At this time, the U.S had already become involved with Southeast Asia. During the end of WW2, they were attacked by the Japanese at pearl harbour, and had lost a lot of supplies to them. The Vietnamese had gained the weapons and supplies that were taken from the U.S. Not only this, the Vietminh were gaining support from the Soviet Union. The communist sphere of influence was gradually moving down through North Vietnam, and eventually, most of it was under the control of the Vietminh. In 1946, The French wanted to re-take control over Vietnam, and Britain agreed and removed her troops. France opposed the way Ho Chi Minh had formed North Vietnam, and soon after, fighting broke out. The U.S became involved again here, as they had to give aid to the French in order for them to prevent the Communism spreading further south. France appeared to be winning the war, until the Vietminh had gained a safe base in which they could build weapons and train soldiers safely, after Mao Zedong’s victory in China. By now, France had control over South Vietnam, and the Vietminh still had control of the north. A massive battle between Giap’s troops and General Navarre’s was fought in Dien-Bien Phu, and on May 7th 1954, the French surrendered, and left Vietnam. This left a huge vacuum space in Southeast Asia, open for the communists to move further south just as the Domino Theory predicted. The U.S knew it was time to step in. The only way they could stop this spread was to enter the war herself. The French, British, Soviets and the US met in Geneva to see if they could solve the problems in Southeast Asia.
The meeting split Vietnam in two on the map. The North would be controlled by Ho Chi Minh, and the south by Ngo Dinh Diem, a strong communist opponent who the U.S had recommended. . From our hindsight, we can tell that this was one of the fatal mistakes that the U.S had made, not just because Diem would prove himself to be a corrupt leader, but because North Vietnam and South Vietnam would be so different in terms political, economical and cultural ways, that fighting would almost be unavoidable. Diem would also be getting a lot of help from the U.S in ruling South Vietnam as they had to do all they could to stop the domino theory. There was an important reason for America becoming involved with the war that linked to the reason of giving aid to South Vietnam. This was that if the general election in Vietnam that was going to take place saw people voting for a communist leader, Vietnam would reunite and communists would have total control over Vietnam. As the main aim of the U.S was to prevent the spread of communism, it was always important to keep involved and make sure that a general election and other causes do not ruin their efforts.
The U.S decided it was best not to send a large force to Vietnam, as the American public was becoming unhappy with this tactic after the war in South Korea. So instead they sent a small group of Military advisors In June 1954. This consisted of a twelve-man team who were attempting to change the way the communists were spreading. It was becoming more aware that the U.S was increasingly involved in Vietnam. These twelve men launched a propaganda campaign, similar to the one in WW2 between Germany and Britain. Their aim was to mislead the public into believing the communist leaders were an unwise choice in the election, to ensure that the country would no reunite as a communist country. They also collected figures, showing that Vietnam was going through an economical miracle under his rule. Finally, they began to train the South Vietnamese army (ARVN), and it was coming clear that there would eventually be open warfare between the two sides.
Kennedy’s intention of putting Diem in control of South Vietnam was to have him as a puppet leader, having him take action under strong influence of the U.S. But really the U.S wanted to be making the decisions, but through Diem. However, this did not go as planned, as Diem did not take advice from America or even military advisers. He began to upset people in South Vietnam. Although the U.S was also begging to regret that they had put Diem in control of South Vietnam, they had no choice but to support him. It became even more important as Ho Chi Minh began to undermine Diem’s Government. Many attempts were made to overthrow him, and without the U.S support, he was likely to fall. A voting poll was established in South Vietnam October 1955, to decide if the public wanted a new ruler. Lansdale, a Diem supporter, fixed the voting, using press-gang techniques and influential ballat card colours. The final figures showed that 98.3 per cent had voted for Diem. The U.S tried to advise Diem to make the figures more realistic, but Diem took no notice, and the voting ‘Undermined his authority’. But he proceeded to prove himself an unworthy leader, placing all his opposes in prison. Up to this point, Americas every reason for becoming involved in the war was spreading out, and linked to one main cause. This was the Domino Theory and the fear of the communist spread. Similar to a spider diagram in which the cause was in the middle, and all the other causes connected to it. E.g. filling the space that France had left when she had withdrawn, because of the determination to stop the spread of communism. Sue to this I have to say I think this is the main cause. Other causes linked into this, such as the formation of the NLF. And the third most important cause was Ho Chi Minh undermining Diem’s government, as they had to stay and give support to him through this, while attempts were continually made to overthrow him.
The main fighting and aggression for America sine the war in South Korea was against small groups of peasants, and some calling themselves the NLF – National Liberation front. They hid in the vast forests of Vietnam, and murdered many of Diem’s government officials, known as ‘Soft targets’. These guerrilla fighters began to receive aid, which put more pressure on America to do the same for Diem, keeping them involved in the war. The Vietcong, as the Americans knew them, gained the support of the peasants and towns folk, taking land from the rich landowners to give to them. If these groups expanded, and America left now, Diem would no doubt-ably fall. Soldiers from the U.S were sent to Vietnam, and from 1962, they had 9,000 troops. But by 1970, 539,000 troops occupied Vietnam. They attempted to wipe out the NLF and guerrilla units fighting in the forests. They flattened the forests using Agent orange, and bombed towns with napalm, both weapons did serious horrific damage to the Vietnamese people, and terrible pictures of people mutilated by the weapons used were reaching American newspapers. Thousands were killed in the attacks, many civilian casualties. In 1963, President Diem was overthrown by a military coup following patriotic events that occurred in South Vietnam. Diem was catholic, and was one of the 10% of the population who were. The Buddhist religion had 70% of the people in Vietnam as followers, but still they were treated as inferior to Catholics, due to Diem’s policies. On May 8th 1963, a Buddhist ceremony, celebrating the birthday of the Buddha, took place. Police were ordered to open fire on them, which was described as ‘Crowd control’. Some Buddhists began to protest, and the most famous – Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk, set fire to himself in a busy street, while other monks and nuns handed out leaflets asking for a fairer society.
These Protests made Diem even more unpopular, and other suicides like this occurred. Diem’s reaction to this was to begin a massive arrest of thousands of Buddhists monks. A member of his government told a news reporter, ‘Let them burn, and we shall clap our hands.’ They also offered to supply petrol to the monks in which they would use to commit suicide. It became clear to Kennedy that Diem would not be able to unite South Vietnam against communism. After Diem’s overthrow by the military coup, he was aloud to leave the country, but the generals decided to change their minds and killed him. Only 3 weeks later, Kennedy was assassinated. Was it because he brought America into another war? Or could it be a communist follower who murdered him, in hope of stopping America from slowing the communist spread? However, fighting continued and bombing of strategic targets were hit in North Vietnam. Mercenaries were employed from Asia to act out sabotage in North Vietnam.
From 1969-72, peace talks had commenced in Paris between the NLF, North and South Vietnam and the U.S. and a peace plan was made, but the U.S disagreed at first, but after a massive bombing attack on North Vietnam, and with no change to the plan, they decided to agree. The war for America had ended, and they withdrew their troops and had their prisoners of war returned. However, even with America gone, the war continued between the NLF and the South Vietnam army, and the U.S continued to give aid to the ARVN, as they still wanted to stop communists taking over. Around 1975, America was convinced that the war was over for them. South Vietnam fell to communism after much fighting, but the spread did not continue as the Domino Theory explained.
Evaluating the U.S involvement with the Vietnam War, I think it was mostly unjustified and the decisions made by the U.S were too rushed, and not properly thought out. Too many mistakes were made in my opinion. They got involved mainly to stop communism, and did this by filling the gap France had left when she withdrew; They kept involved by giving aid to South Vietnam, and they tried to support Diem the best they could through his mistakes and the Buddhist protests and while he was undermined by Ho Chi Minh. The U.S was far too worried about the spread of communism, and did not think about other possibilities that could have happened in the communist spread. I also believe they took too many drastic measures to prevent communism spreading, like killing the Vietnam citizens and flattening forests, while losing thousands of their own soldiers in the process. Overall, I think it was a historical disaster for the America.
