The Vietnam War: The Rise Of Communism In Vietnam

Hess argues that the threat of the USSR and Communism “left the US no choice but to stand up to the challenge posed by Vietnam”. Direct confrontation was impossible as the USSR was a nuclear power, therefore the only choice available was “a policy of containment”; previous success in Korea gives validity to this view. Hess states Vietnam was the centre of the “Domino Theory”, that a communist Vietnam “would inexorably lead to the collapse of other non-communist states”. All communist states were believed to be puppets of the USSR so an increase in Soviet allies would tip the global power balance against the US.

The Vietnam War was one of the most deadliest wars in America, many were killed and even more injured. The war began because of America’s efforts to stop the spread of communism. The Vietcong may of won the war but America showed that we will not let communism spread, the domino theory come into effect, and America’s faults in our war program and way to attack the Vietcong. The war was lost but from a overview of the war America learned from their lose.

During the Lyndon Baines Johnson presidential administration, both those policy makers who supported America’s involvement in Vietnam and those who opposed the war were part of the “containment generation.” They had reached political maturity during World War II and the early years of the Cold War and had experienced the intense anticommunism of the McCarthy era of the early 1950s. These leaders understood and applied the lessons of American nationalism, which had the primary message that the U.S. was the dominating nation that had to embrace its responsibility to aid and improve nations in America’s image. Therefore, when they saw that there was a threat of the spread of communism to areas of Southeast Asia, a majority of the

He feels Yanagi’s pain through the connection but he does not draw attention to it. To be in the heat of a powerplay game such as the one boiling over in Konoha right now is a moment of extreme delicacy and ruthlessness; attachments are withheld, persons numbed down. The rampant mentality is this: eliminate those who are likely to get in one’s way, even if they are friends, or valuable allies. Nobody who lived through the Warring States Era would be unfamiliar with this tenet: do what must be done. And if Tobirama was forced to choose among the Yamanaka twins, he would keep Yanagi alive, simply because she is now the more valuable of the two, even though Yanagi herself and most definitely, not Osamu, would admit it. For to dabble in politics is to know who has value, worth and utility, and who do not.

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.

As communism began to spread steadily and gain more and more attention, Americans became immensely concerned in what most saw as a detrimental threat. President Eisenhower only added to the hysteria by outlining the Domino Theory: the theory that a political event, in this case referring to the spread communism, in one country will cause a similar turn of events in neighboring countries, like a falling domino that causes an entire row to fall down. Although the Vietnam War is seen by many as the only option to try to end the spread of communism, the specious outcome of the war was not effective enough to justify the amount of unethical decisions and situations that were allowed to take place. In 1961, under President Kennedy, 100 Special Forces troops were sent to South Vietnam and by 1963, just two years later, U.S military advisors and Special Forces had increased to 21,000 troops. We will soon see that this is just the beginning and in my paper I will outline the full record of events all the way to the end of the war, including the reasons for U.S involvement, unethical decisions that were made, America 's effort to end the war, and the lasting impact the war had on the United States.

The Cold War era proxy war known as the Vietnam War wrecked global havoc during 1955-1975. Although the destruction on the ground occurred in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, the bloodshed of the war was just one part of a much larger worldwide communism versus capitalism battle headed by the United States and the Soviet Union. For the U.S., diplomatic and military policies had never before been so tightly intertwined with domestic policies. The war in Vietnam had such an impact on the home front in America that the term, “The Vietnam Syndrome” is still repeated to this day. The war, which is sometimes seen as a part of the larger anti-communist policy of ‘containment’, is largely to blame for the near destruction of three presidencies, as well as causing numerous political and social divides, a detrimental effect on the U.S. economy, and a credibility gap that caused distrust between government and the people. The focus on the war meant that many domestic issues such as the civil rights movement, the war on poverty, and Johnson’s ideology of the ‘Great Society’, were neglected by the government and therefore limited in their progress. The overall domestic impact of the war in Vietnam was largely negative and extremely divisive.

The War in Vietnam remains to be a blemish of American foreign policy today and remains as a crisp thought to those who lived it. As the decades pass away through the sands of time, historians and civilians alike further their wonder of who was truly responsible for this calamity. Verily, this war was the full responsibility of Lyndon Johnson because he failed to learn from former presidents of why fighting was happening, he accrued some of Kennedy’s inept advisors and, he was selfish in terms of the reason why he gave the approval for war.

On the 7th of April 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave one historic press conference [1]. In that conference, he announced his so called “Domino Theory”. It was a substantial aspect of the US involvement in the Vietnam War, involvement in terms of its military support and methods used in Vietnam. Even though it was greatly enhanced by other factors, such as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, it was the trigger, and therefore the source of all US involvement in the Vietnam War. The main rationale of the theory was that if one country fell down to communism, all the surrounding countries would do the same, hence why it was called the ‘Domino’ Theory. Eisenhower thought that Vietnam’s fall to communism would lead to consequential communist uprisings in neighboring countries, such as Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. He also that that it could possibly extend as far as India, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Australia and New Zealand -[1]. This gave The US enough motivation, and more importantly, justification as to why they greatly increased military presence in Vietnam. Eisenhower said, “The possible consequences of the loss [of Indochina] are just incalculable to the free world.” [2]. Even though the theory was imprecise, and only Laos and Cambodia joined communism after the US lost the war, it was significant as the foundation of the US involvement in the conflict.

A quarter of a century after the Fall of Saigon, Vietnam continues to exercise a powerful hold of the American psyche. No deployment of American troops abroad is considered without the infusion of the Vietnam question. No formulation of strategic policy can be completed without weighing the possibility of Vietnanization. Even the politics of a person cannot be discussed without taking into account his opinion on the Vietnam Ware. This national obsession with Vietnam is perfectly national when viewed from a far. It was the only war that the United States has ever lost. It defined an era of American history that must rank with the depression as one of this nation’s most traumatic. It concluded with Watergate and led many to believe that the

Noam Chomsky said of the United States war in Indochina, “The battleground is ideological, not military.”[1] It seems his analysis was on target. The War in Vietnam began well before the 1960s. At the end of the Second World War, the great divide between Western and communist values began to appear, as Churchill famously noted, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an ‘Iron Curtain’ has descended across the continent.”[2] Soviet Union began actively extending their influence into Eastern Europe, to act as a buffer zone against the West. The defeat of the Nationalists in China by the Communists, led by Mao Zedong, was particularly important. The United States greatly feared the proliferation of communism. As the arms heated up between the US and the Soviets, the Cuban Missile Crisis made the dangers of communist influence palpable to the American public.

To what extent was US military intervention in the Vietnam War justified? This paper will examine the causes of the conflict and why the US got involved. The paper will inspect the US’ relationship and ties with the different countries and parties involved in the conflict. The paper will also look at various US policies, such as foreign policy and the containment of communism, and the public opinion of the war. Effects of the war will also be looked at as a reference, but these effects will not be the focus of the paper. Both secondary and primary sources will be utilized to provide context and obtain a clearer understanding of the tension in the war.

Ho sought international recognition for the newly independent Vietnam but these overtures were ignored by all major leaders, including US president Harry Truman. Meanwhile, continuing violence and unrest in Vietnam provided the French with a pretext for returning troops to its former colony. France’s attempt to revive colonialism in Vietnam triggered the First Indochina War, with Ho leading the Viet Minh against the French, while refusing several offers of a negotiated peace. Following the division of Vietnam at the Geneva conference in 1954, Ho and the Viet Minh established themselves in the country’s north. There he mimicked the early policies of Chinese leader Mao Zedong by redistributing land to peasants, while encouraging the interrogation

According to the domino theory, the collapse of one country to communism meant that there would be a larger probability that its boarding countries would fall to communism as well. By preventing one country from falling to communism then that would stop many other countries from following, hence will cease the spread of communism. Eisenhower's first use of the term was directed at the Vietnam War, where the forthcoming triumph of Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh over the French suggested that the first Southeast Asian domino was about to fall. American officials realized that South Vietnam was the “domino” that had to stay standing.

My father and I had a conversation about the Vietnamese culture pre and post-communism compared to the western culture at a Vietnamese restaurant off Potranco it is really good. He said the American culture is very relaxed, very colorful in high school, the math was way too easy and did not give enough homework to instill hard work into the kids. In the United States, they just make sure the kid learns it long enough to pass the test. While pre-communism they, made them practice application of the subjects they were learning. Then post-communism they, only did theory taught theory. When he went to school in Vietnam it was about four and half hours of school days but on a block schedule. Block schedule is pretty much what most colleges do 90 minutes or so of class vs the traditional high school which 45-50 minute periods. He said there he would get about 5 hours’ worth of homework every night.