What was the war in vietnam over?

Question

Just reading Hearts in Atlantis, v fab book! However its just got me thinking that i have no real idea of what the war in vietnam was really over, as im english, and altho took history to a-level we dont study tht war and its never really crossed my mind to check it out before. I know vaguely that there was a dictator throwing his weight around (as usual) and killing indiscriminately, probs communist? But dont know the details why America went in etc, was it becos they thought wht was happening was wrong, aka like they went into Iraq cos they thought wht was goin on there was wrong or is there more to it?
And if they did go in cos they thought wht was happening was wrong and no other reason is this why it attracted all the mass protests? kinda in a simailr way to the much lesser protests over the Iraq war? Or is that more complicated aswell.
Really loving this book, but with no prior knowledge leaves questions unanswered, can anyone help?

Ah rite ok, doesnt that seem like a sensible thing tho that they didnt want communism to spread.........not sure i get wht the protests were over, the loss of american lives fullstop? as know there were heavy losses and not really a clean outright win

Ok so ppl were annoye about hidden agendas etc perhaps?

Answer 1

No one can really answer that question!
We were protecting Frances territories, but we had promised Uncle Ho that for his assistance in beating the Japs that we would help them secure Independence----
Then US oil companies found oil in the MeKong (sp) Delta
the hidden adgendas tend to over run each other here, and Uncle Ho got assistance from the Chinese communists in getting all occupying forces out of Vietnam
The rest is history

Answer 2

Basically, it was the 50s and 60s policy of containment of the spread of communism. It started slowly in the early 60s with advisers and military aid but slowly escalated into a major war.

Part of the problem was the huge amount of corruption in the South Vietnamese army and the tenacious foe the Viet Cong and NVA turned out to be. We had not understanding of that part of the world and thought we could make them into democracy.

The democratically elected Ho Chi Minh was denied the leadership position as we didn't want a communist to run that country. It's a sin it took 58,000 American lives and an America in raging turmoil to see we were wrong.

Take a look at Neil Sheehan's book< "A Bright Shining Lie" for a better take on us and Vietnam.

Answer 3

Have you ever heard of the domino principle? It was very popular during the cold war. It was feared that if the communists ever gained a foot hold in a particular region, such as south east Asia, then one country after another would become communist. That was the fear when Vietnam was partitioned after World War 2. The french first went in to try and support the "democratic" south Vietnam against the north, who wanted to unify the country. They failed. The US essentially took over, first with advisers, later a few combat troops, then more troops, etc. The conflict was escalated when the US accused the north of attacking a one of our ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. It was later learned that this incident was largely manufactured by the US government in order to justify increasing our presence in the country. Eventually the war expanded into Laos and Cambodia, two neighboring countries. It ended for the US with a cease fire agreement in 1973 (it was never implemented). North Vietnam eventually overran the south and South Vietnam fell in 1975, resulting in a unified country.
That's really a thumbnail sketch of what happened. There have been books upon books written on the subject but it's one worth studying.

Answer 4

The war in Vietnam was a remnant of the Cold War. True, we did get involved in order to stop the spread of Communism. President Johnson said so himself. The dominoe effect would have applied there in that if one country falls to the Communists, what or who will stop the other smaller countries from suffering the same fate? Former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara admitted that the Vietnam War was a remnant of the Cold War. In 1995 He visited Vietnam and had a meeting with the former Foreign Minister of Vietnam (Treung). Minister Treung told Mr. McNamara that his people were fighting for their independence. They weren't pawns of the Russians or China. He further stated that no amount of bombing or US pressure would have stopped them. The Vietnamese would have fought to the last man to ensure their freedom and independence. (See the Fog of War, a documentary by Errol Morris, which by the way won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature).

Vietnam was a French colony, but in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu, the French got their butts handed to them and the Vietnamese tasted autonomy for the first time in seemingly forever. That taste whetted their appetites and they would have no other countries rule them. The fact that the Vietnamese embraced communism is irrelevant so long as they could govern themselves.

Answer 5

2 Sep 1945 - April 1975 and also you want 0.5 a web page? you're conscious there have been 3??????? or are you a member of the bathing room Kerry myth club? SSG US military seventy 3-80 2 A time line may be stumbled on at lower than. the different 2 are only myth busters. Chuq Mung Nam Moi (Chuke Mung Num Moyee)

Answer 6

Helping the south koreans maintain their independence from north korea.

wow, I edited my question 2 minutes after I posted it, but I must not have clicked the right button.,,, this was not a complete answer

Many, many years after the vietnamese broke free of communist china, vietnamese guerillas (viet cong) wanted to form a communist government. War broke out. The U.S. was there as a "advisor" with a few troops, because the thought of spreading communism was not good. The U.S. ended up getting more envolved after a major attack from the viet cong (who now controlled the north part of the country) where many americans were killed.

Answer 7

Mostly because North Vietnam wanted to take over South Vietnam and turn them communist. The US didn't want countries to fall to communism. Many saw it as stopping the spread of communism.

Answer 8

It was a different period of time. Communism was a threat to the democratic alliance. So, basically the upcard said politics and the hole card was about money. Who profited from the war...lbj among others. fyi the vietnam war was never classified as a war which would have come from a vote in congress. It was the longest "police action" in U.S. history.

Answer 9

the north of vietnahm was communist and tried to take over the south .Politicians of the day believed that if they allowed this to happen the rest of the pacific rim would follow soon,Hence the term 'domino effect' . eventually America pulled out because the casualties became too high and the general public protested.

Answer 10

Simply put, the war in Vietnam was supposed to stop the spread of communism.

Say what you will about the outcome of the actual war, Communism is dying all over the globe.