Assignment Analysis: The Vietnam War
Juan Lemuz
Kent Andrade
English 101
9/14/2014
Essay #1 “Why are we in Vietnam” and “This is not our War” were on the minds of many Americans during the post-World War 2 era. After World War 2 the war had left Europe and other surrounding countries devastated, and to many countries adopting Communism ideals were their only option. Tensions were running high between the two “big nations” The Soviet Union and the United States, each of which wanted to spread their influence as much as possible. The European’s were in no shape to repel Communism and it was vital for France to play an active role in Europe’s recovery for which Vietnam was crucial not only to stabilize France but to place a halt on Communism. Thus leading into one of the …show more content…
To Truman it was more important to help France because in their eyes they were fighting communist and when Mao Zedong a communist revolutionary won the war in China the aid to help France take Vietnam was seen as fighting Communism, as Young noted “In Vietnam, the French fought Communism, not the Vietnamese.” Truman’s task was clear, to stand by the nations who wanted to “root out” Communism, simply put, to help Vietnam was to help Communist and to help France was to fight it. The fact that in August 1949 the Soviet Union had nuclear weapons of their own further solidified Truman’s stance and it was deemed necessary to give France everything they needed to regain its lost colony. For in the eyes of Truman The Soviet Union posed a threat to the “free” people of the world and any nation that wanted to have a government based on Communist ideals were seen as evil which made the aid to France all that more
Kent Andrade
English 101
9/14/2014
Essay #1 “Why are we in Vietnam” and “This is not our War” were on the minds of many Americans during the post-World War 2 era. After World War 2 the war had left Europe and other surrounding countries devastated, and to many countries adopting Communism ideals were their only option. Tensions were running high between the two “big nations” The Soviet Union and the United States, each of which wanted to spread their influence as much as possible. The European’s were in no shape to repel Communism and it was vital for France to play an active role in Europe’s recovery for which Vietnam was crucial not only to stabilize France but to place a halt on Communism. Thus leading into one of the …show more content…
To Truman it was more important to help France because in their eyes they were fighting communist and when Mao Zedong a communist revolutionary won the war in China the aid to help France take Vietnam was seen as fighting Communism, as Young noted “In Vietnam, the French fought Communism, not the Vietnamese.” Truman’s task was clear, to stand by the nations who wanted to “root out” Communism, simply put, to help Vietnam was to help Communist and to help France was to fight it. The fact that in August 1949 the Soviet Union had nuclear weapons of their own further solidified Truman’s stance and it was deemed necessary to give France everything they needed to regain its lost colony. For in the eyes of Truman The Soviet Union posed a threat to the “free” people of the world and any nation that wanted to have a government based on Communist ideals were seen as evil which made the aid to France all that more