The fight to stop communism was reflected in the reasons behind U.S. intervention in the Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War. The Domino Theory, the theory that if larger countries fall to communism, then smaller surrounding countries will fall as well, prevailed in the minds of many Americans. The undeclared war officially ended with the fall of Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital, to the communist forces. Later that year Vietnam became unified under one government, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Roots
The Vietnamese have always had a strong sense of nationalism, but have never been united enough to fight off occupying countries. During the French occupation of Vietnam, a political group known as the Vietnamese Communist Party, or the Viet Minh, was formed by Ho Chi Minh in opposition. Ho Chi Minh was a nationalist before a communist, and wanted self determination and freedom from occupation for his people. That is why even after the Japanese took over after ousting the French in 1940, there was opposition to the Japanese who had begun to dominate the country afterwards. The Japanese trained and supported the Vietnamese, and gave the Vietnamese hope that they, as an Asian country, could also defeat other Europeans, as the Japanese had done. Regardless, strong nationalist, anti-French and anti-Japanese feelings prevailed. A widespread famine in 1945 which killed nearly 2 million of the people living in Vietnam, helped create support for the Viet Minh. The Viet Minh helped the afflicted and blamed the famine on the French and Japanese, creating a strong base of followers. The Viet Minh also spread propaganda and Vietnamese nationalist ideas which caused people to resist the occupying forces. |
Escalation
Around the time WWII ended, the U.S. and Allies began focusing on the war in Asia, and how to defeat Japan. The U.S. supported the Viet Minh against their common enemy, Japan. The Viet Minh gave the U.S. information about Japan and in turn the U.S. helped train the Vietnamese in war and military tactics, which would end up backfiring later. With U.S. and Chinese support, the Viet Minh rose up and took Hanoi in an August Revolution with little bloodshed, creating the Democratic Republlic of Vietnam in September 1945. Their success was short-lived. The Chinese began occupying northern Vietnam and the British began occupying southern Vietnam, divided by the 16th parallel. They believed that Indochina belonged to the French and until they regained their strength Vietnam should be occupied and divided. France began occupying the area again after the end of WWII. But the Vietnamese struck a deal with the French. Ho wanted to get the Chinese out of the north so he allowed French troops to occupy the area for a limited period of time, so long as they recognized Vietnam as independent. The French occupation would then force the Chinese Nationalist forces to leave. The Chinese left, but the French did not. They did not want to return South Vietnam, and instead formed a rival government: the State of Vietnam, headed by Bao Dai. Relationships between the Vietnamese and the French deteriorated and fighting escalated. Right around this time (1950) North Korea had invaded South Korea, and the U.S. commitment to halt communism deepened. As a result, the U.S. pledged their aid to South Vietnam. The Viet Minh joined forces with Communist China and soon the Soviet Union. |
U.S. Intervention
The Vietnam War had now become a global war, supported on both sides by opposing superpowers. The compelling reason behind U.S. intervention was a fear of communism and the Domino Theory. In just the first year the U.S. gave $10 million in aid to the French and by 1953 the U.S. was paying for 80% of the war. The U.S. troops were unfamiliar with the land, and had their advantages in the cities during the day time. The Viet Minh, who had a better idea of the terrain, had their advantages in the country side, at night. |
The French Capitulate
With the iconic battle at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the French were defeated by the Viet Minh forces. At the Geneva conference, a cease-fire agreement was worked out between both sides and granted Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos independence. A date was also arranged in 1956 for nationwide elections (both in the North and South) to take place which would decide the reunification of North and South Vietnam. For the moment, French forces would retain South Vietnam with its capital at Saigon and the Viet Minh forces would retain North Vietnam with its capital at Hanoi, this time divided by the 17th parallel line. The French transferred their authority of South Vietnam to the State of Vietnam and Bao Dai. The Viet Minh began to withdraw their troops, but many political followers remained in the South, attempting to gain support for the upcoming elections. |
Diem Regime
But the 1956 elections which would determine the fate of Vietnam never came. South Vietnam came under the control of Ngo Dinh Diem, who was anti-communist. Diem faced opposition not only from the Viet Minh in the north but the Viet Minh followers who had stayed in the south. Diem was not very popular. He formed a secret police that would seek out communists in South Vietnam. He called these communists the Viet Cong, and was able to strengthen his power by arresting them. With the help of the U.S., Diem named himself president of the Republic of Vietnam. The U.S. continued sending support to South Vietnam and strengthened its army. Meanwhile, a political party, the Can Lao, emerged. Headed by Diem's brother, the party was used as a method to control the people, using favoritism, bribery, and corruption. Rather than unifying the people against the Viet Cong, it spurred resentment towards the Diem regime and caused many non-communists to join the Viet Cong. They began using armed force to try to overthrow Diem. By 1959, firefights between the Viet Cong and the South Vietnamese forces were not uncommon. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam, U.S. trained, was not well prepared for navigating through the swamps and jungles of Vietnam. The army was also infested with secret Viet Cong agents. The south was doomed from the start. |
The Tet Offensive
By November 1963, Diem and his brother Nhu were killed in a coup d'etat. The South Vietnamese government was clearly losing the war against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese. From then on, the U.S. doubled its efforts in Vietnam. When two North Vietnamese torpedo boats fired on U.S. patrol boats in the Gulf of Tonkin, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed, which gave LBJ authority of military action in Vietnam. The U.S. began bombing North Vietnam intentionally. This bombing campaign was called "Operation Rolling Thunder", lasting from 1965 to 1968. In 1968 the U.S. reached the zenith of its involvement in the war. The Tet Offensive, launched by the North Vietnamese, aimed at a large-scale military attack in cities, towns and military bases as well as popular uprisings, to crush Saigon and destroy the hopes of the U.S. The operation lasted three weeks and caused many Americans to reassess the war efforts. More and more people began to angrily view the Vietnam War as futile and unnecessary. Vietnamization Withdrawals of troops from Vietnam began in 1969 and lasted until 1973. The program of Vietnamization provided South Vietnam with weapons and the necessary aid to shift the war over entirely to the South Vietnamese. By 1973, America had completely withdrawn from the war, and signed a peace treaty with North Vietnam. In 1975, the North Vietnamese launched an offensive to take Saigon. In just two months, South Vietnam had fallen to the North. The country was officially united as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Protests at Home By 1965, the anti-war movement began to grow. Anti-war protests and marches spread across the nation. The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) organized a student's strike and gained widespread support, especially after the death of four protesters by National Guard troops at Kent State University. The failure of the U.S. during the Tet Offensive (1968) proved to many that the Vietnam War was not being won. Many became disillusioned with LBJ and demanded that the troops be returned home. Confusing media displaying the war and a rising death tolls of soldiers conveyed the message that the war effort was fruitless. |
The Hamlets
The hamlet program was a method of regrouping South Vietnamese inside protected villages to try to separate them from the Viet Cong. The program was not very effective however because it was difficult to tell who was Viet Cong and who was not. |
Aftermath
The U.S. effort in Vietnam was considered a failure, that caused many Americans to distrust their own government who they believed to have disguised the military stalemate in Vietnam. It left the morale of troops and Americans low and left them unwilling to get involved elsewhere in the world for fear of another failed war. The lavish spending on military weapons and support to South Vietnam also left the U.S. economy ruined, causing inflation. In the end the U.S. was unable to keep communism out of South East Asia.
The U.S. effort in Vietnam was considered a failure, that caused many Americans to distrust their own government who they believed to have disguised the military stalemate in Vietnam. It left the morale of troops and Americans low and left them unwilling to get involved elsewhere in the world for fear of another failed war. The lavish spending on military weapons and support to South Vietnam also left the U.S. economy ruined, causing inflation. In the end the U.S. was unable to keep communism out of South East Asia.