The vietnam war
The vietnam war
Unlike most American wars, the Vietnam War cannot be traced to an absolute fixed beginning. This is due in part to the fact that the Vietnam War was not really an official American war as declared by Congress; Lyndon B. Johnson was only granted a functional declaration of war from Congress in 1964 that was ultimately a temporary statement.
The struggle with Vietnam and its then rising Communist identity originated with France and its difficulty to retain control of their Indochina colony. As a way to provide aid to an ally of the United States, Truman sent increments of troops as part of a modest military program authorized during his administration. The popular policy of containment, as well as the general American public’s distaste for all things Communist, had moved Truman to action. American policymakers were also inspired by a fear of a “domino” effect among the Asian nations. As China fell to Communism in 1949, Washington feared the momentum would carry over to Vietnam, effectively bringing it down as well. So started the attempt to prevent that outcome by all costs.
Despite bolstered forces, the French were defeated by Vietnamese Nationalist Vietminh Army forces at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the result of which was the formation of a Communist Vietnam north of the 17th parallel, as the French were compelled to create. While a non-Communist entity remained south of the line, the United States could not accept the existence of its Communist neighbor as fact, by way of the containment policy so strictly regarded in the US at the time.
The struggle with Vietnam and its then rising Communist identity originated with France and its difficulty to retain control of their Indochina colony. As a way to provide aid to an ally of the United States, Truman sent increments of troops as part of a modest military program authorized during his administration. The popular policy of containment, as well as the general American public’s distaste for all things Communist, had moved Truman to action. American policymakers were also inspired by a fear of a “domino” effect among the Asian nations. As China fell to Communism in 1949, Washington feared the momentum would carry over to Vietnam, effectively bringing it down as well. So started the attempt to prevent that outcome by all costs.
Despite bolstered forces, the French were defeated by Vietnamese Nationalist Vietminh Army forces at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the result of which was the formation of a Communist Vietnam north of the 17th parallel, as the French were compelled to create. While a non-Communist entity remained south of the line, the United States could not accept the existence of its Communist neighbor as fact, by way of the containment policy so strictly regarded in the US at the time.
Mia Mangosong