American Intervention in Vietnam 1950 to 1975 Essay

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Summary

In essence, the Vietnam War started as an anticolonial war against the French and soon morphed into a fully blown military conflict that eventually occasioned the Cold War clash between democracy anchored on free markets on one hand and international communism on the other. In the north of Vietnam was the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and in the south of Vietnam was the republic of Vietnam – with the latter receiving the backing of the United States and the former having the support of several communist countries including, but not limited to, China and the Soviet Union.

It is important to note that America’s involvement in Vietnam was essentially escalated by President Lyndon Johnson. It was Lyndon Johnson who authorized a campaign of sustained bombings in North Vietnam and also committed ground troops numbering into hundreds of thousands. At home, the involvement of the U.S. in Vietnam lacked popular support and later on occasioned serious protests that effectively had a hand in the eventual withdrawal of troops in Vietnam. Upon the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the conflict, South Vietnam was invaded by the North – with the eventual consequence being the amalgamation of both countries under a communist government. In addition to explaining the course of American involvement in Vietnam between 1950and 1970, this text also assesses how the war was linked to a youth protest movement in various jurisdictions.

American intervention in Vietnam 1950 to 1975

America’s involvement in Vietnam commenced in the early 1950s with the overriding mandate being the provision of assistance in the First Indochina War to the French. In basic terms, the said involvement of the United States effectively triggered a full-scale military confrontation. It is important to note that as Hunt (2015) points out, as per the Domino Theory that had been formulated by the U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, the fall of a single country to communism would trigger a domino effect whereby other countries would also fall to communism in quick succession. The United States was wary of communism influence expansion in South East Asia.

The early 1950s were marked with increased military aid to French outposts – particularly after China (which had now fully embraced communist tendencies) and the Soviet Union indicated their resolve to advance greater support to the Viet Minh (Hunt, 2015).

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It is important to note that the Indochina’s French rule ended with the defeat of French forces in Dien Bien Phu by the Viet Minh in 1954. It is at this same time that Dwight D. Eisenhower, the U.S. President at the time, pointed out that the collapse of French rule in Indochina would effectively lead to the establishment of communist domination across Southeast Asia (Hunt, 2015). In the month of July 1954, South Vietnam and North Vietnam was established by the Geneva Accords – with the dividing line in this case being the 17th parallel.

Towards the end 1950s, a supply route by the name Ho Chi Minh Trail was built by the North Vietnamese forces in their attempts to further buttress their guerrilla-like strikes on the South Korean government whose president at the time was Ngo Dinh Diem. It should also be noted that it was also towards the end of the 1950s (specifically in 1959) that the United States suffered its first casualties in the conflict when the living quarters of U.S. soldiers in South Vietnam were attacked by North Vietnam guerrillas. With the Viet Cong gaining ground, a secret operation against the said formation was authorized by John F. Kennedy in May 1961 with the president sending dozens of Special Forces troops to South Vietnam. Three years later, in 1964, additional advisers were sent by the United States government to South Vietnam – effectively bringing the total number of advisers send to South Vietnam by the U.S. government thus far to 20,000 (Hunt, 2015).

In the month of August, 1964, U.S. destroyers stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin were attacked by torpedo boats that, although later on disputed, were believed to belong to North Vietnam. As a consequence of the said attack, Lyndon Johnson sought Congress’ approval to make use of military force in Vietnam (Hunt, 2015). This gave rise to what is known as the Gulf of Tonkin resolution whereby the….....

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