Vietnam The Most Unpopular War - 1061 Words

The longest war in American history, Vietnam, was also the most unpopular war. It resulted in nearly 60,000 American deaths (www.digitalhistory.uh.com). Even today, many Americans still ask whether the American effort in Vietnam was a sin, blunder, a necessary war, or whether it is a noble cause, or an idealistic, if failed, effort to protect the South Vietnamese from totalitarian government (www.digitalhistory.uh.com). The reason the United States got involved was to prevent the spread of communism. For centuries the Vietnamese people resisted being controlled by their powerful Chinese neighbors. They struggled to unify their country as an independent state. Ultimately they freed themselves from China s claim for control of political authority and achieved national unity only to fall victim to French imperialism (Anderson 1). French ruled Vietnam and neighboring kingdoms as colonies from the nineteenth century to the twentieth century. Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia during Wo rld War II influenced the Vietminh war against the French in 1945. September 2nd, 1945, Ho Chi Minh declares independence from French rule shortly after Japans surrender from World War II (www.history.com). France s rule over its colony was incredibly brutal and exploitative (Anderson 6). French colonialism deprived the Vietnamese of their political independence, and it impoverished many of the Vietnamese people (Anderson 7). Many villagers lost their lands and became low-paid plantationShow MoreRelatedVietnam War : The Longest And Most Unpopular American War1059 Words   |  5 PagesVietnam War The Vietnam War was the longest and most unpopular american war of the twentieth century (Mintz S. S. McNeil). Resulting in roughly 58,000 american deaths and 2 million vietnamese deaths, the twenty year war was a long and bloody battle that not only impacted the soldiers, but many civilians as well (â€Å"Vietnam War†). â€Å"It’s estimated that 70,000 to 300,000 Vietnam Veterans committed suicide and around 700,000 veterans suffered psychological trauma† (Rexy). Starting in (debateably) 1955Read MoreThe Vietnam War and Iraq1029 Words   |  5 PagesDuring the Vietnam War, between 1955 and 1984, fifty-eight thousand Americans lost their lives, as well as over three-million Vietnamese lost theirs. The financial cost to the United States comes to over one hundred-fifty-billion dollars. The causes of the Vietnam War were derived from the symptoms, components and consequences of the Cold War. The Vietnam War revolved around America’s belief that communism w as a threat to expand all over South East Asia. With this being said the Vietnam War was bothRead MoreThe War Of The Vietnam War877 Words   |  4 PagesAnother big difference in this war was that the Vietnam War was had more disapproval and was more expressive within the American public, unlike the Korean War. The ANITWAR MOVEMENT started in the 1960s this group was never enacted until this era. There was not a group like this in Vietnam, but there were many groups that opposed the war. The main object of these revolts was the American military presence in Indochina. The ANITWAR MOVEMENT caused an influence not only socially, but also in the realmRead MoreWhy the United Sates Became Increasingly Involved in the Vietnam War1383 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Vietnam War The United States became involved in the war in Vietnam for many reasons. The main reason of which is the Cold War. No fighting between the two countries actually took place due to both countries owning nuclear weapons which were used as a deterrent but got at each other by involving themselves in the issues of other countries that had a knock on effect on each other. The Cold War was a war that initiated between the US and Russia after World War twoRead MoreA Brief Note On The World War II1076 Words   |  5 PagesAn Impactful Event in History The Vietnam War was one of the longest and most bloody conflicts that the U.S. became embroiled in during the years between 1955 and 1975, lasting almost two decades. The war would change the way that young people saw their nation emerging from World War II and would help define the 60’s and the 70’s as times of turmoil and change, socially and politically(Anderson 181). After World War II, France reclaimed French Indochina from the Japanese, attempting to reassertRead MoreThe American Reaction to Involvement in Vietnam Essay862 Words   |  4 PagesThe American Reaction to Involvement in Vietnam In the early 60s, most Americans were very ignorant about Vietnam. They just saw it as a little concern. They were an extremely confident nation who had never lost a war to date, and whose resources were limitless. So they naturally assumed that all their weapons and firepower would ensure victory in a couple of months. Patriotism was very strong in America at that time. Many people remembered the McCarthy trials of theRead MoreCommitment Trap1030 Words   |  5 PagesWith regards to Vietnam under Kennedys presidency, there are many arguments both for and against the idea of commitment trap, Kennedy certainly escalated military involvement in Vietnam but did he have a choice? Or had his predecessors committed him in Vietnam long before he came into the Whitehouse? There is no doubt that Johnson was the one who fully placed ground troops in Vietnam in 65 and created his legacy of Johnsons war, but did any of the previous presidents give him any other optionRead MoreThe War Of The Vietnam War1545 Words   |  7 Pageslost. For example, during the Vietnam War, Presidents of the United States made many unethical decisions, which only further exacerbated the war. The war occurred from 1965 through 1968 in mostly Vietnam, but also in Laos and Cambodia. The war was fought between the communist North Vietnam and their communist allies and South Vietnam, supported by the US and a few other countries. The Viet Cong, the South Vietnamese communist insurgency, fought mostly a guerilla war against the anti-communist forcesRead MoreExploring the Reasons for United States Withdrawal from Vietnam1258 Words   |  6 PagesExploring the Reasons for United States Withdrawal from Vietnam America withdrew its last troops from Vietnam in 1973 but troop numbers were being reduced since 1969 after the election of President Nixon on a pledge of Peace with honour. Eight years earlier in 1965 president Johnson had committed the nation to war with general support from the population who had come to fear communism. America was committed to Trumans policy of Containment of communism therebyRead MoreA Justifiable War Essay1109 Words   |  5 PagesA Justifiable War Was the booby-trap theirs or ours? And his question was the answer.-Bryan Alec Floyd. Throughout history there has been a countless number of wars. Some in the name of God or some other holy figure, others have been for noble things such as freedom, and some have been for simple things such as money and land, but for which one of these issues is it justifiable to lead men to their deaths for? When talking of just causes of warfare within the last thirty years many