America opposed communism and was fighting to contain it. Thousands of American citizens had been accused of being supporters of the US Communist party, even of being sympathisers with it. People had lost their jobs or hounded out of office. Failure to share this anti-communist opinion was regarded with suspicion. This was known as McCarthyism.
US forces had recently lost 30,000 men fighting for South Korea against communist China and North Korea.
To contain communism in South East Asia the US helped to form the South East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO). Later in 1954 its member pledged themselves to protect the countries of South East Asia.
Meanwhile America was in a state of cold war with Russia making matters worse and containing communism of vital importance.
It was decided by the UN and America that Vietnam should be split into 2, the North – still ruled by Ho Chi Min and the South – ruled by French Bao Dai. This division was known as the 17th Parallel. Free elections would also be held in 1956. America helped set-up the republic of South Vietnam. The were pleased with the newly appointed Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem because he was bitterly anti-communist. Diem belonged to a landlord class that treated the Vietnamese peasants with contempt.
Ho Chi Min was confident he would win the 1956 free elections since South Vietnam was rules by the hated French Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem was a catholic amongst Buddhists and the Vietnamese resented him for giving government jobs to Catholics rather than Buddhists which were the majority. Even Diems brother and other close relatives were given positions of power.
Diem refused to hold free elections for fear of losing, arguing that the communists wouldn’t allow free elections. He was supported by the US government and public opinion despite the fact it was in breech of the Geneva Peace Agreement.
The situation seemed clear to the American people, bad guys in the north, good in the south. They dogmatically assumed the same to be true of North and South Vietnam.
US advisors were sent to South Vietnam to make sure that the country stayed pro western and anti-communist. The US poured in economic aid and modern weapons. The program was set-up in 1954 when President Eisenhower sent 17 advisers with sealed orders to Saigon. By the time Eisenhower left office in 1961 there were 685 advisers. They were there to train the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in using modern weapons to combat and expected invasion from the North.
US involvement in Vietnam was largely at the insistence of Eisenhower’s Secretary of State John Dulles. He argued that the pro-western governments of other Asian countries would fall like dominoes each one pushing over its neighbor if any one of them was toppled. Most Americans agreed with him. This became known as the Domino Theory.
The North Vietnamese communists restarted the guerrilla campaign in retaliation for the cancelled elections positioning 5000 Vietminh guerrillas in South Vietnam in 1959 supported by another 100,000 sympathizers in the countryside. Top increase these numbers many refugees from the South were trained as armed soldiers and sent back along a secret trail through the mountains later known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. These South Vietnamise communists or the Vietcong successfully waged a guerrilla war, this resulted in Kennedy increasing the number of advisors in Vietnam.
Ngo Dinh Diem antagonized peasants by putting government officials who knew nothing about peasant life and is traditions in charge of the countryside. Many farmers lost the land they had gained under the Vietminh before 1954. There was also growing opposition as Diem continued to favor Roman Catholics over Buddhists. Catholic flags were flown in honour of his brother (the arch bishop) but Buddhists were denied permission to fly flags on Buddha’s birthday. Street protests followed and nine Buddhist’s were killed in May.
Anger was roused worldwide when a Buddhist monk drenched himself in petrol and set himself on fire in a form of gruesome protest that June.
Kennedy was deeply affected by the image of the Burning monk, he became increasingly reluctant to support the Diem regime.
The desperate Diem sought popularity by keeping casualties sustained by the South Vietnamese army down. Officers were criticised for attacking the enemy. This further antagonised the Americans who were left fighting the Vietmin
Diem and his brother were assassinated by the ARVM worried that America would withdraw their support if Diem stayed on.
Ironically Kennedy himself was assassinated three weeks later.
When Kennedy’s successor Lyndon B. Johnson came into office in November 1963 he knew very little about Vietnam and its problems. In March he asked advisers what to do. Four options were made available to him…
- Negotiate settlement with the north
- Send in the marines and go all out for victory
- Continue the policy of maintaining a force of advisors
- Pull out now and let the dominoes fall?
At first he continued with 3) but after deciding that it was “the biggest god damn mess” he ever saw he decided the only way out was to go all out for victory.
He persuaded congress to pass the Gulf of Tongking resolution granting him permission to retaliate if any ships there were attacked. Justification for him attacking Vietnam came on the 6th-7th of February 1965 when the Vietcong attacked a US airbase in Pleiku. Over 100 people were killed including 8 US advisers and 10 planes were lost too.
The American people were outraged and so Operation Rolling thunder (an all out offensive bombing campaign) began on the 11th of February 1965. This was accompanied by the marines being sent and General Westmooreland (an American) gaining control of the war.
The main reason for increasing US support in Vietnam was its fear of communism and its spread. This fear compelled the US to give aid to France and the Domino theory meant America wouldn’t pull out later on and risk the collapse of all of eastern Europe to communism. The success of the Vietcong and the corruption of Diem and South East Asia lead to increasing commitment in the form of advisors. It was Johnson that believed direct involvement was the only way to get America out, however their lack of success meant that pride became a key reason for the US remaining in Vietnam until 1975.