Why did the Vietnam War start?

Question

I am English we have no clue.
Also why wasn't England involved

Answer 1

The Chinese had control over Vietnam, but in 939, they left and an independent Vietnam was created. In 1407, the Chinese regained control of the area. In 1427, the Chinese were driven out and another Vietnam nation was established. In 1861, the French seized control of Saigon and the rest of the south by 1867. They took control of the north by 1883. In 1940-41, the Japanese advanced into and took control of Northern and Southern French Indo-China, as France had been defeated by Germany at that time. It was during this period, that Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese Communist, returned to Vietnam from China and headed a Revolutionary League to regain independence for Vietnam. In 1945, he proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
When the Allies defeated Japan in WWII, the British and Chinese accepted the surrender of the Japanese in Vietnam and the French re-entered the area and took over control again. On December 19, 1946, Vietminh forces attacked the French in Hanoi and the Indochina War--also known as the Vietminh War--began. In 1954, the Vietminh defeated the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, and the nation was temporarily divided into two sections, north and south. The people of the south chose Ngo Dinh Diem as their ruler and Ho continued to rule the north. Diem refused to go along with the planned elections in 1956 to unite the nation, because he knew he would lose, so the Vietminh members in the south created the Viet Cong and the war between north and south for control of the country began.
Diem refused to go along with the planned elections in 1956 to unite the nation so the Vietminh members in the south created the Viet Cong and the war between north and south for control of the country began. The government of South Vietnam requested military advisors from the United States to help train the South Vietnamese army. Ho Chi Minh was a communist and during the Cold War of the 1950s and 60s, the aim of the US government was containment of communist power and not to let it spread. The Eisenhower administration provided South Vietnam with money and advisors to help stop the threat of a North Vietnamese takeover. The United States also was pledged by treaty (SEATO) to aid the member nations in southeast Asia, if they were attacked by a foreign (communist) power. Following the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations, President Lyndon B. Johnson also believed in containment and the domino theory. If one nation falls to communism, the next nation will fall, and the next, etc. It became the aim of the Johnson administration to prevent a communist takeover in Southeast Asia.
In August, 1964, President Johnson reported to the nation that American ships had been attacked by North Vietnam gunboats in the Gulf of Tonkin, in international waters. The Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving the President the power to use whatever force necessary to protect our interests in the area. At the time, the truth was not reported.
<< Rather than being on a routine patrol Aug. 2, the US destroyer Maddox was actually engaged in aggressive intelligence-gathering maneuvers — in sync with coordinated attacks on North Vietnam by the South Vietnamese navy and the Laotian air force.>> http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2261
In February, 1965, the Viet Cong attacked an American military base near Pleiku. Using the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, President Johnson sent in 3,500 Marines, the first official troops, to South Vietnam. By the end of the year, there were 200,000 US troops in Vietnam.

Answer 2

A substantial number of the Vietnamese people wanted independence from European - in this case French - domination. The Viets expected to get independence after WWII since they had fought against the Japanese. Ho Chi Minh and many Viets were appalled when IndoChina was given BACK to France as a colony after WWII.
That was HUGE mistake number 1. Blame the French there.

So it started after WWII as a war to expel the French. By the mid 1950s, the communist insurgent forces won the Northern part of Vietnam, but the USA backed the South - the country having been artificially divided after the French were defeated in 1954. The USA thought the spread of communism was a threat, so we (the USA) continued to support the South until troops and a massive military build up became necessary by the mid 1960s.
That was HUGE mistake #2. Blame us (the U.S.).

Britain, in my opinion, was much too astute politically to get caught up in this major mistake. History has shown that the Western powers should have allowed Vietnamese independence after WWII. They would have been a friend an ally even if Ho Chih Minh did follow socialist ideology. There was little chance that Vietnam and China would become great friends and join in a great communist world takeover.
China and Vietnam had been fighting each other for centuries. But hindsight is 20/20.

Answer 3

Communists rebels from North Vietnam grew to grow to be a concern for South Vietnam, and the South Vietnamese government asked for help from the U. S.. This all started with the U. S. offering some ingredients and protection tension coaching to the Vietnamese protection tension, yet because of the fact the rebels have been given extra aggressive it is going to truly introduced approximately an extremely super US protection tension presence, actively scuffling with the rebels. It grew to become into extra of a case of steadily turning out to be extremely than having a particular commence, however the Gulf of Tomkin incident grew to become into the explanation at the back of the 1st super inflow of attempt against troops. The conflict ended whilst it grew to grow to be very unpopular interior the U. S. (partly because of the fact human beings have been being drafted), and it grew to grow to be politically impossible to maintain on. inspite of the undeniable fact that the Viet Cong did not defeat the U. S. militarily, they took over the rustic as quickly as the U. S. withdrew, making them the winners.

Answer 4

During WWII the leadership in America was Democrat. As the war concluded and the calendar headed into the 1950s, the perceived threat of Communism was front-page news. Our Republicans were the first to embrace the newfangled TV which didn't have a lot of programming. "We let China go Commie" was the momentum behind setting up strategy to get involved in Asia. France, which had been our Allie during WWII was failing badly at holding its former colony in Viet Nam. France signed the colony up with SEATO -- the Asian equivalent of NATO. All of this to fight communism. Our prez in the 1950s was the Allied General, Eisenhower. He sent over military expertise and equipment to help the French.

By the 1960s, Viet Nam looked like a hopeless cause for the French military. The political backdrop in America was the Republicans screaming about Commies everywhere. John F. Kennedy assumed the highest office. America was still sending over military advisors and equipment trying to prop up the Roman Catholic middle class in Viet Nam and return the rubber plantations back to Michelin Tire Co. as an affront against communism. A lot of discussion that president would never have pushed the big build-up that followed after Kennedy was shot in Dallas.

LBJ assumed the office and was flustered at home about Communist taking over the world. LBJ sent over the first combat troops, the big military machinery. It all failed, even after a Republican prez took the helm -- Nixon -- because the strategy was never handed over to the military generals (like what worked in WWII) and because America never admitted China's involvement with supplies and mercenaries.

Great Britain was never obliged by treaty. Perhaps America viewed GB as a bulwark against communism spreading in Europe.

Answer 5

Xx,

I really liked MrV's answer; it was very well chronologically constructed.

I would just add that raw rubber was important to both Europe and the US as neither continent has rubber trees.

So, rubber was an important factor in both the French and US involvement but stopping the spread of the dreaded communism sounds one heck of a lot better, don't you think?

When ever governments claim they are spending tax payer monies and lives for altruistic reasons, we should always search for the truth that is contained in the ...real answer.

It might be good for the average American to look into the...real...reason we are in Iraq. We could always leave it up to the historian to do this but we have a responsibility to look into the real reason for ourselves. To do so is actually required by peoples in a free country, assuming they wish to continue to live in a country that is free.

Answer 6

Politics has had nothing about WietNam. To get the ruby stone, for industrial laser.
Synthetic ruby did not exist yet, and
WietNam has the world's largest natural ruby groundmines.

Answer 7

MrV's answer is accurate and comprehensive.
If you want to narrow it down a little - ask the French and Lyndon Johnson. (Yes, I know he's dead - but he certainly added many years and many deaths to that "conflict.")