Essay on Vietnam and the Indochina Wars - 916 Words

The South East Asian country Vietnam became a Cold War battleground for the Second Indochina war which involved both the US and Russia’s interests. Once again it was the Capitalist struggle against Communism. The Vietnam War was a direct result of the USSR’s and China’s communist presence and pressure. America feared a chain reaction was occurring among the other Asian countries that made them change to communism one by one. America wanted to prevent this from occurring and that is why they were so quick to help the South combat the Communist North. In the end however, their attempts were fruitless for they were unable to overthrow or prevent the spread of communism through all of Vietnam. The roots of the Vietnam War started after the†¦show more content†¦The â€Å"Domino Effect† was a theory by US politicians that because of Russia and China’s pressure and power that all of Asia would follow suit in becoming communist one by one. Kennedy believed that if they could stop this from occurring in Vietnam that they would be able to stop all of Asia from turning to communism for they would have broken the chain. Therefore, they end up sending around 17000 military advisors to the Republic of Vietnam to aid the ARVN in combatting the Vietcong. They were to strategize and help train the ARVN but they ended up leading jobs more as commanders during missions and being in direct combat. After Kennedy’s death, the support from America increased even more to the point where in 1964 they started sending marines to cause some real damage and to help protect the already stationed advisors and fighter bombers in the South. These numbers kept increasing until 1968 where around 500,000 US marines were in South Vietnam. Although America had these high numbers they were still unable to defeat the Vietcong and the North. With all these American marines and the growing number of deaths among the Vietcong the North started becoming restless and decided to go on the offensive. On the Tet, a holiday in Vietnam, the North and Vietcong launched a massive attack on 36Show MoreRelatedVietnam War And The Second Indochina War2792 Words   |  12 PagesDescribe and assess the US involvement in Vietnam during the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Your discussion must include (but not be limited to) an analysis of the decisions of 1953-54, 1963, and 1964-65. To understand the Vietnam War and its role as a proxy war in the escalation of arms and ideological chasm between the United States and the Soviet Union, it is important to consider its beginnings. While many consider the Vietnam War a single, continuous phase of conflictRead MoreConsequences of Vietnamese Victory Against the French in Periods 1954-19641707 Words   |  7 Pagesconsequences of the Vietnamese victory against the French for Indochina in the periods 1954-1964. The Vietnamese victory against the French at the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 brought about dramatic changes to Indochina. These changes took place in the Geneva Conference which shortly happened after the battle of Dien Bien Phu. General Vo Nguyen Giap and Ho Chi Minh who were the Vietminh’s leader had only one goal and that was to unify Vietnam and declare independence from colonial rule but howeverRead MoreThe Vietnam War1402 Words   |  6 PagesThe political instability in Vietnam from 1950 to 1975 between the communist North Vietnam and anti-communist South Vietnam during the Cold War era has led to the United States’ inevitable intervention in Vietnam. 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NationalismRead MoreThe American Role During The Vietnam War Still Sparks Much Debate Today1390 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Vietnam War still sparks much debate today. There is a sharp focus on the Americans role in the Vietnam War because of the tragic end for the South Vietnamese. The United States faced much criticism world wide through literature during the war that continued after the war ended in 1975. The American governments reasoning for getting involved was to prevent the spread of communism in South Vietnam and to essentially prevent the domino effect. South Vietnam had no hope of winning a civil war againstRead More The Vietnam War Essay1721 Words   |  7 PagesThe Vietnam War The Vietnam War was caused by many factors that contributed to the warfare in Vietnam during the years of 1959 to 1975. Most factors were the beliefs held by people who wanted to change or to prevent Vietnam becoming an Independent Country. 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For the sake of conciseness, and in order to focus the bulk of the content on the main topic, this essay will make certain assumptionsRead MoreThe Second Indo China War947 Words   |  4 PagesThe Second Indo-China War, which is commonly referred to as the Vietnam War around the world and in the United States (US), pitted two very different nations against each other. This fight represents the modern day version of the biblical story of David versus Goliath. The United States at the time possessed the most technically advanced military in the world utilizing the latest high-tech equipment. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam or North Vietnam (DRV) was only a semi-industrialized nation strugglingRead MoreHoward Zinn s The Vietnam War1446 Words   |  6 Pagesabout the Vietnam War, because as Zinn says, Vietnam was basically a modern portrayal of David vs. Goliath. One could even go as far as to say that Vietnam was in essence a case of mass genocide in Vietnam. 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