To what extent can the growing involvement of the US in Vietnam in the years 1950 -1968, be seen as an ideological crusade against communism?

An alternative reason for involvement is due to French withdrawal. For example in Diem Bien Phu General Navarre drew the Vietminh into open battle but was defeated. This is because the French thought that the Vietminh would not be able to move their heavy artillery through the jungle thus this would allow superior French fire power to be more effective. However the Vietminh commander General Giap sent 200,000 porters to provide supplies to his soldiers and in March 1954 they attacked and outnumbered the French six to one. This failure occurred because the French underestimated the Vietminh and General Giap had been training his army using modern weapons from china. In addition, this failure led to a decline in support by the French population. This is because public opinion was divided; the French lost 72,000 lived due to the conflict; the media and people turned against the war and communism had a strong support in Indochina. This encouraged the US to get involved because their ideology of containing communism was at stake. This factor is less important than the previous factor because it displays that the French cannot defend pride and democracy thus it leaves the US with no choice other than to intervene.

Another reason for the growing involvement is due to the Geneva accords of 1954. This arranged a ceasefire in Vietnam after the French withdrawal. It declared that Vietnam was to be divided along the 17th parallel and democratic elections will be held in 1956 to unify the country. Although this declared that the South and North Vietnam were not to form any military alliances with foreign powers and not to allow foreign military bases in their territory, America still got involved. This was because it was clear from the defeat of the French that communist had a strong hold in the north of Vietnam. Therefore US didn’t want elections to be held in 1956 to unify the country because they knew that Ho Chi Minh would win the elections. This was one of the reasons why Ho Chi Minh agreed to the Geneva agreements as it would prevent US involvement and give him time to consolidate his power in the North. This reason is less important than the previous two factors because although it displays why the US got involved the main reason for involvement was ideological crusade. This is because if the US didn’t get involved then Ho Chi Minh would win the elections and Vietnam would become communist and this would threaten the idea of democracy and pride.

Additionally the US got involved because of the weaknesses of the South Vietnam regime. The weaknesses mainly derived from Diem. Diem seized power in 1955 and he became president but ruled as dictator. The elections did not take place in 1956 and Diem became increasingly corrupt and violent. For example this can be seen by the arrests of trade unionists, religious leaders and journalists. Additionally he only appointed family members and friends to important positions. Diem was a catholic and 70% of the population of Vietnam were Buddhists and Diem faced opposition the Buddhists but he replied with much cruelty. By not allowing Buddhists to practice their religion. This led to protests being held by Buddhists monks who burned themselves to death. By 1963 Diem’s rule was so corrupt and he did not manage to gain the support of the villagers. His actions led to opposition groups forming the National Liberation Front which begun a guerrilla war in south Vietnam and this was aided by North Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh sent supplies. Therefore the US intervened by aiding Diem to promote his policy of “nation Bulding” to bring economic and social reforms but instead Diem ignored the US advisors and used to money to strengthen his regime. This was clear evidence that Diem would not be able 2 defend the ideological crusade on his own but required American involvement. Thus USA gave $250 million in 1956 and creasing sums the next few years. This factor is less important than the previous factors because the reason why America got involved is because of ideological crusade and therefore if USA did nothing then the weaknesses of the southern regime would enable communist to emerge victorious and threaten democracy.

In conclusion the growing involvement of the US in Vietnam in the years 1950-1968 was due to a combination of factors but the main factor being ideological crusade. This is because the ideological crusade confirmed American involvement when problems. In addition successive presidents viewed the world through a cold war perspective that made a communist victory in Vietnam seem very significant. In addition the presidents believed that a communist Vietnam would affect the world balance of power in favour of communism and cause other Southeast Asian countries to fall to communism. Some would argue that American motivation was primarily ideological. Others would say that power and greed were equally important.