Preview

Civil Conflict: The Vietnam War

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
259 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Civil Conflict: The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a civil conflict between communist North and capitalist South. The United States has always been a capitalist country and they feared other countries would become communist. President Eisenhower brought up the Domino theory that if Vietnam were to fall to communism then Laos, Cambodia, and other Asian countries would fall one after the other. At the time, Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam and in doing so, the U.S. feared a communist takeover in South Vietnam. The French were already at war because they wanted to maintain colonial power but they were the least bit concerned with communism, and backed off in 1954 since they didn't want to risk losing any more

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The French had occupied the region for centuries and was strongly militarily involved through most of the 19th century. The French started to feel a strong push from communist party in the north during the Eisenhower’s first term, and asked the United States to become more involved. The French military strategy was becoming flawed because they dramatically under-estimated the strength and desire of the communist nation to secure South Vietnam; coupling this with the fact French moral and leadership were very low the cause was diminishing. The French felt strongly that if the United States became more involved they could win the conflict within month following the military involvement.…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The war in Vietnam was a conflict that started in the 1950s and ended in the early 1970s. During this time period, the United States became increasingly involved in Vietnamese political, economic and military affairs. There were a combination of reasons as to why the United States became more involved, the most important of which in my opinion were the Domino Theory and the growing influence of the National Liberation Front (NFL).…

    • 1547 Words
    • 45 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    US involvement in the Vietnam War began in the early 1950’s a reaction to the communist victory in China .Washington decided to aid to the French to help defeat Ho Chi Minh’s communist let nationalist forces.…

    • 707 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the course of the Vietnam War, there have been many different factors why the USA became increasingly involved. One reason included how they believed it would be a ‘simple’ war to fight and for that reason, they would have the ability to easily win plus the war would not continue on for too long. Additionally they desired to contain communism as they believed they might be capable to stop the growth of communism within Asia. In order to help retain communism, they believed in the ‘domino theory’.…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Vietnam Research Paper

    • 2816 Words
    • 12 Pages

    For much of its history, Vietnam has been ruled by other numerous nations. In 1858, as France invaded Vietnam in order to gain more imperial power, they soon felt it difficult to maintain order within Vietnamese territories. The U.S. soon got involved in part because of their involvement of the Cold War as they view Communism as the sole antithesis of Democracy. In May, 1950 President Harry S. Truman sent financial aid to the French for their war. As a result of the Unite States’ belief and ideals, they entered into one of its longest and bloodiest wars, with many conflicts and controversies, consequentially losing many lives and ultimately considered an unnecessary war.…

    • 2816 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The United States entered the war to stop the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia. American leaders feared that Communist forces would gain control of Vietnam. After that, nation after nation might fall to Communism. Communism is a political and economic system that the United States strongly opposed. Vietnam had been split in half in 1954, after fighting a war to gain independence from France. When French forces withdrew, Vietnamese Communists gained control of North Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was the leader of the North Vietnamese Communists. South Vietnam had a non-Communist government. This government was believed to be weak but the United States supported it in order to keep the Communists from taking control of all of Vietnam thus preventing the alleged domino effect.…

    • 303 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Vietnam War Portfolio

    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Vietnam War was a consequence of the cold war. Since neither the United States nor the Soviet Union could risk fighting each other directly they did it in other countries indirectly like in Vietnam. One of the main causes of the Vietnam War was the Gulf of Tonkin. In the Gulf of Tonkin the USS Maddox was attacked by torpedoes from the Vietnamese. They confirmed it was Vietnamese by the markings on the shells found. Then later on a second attack happened. When the second attack happened the United States decided to bomb the North Vietnamese. Later on they confirmed that the second attack never happened and it was a misread because there was a storm and it messed with the ship. Another cause of the Vietnam War was the United States domino theory. The united states thought that if Vietnam would become communist so would other countries around it and communism would be everywhere. Since the United States policy of containment was to prevent the spread of communism they felt they needed to step in and save the South Vietnamese from the North Vietnamese attacks. This was a major factor in the United States joining the Vietnam War.…

    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Past War In Vietnam War

    • 255 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Vietnam War was a bad decision made by the United States government. There was no reason for the United States to start a war with this foreign country. The Defense Department released a film in 1965 addressing why the United States had to go to war with Vietnam. They said it was to defend freedom and aggression, and to stop the spreading of communism. In reality, this war was made by choice, it was not a “do or die” situation for America, but the United States saw Vietnam as a major threat and decided to declare war on them, only to lose a lot of soldier, time, and money.…

    • 255 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Shulzinger Vietnam War

    • 1324 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Vietnam War was a very long war fought by the United States. Actually, the time span was the longest of wars fought. The Vietnam War, itself, spanned for about 15 years with in the time frame from 1955-1975, however, there was conflict leading up to the war for many years before hand. This war was between North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam had allies or support from China, the Soviet Union, and a few other communist allies, whereas South Vietnam was supported or had the allies of the United States, Australia, South Korea, and other anti-communist allies.…

    • 1324 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unlike with other wars preceding it whom often brought together the citizens of the United States, the Vietnam War took on a role of destabilizing American society. Internal problems like racism and rising poverty that were once put on the backburner would appear as main topics of discussion that helped to further increase the already growing division in the nation. U.S. involvement and occasional interference in Indochina began with the French’s instance and desire to keep control of the region. The failing European superpower wanting to reconsolidate its power in South East Asia and the world after the end of the Second World War fought to take back what they believed was rightfully theirs after the Japanese had made their exit. As with a majority of colonies, the mistreatment and sometimes inhuman conditions that citizens of Indochina endured especially those in Vietnam led to protests and uprising against the few French men who controlled everything in their country and French…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The area of Indochina, present-day Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, was taken away from France during the World War II and afterwards, they tried to get it back. France lured the U.S. into paying 80% of the costs used to fight Ho Chi Minh and Communist North Vietnam by the end of the French-Indochina War. Author Gini Holland said, "This ‘paying the costs ' committed the United States financially, although not yet militarily, to the region" (Holland 41). So, when Vietnam was into their civil war, the U.S. felt the need to help South Vietnam. In addition to fighting Communism, the American soldiers faced the very devoted and hostile Vietcong, the pro-Communist guerilla force of South Vietnam.…

    • 2093 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Vietnam War is referred to as the “longest and most unpopular American War of the 20th century”(Overview), that lasted from 1955 to 1975. In the US, the war began as a result of the U.S. policy of Containment. This policy’s goal was to prevent the spread of communism throughout the world. The Viet Minh is a communist led…

    • 1295 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Controversy: The Vietnam War

    • 2366 Words
    • 10 Pages

    War is always a controversial topic whenever it is discussed in a political setting, or even a private conversation between friends. No War has ever been a more controversial than the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was the longest War the nation has ever engaged in. The United States entered the war in 1961 and pulled out in 1975. Although the death toll did not reach as high as the civil war, or either World War One, or World War two. The Nation still lost over fifty thousand soldiers in the deadly conflict.…

    • 2366 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    American History

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “Following World War II country after country in Eastern Europe had fallen under Communist rule, as had China, and the trend was spreading to other nations in Latin America, Africa and Asia as well. The US felt that it was losing the Cold War, and needed to "contain" Communism” Goldfield (2010). “It was against this backdrop, then, that the first military advisors were sent to help the French battle the Communists of Northern Vietnam in 1950. (That same year the Korean War began, pitting Communist North Korean and Chinese forces against the US and its U.N. allies)” Goldfield (2010). The France was fighting in Vietnam to keep control of their colonial power. They were not worried about communism.…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Domino Theory In Vietnam

    • 1381 Words
    • 6 Pages

    There were many reasons that the US had got involved but I believe that the war was particularly escalated by the USA due to an increase in involvement. It is also important to understand that during the 1900s, the US had thought of itself as the best country in the world and the only superpower, so they wanted to show that even though Vietnam had defeated its close ally, France, it couldn’t destroy America, so I believe it is important to understand that it was trying to send out a message to all of the countries in the world that the US is the only superpower in the world, and if anyone messes with the ideological theory of capitalism, something will happen to them, but as we know already, that had backfired for the US, and in the end, did the opposite of what it wanted to achieve. It sent out a message that the US wasn’t as great as many people had thought it to…

    • 1381 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays