Pros and Cons of the Vietnam War - Essay Example

Pros and Cons of the Vietnam War

On January 27, 1973, after four years of local negotiations in Paris, an agreement was signed "On ending the war and restoring peace in Vietn. Region from the intrusion of marines troops". According to the document, American troops of marines, having lost 58 thousand people since 1965, recognized the victory of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and left the country. This military forces conflict was the first defeat in American history. About why, having huge military potential, the USA lost the war to a small state like a big cong village.

Before the outbreak of World War II, this region was part of the French colonial empire. During the wartime years, a national liberation movement took shape on its local territory, led by the leader of the Communist Party, Ho Chi Minh. Fearing the loss of the colony, France sent expeditionary troops to Vietnamese, which at the end of the war managed to regain control of the southern part of the country partially. However, France was not able to suppress the movement of partisans who were stubbornly opposed, and in 1950 turned to the United States for material support and forces of marines. By that time, the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam, ruled by Ho Chi Minh, had formed in the North of the country cong village. On account of the pros and cons of the Vietnam War, nevertheless, even US financial marines assistance did not help the Fourth Republic. In 1954, after the defeat of France at the Battle of Dienbienphu, the First Indochina War was completed. As a result, the Republic of Vietnam with the local capital in Saigon near the cong village was proclaimed in the south of the country, while Ho Chi Minh remained the North. Fearing the strengthening of the socialists and realizing the precariousness of the regime of South Vietn., the United States began to help its leadership of troops near the cong village actively.

In addition to financial and marines support, United States President John F. Kennedy decided to send the first local regular forces of the US Armed Forces to the country (before that, only military advisers served there). In 1964, when it became clear that these efforts were not enough, America, under the leadership of President Lyndon Johnson, began full-scale military operations on the territory of Vietnam on the part of marines. One of the main reasons for US participation in the local Vietn. War is the desire to stop the spread of communism in Asia, village by village. After the establishment of the communist regime in China, the American government wanted to put an end to the "red threat" by any means, including cong marines troops. Kennedy won on this anti-communist wave in the 1960 presidential race between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. It was he who presented the most decisive action plan to eliminate this threat of forces, sending the first US military marines to South Vietnamese and by the end of 1963, having spent a record $ 3 billion on waging village war.

Through the bombing of the North and the actions of American marines in the south of the country, Washington hoped to deplete the cong economy of North Vietnamese. Indeed, during this wartime, the most powerful aerial local forces bombardments in human history took place. From 1964 to 1973, the US Air Force dropped about 7.7 million tons of bombs and other local ammunition into Indochina. Such decisive actions were, according to the calculations of the Americans, forcing North Vietnamese leaders to conclude a peace treaty favorable to the United States and lead to the victory of Washington. In 1968, the Americans, on the one hand, agreed to negotiate in Paris, but, on the other hand, adopted the doctrine of Americanization of the war, which resulted in an increase in the number of US troops in Vietnam. Thus, 1969 was the peak of the size of the American marines army, which appeared on the territory of Vietnam, which reached half a million people. But even so many marines didn't help the US win this war. A huge role in the victory of Vietn. was played by the economic assistance of China and the USSR, which provided Vietnam with the most advanced weapons. To combat the American troops, the Soviet Union allocated about 95 Dvina anti-aircraft missile systems and more than 7.5 thousand missiles to them. The USSR also provided MiG aircraft that exceeded the American Phantoms in maneuverability. On the whole, the USSR allocated 1.5 million rubles daily for military operations in Vietnam. Contribution to the victory of the national liberation movement in the south was made by the leadership of Hanoi, led by the Communist Party of North Vietn. He managed quite skillfully to organize a defense and resistance system to build an economic system competently. In addition, the partisans in all supported and the local population. After the Geneva agreements, the country was divided into two parts. But the Vietnamese people really wanted to unite. Therefore, the Saigon regime, which was created to counteract this unity and create a single pro-American regime in the south, opposed the aspirations of the entire population. Attempts to achieve his goal exclusively with the help of American weapons and the army created at his expense contradicted the real aspirations of the population. At the same time, a massive anti-war movement was expanding in America itself, culminating in the so-called Pentagon Campaign, which took place in October 1967. During this protest rally in Washington gathered up to 100 thousand young people who advocated an end to the war. In the army, soldiers and officers deserted more and more often. Many veterans suffered from mental disorders - the so-called Vietnamese syndrome. Unable to overcome mental stress, former officers committed suicide. Very soon, everyone realized the meaninglessness of this wartime. In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson announced the end of the bombing of North Vietn. and his intention to begin peace negotiations. Richard Nixon, who succeeded Johnson as president of the United States, began his election campaign under the popular slogan "ending the wartime with an honorable peace." In the summer of 1969, he announced the gradual withdrawal of some parts of American troops from South Viet. At the same time, the new president actively participated in the Paris talks on ending the war life. In December 1972, the delegation of North Vietn. unexpectedly left Paris, refusing further discussion. To force the Northerners to return to the negotiating table and accelerate the outcome of the events, Nixon ordered the operation, codenamed Linebacker II.

Linebacker II ended on December 29, and ten days later, negotiations in Paris resumed. As a result, on January 27, 1973, a peace agreement was signed. So began the mass withdrawal of US forces from Vietn. According to the expert, the Saigon regime was not accidentally called a puppet regime, since a very narrow military-bureaucratic elite was in power. The crisis of the internal regime gradually intensified, and by 1973, from the inside, it was greatly weakened. Therefore, when the United States withdrew its last parts in January 1973, everything crumbled like a house of cards. Two years later, in February 1975, the army of North Vietn., together with the national liberation movement, launched an offensive act and, in just three months, liberated the entire southern part of the country.

The unification of Vietn. in 1975 was a major victory for the Soviet Union. At the same time, the military defeat of the United States in this country temporarily helped the American leadership to realize the need to reckon with the interests of other states.