Background: The Civil War The Vietnam War spread across five presidencies and spanned 25 years. Direct U.S. involvement spanned from 1963-1973. It began when France lost control of Vietnam after the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. The United States supported roughly 80% of France's war effort because of Ho Chi Minh, who was the leader of the communist Vietminh. The U.S.A. was willing to support any effort at the time to "contain" communism, which was sparked by the power hungry Soviet Union after the second World War.
In 1954, the Geneva Conference was held. At the conference an agreement was reached to divide Vietnam into Northern, and Southern Vietnam along the 17th parallel until 1956 when a national election would decide the future of a united Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was present at the meeting, and agreed to the Accords based on the assurance that Vietnam-wide elections would occur. Eisenhower, however, refused to sign the Accords. He announced his "domino theory": that if one country fell to communism, other surrounding countries would follow. In the South, a pro-western government under Ngo Dinh Diem took control of Saigon. Diem canceled the 1956 elections, permanently dividing Vietnam. Eisenhower pledged economic and military aid to Diem's regime in return for social reforms, which never came. America formally supported the Southern Vietnamese anyway because of our palpable fear of the spread of communism. The irony of this is that the United States was formed by rebels trying to separate from a totalitarian government. Only a little over a hundred years later, Americans were supporting a totalitarian government that paralleled Britain based only on the fact that Diem was not a communist. The U.S. promised to prevent Communist expansion in Asia and sent in military advisors to train the Southern Vietnamese military. In response, the Vietcong was formed in 1957 and created a political arm, the NLF (National Liberation Front) in 1960. The NLF formally supported the communist North. The Vietcong consisted of former Vietminh and other groups opposed to Diem, and was also supported (arms-wise) by Communist China and the Soviet Union. Thus began the Vietnamese Civil Wars. When the Kennedy Administration was in office, JFK raised the number of U.S. military advisors from approximately 650 to 16,000. The military goal was to strengthen the S. Vietnam Army with U.S. training and advanced technology. |
The Fall of Ngo Dinh Diem, 1963 June, 1963: A Buddhist monk, set himself on fire in protest of Diem's regime. The photos spread around the world like wildfire, immediately altering the tides of opinions towards the situation in Vietnam.
November 1st, 1963: A coup by the Southern Vietnamese generals overthrew and killed Diem. The coup was secretly supported by the United States because his corruption was seen as a liability. This had a staggering effect on protesters and members of the Anti-war movement. This further fueled their anger and resentment toward the war in Vietnam, and also raised tensions between the American people and its government. Though the United States had no involvement in the assassination, the United States was fighting in a war that was not their business. At this point, the morale of the American soldiers faltered to meager levels that rivaled the morale of the Southern Vietnamese civilians. With the corruption of politics toppling alliances and confidence, the American soldiers and the American people were becoming less and less enticed with the idea of being involved in Vietnam. |