Vietnam War: 1954-1965 - Research Paper Example

Vietnam War The Vietnam War marked a great time in the history of both Vietnam and United s. It brought a change in the history of both the countries and greatly affected the political government of United States. It basically was a war fought in between the South Vietnam and North Vietnam whereas United States to fulfill its target got involved in it. The basic aim of United States after winning the World War II was to contain communism from spreading in the world. The reasons for such a policy will be discussed further in the essay with regard to the Vietnam War. The war gave strict lesson to the United States as they were forced to leave Vietnam in conditions which were not anymore suited to them. The soldiers of the United State army are stated to lose the Vietnam war because of the varied conditions they had to stay in. The war totally changed the military ideas of United States and gave lessons to the country through which it could learn. Vietnam War was an event which changed the history of two countries and the events which led to such a war were internal chaos and external involvement from countries such as United States (Hall 2009; Dudley 1997) The Cold War gave a platform to the United States to fight their counterparts Russia after the second world war. The second world war made both these countries the superpowers of the whole world. But increasing tensions between these two countries grew and United States adopted the policy of containment for Russia’s spread. United States believed that the policies of communism as followed by Russia could affect the whole world and every country could lay down to Russia. Hence Russia posed a direct threat to the United States and this was the reason for the eruption of the Vietnam War. During the World War II a complex situation arose on the rule of Vietnam. It was first ruled by the French forces but the Japanese forces took over from them soon after. When the US entered a war against Japan they helped a communist organization known as ‘Viet Minh’ to overtake the region of Vietnam. After the Japanese forces were defeated by the communist organization, the leader of the organization brought independence to the country of Vietnam. The organization then had to face several difficulties when French decided to take over Vietnam again. The communist organization was forced towards the country side where a guerilla war broke between the forces. At this point the French were forces were aided by the American forces as they were considerably their allies in the invasion. In 1950 a war in Korea emerged too which further gave a platform to the United States to intervene. Communists were fighting a war in Korea whereas the same group of people were fighting a war in Vietnam against the French forces. The war fought by French against Vietnam to gain control was lost by them and in 1954 an accord was signed known as Geneva Accord (Westheider 2007; Wiest 2009) The accord divided the region into two zones known as the South Vietnam and the North Vietnam respectively. The North Vietnam had to be ruled by the communist organization Viet Minh whereas the South had to be ruled by the French forces. A general referendum was also proposed in 1956 which would unite the country as per the wishes of the general population. This was the point at which the United States started to intervene in the policies of Vietnam. North Vietnam became a communist ruled zone and because of their increasing popularity it was obvious that the South Vietnam would also be won by them. Hence the United States had to follow their containment strategy to build a strong side for the southern half so that it could not be lost to communism. The United States played a strong role in strengthening the southern Vietnam and chose rules for the half by themselves. The taxes of United States were greatly allocated to the army in South Vietnam. Ngo Dinh Diem was elected in South Vietnam as the president but his leadership did not prove successful and he was killed in 1963 (Hall 2009; Moyar 2006). It was during his tenure that many problems arose inside the South Vietnam and these problems posed a threat to the strategy of the United States as laid down by them. Communist groups were formed in the South Vietnam which revolted against the government in the South. Viet Cong was the most strongest of these communist groups which led to a guerilla warfare in the South. It was then in 1964 that the incident of Tonkin took place in which the forces of North Vietnam attacked two U.S ships. This incident gave a chance to the government of United States to use force against Vietnam. In 1965 President Johnson increased the number of U.S soldiers in South Vietnam but the primary aim of these soldiers was to stop the revolt by the new communist group formed (Viet Cong). President Johnson wanted to build a stronger South Vietnam so that it could then take over the North Vietnam. The U.S soldiers had to go through different stages in the Vietnam war because of which they became frustrated. The soldiers sent to South Vietnam had to witness situations which they previously had not witnessed and this provided them with problems (Moyar 2006; Dudley 1997) Jungles in South Vietnam gave a great type of safety to the communists and this was where the forces of United States had to fight. It was because of these unusual circumstances that the US forces had to face problems. The US forces could not fight in the jungle well as the communists as these communists knew the jungle well. The traps laid down by the Viet Cong made it even more difficult for the forces to fight. And because of this the US forces suffered great losses. The US forces fought small skirmishes in the South Vietnam for three years until a surprise attack was launched by the forces of North Vietnam. North Vietnam was always ready to launch an offensive against the French controlled area so that they could retain their power and communism. The offensive launched by North Vietnamese is known as the Tet Offensive. The North Vietnamese joined hands with the communist forces of South Vietnamese and under the supervision of General Vo Nguyen Giap launched an attack on the South Vietnamese forces. The Tet Offensive was not won by the North Vietnamese forces as the US forces were large in number. Although the communist forces attacked a number of cities and towns in South Vietnam they were not really able to take control of these cities for long. In this Tet Offensive a great harm was done to the US army and this was noticed by President Johnson who then decided to back off from the war (Isserman, M., & Bowman 2003; Wiest, A. 2009; Moyar 2006). It was in 1969 that President Nixon launched the Vietnamization process through which he wanted to end the involvement of United States in Vietnam. President Nixon ordered the withdrawal of troops from South Vietnam while handing over the matters to the government of South. As soon as the troops were withdrawn South Vietnam became even more vulnerable to the forces of the North and this led to an invasion led by the forces of North. Easter Offensive was the assault launched by North Vietnam onto the South Vietnam in 1972. Until that the offensive the US army still had some involvement in the matters of South Vietnam and it was after this offensive that peace accords took place. In 1973 the peace accord was signed between the countries and the last troops of United States were withdrawn from the territory of Vietnam. It was in 1975 that South Vietnam surrendered to the forces of North Vietnam and both the countries were unified to form the Republic of Vietnam (Dudley 1997). Vietnam War could have been avoided if the United States did not play its role and many of the soldiers of United States could have been saved. United States had to suffer at the hands of the communist parties. Vietnam had to suffer great losses because of the involvement of United States in that region. If this was not the case the Republic of Vietnam could have been formed earlier (Westheider 2007). Bibliography Top of Form Westheider, J. E. (2007). The Vietnam War: James E. Westheider. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Greenwood Press.Bottom of Form The Vietnam War James Westheider. James provides an introduction to the Vietnam war from the US point of view. It provides details of the soldiers that went to fight for the South Vietnamese. It also gives an account of the recruitment and assignments that the soldiers had to undergo in Vietnam. And lastly it gives an account of the issues that the soldier faced during the war. Top of Form Isserman, M., & Bowman, J. S. (2003). Vietnam War. New York: Facts on File.Bottom of Form Vietnam War Maurice Isserman John Bowman. This book provides details about the Vietnam war rooting from the beginning. It provides details of both the American and Vietnamese side. It tells as to how America started to get involved in the war along with the problems that it faced. The history of Vietnam is also provided in this book along with the problems of communism. The book tells as to how the war ended and the U.S involvement was decreased. It is a great book to know all the details about the Vietnam war. Top of Form Wiest, A. (2009). The Vietnam War. New York: Rosen Publishing.Bottom of Form The Vietnam War Andrew Wiest. This book details about the war conditions of Vietnam. It provides an introduction to the condition of Vietnam before the war and after the war. It tells as to how the war actually took place and how US was deeply involved in it. Top of Form Moyar, M. (2006). Triumph forsaken: The Vietnam war, 1954-1965. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Bottom of Form This book provides the inner details of the Vietnam War and as to why the war was lost. It provides the information through which the war could be won by the United States had they acted upon the advice of the intelligence agencies. Dudley, W. (1997). The Vietnam war: Opposing viewpoints. San Diego, Calif: Greenhaven Press. Dudley in this book provides both the view points regarding the involvement of United States in the Vietnam war. It tells as to if the United States should have been involved in the war or if they should not have been involved in it. The benefits for being involved in the war are also outline along with the cons. Top of Form Hall, M. K. (2009). Vietnam War era: People and perspectives. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. Bottom of Form This book by Hall provides different viewpoints regarding the Vietnam war. It tells as to how people considered the Vietnam war to be. Many people considered it to be the worst thing in their life as they had to lose their families whereas many considered it to be beneficial as a whole to the country. Read More