History Assignment 1 James Foyle
Question 1:
The USA had been indirectly involved in Vietnam before 1954, They had helped the Vietminh against the Japanese during world war two by sending supplies to them, they had also funded the French war effort when they were trying to regain control of Vietnam after the war. The USA had wanted France to rule over Vietnam, as they could not afford another country in south East Asia to fall to communism, this was because of American presidents believed in the domino theory, if more countries in Asia fell then there was a good chance that more would follow, and the whole continent would become communist. America being capitalist would then be more at threat.
In 1954 the French withdrew from Vietnam after loosing 16000 of its troops at the battle of Dien Bien Phu. The USA, Britain, the Soviet Union and France decided that Vietnam would be split in two, north and south. The north would be ruled by Ho Chi Minh.
Ho was a Vietnamese Nationalist and had grown up wanting Vietnam to be independent. At 21 he travelled around the world and settled in France where he became a Communist. It was because he was a Communist that America did not support him, they were Capitalist and hated Communism.
The leader of South Vietnam was Ngo Dinh Diem a strong opponent of Communism, although his government was extremely corrupt, he held little respect for the Buddhist religion of most of the peasants, and he repressed political opponents America still backed him because they needed an anti communist to rule South Vietnam and they couldn't find any one else.
The Vietnamese could choose to live in north or south and a general election was to be held in 1956 to determine who would rule the country. In 1954 Americas became more directly involved in the affairs of Vietnam, they sent a party of 12 military advisors to help Diem, this was the first time America had sent troops to Vietnam. President Eisenhower also sent a massive amount of aid that was spent on military and security forces.
One of the reasons that America became so heavily involved in Vietnam was that they hated communists and were in the middle of the cold war. The Truman doctrine said that America would help any countries under threat from communism. North Vietnam's leader Ho Chi Minh was communist and if he became leader of Vietnam the whole country would be. America was worried about the spread of Communism in South East Asia, China had already fell to it and because of the domino theory the president believed that if one country falls more will follow, this is why they were so set on preventing South Vietnam from being communist.
Question 1:
The USA had been indirectly involved in Vietnam before 1954, They had helped the Vietminh against the Japanese during world war two by sending supplies to them, they had also funded the French war effort when they were trying to regain control of Vietnam after the war. The USA had wanted France to rule over Vietnam, as they could not afford another country in south East Asia to fall to communism, this was because of American presidents believed in the domino theory, if more countries in Asia fell then there was a good chance that more would follow, and the whole continent would become communist. America being capitalist would then be more at threat.
In 1954 the French withdrew from Vietnam after loosing 16000 of its troops at the battle of Dien Bien Phu. The USA, Britain, the Soviet Union and France decided that Vietnam would be split in two, north and south. The north would be ruled by Ho Chi Minh.
Ho was a Vietnamese Nationalist and had grown up wanting Vietnam to be independent. At 21 he travelled around the world and settled in France where he became a Communist. It was because he was a Communist that America did not support him, they were Capitalist and hated Communism.
The leader of South Vietnam was Ngo Dinh Diem a strong opponent of Communism, although his government was extremely corrupt, he held little respect for the Buddhist religion of most of the peasants, and he repressed political opponents America still backed him because they needed an anti communist to rule South Vietnam and they couldn't find any one else.
The Vietnamese could choose to live in north or south and a general election was to be held in 1956 to determine who would rule the country. In 1954 Americas became more directly involved in the affairs of Vietnam, they sent a party of 12 military advisors to help Diem, this was the first time America had sent troops to Vietnam. President Eisenhower also sent a massive amount of aid that was spent on military and security forces.
One of the reasons that America became so heavily involved in Vietnam was that they hated communists and were in the middle of the cold war. The Truman doctrine said that America would help any countries under threat from communism. North Vietnam's leader Ho Chi Minh was communist and if he became leader of Vietnam the whole country would be. America was worried about the spread of Communism in South East Asia, China had already fell to it and because of the domino theory the president believed that if one country falls more will follow, this is why they were so set on preventing South Vietnam from being communist.
