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What was the medias effect on the vietnam war
What was the medias effect on the vietnam war
Us history chapter 30 Vietnam War
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The Vietnam War was a long war fought from 1954-1975. It was a war whether Vietnam was going to be communist ruled by the North Vietnam or was it going to be “democratic” by the South Vietnamese. The United States gave aid with supplies and military to the South Vietnamese. At the end, communism was spread through Vietnam.
In 1946, President Truman sent money $160 million to aid French because they wanted to keep Vietnam, but Vietnam wanted its own independence. French and Vietnam came up with the Geneva Agreement. Consequently, the United States had not signed it, yet they wanted to beat the communist in North Vietnam. During the administration of Eisenhower in 1955, communism became a threat to Asia concerning that the United States supported South Vietnam. The United States believed if North Vietnam became in power and converted South Vietnam into communist the other Southeast Asia will also fall into communist this was known as the “Domino Theory.” The United States sent aid to South Vietnam, but didn’t want to send troops.
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Vietnam began to escalate by getting the United States involved in the war. This incident permitted for President Johnson to take all measures necessary to prevent another attack this was known as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and troops were sent to Vietnam to aid the south. In 1965, Credibility Gap was questioning during the administration of President Johnson it question his involvement of the war in his policies, and the decisions he made for the war effort. The public wanted to see if what President Lyndon B. Johnson was true. Consequently, the media got involved in the war; televisions became popular during the 1960s, the war was broadcasting the war after the death of President Diem. People in the US were worried and had negative opinions. The media supported that the United States was getting involved in the
After World War II, the French began a fight for their former colony of Indochina, which included Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The French and other countries failed to see at that time the will and desire of the Vietnamese people to gain independence from foreign rule and to have their country unified. Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese nationalist, fought the French and overtook the North Vietnam capital of Hanoi with his followers, the Viet Minh, declaring the area the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. (Anderson, 2002) The French were unwilling to give up their colony and drove the Vietminh from many of the larger cities in the south. The United States entered the Vietnam struggle in 1950 when $15 million in aid was pledged to France in order to fight the Vietminh. (Anderson, 2002) The rationale was to align with France and keep the Soviet Union from expanding in Europe and to keep another country from falling into communist rule.
President Eisenhower’s foreign policies when implemented would facilitate the goal of containing communism, and also prevent the over-exertion of armed forces, which would demonstrate a weak American force like the French forces before them. President Eisenhower was referring to the battle between French forces and the Vietminh (the communist led forces of North Vietnam), and in which he began explaining how economically and geographically important Vietnam was to the United States and Asia. This first step is the first step towards preventing what he called the “falling domino” principle. President Eisenhower went on to explain that if South Vietnam falls to communism, then Laos would be next; and after Laos then Thailand and straight to Burma and that would lead communists to India, at the time a very strong and important ally of the United States. Even Japan, President Eisenhower warned, could be in danger of toppling, another domino in that row of Asia.
The war was also known as the American War (in Vietnam, as opposed to the Vietnam War in America), the Vietnam Conflict, the Second Indochina War, and also the War Against the Americans to Save the Nation (The History of the Vietnam War). It started on November 1, 1955 and ended on April 30, 1975 (At a Glance June 2012). The main conflict that started the war was the aspiration of North Vietnam to unify the entire country under a single communist government that was modeled after the ones seen in the Soviet Union (now Russia) and China (Vietnam War |
The United States became increasingly involved with the War in Vietnam mostly thanks to their enmity with Russia due to the fact they were Communist, and how the USSR spread claiming countries that could’ve been turned democratic and become trading partners of the US. While Russia, Britain and the USA were all allies in WW1, they disagreed on many things, especially on how Germany should be punished and how should Europe be handled.
JOHN F. KENNEDY IN VIETNAM There are many critical questions surrounding United States involvement in Vietnam. American entry to Vietnam was a series of many choices made by five successive presidents during these years of 1945-1975. The policies of John F. Kennedy during the years of 1961-1963 were ones of military action, diplomacy, and liberalism. Each of his decision was on its merits at the time the decision was made. The belief that Vietnam was a test of the Americas ability to defeat communists in Vietnam lay at the center of Kennedy¡¦s policy. Kennedy promised in his inaugural address, Let every nation know...that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty. From the 1880s until World War II, France governed Vietnam as part of French Indochina, which also included Cambodia and Laos. The country was under the formal control of an emperor, Bao Dai. From 1946 until 1954, the Vietnamese struggled for their independence from France during the first Indochina War. At the end of this war, the country was temporarily divided into North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam came under the control of the Vietnamese Communists who had opposed France and aimed for a unified Vietnam under Communist rule. Vietnamese who had collaborated with the French controlled the South. For this reason the United States became involved in Vietnam because it believed that if all of the country fell under a Communist government, Communism would spread throughout Southeast Asia and further. This belief was known as the domino theory. The decision to enter Vietnam reflected America¡¦s idea of its global role-U.S. could not recoil from world leadership. The U.S. government supported the South Vietnamese government. The U.S. government wanted to establish the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), which extended protection to South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos in case of Communist subversion. SEATO, which came into force in 1955, became the way which Washington justified its support for South Vietnam; this support eventually became direct involvement of U.S. troops. In 1955, the United States picked Ngo Dinh Diem to replace Bao Dai as head of the anti-Communist regime in South Vietnam. Eisenhower chose to support Ngo Dinh Diem. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Brookline, Mass., on May 29, 1917. Kennedy graduated from Harvard University in 1940 and joined the Navy the next year.
The Vietnam War was a war over communism that started in 1950, when Ho Chi Minh, the national leader of Vietnam, introduced a communist government into North Vietnam. In 1954 it was decided to split the country at the 17th parallel, and was ruled under opposing governments, Bao Dai leading the south and Ho Chi Mihn the north. North Vietnam went to war with South Vietnam with the north being supported by Russia and China, as they were also Communist countries, and the south being supported by Britain and the USA.
After returning, Minh had help from the Vietminh; an organization of communist that wanted freedom from other countries. Their main goal was to turn Vietnam into a self-governed communist country. France wanted none of this non-sense. In 1945 they had moved back into southern Vietnam and ruled most of the cities. Ho Chi Minh swore to fight France to gain control of the whole country. U.S. promised to aid France, and sent almost $15 million worth of financial aid to France. The French fought for four years, being financially aided by the U.S. the whole time. The U.S. spent nearly one billion dollars in order to help France regain control of the tiny country. The only reason that much effort was put into a small area was the fear of the y. Domino Theory. The Domino Theory first showed it's head during a 1954 news conference by U.S. President Eisenhower. The domino theory is the fear of the spread of communism from one country to the next, and so on. Even with the assistance of the U.S. France could not gain the control it once had on Vietnam.
The Vietnam War lasted from the winter of 1956 to the spring of 1975. The Vietnam War was a domesticated civil war between the communist, North Vietnam, and the democratic, South Vietnam. The North was supported by the Chinese communist, and the leader Ho Chi Minh. The Vietnam War introduced the United States to the Vietcong and Guerrilla warfare. During this time, the United States faced our own battles at home between two social groups called the Doves and the Hawks. This war was very divisive. The Doves protested and Hawks shunned them. Young men without money were being drafted while others went to college, got a medical note, or fled the country. Tensions were already high in the United States when Congress passed Public Law 88- 408, also known as the Tonkin Gulf Resolution.
The Vietnam war has been referred to by many names, one of the longest being 'the cornerstone of the free world southeast Asia'. It was called that by John F. Kennedy. He was talking about Vietnam being an essential country in a non-communist world. He believed that if Vietnam became a communist country, all of the surrounding countries would also become communists. This is the main reason America was involved in the Vietnam War.
“In July 1965, Lyndon Johnson chose to Americanize the war in Vietnam.” Although Johnson chose to enter America into the war, there were events previous that caused America to enter and take over the war. The South Vietnamese were losing the war against Communism – giving Johnson all the more reason to enter the war, and allowing strong American forces to help stop communism. There were other contributing factors leading up to the entrance of the war; America helped assist the French in the war, Johnson’s politics, the Tonkin Gulf Incident, and the 1954 Geneva Conference. President Johnson stated, “For 10 years three American Presidents-President Eisenhower, President Kennedy, and your present President--and the American people have been actively concerned with threats to the peace and security of the peoples of southeast Asia from the Communist government of North Viet-Nam.”
The Vietnam War was not started because of a direct or immediate threat to the United States. It was started by the build up of a perceived threat of expanding communism,which was promoted by President Eisenhower. Overall, President Eisenhower was primarily responsible for setting the stage and culture of fear that put the United States on a direct path towards war in Vietnam. Although President Johnson officially brought the United States into the Vietnam war, President Eisenhower’s articulation of the “Domino Theory” heavily influenced his decision making as well as the decision making of President Kennedy and Johnson(Anderson 28). President Eisenhower began the United States involvement
America vowed to protect any country that has been threatened by communism, if they request assistance. This promise is called the Truman Doctrine. When North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam, both sides brought their own allies. North Vietnam, along with Russia, China, Cuba, North Korea, and others, threatened to bring the evil of communism to South Vietnam. When this happened, the United States, the Philippines, Taiwan, Canada, Australia, Spain, Thailand, and others came to the rescue of Southern Vietnam.
“During the Vietnam War more than three million people, including fifty eight thousand Americans were killed in the fight” (History.com, 2016). The Vietnam War was a fight in which the United States sided with the South to stop the North’s desire to be communist. The war took place from 1955-1975, with the United States becoming fully involved in 1964 as a result of the USS Maddox being fired at while patrolling the waters outside of North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin (Henretta, Hinderaker, Edwards, Self, 2015). The Vietnam War ruined both North and South Vietnam leaving the country still divided into two sides. There were many causes and effects related to the Vietnam War, and when Americans became involved it directly affected the nation.
The Vietnam conflict was also known as the Second Indochina War. It occurred in 1954 and ended in 1975. It was between the Communist forces of North Vietnam and the Soviet Union, and the non-Communist forces of South Vietnam. The Communist forces were supported by China and the Soviet Union; were supported by the United States. The Vietnam conflict caused a lot of the quarreling in the United States. The Vietnam conflict was fought in South Vietnam; it was also fought in the near neighborhood of Laos and Cambodia. One of the things to realize about the war is that it was very progressive. It started really small as a group of “advisors” below President Dwight Eisenhower and finished up with over a total of 2.5 million American troops drawn in.
Vietnam was a struggle which, in all honesty, the United States should never have been involved in. North Vietnam was battling for ownership of South Vietnam, so that they would be a unified communist nation. To prevent the domino effect and the further spread of communism, the U.S. held on to the Truman Doctrine and stood behind the South Vietnamese leader, Diem.