam. From its start, this war has been very controversial concerning its purposes and effects on the countries involved. Both sides of this war lost a great number of soldiers and most of these men and women were not even sure why they were fighting. To this day, there is still a lot of uncertainty about the events that took place during this heated time in south Asia. One of the biggest questions raised is why the United States felt it was their responsibility to ever got involved and what were they trying to gain by sending in their troops. A look at the history of the cold war and