The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was one of the most controversial conflicts of the twentieth century, resulting in over one million deaths, and seeing a larger number of bombs dropped than the entire Second World War. When that conflict ended in 1945 and the French were unable to re-establish colonial control in Vietnam, the rise of the Vietminh (a nationalist group with communist ideals) prompted US intervention that gradually escalated over the decades that followed. By 1954, the Vietminh had established control in the North of the country, but the South was in turmoil; President Diem’s regime found itself increasingly under attack from the National Liberation Front (‘NLF’ or ‘Vietcong’) and within five years, the North was actively assisting by sending supplies and guerrilla fighters down the Ho Chi Minh trail.
The use of guerrilla tactics made it very difficult for the US to respond effectively to the threat they perceived in Vietnam and this led to controversial tactics including ‘Search and Destroy’ and chemical warfare in an attempt to assist the South Vietnamese government in defeating the communist forces. As America went from sending advisors and money to the full deployment of ground troops and bombing raids, communist forces grew in strength and support and Vietnam became a quagmire from which it was difficult to withdraw. The eventual 1973 peace treaty enabled US involvement to end but only after intensive escalation and without long-lasting achievement; by 1975, the whole of Vietnam was in communist hands.
More on the Vietnam War...
- CHRONOLOGY - Look into how events unfolded during the Vietnam War in greater detail and find relevant essays.
- KEY INDIVIDUALS - Nixon, Kennedy, Johnson - get an analysis of the key individuals involved in the Vietnam War, complete with essay samples.
- KEY DEBATES - Get your head around the key debates surrounding Vietnam with our handy study guide complete with sample essays.
Vietnam War Essays
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Vietnam War
Vietnam War, military struggle fought in Vietnam from 1959 to 1975. It began as a determined attempt by Communist guerrillas (the so-called Vietcong) in the South, backed by Communist North Vietnam, to overthrow the government of South Vietnam...
Vietnam War Summary
Total U.S. bomb tonnage dropped during: World War II = 2 057 244 tons Vietnam War = 7 078 032 tons (3.44 times as much as WWII) * Bomb tonnage dropped during the Vietnam War amounted to...
The US and Vietnam
The focus of the study is on the reasons why couldn't the United States succeed in the Vietnam War (1959-1975). This study focuses towards the end of the Vietnam War, where after thirteen years of war, United States was surprised by the fact that...
Brief history of Vietnamese Culture
Vietnam has got a fairly large cultural community that was formed around the first half of the first millennium before Christ and flourished in the middle of this millennium. That was Dong Son cultural community...
The History Of The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a terrible war fought between the years of 1945 to 1975. Even though the war started in 1945, America did not enter the war until 1961. During 1945 World War II was...
The Vietnam War was a war of communism against Capitalism
The North of Vietnam and a small number of people from South Vietnam wanted Communism to become the way that Vietnam was run whereas the south of Vietnam wanted it to...