The Transformation Of Vietnam During The Vietnam War

Vietnam got their independence in 1954. Vietnam divided the nation until they could hold an election to have a united Vietnam. A problem then arose, the north wanted a communist government and the south wanted a democratic government. China’s communist government influenced the north. South Vietnam was influenced by the United States to the East. The elections were canceled and North Vietnam attacks the south. The United States was funding and training south Vietnam until 1957. In 1957, an American ship was attacked. That was the point when the United States sent in soldiers and started bombing runs on the North(Cole).

Production was nonexistent. Northern industries and infrastructures were systematically ravaged by the military might of the United States. The South fared little better. Viet Cong attacks disrupted significant economic activity. The fall of Saigon ended this murderous conflict in 1975. The country was united again under communist economic tutelage. This correlated to huge drain of human capital. By 1982, close to 1 million people fled the country; among them tens of thousands of professional, intellectual, technicians, and skilled workers. The next decade (1976 - 1986) saw the economy of Vietnam plodding along under the weight of central planning. The Vietnamese economy has been plagued by enormous production difficulties, supply and demand imbalances, inefficiencies in distribution, soaring inflation rates, rising debt problems, excessive governmental corruption and illegal asset confiscations by authorities. Vietnam is one of the few countries in modern history to experience a sharp economic deterioration in a postwar reconstruction period. Its postwar economy was one of the poorest in the world and has shown a negative growth in total national output as well as in agricultural and industrial production. Cracks began to appear in the facade of the communist command economy. In 1982, a compromise was reached. Excess food production was allowed to be sold at markets or sold to the State for profit. Free enterprise was sanctioned and small export firms were established to try to sell on the export markets. Planning started to unravel from the rigid communist system and decentralization was allowed to flourish. This activity culminated with the Doi Moi reforms to economic activity. Doi Moi (Vietnamese Perestroika) combined free market incentives (profit!) with government planning. The program abolished agricultural

The Vietnam War had discredited the United States’ stereotype of being the strongest world power for being “undefeatable” in war by trapping the most powerful foreign nations into a merely undefeatable war, and by destroying any hope that the United States had for institutional change in Vietnam. The United States’ involvement in domestic affairs had again proved that the nation felt confident enough to present itself as the “problem solver” in issues regarding foreign policy. The main intention of Americans was to bring forth an established democracy to Vietnam that would overpower

In this essay I will be providing a summary and overview the Vietnam war. The Vietnam war changed America forever. The war damaged America's self image by becoming the first time in history that the U.S. failed to accomplish its "stated war aims". The Vietnam war was also the first war ever broadcasted on television. The war is a significant part of US history and influenced a generation.

According to the staff of History.com, Vietnam, a small Southeastern Asian nation, was controlled under French colonial rule since the 19th century. Following Japan’s defeat by the Viet Minh in World War II, there was a split in Vietnamese ideas. The nation as a whole wanted Vietnam to come together as a unified populace, but different regions had different ideas for how they wished to be governed. The northern region believed that the best idea for government would be that of one modeled after communism, but the southern region believed the exact

France proposes a colonial system naming it Indochina which includes the following cities: Tonkin, Annam, Cochin China, Cambodia and Laos is then added. Ho Chi Ming was trained by the Soviet Union to be an international communist. Ho Chi Minh finds an Indochinese communist meeting in Hong Kong and attends. Ironically, France wanted control over Indochina but were then invaded by Nazi Germany. Japanese troops invaded

The declaration of Vietnamese independence made by Ho Chi Minh in 1945 served as a milestone in what was a century-old struggle against foreign control. In its history Vietnam had spent 1000 years under control of the Chinese and had resisted this control vehemently. Revolts and rebellions against China finally lead to Vietnamese independence in the tenth century. In the thirteenth century the Vietnamese drove back Kublai Khan three times under the leadership Dao. Tran Hung Dao not only led the Vietnamese people in driving Kublai Khan back, but did so by pioneering the guerrilla warfare methods that would later be employed against both the French and the United States. It is thus evident from this brief history of Vietnams that its

For centuries Vietnam had been under Chinese rule. The Vietnamese people were an oppressed society and were exploited by the Chinese. Forced labour was brought upon the Vietnamese people, and there were many tyrannical Chinese governers along with constant demands of tribute for the Chinese rulers. There had been many revolts by

Before all this chaos happened and Vietnam was divided into two; it was one country ruled by the French in 1945. But with the influence of communism from surrounding countries mostly China at the time, that form of government became stronger in North Vietnam because of the strong presents. The leader/president of Vietnam, declared it an independent country and when this happened many didn’t agree with him and some still wanted to be ruled by the French. So a war between the leader Ho Chi Minh’s followers and the French began in 1946 and that war lasted for eight years; ending only because the French lost a very important battle. (History, 2009)

The war during the period of 1954 through 1975 crippled the economy of Vietnam, suffering over 1.5 million military and civilian deaths, the country also suffered from the mass exodus of refugees leaving which included business professionals, virtually no economic growth in Vietnam due to many reasons. Among them was their economy was dominated by small scale production, low labor force, material and technical shortfalls as well as insufficient food and consumer goods. By 1986 however, Vietnam had launched new political and economic renewal campaigns which were helped this small country go from a centrally planned economy and move into market socialism. By the 1990 the

In 1867, France had taken control of southern Vietnam and soon afterwards, the French had taken control of the northern and central provinces of the country. France had changed the names

The Vietnam war had taken a severe toll on Vietnam infrastructure, economy and employment. Hence, the introduction of communism was a last resort to Vietnam in the post-war period considering the equality it promoted. The socialist government with its centrally directed economic system distributed food, conveniences and other properties evenly to Vietnamese people, no matter whether it was the rich or the needy.

Before granting independence, Vietnam economy was going down rapidly due to the war with American that destroyed the Vietnam economy completely. Moreover, this country was being led by the Conservative Party which was unchangeable and not able to lead the country. Instead of trading with foreign countries, they closed market. However, after national liberation, the Conservative Party was removed, and new prime minister was chosen. The economy of Vietnam was opened, and it took big steps to thrive as now. Especially the globalization, since Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization, the globalization has made a huge change to Vietnam economy. It attracted a lot of foreign investments, solved numerous financial issues, and motivated domestic

To 1985, Vietnam is mixed economy system. The government controlled everything on market: what, how, whom to do? Finally the economy is slow and not develops because of lacking competition. Recognize need to change,

Analysis: State and Revolution in Vietnam (Preface - too long, draw on specific points from 20s to US involvement)