...The Vietnam War between USA with South Vietnam and North Vietnam with Viet Cong had lasted about 10 years and had many significant consequences. Therefore, it’s one of the most important wars in the recent years and has possessed many resonances so far. It is an unforgettable war for the USA because it has unexpectedly lost the war. The USA has lost the war against a fragile,undeveloped country which is North Vietnam. USA has lost the war against a fragile,undeveloped country which is North Vietnam. There has been a lot of controversies about this war so far. These controversies are concentrated on the moral dimension of the war. In other words, the experts and the analysts are concerned about whether this war is just or not. The Vietnam War can’t be considered as just war when we evaluate it with the aid of the Jus Ad Bellum critters. It doesn’t meet the 6 critters such as just cause, comparative justice, legitimate authority, right intention, probability of success and last resort. First of all, the USA doesn’t have a just cause to declare a war against North Vietnam and Viet Cong. In this war, USA struggles against communism and wants to terminate the so-called dangerous activities of the North Vietnam and Viet Cong founded by Ho Min Cinh in South Vietnam. USA doesn’t correct a suffered wrong here although it regards communism as great public evil. Western countries which adopt liberalism disapprove communism and they think that communism have to be removed. In this war, USA...
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...The Vietnam War was a long, costly, and gruesome war that America wants to keep in their distant memories. It was fought between the United States and South Vietnam against North Vietnam and their Southern allies, Viet Cong. The Vietnam War initially began as a fight between the two Asian countries, North and South Vietnam, for territory; North Vietnam wanted complete ownership of South Vietnam’s land, and the invasion of their territory ignited a war. The United States later joined in the battle in an attempt to stop countries from practicing communism, relying on a “Domino Theory”, the U.S believed that “if one Southeast Asian country fell into communism, many would follow” (Vietnam War History, History.com). The Vietnam War lasted for roughly 20 years, starting in 1955 and ending in 1975. This war was considered unpatriotic, and due to the failure of strategic planning and training, led to tremendous loss of lives of our military men and women, and financial support. For wars, America had a three phase strategy; a defensive strategy the first year, an offensive strategy the second year and in the third year would be mopping up, as the responsibility for what was left of the war, would have been turned over to the South Vietnamese. However they underestimate North Vietnam because while their first phase went according to plan where the defense stopped South Vietnam from falling into a...
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...Vietnam War Taylor Davis MLS 2006 McDonough Vietnam War The Vietnam War was a disaster from the start for America. America was outnumbered and did not have a clear strategy going into the war. Technically, congress never declared war on Vietnam, so America nor did win or lose the war (Triebwasser). Neither America nor Vietnam won the war as it is still considered as stalemate. As Stewart said, “Meanwhile, the war appeared to be in a state of equilibrium. Only an extraordinary effort by one side or the other could bring a decision” (Stewart, 2010, pg. 330). This war did not go according to plan and the outcome of this war did not favor America. Many men were killed in this war and other injured from enemy fire and gases that were used during the war. America lost the fight (war) in Vietnam. Between the Government and the landscape of Vietnam made it difficult for America to win the war. There are many reasons why America did not succeed in Vietnam and lost the war. The effect of the Cold War was the Vietnam War. The war was to stop Vietnam from becoming a communist nation. America was out to stop communist from spreading into other countries. The effect of Vietnam becoming a communist country would not affect anyone in the world except Vietnam itself. As Pagel stated, “The actual value of Vietnam as a territory, economy or political presence on the world stage was insignificant” (Pagel, 2012). As an outcome of the war, Vietnam is still a communist nation. America failed...
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...2016 North Vietnam and the French “It was patriotism, not communism, that inspired me.” --Ho Chi Minh Ho Chi Minh declared independence from France on September 2 1945 for Vietnam. As a response, France asserted its colonial dominance and this caused a war between them and the Viet Minh. The Viet Minh was a group of nationalists who were communist. By 1954 the Viet Minh almost conquered most areas of Vietnam. The French were defeated and the negotiation of the Geneva Accord stopped the war between the French and the Viet Minh. Vietnam was soon divided into North Vietnam and South Vietnam along the 17th parallel in 1956. While the Viet Minh and the French were fighting, the Cold War between the U.S and the Soviet Union began to take form. The U.S tried to prevent communism from spreading...
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...To what extent was America's involvement in the Vietnam Conflict the result of the wrong judgments of American policymakers? Abstract In this paper, I will discuss the policy of America during the Vietnam conflict and how this resulted in the unnecessary Vietnam War. I will discuss why the U.S. thought the domino theory would suit the American policies during this time period. Also, I will analyze why the domino effect was not suited well for America. America thought that if communism were to takeover Vietnam, then it would eventually leak out into the surrounding region. This was incorrect and in this paper, I will discuss why it was invalid information. This paper will also examine why American policymakers exaggerated the stakes of the Vietnam War and why this led to unnecessary involvement in the Vietnam conflict. Even as the US realized that the stakes had been exaggerated and that the domino theory was implausible, they continued their involvement in the war. As for sources, I will utilize the sources provided for us by the teacher. These sources are Chapter 10 from LeFeber and History in Dispute: Was US intervention in Vietnam justified? These sources will help me explain why the US’ tried to base their policies off of the domino theory and why this was not the best policy. Also, I will conduct my own research using the online database JSTOR. I will also utilize the Pentagon Papers, a source I found online. Together, all these sources will help me formulate and discuss...
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...justifications for the Vietnam war was to prevent the spread of communism, the U.S defeat was to produce nothing of the kind: apart from the fact that Cambodia and Laos became embroiled, the effects were essentially confined to Vietnam”. This quote embodies the reason for the involvement in the war and also the end result. Communism was the number one factor for entering the war in Vietnam and containment was the policy. In the end, Vietnam fell to communism and the United States failed at their goal. Communism was the main reason for the initial involvement in the war that escalated into a full scale conflict; leading the United States to learn some valuable lessons. The era in which the war took place was one plagued with the fear of communism. The foreign policy known as containment was used to as a justification to intervene in numerous foreign conflicts. This policy is centered around the idea of containing communism to its borders and not...
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...The Vietnam War was an intriguing time in American History. From November 1st 1955 to April 30th 1975, American troops were engaged in warfare on Vietnam soil. This meant for nearly twenty years, America sent people, money, and resources overseas to fight this war. The question that has been raised by historians since is simple: Why did the American government enter into Vietnam in the first place? The speculation and theories over this question is what make learning about the Vietnam War interesting. As with any war that has been fought by the United States since its conception, there are opposing opinions and ideas about what caused the Vietnam War to begin. From ideas that it had to do with protecting the Vietnamese people to fear of the...
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...The Causes of the Vietnam War The Vietnam War is now considered as one of the most distressing moments during the 20th Century. The Vietnam War was caused by many factors that contributed to the war in Vietnam during the years of 1959 to April 30, 1975. This war just prolonged the struggles between nationalist forces attempting to unify the country of Vietnam. Most of the factors that contribute to the war were the beliefs by a lot of people who wanted to prevent Vietnam of becoming an Independent Country. There are many people who suffered a lot due to this war going on and still due to this day people still picturing how they fought the war. What were the causes of the Vietnam War? Why did the United States become involved in this war? Why did the Vietnam War have such a huge impact both on the Vietnam and the United States? What was the impact that Ho Chi Minh had during the War? One of the most important features when describing the Vietnam War was why the United States became involved in the war, and their reasons for conflict amongst the Vietnamese in the North of the 17th Parallel. It is known that the US was involved for many reasons, particularly their belief in the Domino theory where if one country fell to Communism, the rest of South-East Asia would fall along with it. There are many other reasons why the United States became involved in this war. There are many reasons why the United States became involved was them being concerned with Vietnam and that would lead...
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...James Bennett Professor George J. Prokopiak HIS-114-OL010 Written Assignment 5 16 February 2015 Vietnam War and a New World Order with the End of Cold War Written Assignment 5 Question #1: As far as Vietnam is concerned, how did President Johnson "Americanize" the war? What was Nixon's policy of Vietnamization? Was anything achieved at the peace talks? What are the legacies of the Vietnam defeat? President Johnson “Americanized” the Vietnam War by many different avenues of approach taking a more aggressive posture. The president first started by supplying the South Vietnamese army with American military and economic assistance (Roark, 976-981). He significantly increased the American troop presence from 16,000 in 1964 to over 553,000 by 1969 displaying a much larger American presence (Roark, 976-981). America had stepped up bombing throughout Vietnam and neighboring countries (Roark, 976-981). In hopes of getting the backing of the American people and government, he strategically thought out who and where the bombs would be dropped (Roark, p. 980-981). He did not bomb near the northern border of Vietnam (Roark, p. 980-981). President Johnson did not want to provoke China or the Soviet Union into the war (Roark, p. 980-981). He did not want to make the same mistakes as Korea with the Chinese. He also thought about collateral damage. He tried to focus the bombings to low populated areas to minimize civilian casualties (Roark, p. 980-981). The bombing campaign was known...
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...1975, South Vietnam was under attack by the North Vietnamese (Document 3). The principle of the war was for Vietnam to decide between two types governments; Democracy or Communism. In the duration of the war, seventeen of the twenty years was fought by averse Americans. Yet, due to the insistence of the Executive Branch and the policy of Containment, the United States was conscripted into the war. This greatly impacted American foreign policy, and furthermore, the American society.United States involvement in the Vietnam War was based mostly on government insistence. United States President, Harry Truman, in his address to Congress about his Doctrine, claimed that "it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed...
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...The Vietnam War caused a significant internal conflict for the U.S. Throughout this time, the American population would argue back and forth regarding the argument for and against participating in it, while others rejected it entirely. U.S involvement was eminent, however, because it was seen as a moral responsibility, and an act of interventionism. To begin, during the time of the Vietnam War, most politicians believed the war was necessary. However, President Eisenhower did not wish to send troops to Vietnam at first. He believed the U.S shouldn’t be involved heavily in an all-out war; yet, reluctantly, he sent troops in to aid the French. Later, while President Eisenhower was explaining the “Domino Theory Principle,” he talks about Communism...
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...The Cold War which lasted from 1947-1991 was waged around the policy of containment, the democratic idea to limit communism to the areas already under Soviet control. President Truman of the United States passed the Truman Doctrine whose foundation was in containment. America’s fear of communism was so great they implemented their policy across the globe. Throughout the Cold War, the United States never had physical confrontation with the Soviets, but America fought to end the spread of communism in China, Germany, Cuba, Guatemala, Korea, and Vietnam. The communist ideals of Karl Marx inspired revolutionaries in Russia, such as Vladimir Lenin, and his socialist reforms began to spread across Eastern Europe and Asia in the 1920s. Chinese...
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...Debating the Past: The Vietnam Commitment Rene Nodal HIS 145 August 26, 2015 Nancy Fraleigh Debating the Past: The Vietnam Commitment The conflict in Vietnam was controversial to say the least for many reasons. Many did not agree with the U.S. becoming involved with politics in southeast. As America went through the cold war it developed policies regarding communism and strategies to contain it that would later fuel interests in many other countries around the world including Vietnam. Choices would shape how the commitment in Vietnam would change from aid into a costly all-out war exacerbated by the lack of clarity in regards to the overall goal of the U.S. in Vietnam. In the aftermath of the cold war with the U.S.S.R, America engaged in many small conflicts around the globe for various official reasons and for one real reason: The Containment theory. There were many instances in which American military had a direct involvement with another country that dabbled in communism or had communist ties. Both Venezuela and Cuba, for example had dealt with America because of its ties to communism. Vietnam was to be no different. The French had left and where they occupied the United States would support it with military equipment and financial aid. The American presence in South Vietnam initially was mostly military advisors and its cadre. It was very challenging in many ways. The government initially supported a man named Ngo Dinh Diem who seemed to be a strong character capable...
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...April 29, 2013 Cause and Effect of War The Vietnam War was during the years of 1964-1975. This is the longest military conflict in U.S. History. Around 85,000 Americans were killed during this war. This war cost over 150 billion dollars. The war involved the North Vietnamese army and the National Liberation Front on one side against the United States and the South Vietnamese army. The war was fought in South Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and a little in North Vietnam. One cause of the war was that the Vietnamese had struggled for their independence from France which was a result of the First Indochina War. As a result of this war, the country was divided into North and South Vietnam. The United States got involved in Vietnam because U.S. authorities thought that if the whole country fell under communist control, this would cause a domino effect and communism would spread through all of Southeast Asia. This was the reason to get involved in Vietnam. When the Japanese finally surrendered on September 2, 1945 in the First Indochina war, Ho also declared independence for Vietnam. The French refused to accept Vietnam’s independence, and later drove the Viet Minh into the north of the country. In 1965, the United States sent troops to help maintain the Southern Vietnamese government. Unfortunately, their plan didn’t work and in 1975 Vietnamese was under Communist control. The United States demanded for Japan to leave Indochina, or else they would be forced to use military action. After...
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...The history of Vietnam in the post-war era is a dark, violent one, and often expressed the very worst in mankind. The 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s evolved from Communist uprisings against their former French Colonial masters, through to conflict between North and South, and finally, total warfare which absorbed the Americans and other Nations, and put the conflict at the forefront of Global politics. One can argue that as Britain and France were facing the humiliation of Suez in late 1956 (and the realisation that they were no longer the Great Powers that they once were), America and Russia were staring carefully at their maps in Washington and Moscow and working out ways of dividing up the former Colonies according to pro Capitalist and pro Communist principles. Much like Egypt which was swayed by Russian money for the Aswan Dam, so the Americans and Russians now looked to Vietnam to determine which side of the fence it would commit to. Neither Superpower dared consider the possibility that the nation could ‘fall’ to the other. As the 1960’s and 70’s saw the carving up of the Middle East, Africa and even South America, according to ideologies (many of whom chose the Soviet model) decided to join the Vietnam hostilities as a means of stemming the ‘domino effect’. One might also argue that they felt that a Communist Vietnam would be a considerable threat to its neighbour Japan – a nation with considerable US interests, especially economic ones. The Vietnam War, often referred...
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