How significant was the domino theory as a reason for the U.S involvement in the conflict in Vietnam?

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       History Controlled assessment on Vietnam

The defeat of the French is a key point that led to increased US involvement in the problems in Vietnam. After the defeat of the French the country split in to two, the North being communist and the south being the opposite. The north which the leader of the time was Ho Chi Minh wanted to take over the south. America did not want this to occur because it would cause the domino theory to take action which directly links to countries that are in American interest.

The Americans began to fear that communism was about to spread its way across South East Asia when in 1949 China became a communist country under the leadership of Mao Zedong, and when he started to provide the Vietminh with essential military supplies (2). The USA feared that if one country in South East Asia fell to communism, the rest would also fall like a row of dominoes, this was the Domino Theory (2, 3). They were also scared that the Philippines which was in their power at the time would turn against them and also try to become communist due to Vietnam becoming communist. This made the Americans feel much more strongly about getting involved with the conflict in Vietnam and put the theory of the Truman doctrine in to action to stop the spread of communism.

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A second reason to show that the significance of the Domino Theory was a reason for the US involvement, is that during the 1950s US involvement began to grow in Vietnam. A small team of US military advisers was sent out in 1954 to help ‘prepare’ for the 1956 elections in Vietnam (3). This suggests that America feared the spread of communism in Vietnam and they were keen to prevent Ho Chi Minh from bringing communism rule to Vietnam.

A third reason is that the fighting between the Vietcong and the South Vietnamese forces intensified through 1963. American ...

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