What were the outcomes of the Vietnam War?

Question

Did America or Vietnam 'win' the war? Also, I'd like some basic info on what caused the Vietnam war, and how France got into it.

Answer 1

I know Americans class Vietnam as a loss. It wasn't even their war to begin with.

Answer 2

None of your list The US got it's @ss kicked in Vietnam. (It just took a little longer than in Somalia) Ask any Vietnam veteran, cos I've met quite a few in my time. Iraq was no victory and Afghanistan won't be either ! When are you gonna realise, you cannot win a conventional war against guerrilla tactics ? Not even blanket bombing and chemical deforestation could stop the Vietcong. They had dug thousands of miles of tunnels and could pop up any time they wanted, do the dirty and disappear again. They were even sitting right underneath Bob Hope when he was giving a concert to the US troops ! Communism was your "pet" hatred then, you know, "reds under the bed" etc. Now they've got you all hot and bothered about muslims. And you still suck it all up. Military solutions are not always the best, sooner or later you have to see that this is true. G W Bush should never have invaded Iraq, that was just plain dumb, hell, he didn't even allow time for the sanctions to work ! Saddan Hussein could have been stopped another way, even if that meant assassinating him. Had the US concentrated everything on Afghanistan where Al Qaeda were operating, and pumped the same amount of money in as was used in both conflicts, then these terrorists would have been defeated now. Sorry, but that is my answer ! Whether you like it or not.

Answer 3

America's support for the imposed political separation of Vietnam into "North" and "South" was doomed from the beginning. The outcome was - the Vietnamese finally unified the whole country in 1975 under a communist government. As for the "Domino Theory", the rest of South East Asia did not turn communist, and Vietnam has not shown any desire to conquer its neighbours. If you have not heard it before, then I will tell you now - the U.S. won every military battle - the Vietnamese won the political battle.

For more information, on what caused it and how France got into it, see Stanley Karnow's 'Vietnam: A History'.

For Dum D - it's Ho Chi Minh. Also, it is Diem, not Deim.

Answer 4

United States in Vietnam 1945-1975
Comprehensive Timelines with Quotes and Analysis

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/

http://www.vietnampix.com/

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/vietnam.html

In the 1950's the United States began to send troops to Vietnam. During the following 25-years the ensuing war would create some of the strongest tensions in US history. Almost 3 million US men and women were sent thousands of miles to fight for what was a questionable cause. In total, it is estimated that over 2,5 million people on both sides were killed.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/VietnamWar.htm

ADDITIONAL VIETNAM LINKS ON THE WEB

http://www.multied.com/vietnam/Links.html

Anti War Movement.

http://library.thinkquest.org/27942/indexf.htm

Answer 5

Vietnam was a French colony. When France pulled out, fighting broke out between the communist north and the non-communist south. Apparently the south 'invited' the USA to help them. (Just like the Afghani government 'invited' the Soviet Union to help them in 1979).
The USA was still paranoid about Communists. They lost the war. Personnel were evacuated by helicopter from the roof of the US Embassy in Saigon.
Outcomes? The Vietnamese 'Boat People'. Refugees fleeing a Vietnam under Communist rule. Hong Kong 1979/1980 maybe 500 refugees arriving every day. Children who had seen their fathers killed by pirates on the way and their mothers raped and then killed.
It is estimated that of all the people who left Vietnam as 'boat people' only 50% actually survived the journey to Hong Kong, Malaysia, or elsewhere in the South China Sea.

Answer 6

America never won the war. In fact, it really was not a war at all, more of a prolonged conflict. Vietnam was originally a French colony called Indo-China. Ho Chin Minh (president of Vietnam before the war) was a nationalist asking the U.S. for help to gain their freedom from France, he became a communist because Russia started to fund the revolution, which we refused. So Ho Chin Minh, started a rebellion against France. The U.S. gave money to France to hold them off (this was part of the communism containment policy in place in the U.S.). French rule ended in defeat at dienbienphu. after that I think the UN got together to see if they could resovle the conflict, this meeting was know as the Geneva Convention in 1954. The end result was the Geneva Accords (which America never signed) it stated that Indo-China would be divided at the 17th parrallel north of it would be known as the republic of North Vietnam and the Capital would be Hanoi the President Ho Chin Minh. Below the 17th Parrallel would be the republic of South Vietnam, Capital Saigon and the President Deim. At the end of 2 years there would be a nationwide election (Ho Chin Minh v. Deim.) the winner would be president of a unified Vietnam. The election never took place because it became evident that Ho Chin Minh was going to win hands down (Ho Chin Minh was communist), the U. S. would not allow this to happen, so we intervened. Deim was very unpoplar. He was cruel and brutal dictator. The night the Vietnam war started Deim and his brother were murdured in a military coup.

Answer 7

France was in Nam in the 50's, search Dien Bien Phu, we helped France,again, after their defeat at Dien Bien Phu. That's when America's involvment started in Viet Nam. The Eisenhower administration got us involved. The war was a stalemate, but the North Vietnamese claimed victory, after America voluntarily pulled out , after much stateside -pressure. As is happening today.

Answer 8

france was like england with colonies everywhere
and vietnam was one of frances colonies...

viet minh means "fend off all invaders"
it had been in vietnamese psyche for hundreds of years with trying to fend off invasion from china
the french were no different....and met alot of resistence from north vietnam....

america took over when the "no combat zone" was made......

north vietnam had asked america for aid to fight off the french..america declined
so the north vietnamese went to russia for aid
thats how they got to be called communist...

and as there was alot of fear about communism at that time vietnam became the stage for east west confrontation....

noone won the war
the southern vietnamese people lost the most
altho some will say that literacy went up from 3% to 87% while the americans were there....and businesses etc...

the best book i ever read on vietnam is
"a bright shining lie" by a reporter who was there from the beginning

google it theres lots on it

Answer 9

One of the effects was a reluctance to get militarily involved in foreign affairs. This lasted until Grenada in 1983, when the US invaded a small poorly armed county and somehow managed to win, despite having totally overwhelming manpower, firepower, total air superiority and logistics.

Answer 10

france was fighting vietnamese long before the americans joined in I married an american and grew up during that period of history i was one of the lucky ones whose man came back many didnt i still think to this day they should not have been there