The other main factor that contributed towards America’s communism fear was the Korean War. North Korea was communist and South Korea was capitalist, and the North was trying to convert the South to communism as well. America helped the South, whilst China helped the North. For 3 years from 1950-1953 America fought tirelessly against the North, however, an armistice was signed, with neither side achieving anything. America now knew that communism really was a force to be reckoned with, for it was so powerful and relentless, and America was really scared by this. President Eisenhower came up with a theory called ‘The Domino Theory’.
The Domino Theory was the theory that forms the basis of ideas about policy in South-East Asia. It was the idea that if Vietnam succumbed to communism, then all of its surrounding countries would also fall for example Burma, Thailand, India, Japan, the Philippines, Laos and Cambodia. The US government thought very highly of Vietnam. In source A (a book written by John F Kennedy) he says “Vietnam is the cornerstone of the Free World in South-East Asia.” This means that Vietnam is basically the only reason that the other countries are not yet communist. It also says “The independence of Vietnam is crucial to the Free World. Vietnam’s economy is essential to the economy of all South-East Asia.” This shows what America thought of Vietnam. They thought it was the most important country in the whole of the Free World. This means that they are going to try and do a lot to protect it from the threat of communism. From 1954-1961 the USA gave more than $1billion to South Vietnam in financial aid.
There were 3 stages in which America became more and more involved in Vietnam. The first was financial aid. Before the war, Vietnam was called Indo-China and ruled by the French. During the war it was ruled by the Japanese. In 1945 the Vietminh, led by Ho Chi Minh, decided to declare Vietnam’s independence. France was not happy, and asked America for financial aid to help them regain control of Vietnam. America gave France $3billion as part of the Truman Doctrine to help them beat the Vietminh and the threat of communism. The leader of China, Mao Tse Tung, was helping Ho Chi Minh, and America did not want Vietnam succumbing to communism, so they helped the French.
However, it was not a very successful investment. In 1954 at Dien Bien Phu, the French were defeated by Ho Chi Minh. There were Geneva peace talks and it was decided that Vietnam would be split into two halves, a North and a South. The North would be communist, led by Ho Chi Minh, and the South capitalist, led by a man called Diem. This scared the USA even more because they knew how powerful communism was, and that they were going to have to do a lot more to stop it spreading across the world. This was when America started the second stage of their involvement: Military advisors.
There were going to be elections held in South Vietnam, so America sent money and a small number of advisors to Diem to help him prepare for them. However, the elections never happened because Diem was becoming increasingly corrupt. He threw all socialists, communists, journalists, trade unionists and religious leaders into jail. Because of this, opposition groups formed the National Liberation Front. They started to control parts of the countryside, and some people, especially peasants, were happy to support him because they did not like Diem. Ho Chi Minh agreed to send supplies to the NLF which promised to:
- Represent all religions and classes
- Join Vietnam back together again
- Promote economic and land reform
In 1960 President Kennedy was elected. He did not like communism, but at the same time he did not want to be seen supporting Diem’s corrupt routine. By the time Kennedy was assassinated, there were more than 16,000 American advisors who trained the ARVN (South Vietnamese Army). This shows that American involvement is rapidly increasing. However, the amount of NLF (also known as the Viet Cong) had also risen greatly to approximately 16,000 soldiers. Overall, the advisors were not hugely successful. They trained up the army well, but because Diem was so corrupt, he did not really listen and take their advice. This was probably the main reason of his downfall.
This led to Kennedy realising that money and advisors was not enough, and that to overcome communism, he was going to have to use the military as well.
Stage 3: Military. Support for the Viet Cong was growing rapidly, as Diem became more and more dictatorial and corrupt. President Kennedy introduced a policy of strategic hamlets to try to prevent the Viet Cong’s influence from spreading. The aim of these hamlets was to move villages and settlements away from the Viet Cong, and to get ARVN guards and barbed wire to control who goes in and out of them. Many of the South Vietnamese peasants resented the Americans for this. They could not understand why they were being forced out of the homes which they and their ancestors have lived in for generations. Many of the peasants became supporters of the Viet Cong, so the strategic hamlets idea failed miserably, and the peasants would have been better off left alone. Protests against Diem continued though. Diem campaigned against the Buddhist religion because he was Roman Catholic, so a lot of Buddhist monks protested against the lack of religious tolerance in the country. One well known example of this is Quang Duc. He was a Buddhist monk, and set fire to himself in public to protest against Diem. The result of this was that opposition against Diem intensified across the world. President Kennedy was worried about America’s reputation, and froze all loans to South Vietnam and threatened to withdraw the military aid if he did not change his ways.
However, he did not change his ways and in early November 1963 a military coup overthrew him. President Kennedy did nothing to protect and help Diem, and he supported the coup. America could not be seen supporting such a man as Diem. However, later that month, tragedy struck. On 22nd November 1963, in Dallas, Texas, President J F Kennedy was shot dead whilst riding with his wife in a Presidential Motorcade. Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon Johnson, also believed in the Domino Theory, but wanted to concentrate more on America, and building a ‘Great Society’, but instead found himself stuck in a war on the other side of the world. Johnson realised that if he was going to win this war, he would need to do more than send some money and advisors. He was going to have to overcome communism with brute force. He was reluctant to do this though, because he was unsure that he could count on the support of the Congress and the public. However, in August 1964, the situation was turned on its head. North Vietnamese gun boats attacked USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. This showed Johnson that the North Vietnamese meant business, and because the attacks were unprovoked, it meant that Johnson needed to take immediate action. He asked the Congress to give him authority to ‘take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the US and to prevent further aggression.’ This means that American involvement is increasing again.
Because of Johnson’s appeal to the Congress, a ‘Gulf of Tonkin Resolution’ was passed, which gave Johnson a blank cheque to do whatever he wanted to in Vietnam, hence increasing America’s involvement. Johnson certainly used the money he was given. In February 1965, he began ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’. It was the name given to the bombing campaign on North Vietnam. Over a period of 3 and a half years, the USA dropped more bombs on North Vietnam than the Allies did on Germany in the whole of the Second World War. The aims of ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’ were these:
- Bomb railways and roads in North Vietnam, to cut off transport and supply routes
- Bomb bases of the Viet Cong and Ho Chi Minh to stop them working and planning a way to fight back
- Destroy the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which was the supply route from North Vietnam to the Viet Cong in the South. By bombing this, the US was hoping to cut off the Viet Cong’s supply of weapons and equipment.
This was successful for a while; however, Ho Chi Minh had thousands of people working on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, ready to repair it. So really, ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’ only delayed the Viet Cong and Ho Chi Minh, it did not stop them. So, in March 1965, Johnson sent 3,500 US marines to Da Nang. America was now at war.
In conclusion, I would say that the main reason that America became more and more involved in Vietnam was the USA’s fear of communism. The idea of a communist America scared the USA so much. They new it would completely change their way of life, and that scared them. Especially the rich, as they would lose all their money. However, I think the other factors, such as the attack in the Gulf of Tonkin, are also very important. You could argue that if the North Vietnamese never attacked USS Maddox, then it is most likely that Johnson would never have sent in the marines. Each factor, the fear of communism, the domino theory, financial aid, advisors and the military all greatly influence how much America got involved in Vietnam.
