In 1946 the French had started a full-scale war. The USA began to see that Ho was a puppet to Mao Tse Tung and the Chinese communists. The USA then backed the French by supplying them with arms and money. However, despite all the support from one of the most powerful countries in the world the French were defeated by Vietnam and China. Almost immediately some of the major world powers ha a meeting to try to discuss and solve the problem without the need to fight. So, eventually they had made the Geneva Convention, which said that Vietnam was to be split into north and South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh and the south by Ngo Dinh Diem who opposed communism ruled the north. The convention also stated that Vietnam would no longer contain any French troops and that there would be a general election for Vietnam.
Communism has always been opposed by the USA and at the end of World War 2 the world was divided into the communist east and the capitalist west. USA participated in the cold war with Russia because of the communist approach of Russia. The cold war was a ‘War of words’ where no violence was to be used unless another country seperate to the two were to invade one of the countries involved then the other would help the invaded by offering weapons, money and supplies. One of the Presidents during the cold war was Harry Truman. He was very anti-communist. He suggested that the western countries could contain communism, which might stop it spreading to other. He felt that if one country became communist then the others would follow. This was called the domino effect. Truman felt that the USA could let Russia and a few neighboring countries became communist but they were not prepared to let any more countries become communist. America offered financial backing and stability to any country that accepted capitalism and became democratic. Truman felt that a lot of communist countries would be competing for power in and around Europe so he thought it was America’s duty to protect Europe from this competition and save it from communism. However, they also felt that it was vital to stop communism in Vietnam and to stop Ho Chi Minh. In America they created and passed the Alien act, which prohibited anyone from plotting against the government. It was passed because of the feeling o undermining over the American communist party. So, The American people were encouraged to accuse others of holding left wing views. The leaders of the American communist party were arrested.
Previous to Vietnam, The USA had already tried to ban communism in Korea and Cuba. During the Korean war North Korea was communist whereas the south was anti-communist. Russia and the people’s republic of China assisted the north. The south however, was assisted by three major world powers. USA, Britain and France. June 25th 1950 - North Korea sent 135,000 troops into the south. President Truman decided that he would help the south so he sent in ships and advisors along with troops to try and cut short the journey made by the northern troops and force them back up north. McArthur wanted to send the communists out of Korea and away from China but eventually drew up an agreement, which stated that North Korea could be communist and South Korea would be anti-communist. Fidel Castro, instead of the party supported by the Americans after the revolution, took power in Cuba. They said that they had agreed with the terms and policies of U.S.S.R and that they were communist. However, The USA stopped any form of relationship between the two in 1961. On 17th April 1961 The USA backed a group of exiled Cubans who attempted a rebellion in Cuba. The rebellion failed and the Cubans were arrested. This would be known as the “Bay Of Pigs Incident”. Cuba asked for the help of Russia. This plea was accepted and the fellow communist countries united and nuclear weapons were sent into Cuba. The arrival of nuclear weapons in Cuba worried the USA, as they were no longer able to attack without the threat of nuclear warfare. President Kennedy had arranged talks with Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, about the use of nuclear weapons. They agreed that USSR would take their weapons back but only if Kennedy never entered Cuba again. They both agreed and the argument was settled.
During the Vietnam War all of the American presidents were very anti-communist. Truman did not want to look as if he did not care about Vietnam and the war. He was anxious about the war on communism. He was worried that if Vietnam became communist then other countries would soon follow. He gave the French troops more materials (weapons, supplies, etc) to assist them in the war. However, Eisenhower did not want to contribute to the war unless he had support from the allies. He thought that if the elections were held during the war then Vietnam would win with a maximum of 4/5 of the vote. Diem, who appeared to be anti-communist at first sight, was put into power. America had sent 15 million troops to assist the French in the war.
As Kennedy was president he was able to send masses of military advisors to assist the French. He made it absolutely clear that he was a supporter to the south. He felt that Vietnam becoming communist would put other countries at risk. He decided to go along with the domino theory and he felt that Vietnam would need a majority of America’s resources. He tried to convince a lot of civilians to join the army, Sent large sums of money to help South Vietnam along with another 100 military advisors. The Vietnamese army was not very well trained so the sending of advisors proved to be a major advantage as they could train the army properly. Kennedy had also increased the size of the South Vietnamese army by a further 20,000 men. Diem had many of his catholic friends in high places of power, which was unpopular as the Buddhists thought that they should have more power. The Buddhist monks rallied against Diem and his government whereas some went to extreme lengths and committed suicide. So, Diem decided to arrest and imprison any monks who protested and he to increased the number of military advisors he had in Vietnam.
After President Kennedy was assassinated he was replaced by Lyndon .B. Johnson. He did not want to appear soft on communism and he did not want to be associated with failure like Kennedy after the Bay of Pigs incident. He wanted to be decisive so he decided that America should stand tall and fight side by side with Vietnam and fight for an independent and non-communist Vietnam. In 1964 and early 1965 Vietcong had launched a series of raids which saw 9 Americans being killed and 76 injured and wounded. So, Johnson decided to send in more US troops and declared a bombing on North Vietnam on 2nd march. The American destroyer ship ‘MADDOX’ was fired upon by 3 North Vietnamese torpedo boats. This was called the Gulf of Tonkin incident. The Gulf of Tonkin resolution was Johnson’s decision to bomb North Vietnam, which was agreed and passed as the resolution. The resolution authorized Johnson to take all necessary measures against Vietnam and the NLF. Operation Rolling thunder was a series of raids which would take pace on a regular bases unlike the single raid in August 1964. Johnson was pressured into launching Operation rolling thunder and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution because he was losing so many troops and his ships were being badly damaged. He had nothing else to do but resort to bombing. The sheer strength and capability of the Vietcong was too much to handle in man-to-man combat so bombing was the only option left to Johnson.
I think that the USA sent troops into Vietnam because it was a last resort. Previous to the troops the US had already tried to defeat the Vietcong by sending planes, boats and helicopters all of which failed. The ARVN did not have the full support of the South Vietnamese people so it could not defeat the Vietcong. The USA might also have sent in combat troops as an excuse to cover up the disaster at the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the Bay of Pigs incident. I think it was a bad idea to send vast numbers of troops in at one time because the death toll will start to increase rapidly. I also think that when Kennedy was persuading people to join the army that it was a bad idea because the people who conscripted were not trained for any form of combat so they would have died easier. The Vietcong were very powerful, disciplined and very well trained so the USA would have been no match for them. The reasons for sending troops into Vietnam is a mixture of long and short term effects because some of the pressure came from the long term events leading up to and during the war.
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