Vietnam Conflict

Vietnam Conflict

Introduction

The Vietnam War was a long and frustrating experience for the American people. Even before the United States involvement began, North and South Vietnam were in conflict with each other. When Vietnam was divided in 1954, many Viet Minh who had been born in the southern part of the country returned to their native villages to await the 1956 elections and the reunification of their nation. When the elections did not take place as planned, these Viet Minh sought to overthrow Diem's government. The Viet Minh were greatly aided in their efforts to organize resistance in the countryside by Diem's own policies, which alienated many peasants. (DeGroot 2000)

Discussion

The Vietnam conflict began in the late nineteenth century. The French conquered Vietnam and made it a protectorate. For nearly forty years, Vietnam had not experienced settled peace. The League for the Independence of Vietnam ( Viet Minh ) was formed in 1941, seeking independence from the French. On September 2nd,1945, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed it independent of France. The French opposed their independence from 1945 to 1954. The first representatives of de Gualle's government landed by parachute in Saigon and Hanoi on August 23rd, 1945. The French wanted to reestablish their rule in Vietnam but were beaten at the battle of Dien Bien Phu on May 7th, 1954. The French Expeditionary Force tried to prevent the Viet Minh from entering Laos and Dien Bien Phu was the place chosen to do so. The French were not very careful and this allowed the Viet Minh to cut off their airway to Hanoi. After a siege that had lasted for fifty - five days, the French surrendered. Ho Chi Minh led the war against France and won. (Moss 2002) After the war there was a conference in Geneva where Vietnam was divided into two parts along the seventeenth parallel. North Vietnam was mainly Communist and supported Ho Chi Minh, while the south was supported by the United States and the French were based there. There was still some Communist rebels within South Vietnam. These were the Viet Cong. The South Vietnam ruler was Ngo Dinh Diem who was anti - Communist. At the conference, Laos and Cambodia became independent states. North Vietnam wished to unify North and South Vietnam through military force. Since the United States feared the spread of communism in Asia, John F. Kennedy provided economic and military aid to South Vietman to prevent the takeover by North Vietnam. At this time, this was still a civil war. The United States were not yet officially involved. The North Vietnamese resented the little intervention by the United Sates and so, three Vietnamese torpedo boats fired on the U.S. destroyer, " Maddox " on August 2nd, 1964. The " Maddox " had been in the Gulf of Tonkin ( international waters ), thirty miles off the coast of Vietnam. On August 3rd, 1964, Johnson gave the right " to attack with the objective of destroying attacking forces " ( Pimlott 1982, 36 ). Retaliation air attacks began on August 3rd. Their aim was to destroy North Vietnam's gunboat capability. As two more United States destroyers were supposedly sunk, more air and sea forces were sent ( Wicker August 5, 1964, 1 ...