After WW2, in 1946 France refused to recognise the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and fighting broke out. The French public opinion of another war was very low: they had just got over WW2 and Vietnam was very far away. Few men signed up for the army, therefore the Vietminh had five times more men than the French. In March of 1954, Giap launched his attack and after 56 days the French surrendered- on May 7th.
To solve the ever-present problem of Vietnam, the Geneva Peace Conference was held and it was decided that Vietnam would be divided at the 17th parallel. The South half of Vietnam would be ruled by Diem, a strong opponent of Communism placed in power b the Americans. The Communist Ho chi Minh would rule the North. At the Conference, it was also decided that elections would be held to decide who would rule the whole of Vietnam. The Americans were worried that the whole of Vietnam would vote to become Communist controlled.
Ho Chi Minh knew at the forth-coming elections the public were sure to elect a Communist government to lift them out of their poverty. The American president at this time Eisenhower, was very worried as he to could foresee the same outcome. Eisenhower believed it was up to America to stop Communism spreading. Throughout history, America has had a hatred of Communism and it spreading. The Americans were the total opposite of the Soviet unions in terms of their ideology. The Soviet Union, along with China, were Vietnams allies. The Soviet Union was Communist, whereas America was Capitalist.
In the Cold War the Soviet Union declared an ideological war on the capitalist nations of the West. This was when President Truman showed his fear of the domino theory. The theory was, that when one country fell to Communism the rest around her would also fall and eventually the whole world would become Communist. President Truman also made the Truman Doctrine, which stated if any country was threatened by a Communist takeover -as Vietnam was- America would send money, advice and equipment.
All the successors of Truman also had the same beliefs about Communism, and stuck to the same policies.
Eisenhower was a very strong believer in the domino theory. He knew if he wanted to stop Communism spreading, he must act straight away and follow the Truman Doctrine.
As more and more Vietnamese people turned to Communism, Eisenhower and his successor Kennedy became progressively more involved.
America needed to come up with a plan to influence the Vietnamese people into voting against Communism. The Americans sent over a small group of ‘military advisors’ to South Vietnam. The ‘military advisors’ job was to mount a propaganda campaign to persuade all the people to vote for capitalism in the forth-coming elections. The advisors were very devious and produced fake documents to turn people against Communism. They also made out the corrupt Diem, the capitalist leader of South Vietnam to be a marvellous man.
Diem was told to introduce strategic hamlets to the Vietnamese, by the Americans. Strategic hamlets were just one of the many schemes thought up by the Americans and Diem. The idea behind the strategic hamlets was peasants would be moved from their villages to specially designed villages that were thought of by officials to be easy to defend from the Vietcong. America spent $400,000,000 and lost 50 American lives. This policy was very unpopular and a costly mistake for the Americans.
Throughout this time the USA was deep in the Cold War with the Soviet Union, this influenced their actions in Vietnam. The USA public were still against a war in Vietnam as they were more worried of nuclear missiles falling on them. At the time, Kennedy was trying to deal with the ‘Cuban missile crisis’ Once again America was battling against Communism. The Soviet Union- strong allies of Vietnam- were found to be working in conjunction with Cuba and pointing nuclear missiles at America. Both the Soviet Union and America eventually disarmed. America, especially Kennedy felt very bitter towards the Soviet Union and ultimately Communism. This made Kennedy even more determine to rid Vietnam of Communism.
Diem was found not to be using the American dollars that were sent over to their full potential. He was also not putting in, what the Americans considered enough effort. Diem was assassinated by the ARVN, America did nothing and ironically President Kennedy was also assassinated three weeks later.
But, despite Kennedy’s great financial involvement and increased number of military advisors being sent over, more and more people supported the Vietcong.
In 1963 Lyndon B. Johnson became the next President of America and he came to the conclusion: “ Vietnam is the biggest dam mess I have ever seen.” Johnson was also against Communism and a firm believer of the Domino Theory. Johnson decided to give Vietnam a short, sharp, shock. Johnson could not be seen to attack Vietnam for no reason; he needed an excuse to get the public behind him.
Johnson was given this excuse on the 2nd August 1964 when the US destroyer, ‘Maddox’ was fired upon. The American public were outraged. ‘Maddox’ retaliated and sank a North Vietnamese torpedo ship. Johnson was given the authority to go ahead, with whatever means necessary, by Congress. The second attack came in Pleiku on the 6th-7th February 1965. Pleiku was a US airbase. The Vietcong bombed the base: ten aircrafts were destroyed; eight US advisors were killed; over a hundred others were wounded. The US public were once again infuriated.
Johnson now had what he needed to go ahead with his plan- ‘operation rolling thunder.’ The attack on North Vietnam came on the 11th February 1965. The purpose was to destroy military and industrial targets such as bridges, railway lines, roads, army barracks and supply depots. This changed the course of the war and dragged in the USA as far as she would go, as it became an intensive war from the air. By 1968 there were 500,000 US troops in South Vietnam.
In conclusion, America became increasingly involved in the affairs of Vietnam between 1954-1965, for a number of reasons, but principally because of its fear of Communism. By the turn of the 20th Centaury, the Vietnamese were being exploited by the French. This was when the peasants first turned to Communism and America was alerted. North Vietnam became Communist after the French wars. The domino theory told America that when one country fell to Communism the others around it would follow and due to the Truman Doctrine America was brought into the affairs of Vietnam. The Cuban missile crisis of the cold war also added tension to the problems, as this crisis originated from the constant arguments between Communism and capitalism. The Americans wanted to give the guerrilla group- the Vietcong a short, sharp, shock. With the public backing ‘Operation rolling thunder’ started and the tragic anti-Communist battles in Vietnam went ahead.
