Explain Why America became increasingly involved in the affairs of Vietnam between 1954 and 1965
Lucy Cadd 9117 GCSE Coursework: Vietnam post 1939
Canford School, 55243
Explain Why America became increasingly involved in the affairs of Vietnam between 1954 and 1965
American involvement with Vietnam began in 1945, just after World War II ended. The French had been having difficulty sustaining their leadership in Vietnam, so the US became indirectly involved by sending massive amounts of support and financial aid to help the French. However, in 1954 when the French were defeated and later told to withdraw under the rules of the Geneva Conference, the USA carried on their involvement. This brings up the point that, perhaps their involvement with Vietnam wasn't just to help and support an ally. Instead, a long-term interest with Vietnam was appearing.
Possibly, a contributing factor to the continuation of US involvement after the French's departure was that it would have been a disgrace to be beaten. The US moved in to take over the responsibilities of which the French had been able to fulfil. They could not have their pride stamped on and had to show the world that they were still the dominant world power. So, to feel no threat that they would not be defeated like the French, the Americans had to intensify their involvement right from the very beginning.
In the early 1960's, even with the massive amount of US aid already located to Vietnam, they were forced to engage in direct military action, just so that their super-power status could be maintained. This was almost certainly the view of the Vietnamese people, when they found their crops being ruined by chemicals and the majority of the population in South Vietnam being forced to relocate to Strategic Hamlets, having to leave behind their deceased loved ones. However, the Chinese communists view didn't agree with the Vietnamese's. There opinion was that the Americans greedy imperialism and want for profit, led them to such involvement.
The resistance that the US was facing from the Vietnamese was not merely for political reasons, but also from a religious perspective. Ngo Dinh Diem, (the appointed leader for South Vietnam by the US,) was a strong catholic. He started promoting the Catholic religion in Vietnam, whilst restraining the Buddhist one. In 1958, all the groups of people of whom carried hatred for the US government, for instance, right-wing families excluded from power, formed the NLF, then the guerrilla squad- the Vietcong. They attached a great deal of importance to winning friends and influencing people in many countries ...
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The resistance that the US was facing from the Vietnamese was not merely for political reasons, but also from a religious perspective. Ngo Dinh Diem, (the appointed leader for South Vietnam by the US,) was a strong catholic. He started promoting the Catholic religion in Vietnam, whilst restraining the Buddhist one. In 1958, all the groups of people of whom carried hatred for the US government, for instance, right-wing families excluded from power, formed the NLF, then the guerrilla squad- the Vietcong. They attached a great deal of importance to winning friends and influencing people in many countries as possible, which caused great discomfort to the Americans. And so when in 1959 when John F Kennedy was elected president, he promised to increase expenditure on arms against this particular group principally.
By 1963, South Vietnamese opposition had reached the point that Buddhist monks were demonstrating against Diems rule. Several monks were setting themselves alight on the streets (the first was, Thich Quang Duc.) This meant that The USA were again forced to increase its military aid, just to keep the resistance movements controlled.
The next point is possibly the most important reason for US involvement in Vietnam, and that is American obsession with communism. The need for the US to contain the spread of communism was reinforced by the 'domino theory' thought up by President Truman, which stated that if one domino (country-Vietnam) fell to communism, then other dominoes (or countries-Laos, Burma, Cambodia, Thailand and India,) would also fall.
Both China's (who is directly above Vietnam) and Russia's communist empires were growing extremely rapidly and both were trying to extend their influences and power to the Indonesians, therefore it was vital that the US hold on to Vietnam. As the Times Magazine quoted in 1961, 'If the USA cannot or will not save South Vietnam from the communist assault, no Asian nation can ever again feel safe in putting its faith in the US.' This quote gives us evidence of how much pressure the Americans were under to be involved by Europe and the American people.
Furthermore, when the elections of 1956, didn't take place, the Communists of North Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh, started to increase it army, because they were so angry with the Americans as they broke the rules of the Geneva Conference. And so America had to match this increase of involvement. However, the Vietminh or Vietcong went from a small group of amateurs in 1954 to a modern army, with massively increased numbers of people, weapons, training and organisation, in 1964. So for the US to keep matching the standard of involvement was a great achievement.
America's involvement in Vietnam was also linked to Formosa because they knew, at least, that if they lost Formosa to the communist Chinese they would still have in their possession South Vietnam holding up the 'dominoes'.
The Americans thought that by acting as they did whilst helping Korea in 1950-53, through strong support and involvement, that they could use that particular scenario to the similar one of Vietnam and that by full support and involvement with Vietnam they will be able to defeat the communists, just like in Korea.
A Further, more long-term point about communism is how the Americans tried to stop the Russians from turning communist in 1919 but failed. Their regrets about what happened then, increased their determination to be successful in this battle against communism.
A strong argument for reasons why America became so heavily involved was because of the forever changing person in the role of President in America and the competition to do better than the last. We notice a pattern in the injection of aid, after each new president has just entered the role, especially in President Lyndon Johnson's case, that the amount of aid increases substantially.
After the murder of President Diem, there had been a succession of weak, short-lived military governments. None of them seemed able to contain, let alone defeat, the Vietnamese communists. Each time a government fell, the US had to increase their involvement a little further just to keep the society from rebellion.
A major point in answering the title question is to indicate the number of advisors each President listened to. These advisors (for example, Macnamara and Henry Cabot-Lodge,) had little power but massive amounts of influence. When their field advisors told them that they only needed a little more involvement to win the war, they recommended this to the President, who were easily persuaded to increase their involvement even more.
A trigger, which led to the maximisation of involvement was on August 2nd 1964. A US destroyer, Maddox, was attacked whilst patrolling the gulf of Tonkin, by three North Vietnamese patrol boats, and then again on the 4th August. The Americans started to thoroughly increase their engagement in Vietnam instantly.
Every individual and every country holds a different idea about why the Americans became increasingly involved in the affairs of Vietnam between 1954-1965. Perhaps the most obvious and widespread answer, being the obsession America holds with communism. However, many people argue that it was in fact America's pride, aggression and imperialism that kept America from becoming uninvolved when the French did.
