Officially fought between November 1955 and April 1975 between the North Vietnamese, aided by the Soviet Union, China and various Soviet Allies, and the South Vietnamese, supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. After the introduction of American military forces into French Indochina in 1960 between 1960 and 1961 under the leadership of John F. Kennedy, American military forces tripled. American intervention escalated drastically following the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in 1964 in which the original report detailed the North Vietnamese as the ones to blame, however it was revealed after much controversy, that the USS Maddox, after firing warning shots and then attacked the North Vietnamese ship. The second incident involved what became known as Tonkin ghosts, rather than North Vietnamese ships, there were false radar images. These two incidences were not only the start of substantial American military involvement but the federal deceit that surrounded the Vietnam War during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. The Vietnam War was controversial from the start of American intervention. While the majority American believed that intervention and American military involvement began in the late 1950s, this was not the case. Participation in the Vietnam War was heavily promoted as a war against communism, and at a time where McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare was prominent in people’s minds, Americans were initially accepting of the war effort.
Many people felt that this was a war of money that the U.S. didn’t need to interfere in and was being fought by North and South Vietnam, therefore we had no business getting in the middle of it. The United States should've thought of themselves and done what was best for them as a country. When Dwight D. Eisenhower left office, a new President came in with the name John F. Kennedy. JFK warns the American public about “Military Industrial Complex”. This affected Americans because we didn’t want all of Vietnam to become communist. From the beginning, the United States was not aware of what they were getting themselves into. Furthermore, they didn’t understand the nature of the war on who and why they were fighting.
The American involvement in the Vietnam War was a very controversial decision, with many people being for the war, however many people in the United States were also against the war. The Vietnam War was the longest lasting war in the United States history, before the Afghanistan War, in which most people felt strongly about, be them United States citizens, Vietnamese citizens, or just the global population. In order to better understand the ideas of those American citizens that are either for or against the war, one would have to look at the reasons that the United States was involved in the war, the impact of the Vietnam war on the American society, and the impact on the United States foreign policy.
The Vietnam War is thought of as one of the most significant events in United States history. It was fought over the course of two decades and three United States presidencies. American involvement in the Vietnam War is one of the most highly debated topics discussed today. The United States began their involvement by supporting the French with one billion dollars per year to assist in containing the chaos in Vietnam. Once the French failed, the United States continued to supply money, firearms, and military advisors to aid the South Vietnamese. Americans remembered their promise to support any country fighting against the spread of communism. That promise was hard to keep when government lies were exposed, the number of American graves grew, and the matter of draft issues became too overwhelming to ignore.
Former Secretary of State and Vietnam veteran John Kerry said it best when he stated “In our opinion and from our experience, there is nothing in South Vietnam which could happen that realistically threatens the United States of America” and “To attempt to justify the loss of one American life in Vietnam, Cambodia, or Laos…is to us the height of criminal hypocrisy which we feel has torn the country apart” (Goldstein). This statement stands true with many Americans as the Vietnam War was the most opposed and debatable war in the history of the United States. The Vietnam War or Second Indochina War began 1954 and ended in 1975 and was a direct result of the First Indochina War in which France claimed Vietnam as a colony (Mintz, McNeil). The war ended in 1954 following a French defeat in the battle of Dien Bien Phu (Marlantes, history.net) which resulted in Indochina’s independence, and the division between North and South Vietnam. America’s involvement heightened in the war in 1954 in an attempt to stop the spread of communism (Mintz, McNeil). In fact, the United States had the largest military presence in the war and basically directed the war from 1965 to 1968 (Mintz, Mcneil). This battle against communism led to one of the longest wars in American history, and one of the bloodiest conflicts America has ever seen; thus, leading to outrage and protests in streets of Washington D.C. The Vietnam War is considered one of the most controversial wars in the history of
The Vietnamese War had no certain beginning. It was known as the second Indochina was and it took place throughout Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. This war lasted for about twenty years, which basically made it the longest war in U.S. history. While the war had no certain beginning, it was estimated to have begun around November 1995. The war then ended to the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1973.
The Vietnam War was an unpopular war because the United States has fought a war that does not have a direct bearing on the United States, it has not only ended in failure but also has not benefited from it. The Vietnam War was originally a unified war. It was a civil war. It's like the American Civil War. The United States should not participate in this war, but the United States joined the war and is one of the main force. Some Americans believed that the Communist threat was used as a scapegoat to hide imperialistic intentions, while others thought this is an act of interference in the internal affairs of other countries, during the Vietnam War. That made the Vietnam War become one of the most unpopular wars in American history.
The American involvement in the Vietnam War created widespread division between the American people. There were many United States citizens who believed that the United States was involved in the Vietnam struggle for the right reasons, in order to prevent communism from taking over South Vietnam. There were also other citizens who believed that the United States was involved over there for the wrong reasons, due to the feeling that it was none of our business, and that it was considered another form of American imperialism. These same differing opinions were also seen in various songs written during the war years. During the sixties, songwriters, composers and musicians were all involved in lending their talents towards either support of
During the summer of 1964, President Johnson received reports of that North Vietnamese torpedo boats had fired on the U.S. destroyer Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. In the first attack, on August 2, the damage inflicted was limited to a single bullet hole, and on August 4, proved to be only misread radar sightings. To Johnson this didn't seem to matter if the attack was real or fantasy, the president made a call for arms because he saw this as the beginning of a wider war. In the entire Congress, only two senators voted against his request for the power to "Take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression." The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, as it came to be known, gave the President the freedom to conduct the operations in Vietnam as he saw fit.
was also known as the Second Indochina War and began in 1954. One of the most
There were many causes of the Vietnam War, like government components and consequences that caused the Cold War. The causes of the Vietnam War were surrounded by the simple ideas held by America that communism was threatening to cover all over south-east Asia.
To understand the US involvement in Vietnam, it is necessary to understand the background of traditional independence and opposition to larger powers throughout Vietnamese history. The Vietnamese had a long history and tradition of opposing invading powers. This opposition and culture was to draw the U.S. into the longest war it has been involved in. This was an indirect but vitally important cause of US involvement in the Vietnam War. As early as 500BC, Vietnam was a country that held a strong sense of nationalism, and endeavoured for the goal of autonomy, independence, and self-rule. Up until modern history, there have been several events that have contributed towards intensifying this sense of nationalism and resistance against foreign powers. National resistance against the Chinese empire was one of the earliest examples of resistance against nationalism. Throughout the period of pre-modern history from 210 BC to 1789, resistances against foreign control and rule such as that against the Nan Yue, the Song, the Ming, and the Qing, were frequent. These attempts at national resistance came down to the basis that the nationalist Vietnamese did not want foreign influence determining the political future, culture, or customs of their country. Another main example that increased a sense of nationalism was French Colonialism. The French, who were appealed by Vietnam’s unique location, natural resources, and the extensive economic opportunities
While I was writing my essay, The Causes and Effects of the Vietnam War, I encountered two obstacles. For example, I had difficulty finding websites that spoke about what caused the Vietnam War. There would be approximately three reliable websites that discussed this topic, while the remaining websites would speak about the Vietnam War itself. However, when I typed in “the effects of the Vietnam War” there would be many more sources discussing the impact it had on various countries, which made it easier to write
The Vietnam War started from 1954 to 1975. The War was located in Southeast Asia in North and South of Vietnam. It was also known as Indochina war. The battle was about the communist regime of North Vietnam and their southern allies Viet Cong. The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting about reunify of Vietnam. The South Vietnamese was supported by the U.S and the North was supported by the Soviet Union. (Spector, R. H. (n.d.). Vietnam War. from http://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War) There are various causes of the Vietnam War the Truman Doctrim, The Domino Theory, and Ho Chi Minh.
Communist is an organization that want to control or have ownership on a community. Some example of Communist that started such as Hitler the leader of the Nazi, Korean war, China, and Cuba. Communist being in the late 19th century rule by Bolsheviks in Russia in the October Revolution. All these wars were taken places where communist is either one side and the other side trying to stop it from spreading even farther out or reaching to them. The of the Vietnam War was the symptoms and consequences of the Cold War. The cause of it was the belief that in America thought communism was threating to expand all over South East Asia and well eventually spread into America.
The Vietnam War is one of the most important conflicts of the twentieth century. It is the second most traumatic, contentious, and problematic event in U.S. history—the first being the Civil War. Yet the Vietnam War, means that “the dispute zone”. it was also called "Second Indochina War" and the "American War".