At the Geneva Conference Vietnam was divided into two countries-North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Cambodia and Laos became independent states. A cease-fire was also declared and the French troops were withdrawn. During the conference, the Americans were very unhappy with the willingness of the French to accept ‘Peace at any price’. The agreement left North Vietnam in the hands of Ho Chi Minh, and the Predominantly Buddhist South under control of the Emperor Bao Dai, who was associated with the French.
The USA and the Saigon government did not agree with the Geneva consent. As soon as the French left Vietnam, the USA began supporting the South Vietnamese government with economic aid and military advisers. Uncertain that fair elections could take place in the Communist North, the South Vietnamese government refused to hold national elections. Ngo Dinh Diem, the new president of the South was anti-communist. He wrongly assumed that all members of the Vietminh were Communists. Many were, but others simply wanted an end to the French rule. Many people disagreed with the Diem government as the were anti-communist and kept the support of the USA.
Because the USA supported the French colonial rule over Vietnam, they had to increase its financial support which it gave to the regime in the South under the president Ngo Dinh Diem. US economic and military aid to Vietnam in the 1950’s amounted to more that $1,591 million. As the 1960’s began the North Vietnamese declared their intention to ‘liberate South Vietnam from the ruling yoke of the US imperialist and their henchmen’. Guerrilla attacks by the newly formed Vietcong were having an effect and the South even tried to claim that it was the North Vietnamese army that was attacking them. As things got worse the USA increased its involvement. Even with the US support, Diem’s government made more mistakes trying to separate the villagers from the Vietcong by creating strategic hamlets, or fortified villages, that the Vietcong could not get into. The Vietcong easily infiltrated them. These ghamlets failed because they were unpopular, impractical and they cost the US government a lot of money. The Diem regime was repressive, trying to root out communism and the Vietcong, and favouring Roman Catholics over Buddhists. This led to street protests by Buddhists which led to nine Buddhist monks being killed in riots in May 1963. In response to his, a Buddhist monk burnt himself to death in public in protest against the Diem regime. In 1963, Diem was finally assassinated by members of his own army. Because the Diem government was viewed as weak and corrupt, the US did nothing about the plot, which they knew about.
Two weeks after the assassination of Diem, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on 22nd November 1963. Lyndon B. Johnson was to take up where Kennedy left off. He wanted to improve US society concerning matters such as racism and equality, but found himself dealing with growing US involvement in Vietnam to try and stop the spread of communism in the South. The US government believed that in order to stop the spread of communism to other countries, such as Laos and Cambodia in what was known as the ‘Domino Theory’, the US would have to try and stop communism in South Vietnam. Failure to contain communist idea might mean that they would spread throughout Asia and threaten US interests. In March 1964 President Johnson had these four options:
- Negotiate a settlement with the North.
- ‘Send in the marines’ (go all out for victory).
- Continue with the policy of sending advisers out to South Vietnam.
- Withdraw and risk the ‘Domino Effect’ and the spread of communism.
He decided to continue with the third option, but within a few months his opinion of the situation was changing to a slightly more negative view towards everything.
After US ships had been attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin, President Johnson was given the authority to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the US and to prevent further aggression. On the 6th-7th February Vietcong attacked the US base at Pleiku, wounding hundreds. President Johnson had the excuse he needed to call up the troops and bomb the North. Operation Rolling Thunder was launched.
After the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the Us was in favour of a much more aggressive approach to Vietnam. Operation Rolling Thunder used the latest in weapon technology. Targets were carefully selected and ‘surgically’ bombed. Bridges, railways, roads, army barracks and supply depots were destroyed. The US were getting increasingly worried about impairing their current relationship with the USSR and so they avoided bombing the major cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. Despite this, bombing North Vietnam for the first time was a serious escalation of the war. Operation Rolling Thunder eventually led to an extensive war from the air as President Johnson tried to force the North Vietnamese to talk about peace.
By January 1968, as the Tet New Year festival was being celebrated, the USA seemed to be gaining the upper hand. However the Vietcong launched a surprise attack on more than 100 military sites throughout South Vietnam. In Saigon, a suicide squad of 19 Vietcong attacked the US embassy, and occupied it for 6 hours. Eventually US troops recaptured it, killing every Vietcong fighter. The Vietcong had 4,500 fighters in Saigon, waiting for reinforcements to arrive. They were also hoping that the South Vietnamese people would rise up with them, overthrow the South Vietnamese government and force the US out of South Vietnam. However, the US troops and ARVN fought back and defeated the Tet offensive.
From every point I have managed to translate in this essay, it would appear that the USA was increasingly involved in the conflict in Vietnam. By January 1968, the USA had 500,000 troops stationed in South Vietnam. From 1962, where the USA had 100,000 troops in Vietnam, it went to an extreme of 530,000 troops in 1969. This to me seems a bit extreme if they are not getting involved. Also, General Westmoreland asked for another 200,000 troops to finish off the war. This proves that the US was becoming increasingly involved in the conflict in Vietnam.