The Vietnam Conflict and Its effects
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The Vietnam conflict began in the
late nineteenth century. The French conquered Vietnam and made it a protectorate.
For nearly forty years, Vietnam had not experienced settled peace. The League for the
Independence of Vietnam ( Viet Minh ) was formed in 1941, seeking independence from
the French. On September 2nd,1945, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed it independent of France.
The French opposed their independence from 1945 to 1954. The first representatives of
de Gualle’s government landed by parachute in Saigon and Hanoi on August 23rd, 1945.
The French wanted to reestablish their rule in Vietnam but were beaten at the battle of
Dien Bien Phu on May 7th, 1954. The French Expeditionary Force tried to prevent the
Viet Minh from entering Laos and Dien Bien Phu was the place chosen to do so. The
French were not very careful and this allowed the Viet Minh to cut off their airway to
Hanoi. After a siege that had lasted for fifty – five days, the French surrendered. Ho
Chi Minh led the war against France and won.
After the war there was a conference in Geneva where Vietnam was divided into two
parts along the seventeenth parallel. North Vietnam was mainly Communist and
supported Ho Chi Minh, while the south was supported by the United States and the
The Term Paper on South Viet Vietnam French War
... whole French garrison was wiped out. When Vietnamese revolutionary Ho Chi Minh and his political organization, the Vietminh, seized control of their independence ... of demoralization to the Viet Cong, they had lost their element of surprise. The US and South Vietnam forces all prepared ... taken prisoner. The Viet Cong had planned on the ARV N (Army of the republic of Vietnam) troops surrendering, but ...
French were based there. There was still some Communist rebels within South Vietnam.
These were the Viet Cong. The South Vietnam ruler was Ngo Dinh Diem who was anti –
Communist. At the conference, Laos and Cambodia became independent states.
North Vietnam wished to unify North and South Vietnam through military force. Since
the United States feared the spread of communism in Asia, John F. Kennedy provided
economic and military aid to South Vietman to prevent the takeover by North Vietnam.
At this time, this was still a civil war. The United States were not yet officially involved.
The North Vietnamese resented the little intervention by the United Sates and so,
three Vietnamese torpedo boats fired on the U.S. destroyer, ” Maddox ” on August 2nd,
1964. The ” Maddox ” had
been in the Gulf of Tonkin ( international waters ), thirty miles off the coast of Vietnam.
On August 3rd, 1964, Johnson gave the right ” to attack with the objective of
destroying attacking forces ” ( Pimlott 1982, 36 ).
Retaliation air attacks began on
August 3rd. Their aim was to destroy North Vietnam’s gunboat capability. As two more
United States destroyers were supposedly sunk, more air and sea forces were sent (
Wicker August 5, 1964, 1 ).
Up until now, the U.S. had refrained from direct combat.
This is when the United States formally entered the Vietman War. The U.S. did this for
two reasons. We wished to maintain the independence of South Vietnam and we had to
prove to allied nations that we would help them resist Communist overtaking. As
Congress was about to vote whether or not to allow the combat to move
into North Vietnam, the North Vietnamese attacked a major U.S. airbase at Bein Hoa.
On February 7th, 1965, Johnson ordered retaliation
bombing on North Vietnam. Rolling Thunder was the name of this
operation. It’s purpose was to put pressure on Hanoi and convince them
that Communism could not and would not win.
At the end of 1965, one hundred and eighty thousand Americans were in South Vietnam
under General William S. Westmoreland (Encyclopedia Britannica, 12, 361 ).
The Essay on United States Vietnam North South
... the seventeenth parallel. North Vietnam was mostly Communist and supported Ho Chi Minh, while South Vietnam was anti-communist and supported by the United States and France. There ... Viet Cong and North Vietnamese wanted to establish a communist government. On January 27, 1973, the Viet Cong, North Vietnam, South Vietnam and the United States arrived at ...
The U.S.
mainly depended on superior firepower and helicopters. The Viet Cong and North
Vietnamese depended on surprise attack and concealment.
The United States soldiers realized that the war would last for many more years and
wondered if the U.S. war effort could succeed. At the end of 1968, The number of
American troops in South Vietnam reached it’s peak of 542, 000 men ( Pimlott 1982, 53
).
The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese launched a major invasion against the United
States called the Tet offensive from January 30th to February 25th, 1968. At the Khe
Sanh U.S. firebase, there was a major ground battle. There was a siege from January
21st to April 14th. It was thought to be the ” American Dien Bien Phu “. The United
States turned it around however, with their victory at Hue. By 1969, combat decreased
rapidly
and American troops began to return home.
The role of Communism was extremely important in this conflict. Communism was one of
the main reasons of why the United States entered the war in the first place. The U.S.
” had ” to enter the war to stop the spread of Communism in Asia since North Vietnam
was Communist. If North Vietnam were to succeed in converting Vietnam into a
Communist country, it could become very powerful and go on to ‘pursuade’ other
countries to become Communist. The U.S. believed that Vietnam could become
powerful. They were amazed that France, an Allied power, had been beaten by the
Vietnamese.
North Vietnam was a Communist country. The man who had proclaimed Vietnam
independent, Ho Chi Minh, was a Communist. He was a Marxist and believed in ”
national Communism ” ( Encyclopedia Britannica, 5, 955).
During the war with the
French, Ho Chi Minh took refuge in northern Vietnam and settled there with his
followers. He founded the Indochina Communist Party and the Viet Minh. The Viet Minh
did not become Communist until the 1950’s. He became the president of North Vietnam
from 1945 to 1969. North Vietnam was a poor area and was cut off from the
agricultural benefit of South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was forced to ask assistance from
The Term Paper on Why The North Won The Civil War 3
Introduction This paper looks into the various aspects of the American civil war. The paper commences with a detailed analysis as to why the north prevailed over the south in the civil war. The study has looked into more than three reasons which can be attributed to the victory by the north. The study then discusses the key events during the civil war. Accordingly, it has been noted that the ...
major Communist allies – the Soviet Union and China. Both aided North Vietnam before
and during the war.
The North Vietnamese invaded South Vietnam. They wanted to use military tactics to
force unification. The United States did not allow their unification. The U.S. knew that
the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese wished to establish one ruling government, the
Communist Party. This led to the Vietnam War and U.S. intervention.
On January 27th, 1973, South Vietnam Communist forces ( Viet Cong ), North Vietnam,
South Vietnam and the United States agreed on many things during peace talks that
were held in Paris. The talks had lasted for over two years before any agreements were
made that suited all of them. The forces involved agreed that U.S. troops would
gradually withdraw from Vietnam and all prisoners of war would be released. They also
agreed that South Vietnam had the right to choose their own future, whether or not to
unite with North Vietnam. North
Vietnamese troops were given the right to remain in South Vietnam but they could not
be reinforced. Nixon was the U.S. president who finalized the accepted treaty and
began to remove United States troops.
Even after the peace talks, fighting continued between the North and South
Vietnamese. After the majority of American soldiers had left, North Vietnam went
against all that was enforced at the peace talks. North Vietnam planned a major
invasion on the south in 1975 or 1976. By April 30th, 1976, North Vietnamese tanks had
occupied Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, with no trouble.
On July 2nd, 1976, the country was united as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The
capital became Hanoi and it was under Communist rule. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi
Minh City after the instigator of Communism. The North Vietnamese had won. Forty –
seven
thousand Americans were killed in action and three hundred and
thirteen soldiers were wounded, physically as well as mentally. The war had cost the
United States an estimated two hundred billion dollars ( Encyclopedia Britannica, 12,
361 ).
The Essay on Movements in North America and South America
When one compares the independence movements in North America and South America one would see a lot of differences and similarities between the two. The major differences were probably due to different geographical aspects of the two continents. Along with this, there were also variations among the societies. Although there were a lot of differences between the movements towards independence, ...
There were two thousand, two hundred and sixty – one United States
servicemen listed as missing in action ( Time, February 15, 1993, 44 ).
The tally is still
incomplete. Some say that this war was fought for nothing. There were only losses and
nothing was gained.
After the war, southern Vietnam’s agriculture, business and industry were devestated.
The newly Communist Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia became an important South – Asian
power. Today, Vietnam remains under Communist rule. The Vietnamese Communist
Party is the
major political party. The State Council Chairman is Vo Chi Chong. The
Prime Minister is Do Muoi.
After the Vietnam war, United States Presidents tried to punish Vietnam for the losses
suffered by their country. They cut off all trade to Vietnam. Vietnam’s economy was
severely damaged. This came about by the U.S. decision to stop trade and the new
efforts to install a Soviet – style system in the unified country. By 1985, ten years
after it’s ” liberation “, Vietnam had to beg for help from the Soviet Union ( Time,
February 15, 1993, 43).
In 1986, the government leaders began an economic plan, doi moi to get Vietnam back
on it’s feet. When aid from the Soviet Union stopped, the country was able to stand on
it’s own. The Vietnamese veterans don’t regard the Americans as enemies but the
government leaders do. The government fears that if contact with the United
States increases, it might result in a revolution that would destroy their authority.
Meanwhile, even without United States help, Vietnam is seen to be an important
exporter in the future. Japan has already exported goods to Vietnam and the United
States is afraid that they will soon gain economic control over the entire region.
