Causes of the Vietnam War
IntroductionIn the 1800s, French military forces established control over Indochina, a peninsula in Southeast Asia that includes the modern nations of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. By the end of WWII, this peninsula had a population of 27 million people. French colonial officials ruled Vietnam with an iron fist. They forced French laws onto Vietnam and imposed high taxes. French business people acquired large rice and rubber plantations and controlled the mineral wealth of the country. A few benefitted from French colonization, but most were crushed by imperialism.
Some Vietnamese rebelled against French exploitation. Ho Chi Minh became the most important voice demanding independence for Vietnam. Minh embraced communism and eventually the Soviets rallied to his cause. After WWII, anti-colonial sentiments began to be embraced. However, the United States wanted to have French support against the Soviets during the Cold War. As such, the United States continued to support French colonization of Vietnam, even as it supported the independence of other nations. Vietnam became a pawn and a hot spot of Cold War politics. After the Communists, headed by Mao Zedong, led a successful revolution in China in 1949, Truman did not want to see another Asian nation succumb to Communism (see domino theory). Between 1950 and 1954, the United States contributed $2.6 billion in aid to France’s efforts to maintain control over Vietnam. Containment of Ho Chi Minh and his Communist party, the Vietminh, became national priority. |
vietnam gets its independence
In 1954, however, the French lost their eight-year struggle to regain full control over Vietnam following a temporary lessening of power during World War II. The Communist Vietminh trapped a large French force at Dien Bien Phu, a military base in northwest Vietnam, and laid siege to it for 55 days. Vietminh troops destroyed the French airstrip, cut their supply lines, and dug trenches to attack key French positions. Finally, on May 7th, 1954, having suffered 15,000 casualties, the French surrendered.
geneva accords
The very next day after French surrender, an international peace conference took place in Geneva, Switzerland. According to the Geneva Accords, France granted independence to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The Geneva Accords also divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel into two countries: North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh’s communist forces ruled in North Vietnam, while an anti-communist government, supported by the United States, assumed power in South Vietnam. The Geneva Accords also called for free elections in 1956 to unify Vietnam.
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the domino theory
When President Dwight D. Eisenhower took office in early 1953, he continued Truman’s policies in Vietnam, namely containment of Communism by sending monetary aid to France. He established the theory that if Vietnam fell to communism, its closest neighbors were sure to follow. In short, stopping the spread of communism to Vietnam was important to the protection of the entire region.
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The united states aids vietnam
America sent aid to South Vietnam in many ways. First, in 1954, the United States and seven other countries formed SEATO, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization. Similar to NATO, SEATO’s goal was to contain the spread of communism, but in Southeast Asia. The United States also sent economic aid to support the South Vietnamese government led by Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem was an ardent nationalist and anti-communist. Although he lacked popular support with his own people, he had the support of the United States.
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Communist Opposition in South Vietnam Grows
By 1957, a communist rebel group formed in South Vietnam. They were known as the National Liberation Front and were committed to undermining Ngo Dinh Diem’s rule. The NLF guerilla fighters came to be known as the Vietcong. Supplied with weapons from North Vietnam, the Vietcong bombed roads and bridges and assassinated South Vietnamese government officials. Their hit-and-run tactics undermined Ngo Dinh Diem’s hold on South Vietnam.
kennedy sends in troops
After his election in 1960, Kennedy took a more aggressive stand against the communists in Vietnam. Beginning in 1961, he sent Special Forces into South Vietnam to advise the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) on more effective strategies to fight the communist forces. By 1963, there were more than 15,000 American “advisers” fighting in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, South Vietnamese leader, Ngo Dinh Diem was continuing to alienate his own people with his anti-Buddhist policies in a primarily Buddhist nation. By late 1963, Kennedy realized that South Vietnam needed new leadership. On November 1, 1963, Diem was removed from power due in part to a U.S. plot to overthrow Diem using anti-Diem generals. He was later assassinated.
Meanwhile, South Vietnamese leader, Ngo Dinh Diem was continuing to alienate his own people with his anti-Buddhist policies in a primarily Buddhist nation. By late 1963, Kennedy realized that South Vietnam needed new leadership. On November 1, 1963, Diem was removed from power due in part to a U.S. plot to overthrow Diem using anti-Diem generals. He was later assassinated.
gulf of tonkin incident
Three weeks after Diem’s fall, President Kennedy was assassinated. Vice President LBJ was signed into office as the new President. In 1964, President Johnson faced his first crisis in Vietnam. On August 2, North Vietnamese torpedo boats supposedly fired on the American destroyer, the U.S.S. Maddox as it patrolled the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam. The Maddox was not hit and it returned fire on the Vietnamese boats. This became known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident.
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Johnson promptly responded to the attack and to other North Vietnamese provocations. Troubled by increasing strikes against American ally, South Vietnam, as well, Johnson ordered an airstrike against North Vietnam. Today, most historians, including those employed by the U.S. military, have concluded that these attacks never actually occurred, but served as a made-up pretext for an immediate ramp-up or escalation of the Vietnam War.