The Vietnam War - Research Paper Example

? Contents 3 Introduction to the War 4 Vietnam War, like many other wars of its era, was fought to prevent the spread of Communism across Asia. Usually referred to as the Second Indochina War, Vietnam War was the longest military battle in the history of United States and lasted from 1959 to 1975. It was fought between the North Vietnam (Communist) and South Vietnam (United States). The war resulted in over 2 million civilian casualties and came to an end with the defeat of South Vietnam and (but) eventually the country was unified (Pillai). 4 Economic Impact of the War 8 Social Impact of the War 10 Political Impact of the War 12 Bibliography 14 Abstract The purpose of this paper is to delineate the impact of the Vietnamese War, on North Vietnam, South Vietnam and the U.S. It gives a chronological description of the events by throwing light on the history and the root cause of the War that on to the build up and the manifestation of the War. The subsequent economic, social and political impact of the War is the focus of the paper. The War was fought between the North and South Vietnam and resulted in the defeat of the South with an atrocious number of casualties on both sides. The economic impact of the War was the most significant and immediate; U.S.A’s involvement in the War saw a backlash on its budget, economic policies, production and currency was received with a lot of criticism and mistrust by the people of the U.S. On the flip side the Vietnamese economy also crippled, leaving it a poor and aid-dependent country to date. On the social front the war caused a high number of ‘American-Asian’ births and a harrowing death toll. The psychological and health issues were the most devastating and penetrating effects of the War on South Vietnam. Politically, the War destroyed the confidence of the American people in their leadership and military. The Vietnam War still raises a number of questions and is a subject of much debate specially with reference to the far-reaching devastation it caused. Introduction to the War Vietnam War, like many other wars of its era, was fought to prevent the spread of Communism across Asia. Usually referred to as the Second Indochina War, Vietnam War was the longest military battle in the history of United States and lasted from 1959 to 1975. It was fought between the North Vietnam (Communist) and South Vietnam (United States). The war resulted in over 2 million civilian casualties and came to an end with the defeat of South Vietnam and (but) eventually the country was unified (Pillai). The roots of the war date back to the colonial rule of Vietnam by the French. During World War II, the Japanese defeated the French and took control of Vietnam after which despite several attempts the French failed to re-impose their colonial rule. After a 9 year struggle (from 1946 to 1954) of the Vietnamese Army for independence against the French colonial rule, the Geneva Accords of 1954 divided the country into North and South Vietnam. After the partition, North Vietnam was supported by China and Soviet Union and South Vietnam was obviously supported by the United States. United States President Dwight Eisenhower and Vice-President Richard Nixon justified their support for the South Vietnam by putting forward the Domino Theory, which said that if one country falls to communism the others in the region would follow suit and then communism would spread rapidly across the world (Domino Thory). The war took off when a Pro-American Ngo Dinh Diem came to power in South Vietnam. He was anti-communist and was a perfect candidate to be supported by United States for their plan to establish an anti-communist government in the South. Diem was popular amongst the Catholics in Vietnam but he faced serious resistance by the non-Christians Vietnamese. To keep Diem in power, the U.S started sending exorbitant amounts of military aid to protect Diem’s regime. This marked the American military presence in the region which increased dramatically over time. It is popular belief that Diem quickly became a strain on the American strategy so the U.S provided covert assistance when Diem’s Army of the Republic of Vietnam tried to overthrow him. In November 1963, Diem and his brother were killed in a military coup. The War took another turn when in 1964, two U.S navy ships were attacked by the North Vietnamese. In retaliation the U.S president, Lyndon B. Johnson launched as air strike against the North Vietnam. Again this marked the start of Air strike from the U.S which drastically increased in number overtime. Each time the bomings were deadly and claimed more lives of unsuspecting victims. The bombs used napalm, a very strong jellied form of gasoline that burns for a longer period and is not easily extinguishable. Unfortunately, the nature of guerilla warfare made it difficult to differentiate between civilian and military targets hence both were attacked which essentially became the reason for the large number of civilian casualties. On the other hand, North Vietnam was receiving enormous amounts of military aid from China and Soviet Union which enabled them to set the stage for Tet Offensive; a huge, well planned attack on many strategic locations of South Vietnam. Although the attack resulted in more damage to North Vietnamese but its success came from the fact that it made the U.S aware of how powerful North Vietnam was and without U.S support the whole of South was under their influence (Vietnam War). The war was becoming more and more unpopular in the United States and there were protests and rallies against the U.S intervention and mass civilian killings. President Johnson became unpopular amongst the masses and as a result he reduced the number of air strikes and rejected many requests to send more troops to the South. Learning from his Johnson’s mistakes and causes for unpopularity his successor Nixon started peace negotiations as soon as he came to power. The internal problems of the two countries soon dominated the talks which lasted till 1973. In 1969, Nixon began to withdraw troops from the Vietnam but in turn increased the bombings. President Nixon proposed "Vietnamization" of the war, which meant that the South Vietnamese troops should dominate and take charge of the war and U.S would provide them with military aid coupled with naval and air support. Throughout 1970-1972, Nixon intensified the air strikes and naval bombardment. To scare of the Communist invasion of South Vietnam, Nixon further increased bombing but this time on the towns and cities of North Vietnam. Finally on January 27, 1973, a cease-fire agreement was signed by United States, North Vietnam and South Vietnam in Paris. Soon after the departure of American troops from South Vietnam the Peace negotiations collapsed and the war resumed. On December 13, 1974, North Vietnam started its attacks on South Vietnam to conquer it. By 1975, the South faced a very well-organized and heavily funded series of attacks by North Vietnam. North’s support came from China and Soviet Union. South Vietnam at that time was in Chaos as the U.S military aid had stopped which weakened their economy which was heavily dependent on the U.S for financial support. With the absence of U.S troops in the South, it was becoming weaker and weaker by every passing attack. Eventually on April 30 1975, President Duong Van Minh of the South ordered its troops to surrender resulting in thousands of South Vietnamese fleeing out of the country (Pillai). The war resulted in 58000 American lives and approximately two and a half million Vietnamese lives out of which about 2 million were civilians. 10 million became refugees and the damages done by bombings were permanent in most cases. It is said that millions have fled the country since 1975 and Vietnam is today a poor country which largely depends on aid from communist nations with little economic value in the international community. Economic Impact of the War The War which is called the second Indochina war and the longest military battle in the history of United States certainly had a lot of ramifications on the political, social and economic front. Many historians say that the aftermath of the war was devastating for both countries. They believe that this war did no good to the Vietnamese who risked their lives and property in hope for a better future for Vietnam. The most significant impact of the war was on the economic outlook of the two countries after the war. The direct impact of the war was felt when the involvement of America started to affect its domestic policies. U.S spent approximately $173 billion in terms of military and domestic social spending which had an enormous impact on the U.S economy (Costs of Vietnam War). Johnson’s ‘Great Society’ plan was compromised and the country faced an immediate budget deficit which was followed by hyper-inflation. The Great Society plan was attempted to be carried out simultaneously along with heavy funding of the war without any significant increase in taxation which lead to double digit inflation and caused the Federal debt to increase drastically. This problem was further augmented because of the weaker dollar at that time. This irresponsible decision by President Johnson to carryout both projects without increasing the taxes eroded the standard of living of the Americans from late 1960s to 1990 as opposed to what was promised to the Americans in the Great Society plan. Many Great Society projects were stopped or never took off due to lack of funds from the government and food prices rose sharply. Anti-war sentiments among the citizens negatively affected consumer confidence. Interest rates in the country rose too which shattered confidence of the investors and restricted capital available for to investors for businesses. The war dampened the nation’s production capability and created imbalances in the industrial sector. Most of the country’s resources were devoted towards making goods for the war leading to a shortage of consumer goods in the country. Although the U.S had withdrawn troops out of the country but it continued to send millions of dollars to South Vietnam which caused the U.S economy to slow down and have long lasting impacts. It is said that the veteran benefits added another 240 billion dollar to the ever growing budget deficit of the country. It is said that the Vietnam War did not cause the problems like weak dollar, budget deficits and slowing down of economy but it certainly accelerated them (Vietnam War and the American Economy). Social Impact of the War The horrid truth of the Vietnamese war embodies itself in facts that claim that more bombs were dropped by the U.S in Vietnam than the total of all bombings in World War II (Impact of Vietnam War). This war claimed the lives of 2.5 million Vietnamese whilst injuring thousands and leaving millions terrorized. About a million U.S soldiers were deployed to South Vietnam for more than a decade which led to the birth of 50,000 "American Asian” children, born to Vietnamese women. The Death toll of the war was not the only devastating facet of the War but the after math of the war was more frightening. Vietnamese economy was crippled down further after the war ended which caused starvation in the whole of Vietnam. It had dramatic effects on the people of South Vietnam. Persecution, starvation and poverty caused as much as 2 million people to flee Vietnam after its unification (Vietnam War). Chemical weapons were used by the Americans which caused serious health issues among Vietnamese and the effects of these can be seen till today. Post war research suggests that today 1 million people suffer from different types of disabilities and cancers because of the use of herbicides such as Agent Orange in the war. Millions of babies born till today suffer from different malformations and defects (Effects of Vietnam War). The veterans who served in the war had long lasting effects. A large number of post-traumatic stress disorder cases were found in the veterans of Vietnam. Agent Orange also had adverse effects on the veterans as they suffered from health problems and disease after coming back from home from fighting the war. This further aggravated the situation for the veterans as they were treated as social pariahs as soon as it was found that they had served in the Vietnam War. They suffered from mental, physical and psychological illnesses and unfortunately were not provided with adequate treatment by the state (Social Consequences of Vietnam War). Political Impact of the War A war that strained the US treasury of $170 billion was still lost, but the USA did not only lose the war but also the trust of the people in their leaders. America was no longer seen as an ‘invincible nation’ by other countries; the public had little faith left in the government and were increasingly getting more insecure about the future of the country. American Soldiers were shunned by the public and the political climate of the country seemed worse than ever before. Soon after the war, Johnson and Nixon were accused of abusing their power and this accusation was followed by the passage of War Powers Act in 1973. The War Powers resolution was passed by both houses of congress and this manifesto claimed that Americans would no longer allow their president to take any crucial decisions on his own authority. Public mood became more inwards on the military front as they now believed that their forces should protect American borders only rather than protecting other country’s borders (Vietnam War and Its Political Impact). Americans lost their innocence and the media started playing the role of a watchdog in domestic policies (The Effects of the Vietnam War). Pentagon Papers proved that the American leaders misled the public by concealing numerous fact about the war which brought to the realization of every American that they must not blindly believe whatever their government says. Political scientists then said that it would take a long time and much larger effort for the forthcoming governments to gain back the trust lost during the war. The Vietnam War till today is a subject of interesting debate. The effects of this war are felt by many across the globe. Unlike the Korean and many other wars of its era it cannot be easily forgotten simply because of its long lasting effects on the economies, societies and political horizons of the countries involved. Bibliography Costs of Vietnam War. 3 Feb 2012 . Domino Thory. 2 Feb 2012 . Effects of Vietnam War. 2 Feb 2012 . Impact of Vietnam War. 2 Feb 2012 . Pillai, Prabhakar. Vietnam War History. 2 Feb 2012 . Social Consequences of Vietnam War. 2 Feb 2012 . The Effects of the Vietnam War. 2 Feb 2012 . Vietnam War. 1 Feb 2012 . Vietnam War and Its Political Impact. 3 Feb 2012 . Vietnam War and the American Economy. 2 Feb 2012 . Read More