Vietnam War Causes and Consequences - Research Paper Example

The history of the Vietnam War can be traced to the fall of Japan at the end of the Second World War. French and the United States army tried to gain control over the region to defeat the communist forces but were stopped from doing so by two emerging constraints. The first one accounted for the peace accord signed in Geneva in 1956 and the second more crucial the division of the country in North and South Geneva. United States of America’s War forces lent a strong defense for the cause of saving South Vietnam from the fangs of communism.

However, America’s forces were bound to retreat from the Vietnam soil owing to a treaty signed with North Vietnam in 1973. North Vietnam the communist regime that had earlier promised not to gain control over South Vietnam finally invaded it on December 1974. The North Vietnam forces surpassed South Vietnam’s efforts of defense as they gained control over Saigon and other parts of the South on April 1975.1 In this context, the paper aims to trace the main reasons, which led to the Vietnam War and the effects generated by the prolonged war.

During the period of the Second World War, the Japanese forces occupied a region owned by the French forces known as Indochina consisting of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. In Vietnam Ho Chi Minh opposed the Japanese invasion through the formation of Viet Minh in 1941. Viet Minh later took the picture of a Nationalist Movement in the Vietnam soil. Ho Chi Minh sought America’s support in fighting against the Japanese, which later gave independence to Vietnam. However, after the end of the Second World War the French forces endeavored to gain their control over Vietnam.

The Nationalist Party of Vietnam, Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh strongly opposed the French invasion. Agreements between the French forces and Viet Minh led to no results following which French invaded the capital of