Why did America become increasingly involved inthe affairs of Vietnam between 1945 and 1965

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History GCSE Coursework:

Sam Coleman MAU

Why did America become increasingly involved in

the affairs of Vietnam between 1945 and 1965

The main long - term reason why America became increasingly involved in the Vietnam was the Cold War. The Cold War caused tension between America and U.S.S.R due to their different political views. The Americans were capitalists and democratic. Its government was chosen in free democratic elections. It was capitalist, business and property were privately owned and being free of control by the government was more important than everyone being equal. Many Americans were bitterly opposed to communism. The U.S.S.R in comparison was a communist state. It was a one party dictatorship. Elections were held but all candidates belonged to the communist party. For communists the rights of the individuals were seen as less important than the good of society as a whole. From 1945 the Americans were becoming particularly worried about the Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe. Soviet communism had spread into countries of Eastern Europe, for example Poland; this alarmed the Americans as they could see that communism, supported by the U.S.S.R, could spread further into Europe and the U.S.S.R would become a very strong world force.

Under the 'Truman Doctrine' (1947) American foreign policy was focussed upon stopping the spread of communism anywhere in the world. The 'Truman Doctrine' was a major change in American Foreign Policy. America was abandoning ideas of isolation and pursuing a policy of intervention. This included Vietnam. In the early 1950's this meant giving money to the French in their war against the communist - led Vietminh.
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Another long-term effect, President Eisenhower became president in 1952 he made it clear that he would do all he could to stop the spread of communism in Asia. Eisenhower and his advisors believed in the 'Domino Theory' - that if one nation came under communist rule than others would follow quickly. The Americans were very worried about the threat of communism in Asia. China had become a communist nation in 1949 and communism had also spread into North Korea. It was also clear that if communism weren't stopped it would spread into neighbouring countries of Laos and Cambodia. ...

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