Vietnam+War+Context

Overview: = =

Many events led up to Vietnam War. This dark and gruesome time in history did not leave a mark in history books by accident. Vietnam was at war for an extensive period time and fighting for its independence was always their objective. The reason this one blew up so immensely was for the fact that the United States got involved. Good or bad, they left a footprint in Vietnam that would not soon be forgotten by anyone.



__ **Table of Content** __ //Before the war, there was War// //The new Vietnams// //What Started the War// = = ** ﻿ Before the War, There was War: ﻿ ** Long before the war even started, Vietnam had been in conflict and war many times before, mostly with the French. In the 1800’s and some part of 1900’s, the French ruled over the Vietnamese people. The Vietnamese people detested be ruled by outsiders and the Vietnam National Party stood up, spoke and fought for its people who despised the French; they set up and prepared an uprising to try and become free. Even though this attempt in 1930 and 1931 failed, it made the Indochinese Communist Party even stronger which notable was the most powerful party in Vietnam by World War II.

All the French power over Vietnam started to fall as World War II broke out and France was overtaken by Germany in 1940. The Japanese, allied with Germany, moved in and successfully ruled the country of Vietnam until Japanes lost to the Allies by means of an atomic bomb. Ho Chi Minh announced his rule as President of Vietnam on August 16, 1945. Later in January 1946, he was elected as the president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam or DRV. Trying to come to an arrangement with France, he signed an agreement that recognized DRV as a free state since French troops had reoccupied the south. France refused and thus set up a short-term government called the Republic of Cochin-China in the South to help the South. This caused a disturbance and triggered a war between France and North Vietnam in the final month of 1946. **The New Vietnams:** This war with France lasted just under eight years and ended in May 1954. The Geneva Peace Accord was signed meaning Vietnam would be split into two halves. The like French, The United States supported the anti-communist South Vietnam known as the Republic of Vietnam or RVN. The fully communist North Vietnam was however now supported by the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China and formed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam or DRVN.

To assist South Vietnam, the U.S. sent the army, navy, air force and the Marine Corps to help train the Army of Republic of Vietnam. This was called the Military Assistance Group, Vietnam. In the background, while South Vietnam is struggling to keep independence and Ngo Dinh Diem, the president of South Vietnam who ruled with a dogmatic fist, the North were conspiring a plan to unify Vietnam as one country of communism. As Advisors tried to restrain Diem and with Washington, D.C having concerns about a communist takeover, they supplied weapons and other equipment as well as troops into South Vietnam to help ARVN.

**What Started the War:** Both President Diem and his brother Nhu and JFK were assassinated in November 1963. The assassination in Vietnam was led by the General Duong Van Minh of South Vietnam as a revolt. These two assassinations stated a chain reaction that would eventually maintain the U.S. combat troops in Vietnam. Also with the new President Lyndon B. Johnson taking over the Kennedy Admin, he was obligated to preserve South Vietnam. Newly into his position, during the end of 1963, Johnson had approximately 16,500 troops and advisors in the South of Vietnam.

As politically unstable as South Vietnam was becoming, the United States found it ever so difficult to find military solution with attacks coming in to South Vietnam from the Viet Cong’s, National Liberation Front and the North Vietnamese Army. The Viet Cong Guerrilla was even more frustrating since they operated in the South. With no halt, supposedly, North Vietnamese vessels fired on two U.S. warships. Johnson took immediate action and ordered the first attack of Operation Rolling Thunder. These attacks were supposed to dismiss support from the Viet Congs and punish the North for its attacks on the South; they didn’t work. In fact, the war in Vietnam just got worse. When two air bases were attacked at Bien Hoa and Quinhon by the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong in a span 6 months, Johnson amplified the bombing and sent in Marines by request of General William C. Westmoreland, to protect a vital airfield at Da Nang by. This action and reactions of sending in ground troops and more air raids motioned to the beginning of the United States involvement in the war that lasted just under ten long, bloody years.

Pre-Vietnam Analysis Nothing ever truly disappears, especially not history. We spend so many years of our lives in school learning about the past when, truly, we can look at our time or just one era in history to learn the gist of what we missed before birth. The fact is that history repeats itself secretly. I say secretly because one does not notice it until they look. That being said, the repetitions are but imitations, not replicas, of the past. Yes, history repeats itself in different forms and names. The Vietnam War, and the actions that lead up to it, is no exception.

Throughout the 20th century there was a continuous issue: communism, a classless society where nothing is privately owned and every aspect of one’s life is controlled by a ruthless government. This one type of government has caused a tremendous amount of conflict between the United States and other nations across the world as well as scaring the public witless many times. To stop the increasingly communist North Vietnam from overrunning the South, and to stop the spread of communism all together, was one of the main reasons that lead to this bloody and noxious war in Vietnam. The trail goes back to the second red scare when the United States’ was near chaos due to their fear of the communist nation, Soviet Russia. It was basically said after World War II that, if communism began to dominate the people or leaders of the American government, the country would lose its power and success. An image of a powerless, ruined America rang in the mind of its populous, sowing fear with a single bullet. To add to the growing pandemonium, McCarthyism became active. The U.S. was becoming filled with more and more fear and pressure. The red scare targeted any immigrants, everyone coming in, and McCarthy targeted U.S. officials, those who were already inside. No one was safe.

This internal pressure pushed the United States to start the fight against North Vietnam which escalated into the Vietnam War. Millions died and even more were wounded, simply inhuman attacks and plans were set into action for years on end; this was one truly painful war to live through. This is the more direct reaction of the events that led up to Vietnam for obvious reasons. But there are a few wars that aren't so obvious… or are they? One Prequel was the Korean War which started for almost the same reason. Communist North trying to overtake the south to become a bigger, and an even stronger communist nation than before. Even though that war failed, communist North Korea is still a threat. Skipping all the way to modern day, the actions that led up to Vietnam are still hidden inside our lives. Call of Duty, a graphic war series that puts you on the front lines as soldiers during different wars, released its take on Vietnam in the game Black Ops. The game’s story line, to my astonishment, is accurate. Also wars that have broken out within the past months can be connected to, even draw parallels with, pre-Vietnam times. Vietnam was at war with the French for freedom. They resented being governed by outsiders and lead a rebellion. After their “freedom,” they went to war again, this time within and against themselves. Thus, the United States decided to intervene in order to help. Egypt was fighting for freedom from a tyrant ruler, or an “outsider” if you may. One man helped to start a rebellion that would win, an Egyptian Ho Chi Minh. Even though the U.S. didn’t help physically in this war, they helped morally and even broadcasted all that was going in inside the walls. In Libya, the same thing happened. Seeing Egypt fight for their freedom and win, they went to war with their oppressor this time with the physical help of the United States who supplied weapons and guarded the seas while bombing the country itself. This war still continues, a near echo of the past, of Vietnam.

In conclusion, Vietnam and the prelude of events that started it all, wasn’t the first time that such a thing had happened. And it was not the last; Vietnam started a veiled chain-reaction that still influences so much of our time. As our parents and grandparents watched history being made, we continue to do the same.

Works Cited Daugherty, Leo J. //Vietnam War//. Redding, CT: Brown Bear, 2009. Print. Rosenberg, Jennifer. "Vietnam War - A History of the Vietnam War." //20th Century History//. Web. 18 May 2011. . "Vietnam War 1945-1960." //The History Place//. Web. 18 May 2011. . "Vietnam War." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 1719 May 2011. .
 * By Andre L.**