vietnam
The Vietnam War Thesis: America's involvement in the Vietnamese Conflict, was to stop the spreading of communism in Southeast Asia. The United States played a major role in the Vietnam War. Its influence was greatest in the South, led by the Capitalist party of Ngo Dinh Diem. The French had been defeated by the Vietminh, trying to defend South Vietnam and failed to end the Vietnamese conflict. The United States was forced into the war by its anti-communist policies, which were to prevent the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. The Vietnam War took place in a time when Americans did not know what they wanted, but what they did know was that they did not want war (Doyle 95-110). The Vietnam War was not a war at all, at least not from the United States standpoint. It is known as the Vietnamese Conflict. The conflict was between two different political parties in Vietnam, one of them being North Vietnam and the other being South Vietnam. Each party wanted to control all of Viet!nam under their political beliefs. The North wanted the South to unite with them, but the South wanted to break away and start it's own country. But with little compromise the only thing that occurred was negotiation by force. The Geneva Conference in 1954
. Containing the spread of communism in Vietnam was not reason enough. The first point was that if the South Vietnamese people gained prosperity under Diem, they would be less likely to join the communist movement. The U.S. felt if both the North and the South were prosperous, then southerners would have no reason to join the communist party. This strategy helped the South greatly Page 4 in its political battle(Hearden 62). The second point was that if South Vietnamese received financial aid from the United States, the money could be used to purchase Japanese goods. The United States was on very shaky political terms with Japan. By using this conflict to further their relations with Japan, they might come into play further down the political road. In few words, the United States was using one country's problems to make alliances with other countries(Hearden 62-64). The third and final reason why the United States was helping Vietnam, other than the overall reason of controlli! began evacuating from Saigon, the Communists launched a massive attack on the city. Under agreements made by United States and the North, troops could not defend Saigon, so they left. The next day Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City, in memory of Ho Chi Minh who died in 1969(Kahin 282-83). After all the trouble the United States went through trying to prevent communism in Vietnam, North and South Vietnam were united under communist rule. In 1976, North and South Vietnam elected a joint national assembly. The election completed the unification of the country. It was proclaimed on July 2, 1976. This was the first time the North and South had been unified since the country was divided in 1954 by the Geneva Conference. Hanoi was made the capital of the unified country(Kahin 285). The United States was sucked into the Vietnam war with its policies to control communism in Southeast Asia. If the United States had not taken over control of South Vietnam from the French, they would nev! United States forces(Werner 267). The united States and North Vietnam began peace talks in 1971, Nixon's plans for peace were not successful. The Communist government in Vietnam wanted no part in an agreement of peace within a year. The North wanted America to leave immediately, so Page 8 Vietnam could gradually come together. If Nixon withdrew, he would only be admitting defeat. He was quoted as saying, "I will not be the first American president to lose a war." Nixon refused to end negotiations until both the United Sates and Vietnam were politically satisfied(Herring 226). In 1973, the United States and Vietnam agreed on a "peace" proposal. North Vietnam still wanted to united the whole country on its terms. South Vietnam was struggling to survive as an independent nation. During the "peace" agreements, the North troops began to settle into South Vietnam. The South tried to defend themselves by attacking North Vietnamese bases and supply lines(Herring 258). In 1973, in comp! m the United States, the South refused to hold elections of any kind. It was inevitable that if the elections did take place, total control over Vietnam would land in the North or Communist hands(Harrison 54). After the Geneva Conference two political powers controlled all of Vietnam. In the North, Ho Chi Minh was the favorite of the Communist party. He held great political power and influence in both the North and the South. In the South, Ngo Dinh Diem was the leader of the capitalist party. His greate
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Approximate Word count = 2328
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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