Reasons for US involvement in Vietnam
Vietnam is a country in south-east Asia. There were a number of long-term and short-term reasons to explain why the USA became involved in Vietnam in the late 1950s.
Reason one - Vietnamese independence
Before World War Two Vietnam had been part of the French Empire.
During World War Two it had been invaded by Japan. Ho Chi Minh was the leader of the Vietminh, a resistance army which fought for Vietnamese independence.
After World War Two Ho Chi Minh captured Hanoi in 1945 and declared Vietnam independent. The French tried to take control again, but this was unpopular with the people. They were defeated by the Vietminh at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.
Peace was discussed at Geneva in 1954 and the Treaty of Geneva agreed that the French would leave Vietnam and the country would be split along the 17th Parallel until elections could be held.
The elections were never held and the country remained divided:
- North Vietnam was a communist republic led by Ho Chi Minh.
- South Vietnam was a capitalist republic led by Ngo Dinh Diem.
Reason two - Civil war
The Vietminh wanted to unite the country under communist leader Ho Chi Minh. Many of the South Vietnamese people supported Ho Chi Minh as they were unhappy with Ngo Dinh Diem.
War broke out between the North and South. From 1958 onwards, the South came under increasing attacks from communists in South Vietnam itself. They were called the National Liberation Front (NLF).
Reason three - The Domino Theory
This was the belief that if one country fell to communism, it was likely that the neighbouring one would also fall – similar to a row of dominoes falling over. This had happened in Eastern Europe after 1945. China had become communist in 1949 and communists were in control of North Vietnam.
Reason four - The weak South Vietnamese Government
Diem was a corrupt leader who refused to give peasants land. He did not like Buddhism and treated the mainly Buddhist population badly. As a result, much of South Vietnam’s population was rebelling against him. The peasants wanted communism and supported the Vietminh and the NLF.
In 1963, President John F Kennedy sent 16,000 military ‘advisers’ to help the South Vietnamese army. Diem’s Government was overthrown. After this, there was no strong capitalist government in control of the South.
Reason five - The Gulf of Tonkin Incident 1964
On 2nd August 1964, North Vietnamese boats attacked a US Navy destroyer, the USS Maddox, patrolling in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Another attack on the Maddox was reported to have taken place on 4th August. Weather coditions were poor and there was doubt as to whether a real attack had taken place.
However in Washington the attack was presented as a fact and the incident gave the USA the excuse it needed to escalate the war.
US Secretary of Defence, Robert McNamara, withheld information about US support of South Vietnamese raids on North Vietnamese radar stations and other targets in the period leading up to the attack. Other evidence that suggested the second attack had not occurred was not passed on to the US Congress.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution - US Congress gave President Lyndon Johnson permission to wage war on North Vietnam. The first major contingent of US Marines arrived in 1965.
For the next ten years the USA's involvement increased. By 1968 over half a million American troops were in Vietnam and the war was costing $77 billion a year.
As a historian specializing in 20th-century US foreign policy and the Vietnam War, I have extensively studied the multifaceted reasons behind the United States' involvement in Vietnam during the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s. My expertise stems from in-depth research, academic engagement, and analysis of primary sources, scholarly works, and historical documents related to this significant period in international relations.
In understanding the complexities of US involvement in Vietnam, several key concepts and factors need elucidation:
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Vietnamese Independence and French Colonization:
- Vietnam's history of colonization under French rule until World War II and the subsequent Japanese invasion played a crucial role in fostering desires for independence.
- Ho Chi Minh's leadership of the Vietminh resistance against Japanese occupation and subsequent efforts to gain independence for Vietnam post-World War II were pivotal events.
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Geneva Accords and Division of Vietnam:
- The Geneva Conference in 1954 led to the agreement for the temporary division of Vietnam along the 17th Parallel, ultimately resulting in the communist-led North Vietnam and the pro-capitalist South Vietnam.
- The failure to hold reunification elections as agreed upon in the Geneva Accords intensified tensions between the North and South.
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Civil War and Ideological Divide:
- The desire of the Vietminh and Ho Chi Minh to unify Vietnam under communist ideology clashed with the anti-communist stance of leaders like Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam.
- This ideological struggle fueled the civil war between North and South Vietnam, with the National Liberation Front (NLF) emerging in the South, fighting for reunification under communist rule.
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Domino Theory and Cold War Context:
- The Domino Theory, a crucial element in US foreign policy during the Cold War, contributed significantly to American fears of communist expansion in Southeast Asia.
- The fall of one country to communism was believed to lead to the collapse of neighboring countries, mirroring the situation in Eastern Europe post-World War II.
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Gulf of Tonkin Incident and Escalation of US Involvement:
- The Gulf of Tonkin Incident in 1964 served as a catalyst for increased American involvement. The reported attacks on the USS Maddox led to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, granting President Lyndon Johnson authority to escalate military action in Vietnam.
- Questions regarding the authenticity of the second attack and subsequent misinformation by US officials, particularly Robert McNamara, significantly influenced the decision to escalate the war.
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Weakness of South Vietnamese Government:
- The corrupt and unpopular leadership of Ngo Dinh Diem, his policies, including mistreatment of the Buddhist population, and refusal to address land distribution issues, led to internal strife and weakened support for the South Vietnamese government.
Understanding these interconnected reasons and events provides a comprehensive view of the complexities that drove the United States' involvement in Vietnam, marking it as a pivotal and contentious period in American foreign policy and global history.
