Why and when the Vietnam war took place?

Answer 1

The Vietnam War took place during the 50s and 60s and 70s, and was largely a product of the Cold War, or a proxy war between NATO and the Soviet bloc. In other words, the United States was there because the USSR was supporting the Viet Cong. In short, the fight against Communism.

The war pretty much started as Vietnamese communists starting a revolution against French colonial rule, since they were tired of the shame of being ruled by a bunch of French. They fought for awhile. The French ran with the tail between their legs. The USA took over the war due to the Communist issue. And they fought for awhile. And ran with their tail between their legs due to hippies, or, ahem, problems on the home front.

As they say, never fight a land war in Asia.

...sigh, I took an entire course in Cold War politics and attempted to summarize in a factual yet humorous manner all so I could be voted down by a bunch of hippies who can't stand being told like it is. I bet they're the ones responsible for taking GI Joe off the air. A real American hero who never gives up and is always there, fighting the ruthless terrorist organization Cobra. If that was still on the air, I wouldn't have to spend my days listening to kids too young to remember an oil embargo whine about a few billion dollars being spent and a few hundred soldiers dying. Neo-hippies, the wave of the future.

Answer 2

Entire books have been written about this subject, and I posted a link for some more reading.

The Vietnam War took place from 1957 until its official end, April 30, 1975. Basically we were there to stop the spread of the Communists, and to help defend South Vietnam. This was an early phase of the War against Terrorism, as the Communists ruled through death and violence to those who opposed them. It is estimated that the Communist regime, 1917-1987, murdered about 62,000,000 people.

Historians can say what they will about the outcome, but nonetheless our involvement in the War played a significant role in halting the spread of Communism. More than just an ideology, in the USSR Joseph Stalin had an estimated 20 MILLION of his own citizens killed, and more were killed outside the Soviet Union.

It was Pres Ronald Reagan in the 1980s that finally caused the collapse of Communist USSR, and soon thereafter many other Communist nations were overthrown by their own people.

Answer 3

The Bay of Tonkin incident where a North Vietnamese PT boat allegedly attacked a USA warship was the excuse the American government used to go full throttle into Vietnam. Kinda like Iraq and the WMD allegation that got America involved there.

The attack purportedly took place on August 2, 1964. The Fall of Saigon happened April 30, 1975 when North Vietnamese troops accepted the surrender of that city.

Answer 4

The Vietnam war started from the instability left from Japanese occupation in WWII.

After the war, the French tried to reassert their colonial power -- the were successful in the south, but failed in the north. The Viet Minh, lead by Ho Chi Minh and Nygun Giap spanked their wimpy butts all the way back to Paris. The decisive battle was at Dien Bien Phu where the French assembled themselves in a valley with a single exit and the Viet Minh surrouned them with artillery on the high ground. This phase of the war was 1946 -- 1954.

America became involved gradually. Initially, the French wanted American blessings to reasset their colonial rights in Vietnam in exchange for French support of NATO.

However, because North Vietnam was funded by the USSR and Communist China, the USA gradually began to see democratic South Vietnam as a stopgap against expanded communism in the region.

In the mid-1950's the US engaged in some shenanigans to prevent Ho Chi Minh from being elected supreme-peoples-president-for-life. In the early 60's, the number of military advisors with MAG-V (Military Advisory Group Vietnam) were drastically increased.

In the mid-1960's, after the bombing of US Army barracks killed several hundred soldiers, MAG-V became MAC-V (Military Assistance Command Vietnam). Several divisions were moved from the states to South Vietnam and the US Army began to take an overt roll in the war.

Asking when it took place is very hard to answer. That is a huge grey area from 1942 to 1978.

The US Army puts the dates at 1961 to 1975.

South Vietnman fell in 1975, but the communists did not finish killing...er...excuse me...'re-educating' all of the southerners until 1978.

The 'why it too place' is simple. To stop a murderous political system from overruning Laos, Cambodia and other neighboring states.

In the end, American resolve was weak and we abandoned South Vietnam (and Laos and Cambodia) in exchange for our own comfort.

Answer 5

The Vietnam Conflict took place between 1945-1975. We went to war because Ho Chi Minh was willing to do anything, even resort to violence, to secure Vietnam.

Answer 6

it was the war to end all wars and took place in borkinofasoo