The fear of communism links with the domino theory. They had become obsessed with the spread of communism in Asia and also felt that other communist countries like Russia and China were putting more influence on the countries around them. Since the Geneva agreement had split Vietnam into two at the 17th parallel, it gave China, Ho Chi Minh and the Vietcong a chance to influence their beliefs on South Vietnamese peasants, by offering them more land when communism takes over. By 1962, it is possible that over 75% of South Vietnamese peasants supported the Vietcong as they were seen as liberators from the unacceptable government of Diem. The US were so scared of communism that at the beginning they had submitted 16,000 troops, by the end, over 500,000 troops had been sent to Vietnam. That shows how much America was determined to win the war and abolish communism.
In August 1964, the gulf of Tonkin incident occurred, when North Vietnamese gunboats attacked two American destroyers while they were in international waters. In response to this, the American senate gave president Johnson the power to give armed support to assist any country requesting help in defence of its freedom; this was called the “Blank cheque”. This incident gave America a reason to support the army of the Republic of Vietnam, and go to war against the Vietcong and destroy their communism. In March 1965, the first US ground troops landed in South Vietnam and by December 1965, there were 150,000 stationed in the country. The bombing of North Vietnam had already started in February 1965. I believe this is an important reason as although America would had gone to war with North Vietnam even if the incident hadn’t occurred, but this incident did give America a valid reason for attacking them.
In April 1954, the world’s powers had met at Geneva to discuss Vietnam. In July 1954, it was decided to divide the country in two at the 17th parallel. The meeting also decided that in 1956, there would be an election in both North and South to decide who would rule the whole country. This election did not take place and the split became permanent by 1956. The Vietminh trained guerrillas to go to the south to spread the word of communism. Their weapons came from China and had financial support from Russia. This lead to America fearing the Vietcong of putting too much influence on the South Vietnamese to turn communist. South Vietnams first proper leader was Ngo Dinh Diem, who was a catholic. He had a poor record of human rights, but as this was in the era of the “domino theory”, anybody who wasn’t communist in the Far East was likely to receive American support.
After the non-election of 1956, the Vietminh became more active militarily. Their guerrillas, now called the Vietcong, attacked soft targets in the south. They used the Ho Chi Minh trail, which was a 1000-mile long trail along the border with Laos, with heavy jungle coverage so that detection from the air was very difficult. The Vietcong were trained by their commander Giap who learned from the tactics used by Chinese troops. He expected his troops to fight and to help the South Vietnamese peasants. This caused the USA to become increasingly involved because they wanted to stop these attacks by the Vietcong and didn’t want the South Vietnamese being influenced by them and turning the South into a communist country, which could lead to the domino theory.
To “save” the peasants from the Vietcong, Diem organised a system where by whole villages were moved into defended camps, known as fortified villages. This policy backfired, as the peasants did not want to be removed from their land. Unfortunately for Diem this policy played into the hands of the Vietcong who were promising the peasants land once the communists take over in the South. Diem’s unpopularity was so great that in November 1963, the South Vietnamese army overthrew and killed him. The confusion at a political level in South Vietnam and the abuse of peasants rights within their community were two reasons for the spread of communism within the South. This caused the USA to become increasingly involved because this development alarmed President Johnston, who had asked his military chiefs to make plans if a war breaks out. The US military had to make it so that America was to be seen as the victim rather than the aggressor.
President Kennedy had already sent “special advisers” to South Vietnam since 1955. By 1961, there were 1,500 special advisers in the country. These were men from Americas Special Forces who were there to train the South Vietnamese army in how to fight the Vietcong. By 1963, there were 16,000 special advisers in South Vietnam. Regardless of their presence and attempts by the west to demonise the Vietcong, it is probable that by 1962, over 75% of all South Vietnamese peasants supported the Vietcong. This caused the USA to become increasingly involved because President Kennedy was becoming worried about Diem and his approach. They saw Diem completely on the back foot and losing the war. So America committed more money, weapons and troops to the south, to stop the Diem government losing. This gave President Kennedy and America a desire to win the war.
When Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, America elected Johnson as President. He committed more troops than ever to Vietnam. This was at its peak from 1965 to 1969 when a maximum of 500,000 troops were submitted. They were trained in conventional warfare, whereas the Vietcong used guerrilla tactics; hitting the enemy then moving away; not wearing a standard uniform and merging into villages with ease. It was difficult for these young American troops to know who was the enemy and whom they could trust amongst the South Vietnamese population. This caused more USA involvement because they thought the more they put into the war, the more they will get out of it and more troops would make it harder for the Vietcong to infiltrate the south Vietnamese and US.
Before WW2, Vietnam had been part of the French Empire. During the war, the country had been overrun by the Japanese. When the Japanese retreated, the people of Vietnam took the opportunity to establish their own government lead by Ho Chi Minh. However, after the end of the war, the allies gave back South Vietnam to the French while the north was left in the hands of the Chinese. The Chinese pulled out of North Vietnam in 1946 and the party of Ho Chi Minh took over the Vietminh. November 1946, the war between French and Vietminh began. The French offered the North Vietnamese people independence, however they would need permission to do anything from the French. A new leader of the country was appointed, called Bao Dai. The Russians and Eastern Europe refused to recognise his rule. They claimed Ho Chi Minh was the real ruler of Vietnam. This caused the Americans to get involved, as they didn’t want Ho Chi Minh, the communist taking over. This links back to the fear of communism. The Americans gave the French money and weapons to help them win the war. Despite this help, they could not cope with the Vietminh guerrilla tactics. Finally the French were defeated and had 15,000 casualties.
In conclusion I think that the domino theory which also links strongly with the fear of communism were the biggest reasons for America to become increasingly involved in Vietnam. In my opinion I thought that this war was pointless and that the Americans should have never got involved. You can tell that this war was pointless from the American troops, because most of them didn’t know what they were fighting for and they also thought that it was so far away from America that it didn’t really affect them. Finally I think that this was just America thinking that they have the right to police the world because they have the largest army and superior weaponry.