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What was the causes of the Vietnam war What was the causes of .pdf
- 1. What was the causes of the Vietnam war? What was the causes of the Vietnam war? Solution The causes of the Vietnam War were derived from the symptoms, components and consequences of the Cold War. The causes of the Vietnam War revolve around the simple belief held by America that communism was threatening to expand all over south-east Asia The US entered the conflict in South Vietnam based on the much maligned "Domino Theory" concept. From the perspective of the Nation's leader, this was a very real threat both in terms of nation's falling one by one to communism and with regards to the resultant impacts. The most significant driver for US involvement in South Vietnam was the Korean War. It established the notion of a "civil war" in which the northern communists were extensively supported by outside forces and that a conventional invasion was the greatest threat. On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea. The US and its allies spent three years fighting a very brutal war against the North Koreans, the Chinese and the Soviets. Eventually, it ended in a stalemate. By definition, on June 25, 1950, this was a civil war.However, by the time the US entered the Vietnam conflict, there was ample near term historical precedence for the spread of communism. In 1954, Vietnamese communist forces defeat the French which leads to the 1954 Geneva convention in which the region was divided into North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. In 1959, the government of Laos collapses and the Pathet Lao (communist forces backed by the North Vietnamese) begin to fight for control of the country. A civil war backed by external communist forces. It was evident to the US and its allies that communism was spreading throughout the region. Each state which fell served as a launch point for communist operations in nearby countries (China into Korea and Vietnam, China and North Vietnam into Laos and Cambodia). Therefore to prevent further spread to allies to include Thailand and Japan among others, communism had to be contained. Based on the results of communist rule in the countries that fell, it seems the concerns were genuine. South Vietnam asked for help from its SEATO allies and the US responded as it should under treaty obligation. The argument that this was civil war substantially underplays the assistance the North Vietnamese received from the Chinese and Soviets. It was as much a civil war as the Korean
- 2. War was. Some 1.5 million Chinese were executed during the land reforms and counter-revolutionary executions following the Chinese victory in 1948. In the early 1960s, following the Great Leap Forward, approximately 2.5 million people were executed, Up to 1 million people were executed or died in concentration camps in North Korea by the start of the US involvement in Vietnam. Between 1953 and 1956, the Land reform in North Vietnam carried out by the Communists resulted in the deaths, by various estimates, of almost 200,ooo landowners via public kangaroo tribunals. This drove roughly one million Northerners to the South beginning in 1954 after the Geneva Accords that divided Vietnam. In the end, the US failed to honor its commitments to the defense of South Vietnam as it had done for South Korea. South Korea became one of the top 10 economies on the planet. A model of democracy. And one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world.