The Vietnam War And The Soviet Union

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 was first derived from the gradual oppression of the communist party of the north over the region of South Vietnam. The North Communist party was supported mainly by China and the Soviet Union whiles the Anti-Communist party of South Vietnam was supported by United States and France. The communist party group, as known as the Viet Cong, was recognized for their guerilla war strategies within the region of South Vietnam, intended to fully expand and unify Vietnam under Communist rule. U.S. involvement with the Vietnam War starting in November 1, 1955, develops from the theory of the domino effect, stating that if one country falls into communism, a threat that can develop into the encouragement and spread of communism throughout the world in the future. It is basically viewed as a potential harm to the welfare of the United Sates. Therefore, due to the conflicting forces of the historical, political, economic and cultural nature of the war itself, it is known to be the longest enduring war in United States history that altered many lives of the Vietnamese and American community, leading to suffrage and acts of courage.

The Vietnam War is one of America’s longest lasting wars beginning in 1955, and lasting until 1975. The United States became involved in the Vietnam War because of its efforts to stop communism in Southeast Asia. The United States feared that if communist took over Southeast Asia it would cause a domino effect around the world. The United States began sending financial aid and military advisors to South Vietnam to help stop a communist takeover. North Vietnam was run by communist leader Ho Chi Minh, and the South had a non-communist government. An election to unify Vietnam would be held in 1955, fearing that Ho Chi Minh would win the elections South Vietnam president Ngo Dinh Diem refused to hold an election that would unify the country.

The war in Vietnam was a very contestable event for America and an overall major impact of the cold war. Fear of the spread of communism was on the rise again as Ho Chi Minh, the leader of North Vietnam wanted to unite the country under one communist leadership. The United States entered into the war to prevent this spread of communism to further their reputation of containing it as they have done in the past. While there are positives to the war in Vietnam, it seems as if there are more negatives in the situation which include massive casualties on both sides, chemical warfare, and a divided nation back home.

The Vietnam War began in 1954 after years of conflict stretching back to the 1940s between the communist regime of North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was attempting to make South Vietnam a communist country; since we are a democracy, the United States opposes the views of communist countries, and because we feared the spread of communism the United States became involved as an ally of South Vietnam. The war ended in 1975, resulting in disastrous effects on Vietnam and America. The assertion of the United States in this war rose controversy among Americans, and I disagree with our involvement in the Vietnam War because of the United States’ reasons to fight.

Many people to this day still believe that America had no business getting involved in the Vietnam War. It was a very controversial decision made by John. F Kennedy to send over American troops to aid in the battle against communism. The people that supported this decision to participate in the war always said that it would work out better for the United States in the long run. Well, they could not be more wrong. America entering into the vietnam war was the least helpful thing to America in the long run. Simply it took America’s self image and through it in the garbage. The Vietnam war, for the Americans, was an unwinnable war. The half a million United States troops as well as the 700,000 southern Vietnamese troops were no match for the 250,000 northern vietnamese troops. The

The Vietnam War was one of the longest wars in modern history, which begun in 1954 and ended in 1975. Within 21 years, 1,450,000 lives were lost and tragedy was bought to Vietnam. The war was between the communist armies of North Vietnam who were supported by the Chinese, and the armies of South Vietnam who were supported by the United States. War broke out due to the North Vietnamese government and Viet Cong wanting to rejoin Vietnam under the communist rule. In order to achieve this, they saw that war was a necessity. South Vietnam remained a democratic nation so U.S.A strongly supported them, fighting to protect its sovereignty. That was the reason why the US fought the Vietnam War on the side

The United States became involved with Vietnam after World War II because of the tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had occupied almost all of Eastern Europe, and they set up communist-ran governments to further separate themselves from the capitalistic values of the West. The U.S.’s policies in containment led them to take action against the spread of communism. The U.S. articulated the Domino Theory, which states that if one nation became communist then their neighbor would also become communist, and so would that neighbor’s neighbor and so forth. The U.S.

The Vietnam War was an antagonism war that took place in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia for around 20 years – 1954 to 1975. It was a hostile struggle that not only lasted many years, but also an expensive one. The Vietnam War had radical outcomes for the U.S and the various countries who took part in it. The war was between South Vietnam backed by the United States of America and many other countries that opposed communism ideologies, and North Vietnam backed by China, The Soviet Union and supporters of communism. The reason for the start of the Vietnam War rotates around the notion at that time held by America that communism was extending to all parts of south East Asia. The US government considered American participation in the war as a strategy to preclude a communist seize of South Vietnam. This was a component of a broader restraint strategy, with the declared aim of blocking diffusion of communism and a way to repress nationalist self-determination (Eldridge, 2012, p.18-20).

First of all the Vietnam War was taking place during this time. It was a war that took place during the years that followed World War 2. These years were characteristic of the cold war era where political and military tension was still at an all time high between the United States of America and its NATO allies and the eastern allies of the Soviet Union. Therefore when war broke out between North Vietnam and South Vietnam the United States with its very anticommunist sentiment saw it as an inevitable necessity to support South Vietnam. They believed it was their duty to prevent South Vietnam’s communist takeover, and to some extent prevent a wider global spread of communism. Obviously any war during any

The Cold War was not really a war. In fact it was called the “Cold” war because there was no fighting going on, just almost 45 years of hostilities between the United States and its allies, and the United Soviet Socialist Republic (U.S.S.R.) and the communist countries. It became a symbol of the differences between democracy and communism, and kept most of the world in fear. That was until the Berlin Wall came tumbling down in 1991.

Good evening and thanks for tuning in to the ABC, I am your host for this evening Josh Jacquet, and on today’s show we will be continuing our series on the topic of the Cold war but today we will be exploring the Vietnam War into detail. The topic that will be discussed tonight is that towards the end of the twentieth century the amount of democratic countries had quintupled. This was not expected at the beginning of the twentieth century. Now the question is Did the US use the cold war to further spread democracy to other countries and also contain the spread of communism? We will be exploring how the Vietnam War had an effect on this. Just in case you don’t know what the Vietnam war is, the Vietnam war is a military conflict that spanned from 1954-1975 and was between the Communist forces of North Vietnam which was led by the communist leader named ho chi minh who wanted to unite north and south to be ruled as a communist ruled democratic republic. He was supported by China and the Soviet Union. The non-Communist forces of South Vietnam led by Ngô Đình Diệm were supported by the United States.

As Geneva Accords was triggered in 1954, it divided Vietnam into two sections aligning to the 17th parallel. (Ho Chi Minh) While Ho Chi Minh led Communist government and controlled northern part, Diem led U.S supported government and controlled southern part. This pleasant treaty for Vietnam also gave chance to reunify Vietnam in single government regime by letting them have a free election to be held in 1956. Meanwhile, United States and Soviet Union was involved in cold war. After the end of World War II, both nations attempted to spread their political influences to other nations; expansion of Soviet Union’s political influence triggered United States to feel anxiety since both nations had opposing political ideology. Wishing Southeast Asia not influenced by Communists, United States supported Diem rather than supporting Vietnam as a whole. As the free election date approached in Vietnam, Diem’s government in south Vietnam refused to hold election nor they took any action. North Vietnamese Communists, including Ho Chi Minh and some people in south, including Viet Minh supporters, got angry on Diem’s government and on how they used violence to eliminate enemies. The formation of Viet Minh, by Ho Chi Minh, gave a toehold for merging with south Vietnamese people, to

Vietnam resembles the shape of a seahorse that stretches southeast into the Pacific Ocean; Vietnam is known as to as the “balcony of the Pacific.” By way of its water transportation links that were developed prior to rail and road networks, Vietnamese migration pressed southward (Nam Tien) along the coast. (Taus-Bolstad, 2006) Distinct regions meant that trade was more than a means to establish national unity within a dispersed settler society. (Taus-Bolstad, 2006) A geographical division of resources meant the North controlled most of the raw materials while the South served as the breadbasket. (Taus-Bolstad, 2006) The two-decade partition during the Cold War forced both the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN) in the North and the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) in the South to rely on outside sources of assistance. This continued after reunification in 1975 until the effects from the market reforms (doi moi), which were implemented in 1986, spread throughout the economy. Vietnam’s capital Hanoi distinguished its millennium anniversary in 2010, making it one of the oldest capitals in Southeast Asia. (Staff, 2009) It grew into the capital of Vietnam under the first emperor of the Ly Dynasty (1009–1225) who named it Thang Long (Rising Dragon). The city went several other name changes before finally becoming Hanoi, “the city amid waters,” owing to its location on the Red River Delta. In the 19th century when the country unified under the Nguyen Dynasty, the capital moved from

One of the major causes of the Vietnam War was the USA's foreign policy according to the Domino Theory (source 11). The Domino Theory was based on the idea that if one state became communist, then its' neighbouring states would inevitably become communist too (source 15); thus the USA's belief that the communist influence in South Vietnam would lead to a communist takeover in the whole of South-East Asia (source 11). Due to this, the USA decided to intervene in the struggle between the non-communist South and the Communist North (source11), bringing the Cold War context into Vietnam (source 11).