The Vietnam War Causes and Effects by U.S Intervention - Research Paper Example

The Vietnam War causes and effects by U.S intervention Contents Introduction 2 Research Objectives 4 Literature review 4 Methodology 6 Analysis and Discussion 7 Key findings and conclusion 12 References 14 Introduction The United States has a long history of a foreign policy by which it has a policy of intervention in the affairs of other countries. In the Vietnam War for example the Americans had poured in $120 billion. The Vietnam occurred in the post world war II period. World War II had a decisive effect on the power and its concentration in the world scenario. In the Second World War United States and Soviet Union participated together in defeating the Axis powers made of Germany and Japan. After the Second World War United Kingdom was financially weakened, Germany was made devoid of military power, Japan was two made incapable. In the post world war period there was polarization of power between two super powers. On one hand there was the powerful and almighty presence of Soviet Russia with its powerful Soviet Army. On the other hand there was the presence of the Capitalist America. So the whole concentration of American efforts post the world war and in the Cold War era was focused on restriction of the political expansion of Soviet Russia. As part of this plan to control the expanse of Soviet Russia, America intervened in the conflict of North Korea with the South Korea. The main intention of America to intervene in the conflict was to prevent the expansion of the Communist North. America held the belief in the Domino effect and the fact that if one of the countries became communist all other countries in the Asia will follow the trend and this will be a victory for the communist ideology of Russia. Before the Vietnam War, America had also participated in the Korean War. This war was also a fight between two contender Korean Regimes, one was based in the capitalism ideology and another was based on Communist ideology. However the Vietnam War was the first instance America had failed abjectly. The effect of the war would linger in the minds of the Americans and would have a lasting impact on the foreign policy of United States of America. The massive spending on the war with Vietnam had a bad impact on the economy of the nation. The war also had a negative psychological impact and had ruptured the myth that America as a country was invincible. The effect later came to be known as Vietnam effect or Vietnam Syndrome. The following research paper analyzes the effect of the Vietnam War on the US attitude towards foreign intervention. Research question The following research paper tries to find the answer to the question of the effect of the Vietnam War on The Attitude of United States towards foreign intervention. Research Objectives The following research paper aims to follow the research question that is stated above. The following research looks into this subject matter to understand the effect of change that the Vietnam War has brought on the foreign policy of United States. The research objective of this particular research paper is to analyze the causes that led to the Vietnam War and the effect of the Vietnam War on the American foreign policy. Literature review As per the author, Daniel C. Hallin, America’s most unsuccessful international war was Vietnam. In the history of America it is one of the major failures of the country. The main cause of this war was making the South Vietnam as a communist place. South Vietnam was a capitalist place. But North Vietnam was a communist place. By that war the people of North Vietnam tried to convert the people of South Vietnam as communist. Power struggle in between two places was highlighted in the Vietnam War. The author states that US was supporting South Vietnam as it was against communism. This was the first war which was covered by US media and was shown in TV without censoring anything. The uncensored pictures of war influence the American people to talk against the government. At that time the American government was unable to control the media. As a result the media telecasted very details of that war and it created a bad image of the government on the mind of American people. For this reason most of the American people started protesting against the government. Vietnam War created a strong negative impact on the politics of America1. According to the author, Hugg Lunn, Vietnam war is known as Second Indochina War or American War. In this war the U.S government tries a lot in resisting North Vietnam in converting South Vietnam as a communist place. China, Soviet Union and different other communist countries were supporting North Vietnam in this war. The author states that the war impacted both the people of Vietnam and America in a negative way. This war continued for a long period of time and took the life of thousands of people. The involvement of U.S in this war was one of the wrong decisions of the country. Many American soldiers lost their lives which affected the country very badly. Vietnam War is considered as most costly war of America. The country lost huge amount of resources for this war. The author highlighted that America compelled many of its citizen to fight in Vietnam War. The troop of forced soldiers was known as Forced draft. Most of the people of that troop died in the WAR for which the country had to government of America had to face strong criticism from its citizens. Many of the people ran away from America in the fear of joining forced draft. That time the impression of government became very bad on American people. Many revolts happened in U.S after the Vietnam War. America spent huge amount of money in that war for a long period time. As a result the country faced strong economic crisis at the end of the war. The people of America were able to know the details of Vietnam War with the help of media. They did not support their home country for taking part in this war. For this reasons revolts increased in U.S at the time of Vietnam War. The author focused on the fact that the rising revolts compelled America in taking back their military troops from Vietnam War. The country was unable to manage the citizens. America ended the war by doing a treaty with North Vietnam2. As per the author Joe Allen America has failed very badly in the Vietnam War. It had invested around $120 billion for doing the war. America intentionally got involved in Vietnam War for increasing the problem between North and South Vietnam. By taking part in that War, US made the situation very much critical which affected both the countries very badly. America tried to show its power by getting involved in that war but this became a boomerang for the country. The situation of the country became destabilized after the war. The population of America noticed that government was doing injustice to the people during Vietnam War. U.S has a very bad memory regarding this way. The people of America cannot easily forget the consequences of Vietnam War. The author also highlighted that during the end of Vietnam War the U.S faced strong inflation for spending huge amount of money in the war. Price of various necessary things in America was rising very fast which influenced the people in protesting against the government for its wrong decision in taking part in the war. American citizens were facing different types of problems for Vietnam War and for that reason they became anti government. The Vietnam War created oil crisis in America. For this crisis the price of oil raised a lot. Most of the countries of the world were affected by this. The War not only had a negative impact on America’s economy but also affected the psychology of American people very badly. The myth regarding American invincibility was destroyed for the war. The soldiers involved in that war had a very bad experience and for that reason they were not been able to respect their country. They killed many innocent people of Vietnam which created psychological problems in them. Many soldiers lost their body parts in the war and they were not supported by the country. Harmful chemicals used in the war created many physical problems among the soldiers. Many American were missing after the war and the country did not took any initiative for finding them which created a created a negative impression on the government3. Methodology In research paper, research methodology is considered as one of the most important thing. Proper research methodology helps the researchers in conducting the research successfully. Mainly there are two types of research methods. They are qualitative and quantitative research methods. These research methods are quite different from each other. In qualitative research methods data are analyzed by using different types of statistical tools. For conducting this research, the researchers gather real data from market. This research method provides very accurate data. This research method is conducted with the help of interviews, surveys, questionnaires etc. In qualitative research method the entire research is conducted by analyzing the views and opinions of different authors and researchers. When a researcher cannot obtain real market data then he uses qualitative research methodology. This research method helps the researchers to analyze the topic in details. They come to know about the view point of various authors. Various secondary sources are considered by the researchers for conducting this type of research. Qualitative research method consumes less amount of time. By this research method the researchers can do in dept analyses of the research topic. This analysis facilitates them to understand many things about the topic. In this research paper the researchers have used qualitative research methodology. The researchers had to depend on various secondary sources for understanding the causes of Vietnam War and the effect of US intervention in that war. By implementing qualitative research methodology the researchers conducted the entire research within a short span of time. With the views of different authors, the researchers came to know about the U.S attitude towards foreign intervention. Analysis and Discussion The United States have long followed a policy of intervention in the foreign policies of other countries. The marital history of the United States is long and dates back to the colonial times. The marital history of the United States started with the war against Britain in the 18th century when the Americans fought to over throw the colonial powers of the United Kingdom. This was followed by a civil war or internal conflict amongst the people of America. The civil war was witnessed in the form of a war in between the industrial North and the agricultural South. The end of the civil war resulted in the fact that the two America became much more united and this resulted in the increase of immigrants to America. This in turn led to the fact that that America became a super power in the world in the form of economic growth. The history of the country’s intervention and involvement in the wars continued with the participation of the country in the First World War. In the First World War America first of all followed the policy of non intervention. However, it later on joined China, France, Russia and other countries to secure victory in the World War I. Later on the in the Second World War too it had decided followed the policy of Non intervention. In the Second World War the America followed a policy of supporting Britain and allied powers secretly without actively taking part in the war. However the attack by Japan on the Pearl Harbor led America to take part in the Second World War. In the Second World War America had teamed up with Russia to defeat the Axis powers led by Japan, Germany etc. However after the war was over it was found that there were two super powers that were left in the World stage. One was the America and other was Soviet Union. The two super powers had joined hands to achieve victory in the Second World War. However, after the War was over the two nations had different views on how to rebuild the world after War. Soviet Union wanted communism to prevail and USA saw the rise of Communism in the world as the rise of Russia as a super power. In order to prevent the rise of Russia as a super power the America fought war against any country that embraced communism. America felt that if any country embraced communism in the region then like domino effect all other countries will also adopt communism in the area and this will lead to a success of Russia. It was due to this cause that America decided to get itself involved in the Vietnam War and check the spread of communism in the country. The effects of the war and the psychological impact of the war on the mindset of the people of America would remain long after the war had finished. In the war against the communist regime of Vietnam America had spent more than $120 billion and the war had dragged from 1965- 1973. This massive spending by the United States in the war followed by the world oil crisis led to the fact that the United States had to face a massive inflation. However history states that the following the Vietnam War the foreign policy of the United States has witnessed an era of change. However not only did the war have economic impact but more profound was the psychological impact of the war. As a result of the war the myth of America being invincible was destructed. The war also resulted in the fact that the America as a nation was bitterly divided. Many of the army veterans who returned from the war had to face negative reactions from the people of America. The Vietnam War was a major failure for the America in terms of war efforts of the United States of America. Since the effect of Vietnam War was a failure for America it came to be known as Vietnam Effect or Vietnam Syndrome. Since the occurrence of Vietnam War and the overall failure of America in the war leaders in America have a persistent fear of getting struck in “another Vietnam”. The American leaders have a fear of the fact that going into war with another country will result in another Vietnam. That is America as a nation may get struck in another country and may not be able to exit the country which may cause a drain on the financial resources of the country and may have an effect on the invincibility of the nation. In other words if America as a nation does get struck in another country due to war efforts then it may deal a decisive blow to the American prestige. The first American President who had to face this dilemma was the American president Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter was the first president who had to deal with the Vietnam effect or Vietnam Syndrome. The Vietnam Syndrome refers to the use of military by America in almost any circumstances abroad coupled with the fear that America would again fail bitterly in its abroad assignments4. This fear was farther aggravated When the Carter administration failed to rescue American hostages from Iran and also failed to contain Russia from invading Afghanistan. After the Vietnam War was fought the then American President Ronald Regan feared that the American public would no longer support him after what had happened at Vietnam. In fact it can be clearly stated that the Vietnam War had a major impact on the foreign policy of United States of America. In the Vietnam War another thing that was noted was that there were several civilians who were executed by the American Military. This had a negative effect on how the war effort was seen by the people of America. Vietnam War was the first instance in which the media was granted exclusive permission to be present in the war front5. This resulted in the fact that the American public could for the first time involve in the struggle of United States against Vietnam. This caused the fact that the American government had to face public opposi9tion regarding the horrific of the war. The fact that the journalists and the photographers were given unrestricted access to the battle field meant that the people of America could see the actual view of the war like never before. The happenings of the Vietnam War used to fill the cover pages of the dailies in the United States6. There were large scale protests in the United States that were against the American war efforts or were pitted against the war effort by America in Vietnam. At its peak about 250000 people gathered for a peaceful protest against the war in Vietnam and urging the American government to pull troops out of the country. As the American government started pulling troops out of the country the troops that were left out in the country became increasingly disillusioned with the government of United States and its intension to keep them in the country. The war veterans who returned to America after the war in Vietnam were over had to face criticisms from the people of America. They faced criticisms mainly on two grounds. One was the fact that people criticized the war veterans as they felt that they had lost the war for America. On the other hand they were criticized as because people felt that they were responsible for killing so many innocents in Vietnam. The war had a mental toll on the veterans of the war. It was in this war that the personnel who were used in the war were mainly volunteers or were forcefully drafted in the war effort. The most of the people who died in the war front on part of America were these forced drafters. In fact in the years 1965-73 about 500000 American men fled to Canada in order to evade conscription. In the year 1972 as a legacy of the effect of the war the Nixon administration ended draft calls and instituted an army comprised only of volunteers. The policy of the government and the president of the United States during the war led to the fact that people rallied in anti war protests in the country. Although this anti war protests in them did not have the power to overturn the sentiments of American people completely against the war, they resulted in the fact that American political and strategy on military affairs had a major influence. The Vietnam War had a bad impact on the psyche of the war veterans or rather members of the American Army who had participated in the war. It was found that about 500000 of the total 3 million troops who had served in the Vietnam War were sufferers of post traumatic Stress disorders. The rates of divorce, suicide, alcoholism and problems of drug addiction were reportedly higher in these war veterans. Many of the war veterans also suffered from physical damage that had resulted from the exposure to a poisonous herbicide that was named as Agent Orange and was dropped by America in quantities of millions of gallons in the dense forests of Vietnam. The war had taken the life of about 58200 American Soldiers and a war memorial was dedicated to their names7. Key findings and conclusion The aim of this research paper was to analyze the causes that led to the Vietnam War and its effect on the foreign intervention of United States and the foreign policy of the country. After going through the research it is found that although the Vietnam War was basically an internal conflict amongst the people of the Vietnam it had taken a much larger proportion. The Vietnam war was mainly fought by Ho Chi Minh led communist North who wanted to capture the enter South Vietnam and de throne the then president of the country. It was basically a civil war that was being fought between the North and South Vietnam. However USA which was then pitted against the rise of Soviet Union and the rise of communism in general decided to back South Vietnam and prevent the rise of North Vietnam thereby restricting the spread of Communism in the country and in the region. Americans believed in the domino effect which stated that if one country fell to the communist regime other countries would follow and this would mean a victory for the Soviet Union. In view of this effect America decided to support South Vietnam in order to stop the advance on North Vietnam. The North Vietnam on the other hand was supported by Russia, China and other Communist countries. Thus the struggle in essence boiled down to the conflict of communist and non communist countries. However despite committing a large no. of troops a great spending on the war effort America got stuck in the war with no solutions visible immediately. This was additionally the war in which media’s role was uncensored in the whole war which led to the fact that the first hand horrific images of war started being printed on the front pages of the news papers. This led to the fact that the American people started vehemently opposing the war efforts with large scale demonstrations being organized against the war. The war pierced the myth that America was invincible and shattered its image in front of public and the world. This has resulted in the fact that now day before committing to any war effort the American leaders consider the Vietnam Syndrome. In other words the Vietnam War has had a major impact on the foreign policy of America. The war of Vietnam has made the government of America cautious in its foreign policy outlook in the fact that the leaders think twice before committing to another war in international affairs that they won’t get struck in another Vietnam Syndrome. References Allen, Joe, and John Pilger. In Vietnam the (last) War the U.S. Lost. New York: Haymarket Books. 2007. Hagopian, Patrick. The Vietnam War in American Memory: Veterans, Memorials, and the Politics of Healing. New York: Univ of Massachusetts Press. 2011. Hallin, Daniel Cebrary. The uncensored war: The media and Vietnam. New York: Oxford University Press. 1986. Keith B. Richburt. Aideeds Urban War, Propaganda Victories Echo Vietnam. Washington Post, 6 October 1993. Lunn, Hugh. Vietnam a Reporters War. New York: Cooper Square Press, 1986. Vietnam War. 2007. The Daily Mirror, Jun 22, 2007. Read More