The Vietnam War and its Subsequent Ties to the Cold War Essay

In the middle 1960s, every male in America had to register for Selective Service Draft at age 18. He would then be eligible for the draft and could be inducted into the Army for a period of two years. If you were a college student, you could receive a deferment and would be able to finish college without the fear of being drafted. However, once finished with college, a students name would be put to the very top of the draft list and could be deployed at anytime. The anti-war movement was about young men being drafted and then sent into war that most Americans did not believe threatened the security of the US. The Vietnam War was America’s rebellious war, a war without popular support

The Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition existing after World War II between the Communist World – primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies – and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States and its allies.

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 time of the Cold War (1947-1989(), America’s foreign policies were entirely centered on the fight against communism. It was during the 1960s that the US intervened deeper and deeper into the Vietnam War (1955-1975). The war, often considered the peak and turning point of the Cold War, was fought between North

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 war in vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit.” Martin Luther King, Jr. once said. The Vietnam War was considered one of America’s greatest defeats of all time. Not only did the US failed to stop the spread of communism, but they also embarrassed this country as a whole with the outcome of this war. The overall outcome from this war will be remembered for years to come. In this essay, I will be talking about how the United States would have won the Vietnam war if the home front was for the war, if the the US was more familiar with the land, and the U.S.’s goal was not successful.

The Vietnam War began, because of Indochina (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) being conquered by the Japanese, in 1941. This led to the creation of the Vietnamese nationalist movement, formed by Ho Chi Minh to resist the Japanese. The Vietnamese national movement also known as the Vietminh, was a communist front organization. To stop the spread of communism through Asia, the United States intervened. The war lasted for 19-20 years, and involved countries such as South Vietnam, North Vietnam, United States, South Korea, Australia, Philippines, New Zealand, Thailand, Khmer Republic, Laos and the Republic of China. The war was known as a guerrilla war, which meant the use of tactics such as ambush, sabotage and petty warfare. Guerrilla warfare is a very unconventional style of warfare. It is when small groups of soldiers use stealthy tactics to inflict damage on the target. The casualties suffered by both sides were immense however, the Communists had the upper hand throughout the majority of the war. Not only was it their home turf, they also had the support of a large percentage of the civilian population. The effective use of guerrilla tactics by the Viet Cong played a very important role on the outcome of the war, and is also the primary reason why the United States lost. The following essay will outline the reasons why the guerrilla tactics used by the Viet Cong played a very important role on the outcome of the Vietnam War. The first paragraph will

The Cold War lasted from 1947 until 1991, a period of almost 50 years. It started because of increased spreading of Communism by the U.S.S.R after World War 2 which increased tension between the United States and the U.S.S.R. The United States was trying to stop the spread of Communism because the United States is a Capitalist and Democratic country and they hated Communism. During that time, the United States was involved in several proxy wars such as the Vietnam War, and Korean War. The Vietnam War lasted from November 1, 1955 - April 30, 1975. The United States did not achieve or accomplish any of their objectives, because they lost the war, and they were going based off of the Domino Theory. The United States believed that if the Vietnamese

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.

For a while there was really only one scene, the main scene. In some eyes, society had a way prior to the 60 's to fixate only on what certain people thought were appropriate. Aspects such as the masculinity of America, white prowess, and the professional look, in a sense plagued America and beyond. Also, the United State 's government was war hungry, after WW2 we put ourselves in conflicts: the Korean War, Vietnam War, and the Cold War. These were truly scary times for the people. Fast forward to the 70 's, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War is still taking a toll on our country. Everyone was sick of this and the youth did not want a fight for simply just adding toll numbers to death. This influenced culture immensely and while this was all happening a new breed of ideas were brewing. A new wave of substances became obtainable and people took a hold of these which as we now know changed the face of that generation of people and further rippling out to others. The psychedelia wave arrived and forever society norms changed, how people treated people changed, and Rock & Roll changed at a time that was screaming for change. In the beginning there was LSD, the influence of this drug can be seen in many forms. Mainly LSD had the altering effect that can be seen, but, many other drugs had its place among the groups of people. The LSD influences can be seen in music videos, can be listen to in music, and the idea of hippies was sure shaped my LSD.

The conflict concerning Vietnam can be dated back to the Cold War and the fight against widespread communism. The fear of a domino theory in Southeast Asia lies at the heart of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Starting with president Truman and ending with Nixon, the Vietnam conflict continued to become progressively worse with time. Unlike previous wars, the Vietnam War tarnished America’s image as it was the first time in history the U.S. came out defeated while being far more advanced. However whether or not this conflict can be referred to as “Johnson’s War” is controversial. While Johnson is responsible for the escalation of the war, one man can not fully be at fault as this conflict was inherited by his predecessors and Johnson was within reach of acquiring a peace treaty until being interfered.

This paper will be explaining the similarities, and differences, between the Vietnam War and the War in Afghanistan. There are many topics that bring these two wars together. However, I am only going to be talking about public support, policy objectives, military strategy, weapons, fighting spirit, links to home, and death totals. These topics have a lot of information about them, but there is too much to write about every little detail, so I will cover the broad overview of them. Each paragraph will be about one of the topics. There will also be a discussion about insurgencies and counter insurgency operations. These are two big topics in Vietnam and Afghanistan since almost all of the enemy in both wars were, and are, comprised of insurgents and different types of militia groups.

In the 1950's, the United States had begun to send troops to Vietnam and during the following 25-year period, the ensuing war would create some of the strongest tensions in US history. Almost 3 million US men and women were sent thousands of miles to fight for what was a questionable cause. In total, it is estimated that over 2 million people on both sides were killed.

Ho Chi Minh did not live to witness the last helicopter lift off from the U.S. Embassy roof on April 30th 1975, an event that marked the fall of Saigon and the final stage of a decades long conflict. Ho died in 1969, six years shy of realizing his lifelong dream of a unified and independent Vietnam. Ho’s leadership was central to a victory won against formidable adversaries with vast resources; first the colonial French, and later an illegitimate South Vietnamese regime propped up by U.S power. Beginning in 1946 Ho led the Vietnamese people in a guerilla war that required relentless resolve and discipline to endure the debilitating casualties and destruction. Victory would have been impossible without the backing of the Vietnamese people, and Ho’s deep understanding of his countrymen allowed him to frame the struggle in familiar terms that inspired the enormous sacrifices needed to achieve victory.

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