US Involvement In Indochina Conflicts
US Involvement In Indochina Conflicts
Introduction
United States has been involved indirectly in a wide range of wars. The United States has participated indirectly in the First World War and the Second World War. The government used various tactics to succeed in the First World War and the Second World War. For instance, it used military support, political and economic support to succeed in the war. The government provided economic, political and military help to countries that were involved in the war. Like other wars, the United States government was also involved indirectly in the Indochina conflicts. The country participated in the first Indochina war and the second Indochina war. The government offered military support to the South, France and other anti communist nations during the war. It also provided economic and political support to the South. The support turned the conflicts into convectional war. The involvement of US in the war had different impact like death and losses. This paper examines the degree at which the US involvement in Indochina war from 1954 to 1979 was responsible for the conflicts (Brecher &Wilkenfield, 1997).
Discussion
The First Indochina war started in 1945 and ended in 1954. The war involved the “French Far East expeditionary corps” and the Viet Minh. The conflicts occurred in Tonkin in Northern Vietnam. Though most of the fighting happened in Tonkin, the whole country was also affected. The conflicts also extended to the neighboring countries like Cambodia and Laos. The first Indochina war resulted from conflict between France and the Japanese. The French occupied Indochina after the Second World War, but the leaders in Indochina did not welcome them. Instead, they rebelled against the French authority that governed the French colonies in the country. The Japanese did not rebel the French authority greatly for first few years. However, the conflict changed to a convectional war after the Chinese communist came to the Northern border of Vietnam. The conflict involved two armies that were armed with weapons. The weapons were provided by the United States government and the Soviet Union (Brecher &Wilkenfield, 1997).
After the war, Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel in 1954. This was a result of the Geneva conference held in 1954. The North was given to Viet Minh and controlled by HO chi Minh. The south became the Vietnam state and was controlled by Bao Dai. Bao Dai was replaced by Dihn Diem and this lead to creation of the republic of Vietnam. However, Diem refused to enter into a contract with North Vietnam after taking over. He refused to hold national elections in 1956 as stated by the Geneva conference. This in turn led to the second Indochina war in1959.The United States played an important role in the Indochina conflicts between 1954 and 1979. First, the United States participated in the first indichona conflicts. The United States played an important role in the first Indochina war between 1945 and 1954 as it supplied weapons to the military. The United States government gave military support to other countries that were involved in the conflicts. The war involved two armies. The armies got military support from the US and Soviet Union. Most historical studies have revealed that the conflicts in Indochina turned to a convectional war due to provision of military assistance. The military support from the soviet union and the united states made the military more strong and this resulted to huge looses and deaths. The conflicts in the country could not have worsened if the United States government and the Soviet Union did not provide the necessary support (White, 1990).
The United States also played in the second Indochina war also known as the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was a military conflict that happened in Vietnam, Laos and other areas like Cambodia from1955 to 1975. The war involved North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The North Vietnam was supported by communist countries while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and anti communist nations. President Diem did not want to hold elections in the country as stated earlier and this resulted to conflicts between him and other people in the country. President Diem encouraged dictatorial rule in the country and used different tactics to prevent the North from taking away the South. The president worked together with other anti communist countries to protect South Vietnam from the communist rule. The South and the North used different means to fight. For instance, the North used guerilla war and the south used military support (Bahl, 2007).The United States worked together with President Diem to fight the North. The United states and south Vietnamese force used air superiority to fight the enemies. Air superiority made the United States and the South Vietnamese government to dominate the air battle of the North Vietnamese government. This made it easy for the US government and the South Vietnamese to control the land, sea and air forces in the country. Moreover, United states and the south Vietnamese government used the firepower to destroy the operations of the North Vietnamese government and also search. For instance, they used ground force, artillery and even air strikes to fight their opponents. The military support was provided by the United States government (Best, 2008).
There are various reasons why the United States government was involved in the Indochina conflicts between 1954 and 1979.First, the United States government was involved in the Indochina conflicts especially the Vietnam War in order to prevent the communists from taking over South Vietnam. The government wanted to achieve its containment objectives. The United States government had used the containment strategy for the last few years. The containment is a US policy that uses military, economic and diplomatic means to prevent the spread of communism in various countries. The policy is aimed at improving security in the country and its influence in foreign countries. In addition, the policy prevents other countries from dominating. The Containment policy was also used during the Indochina conflicts. The government wanted to prevent the spread of communist in South Vietnam. The North Vietnam was a communist nation and it wanted to merge with the South so as to restore peace in the country. The North Vietnamese government did not support the war because it had a negative impact on the south and the North. The North Vietnamese government considered the war a colonial war. This is because the war involved France and Japanese. The United States supported the military during the First World War. For instance, it supported France by providing military help. Later, the US government supported South Vietnam by providing military help (Brawley, Green &Dixon, 2005).
The United States used its containment policy to prevent South Vietnam from being taken by the communist. The government used its military strategy in the country. President Diem allowed the US government to provide help to help them defeat the North. The president encouraged the deployment of military personnel to South Vietnam. The Military was sent to South Vietnam between 1950 and 1969s. First, the United States government sent its military advisors to South Vietnam to provide advice to the president. After that the government sent its troops in 1961. The number of military troops in the country had tripled by 1962.Comabt units provided by the US government carried out operations in Laos border, Cambodia borders. Laos and Cambodia borders were adversely affected by the conflicts as they were heavily bombed. The US involvement in the Indochina conflicts peaked at the end of 1968 during a military campaign. The military campaign was aimed at attacking South Vietnam. Military personnel from North Vietnam fought against South Vietnam, United States and other anti communist regions. The United States forces were removed from the borders due to veitnamization. South Vietnam government could not have succeeded without getting military support from the US government. This is because the government did not have a strong military base and this affected its security (Encyclopedia Britannica Inc, 2003).
Apart from providing military support to the South Vietnam government, United States provided economic support. The United States government provided food and housing to the South Vietnam citizens and refugees from the North. President Diem used various tactics to encourage Christians to move from the North to the South. The president used print media like books and also threatening messages to scare the Christians. This led to movement of Christians from the North to the South. The South Vietnam government relied on the United States government to force the Christians to move from the North. Church leaders from United States helped in convicing the Christians to move from the North. The leaders helped develop messages that were distributed to Christians in living in the North. The US government provided food to the Christians and also shelter. The US government also provided political support to President Diem. The political support made it easy for the president to develop the right strategies to defeat the North. For example, the president established various political organizations that helped fight the North (Bruce &Schofield, 1998). The involvement of United States into the Indochina conflicts from 1954 to 1079 had different impact on the south, North and the US. The involvement of the United States led to loss of property both in the South and North. In addition, it led to death of the residents. This is because of the conflicts and lack of basic necessities. The involvement of US in the Indochina conflicts helped the South Vietnam government as it was able to defeat the North and prevent dominance by communist. The United States government benefited a lot from the involvement as it was able to attain its containment goals. The US government was able to prevent the spread of the communists in South Vietnam and other ant communist countries (Bruce &Schofield, 1998).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the United States is responsible for the ongoing conflicts in Indochina from 1954 to 1979. The United States played a vital role both in the first Indochina war and the second Indochina war. Though the United States government was not involved in the Indochina conflicts directly, it was involved indirectly. The government provided military support to countries that were involved in the war. For instance, the US and Soviet Union provided weapons during first Indochina war. The government also provided military forces to South Vietnam. It also provided political support and economic support by giving food and helping form political organizations to defeat the North. The Support provided by the united states government made its allies more strong and then prolonged the war (Bruce &Schofield, 1998).
Reference
| Bahl,J.(2007).The Vietnam Conflict – the Most Important Incidents in the Years of 1954 to 1965. GRIN Verlag | |||||||
| Best,A.(2008).International history of the twentieth century and beyond. Routledge | |||||||
| Brawley,S.,Green,J.,&Dixon,C.(2005).Conflict in Indochina 1954-1979. Cambridge University Press | |||||||
| Brecher,M.,&Wilkenfield,J.(1997).A study of crisis. University of Michigan Press | |||||||
| Bruce,R.,&Schofield,C.H.(1998).The land boundaries of Indochina. Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. IBRU | |||||||
| Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.(2003).The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica | |||||||
| White,N.D.(1990).The United Nations and the maintenance of international peace and secur | |||||||
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