Why did the USA become involved in Vietnam
Why did the USA become involved in Vietnam?
In World War Two, Japan captured Vietnam, situated in South-East Asia, and part of the old French colony Indo-China, from the French. When they did the Vietminh, a Vietnamese resistance organisation, led by Ho Chi Minh was formed to fight against the Japanese. At the end of the Second World War Ho Chi Minh, who was a Communist, announced the formation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Yet, at the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences it was decided to split Vietnam into two. North Vietnam was to be under Chinese control, and the South would be under British control. However, in 1946 it was agreed that the French would be allowed to take over again. This led to a guerrilla war started by the Vietminh, against the French. The French were struggling to win this war, and found it even more difficult in 1949 when the Chinese decided to help the Vietminh after becoming communist under Mao Zedong, after the USA had spent $2 billion dollars supporting anti-communists. This was also the year in which the USSR exploded its own atom bomb, which meant the USA was no longer the only nuclear power. The French asked the USA for help but were refused it, as they first disapproved of the French. After China became communist the USA put $500 million a year into the French war effort and helped them set up a non-Communist government in South Vietnam. In 1954 the French were defeated at the decisive battle of Den Bien Phu.
At the Geneva conference in April 1954, the foreign ministers of Britain, France, the USA and the Soviet Union decided to meet and try to bring peace in Vietnam. They decided that Vietnam would be divided into two halves, North Vietnam would ruled by Ho Chi Minh and South Vietnam by a strong opponent of communism, Ngo Dinh Diem. It was decided that the French troops would withdraw from Vietnam and the Vietnamese people would be allowed to choose whether to live in the North (Communist) half or in the South (Capitalist) half. In 1956 there would be a general election to choose whether the country should be united, and who, out of Diem and Ho Chi Minh would rule Vietnam.
Although Vietnam was over 9000 miles away from the USA they were threatened by the fact that Ho Chi Minh was the most likely winner of the 1956 election in Vietnam. This would mean Vietnam would be a communist country. Communism went against all of the USA's political ideas, and they felt endangered by the way it was spreading, in the Soviet Union, China and from the Korean War. America first became involved, after the communist victory over the French in Vietnam. This, frankly, scared America, who felt that the world would eventually been taken over by communism, and something had to be done. By supporting the South Vietnamese government, the US felt as if they were helping to stop this communist take-over. In the Truman Doctrine and the 'policy of containment' it was agreed that the USA was not going to allow any more countries to turn communist, thus 'containing' the feared expansion of communism throughout the world.
The USA's first worry was that Ho Chi Minh would win the general elections in Vietnam, as this would allow communism to expand to the whole of Vietnam. President Eisenhower later said "I have never talked or corresponded with a person knowledgeable in Indochinese affairs who did not agree hat had elections been held at the time of fighting, possibly 80% of the population would have voted for the communist Ho Chi Minh". Responding to the French defeat by the Vietminh at Den Bien Phu, Eisenhower spoke of "the domino theory", this was the idea of how easily he thought communism would d spread, he said "You have a row of dominoes set up. You knock over the first one and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly." President Lyndon Johnson was also a strong supporter of the domino theory, he said, "If we quit Vietnam, tomorrow we'll be fighting in Hawaii and next week we'll have to fight in San Francisco." He also said "If you let a bully come into your front garden one day, the next say he'll be up o your porch, and the da after that he'll rape your wife in your own bed." These quotes express the American fear of communism; it was believed that victory in Vietnam was vital to the defence of the United States. President Eisenhower developed a foreign policy based on the idea of the domino theory.
Since North Vietnam was led by Ho Chi Minh, the USA's support obviously fell to Ngo Dinh Diem, who hated all that communism stood for, just like America. They supported him by sending money, supplies and military equipment, and hoped that the government of South Vietnam would act like a "puppet government", enabling America to have their say in the happenings of Vietnam. However, by 1959 the North Vietnamese government had ordered the Vietminh to begin terror campaign against Diem's government. Diem had quickly become very, very unpopular with the people of Vietnam, and turned out to be ...
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Since North Vietnam was led by Ho Chi Minh, the USA's support obviously fell to Ngo Dinh Diem, who hated all that communism stood for, just like America. They supported him by sending money, supplies and military equipment, and hoped that the government of South Vietnam would act like a "puppet government", enabling America to have their say in the happenings of Vietnam. However, by 1959 the North Vietnamese government had ordered the Vietminh to begin terror campaign against Diem's government. Diem had quickly become very, very unpopular with the people of Vietnam, and turned out to be not quite what the USA had hoped for.
Diem was a passionate catholic, and purely because he despised communism he won America's support. However, Diem had a very poor Human Right's record and as he ruled alongside his brother Nhu, in a brutal and corrupt dictatorship, he was still backed by the USA. Other countries such as French argued against Diem's potential as a ruler, it was said that Diem was "Not only incapable...but mad." The people of Vietnam firstly disliked Diem, because of his hatred of Buddhist. Being an anti-Buddhist in a country where 70% of the population practiced Buddhism angered the people, "This angered the Buddhists, especially when the new government refused to repeal the anti-Buddhist laws passed by the French." Diem showed his utter hatred for Buddhists when on May 8th, 1963, Buddhists assembled in Hue to celebrate the 2527th birthday of the Buddha. Attempts were made by the police to disperse the crowds by opening fire on them; one woman and eight children were killed when they were trying to flee from the police. In protest Buddhists organised arranged suicides, asking for volunteers, and the most famous of who was a Buddhist monk, who doused himself with petrol and then set himself alight. This did not work, as the government response was to arrest thousands of Buddhist monks, they also made remarks such as, "Let them burn, and we shall clap our hands." which only aggravated the people more. These events convinced President Kennedy that Diem would never be able to unite the South Vietnamese against communism. This meant, if he could not even unite South Vietnam, there was no chance that he could ever win the support of the whole country, which meant their efforts would be pointless, as Ho Chi Minh would still remain the most popular ruler. (Later Diem's unpopularity was so great that late on in 1963 the South Vietnamese Army overthrew and killed him.)
President Eisenhower was aware that he would have great difficulty in trying to persuade the American public to support another war so soon after Korea. Therefore, instead of sending the army, he sent a small group of military advisers to prevent South Vietnam from becoming a communist state. This group contained a 12 man team of American soldiers and intelligence agents, and was under the leadership of Colonel Edward Lonsdale. The group were sent to Saigon in June 1954. The plan behind them was to try and influence the people in South Vietnam not to vote for the communists in the forthcoming elections. When Kennedy became president in 1960 he agreed to send another 100 military advisers to Vietnam, but he kept this from the American Public. By 1963 Kennedy had increased the number of military advisers from 100 to 1600, and he also helped to equip the South Vietnamese army. In 1961 the US spent almost $270 million in military support Diem.
It became clear to his opponents that Diem had no intention of holding the general elections, which would unite Vietnam, because of this they began to come up with different ways of obtaining their objectives. Some considered that violence was the only way to do this. The NLF was formed after Ho Chi Minh suggested that guerrilla units were no longer enough. He encouraged many armed groups to join together to form a more powerful resistance organisation. In December 1960, the 'National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam' (NLF) was formed. The majority of this movement were supporters of communism, and they had a government that "represented all social classes and regions." The NLF proved very popular with the people of Vietnam, their initial objective was to gain the support of the peasants, it was said, "Without the constant and active support of the peasants- failure is inevitable". In true communist style the NLF took land from the rich and gave it to the peasants. This promise of free land to the peasants meant that they were able to persuade some peasants to help the guerrillas in their fight against the corrupt Diem government. In complete contrast to Diem's thoughtless actions, the NLF won the peasants over by being kind and generous, the NLF educated the peasants, they explained economics and how their poverty was the result of rich landowners selfishness. (They told them that 50% of the land was own by 2¹/2% of the population, ? of peasants owned no land at all.)
In 1961, as the USA realised that opposition was growing, they created a policy to deal with the influence of the NLF on the peasants. They called this the "Strategic Hamlet programme. Their idea was to build a stockade around camps (known as fortified villages). These were patrolled by armed guards. The USA and Diem's government worked together on this idea, which they claimed, was to save the peasants. This idea failed completely, it possibly achieved the reverse of what they originally planned, and increase the number of peasants joining the NLF. "Peasants resented working without pay to dig moats, implant bamboo stakes, and erect fences against an enemy that did not threaten its sights against government officials." To move the peasants into their "villages" the South Vietnamese Army had to use force, as the peasants did not want to be removed from their land, this increased their hostility towards the Diem government, rather than win their support. There were many reasons why the peasants did not want to be moved, such as it would mean there was a longer distance to the rice fields in which many of them worked, and lots of peasants were angry for religious reasons, as to them it was very important to live where their ancestors had been buried. Membership to the NLF increased by 300% in two years because of this. The Strategic Hamlet programme had proved disastrous, and the NLF, by now, controlled over ¹/5 of the villages in South Vietnam.
The Gulf of Tonkin incident gave the USA the excuse they required to go to war in Vietnam, as before they did not want to lose backing of the American Public. After Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Lyndon Johnson took over as President of America. However, elections were coming up, and Johnson did not want to take any extreme and unpopular measures before then. "Just let me get elected and then you can have your war." However, when the Gulf of Tonkin incident occurred, it gave him what he needed in order to be able to go to war without angering the American Public.
Operation Plan 34A involved sending Asian mercenaries into North Vietnam to carry out sabotage, or to kidnap/ kill communist officials. As a part of this plan it was decided that US destroyers would be sent into North Vietnamese Waters to obtain information on their naval defences. However on the 2nd of August 1964, a US destroyer "Maddox" was fired upon by 3 North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. In retaliation to this Maddox fired back at the ships, hitting all 3, sinking 1. The Maddox then retreated back into international waters, but the next day was ordered to return to the Gulf of Tonkin. It was the excuse the USA had been looking for.
President Johnson told the American public that "Repeated acts of violence against the armed forces of the United States must be met not only with alert deference, but a positive reply. That reply is being given as I speak tonight." This reply was to bomb North Vietnam; he thought this would persuade Ho Chi Minh to cut off all aid to the NLF. It didn't. The NLF still carried out their attacks. Johnson said he disagreed with sending "American boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves." It was because of this that Johnson won the election against Barry Goldwater, who was more right wing than Johnson and spoke of the more aggressive policies he would take against communism. What the voting public did not know was that President Johnson had been waiting until the election was over before carrying out Barry Goldwater's outrageous policies- such as Operation Rolling Thunder.
Operation Rolling Thunder began 3 months after the election. This involved bombing raids on North Vietnam, on a regular basis, with the incentive of destroying it's economy and the force North Vietnam to stop helping the guerrilla fighters in the South. Areas controlled by the NLF in South Vietnam were also targeted. These almost constant raids were planned originally to last 8 weeks. (This is how long the American Public were told the bombing would last for, which is probably why 80% of the public supported the short-term bomb raids and the sending of more troops) They lasted for 3 years. In this time the USA dropped over 1 million tons of bombs on Vietnam. As well as the bombing, the USA increased the number of troops in Vietnam, as General Westmoreland argued that 23,000 men were unable to adequately defend the US air bases, which were being attacked by the NLF in response to Operation Rolling Thunder. America thought that without more soldiers the NLF would take control of S. Vietnam. On March the 8th, 3500 US marines arrived in South Vietnam. The USA increased the bombing of North Vietnam, which led to increased involvement of the North Vietnamese Army.
More and more the American public began to disagree with the war in Vietnam. Hundreds and thousands of television, newspaper and radio reports were sent back to America and Europe, including pictures of the fighting. There were anti-war protests all over the country. The Vietnam war was so disapproved of because, as the US was the most advanced industrial nation, it could use the latest developments in technology in its war. This meant bombs could be dropped from heights which avoided them being seen and heard, which meant more people were killed. They used Napalm, which caused a burning pain, which was so traumatic that it often caused death. They also used "pineapple bombs" which contained 250 metal pellets inside a small canister. "An American plane could drop 1000 pineapples over an area the size of four football fields, in a singe air strike 250,000 pellets were spewed in a horizontal pattern over the land below, hitting everything on the ground." Plastic was also used in bombs; this meant it could not be identified by x-ray machines. The USA dropped approximately 8 million tons of bombs between 1965 and 1973; this is over 3 times the amount dropped in the whole of World War Two. 8 million tons meant 300 tons could be allotted for every man, woman and child living in Vietnam. American troops began to treat Vietnamese civilians roughly, believing that they were helping the NLF. At My Lai in 1968, 400 civilians were killed, and although the army tried to cover up this massacre, one sickened soldier reported it to congress. The public were deeply shocked by the news of the massacre. The idea of America being seen as the victim rather than the aggressor had been shattered.
The idea of so much bombing was "not to kill the population, but to maim them." in order to disrupt the functioning of North Vietnam. This worked, as the maimed have to be looked after, whereas the dead simply have to be buried. In Operation Ranch Hand, the NLF who hid mainly in the forests was targeted. 1,034,300 hectares of forest was destroyed by the spraying of chemicals, including Agent Orange, which also caused chromosomal damage in people. The Chemical Agent Blue was sprayed over crops to destroy food. However, the North Vietnamese showed great ingenuity in coping with the bombing, they relocated industries in remote places, hiding them effectively. They stored arms in caves and under group, and tens of thousands of North Vietnamese women and children worked full time in keeping transport routes open. Also, it was said that the war was more hurt to the US economy, "Ten dollars for every dollars worth of damage inflicted." By the beginning of 1968 it was estimated that $300 million of damage had been done to North Vietnam, whereas in the process, 700 US aircraft, valued at $900 million had been shot down.
In 1969 America wanted to get out of Vietnam without appearing defeated. President Nixon came up with the idea of 'Vietnamisation', which involved providing the South Vietnamese forces with money, training, and equipment, so they could replace American soldiers. They also had peace talks with Ho Chi Minh, and in January 1973 agreed a ceasefire, which allowed the last American soldiers to leave. The ceasefire however was meaningless, as the assaults against South Vietnam continued, and their army were unable to stop them without American help. In April 1975, Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam had fallen to the communists. Almost 30 years of warfare had been pointless, now the communists controlled Vietnam. The US had lost its first war ever, and was in tatters. One million Vietnamese people died, as well as nearly 60,000 Americans.
In conclusion, it is clear why America got involved in the Vietnam War. They were scared senseless of the domino theory coming true, and of communism spreading throughout the world. In the end, even America's vast military could not stop the spread of communism.