Vietnam war study notes

I.Origins.Vietnam began as a ?small war? ? in the type of all the other small wars since the 1880s, US military forces employed a nonher nation at the discretion of the President ? though this time on behalf of french colonists (rather than US corporate interests) however steadily under the misguided notion, the Domino Theory. b.After WWII, US restores Vietnam to France as colonyi.Ho Chi Minh and Vietnamese struggle for freedom from France1.Ho Chi Minh writes to Truman expect for help as he was inspired by US myth of revolution afterward WWIIa.Ho trained as cut colonial soldier and lead the resistance to Japanese designate during WWIIb.At the end of WWII, as an ally of the US ? Ho prescribe Vietnam independent 9/2/1945 ? his speech employ much(prenominal) known phrases asi.?all men are created equal, they are endow by their creator with certain inalienable dears. Among these are flavor self-reliance and the pursuit of happiness.?c.Capitalism did not appeal to Ho or Vietnamese culture and, logically, it is not at odds with American theories of freedom. 2.The French had no intention of letting Vietnam go and, as with the Dutch, France put ond US charge to fund its reassertion of control. a.1947 US give for French military occupation of Vietnami.French control of glory = Truman bestow of air provide from 1950 and by 1954, US aid = 3 billion. US paid 80% of French costs. Airpower has moderate use against guerilla army. b.Facing France and seeing that the US backed France, the Viet Minh had no pickaxe but to seek aid from the only power in the terra firma viewed as possibly standing up to the US. Until their falling out, Viet Minh bridled at commands from Beijing and the Soviet Union TO non antagonize the US. 3.1954 France teared by Vietnamese at skirmish of Dien Bien Phu ? first time western United States defeated by federation-Eastern communistic landed estatea.siege lasted 55 daysb.More volunteers in last days of siege than p lanes to conduct them in. Absurd ? it was ! felo-de-se and French had muzzy. French artillery commander commits suicide. French lost 1500 dead, 1000s wounded, 10,000 captured. (Cronkite)c.Dulles gave a prophetic announcement ? pays aid to moderateer that US may honor them by sustainment up to their spirit of falsification to celebrate ?serious commitments and full of life interests? ie half mask theory. One falls, all falls. Ike understood it, McNamara did too. (Cronkite)4. northern Vietnam is emancipate by independence movement led by Ho Chi Minh after 7-year strugglea.French lost 44,967 dead and 79,560 woundedb.John Foster Dulles, secretary of State, 1953-1958 (died in 1958)i.Born into privilege, dislocated from worldii.His interests were those of his clients ? the most powerful corporations of the timeiii.A lawyer ? he viewed the world in adversarial harmiv.Admirer of Hitler, especially for Hitler?s views of a world dominated by Aryans1.He was 1 of many American lawyers who helped US firms do channel with Ge rmany or helped German firms continue to do business condescension sanctions on Germany ? then helped them avoid quest after the war. 2.After the fight he hated communism because of Lenin?s writings (then Stalin?s) on world domination by the proletariatc.Consummate nippy warrior (Anti-Communist)i.Hated communism irrationally because it ran counter to his clients? interests ? this was trans realizeed into, any matchless who defied his clients was a communist and US must defeat anyone who is a communist. ii.Thus, independent nationalists were communists. iii.Thus ok to back British against Iran?s secular democracy ? prominent blowback 25 old age later. iv.Overthrow democratic government in Guatemala (seeing that the US was not tone ending to help democrats or nationalists ? Castro sided with Che and choose militant revolution, then sought-after(a) certificate from the Soviet Union)d.Deeply Christian: viewed world in theological terms: good vs. atrocious; among the first Anti -communists who simply, and deeply believed, that wha! t the US did was right and good ? ultimately. Therefore, what anyone else did was unskilled and evil.

Thus many decisions made by the US in the Cold War were based on intuition, rather than presbyopic term strategy ? a gravid reason why Cold War lasted so massive (see Derek Leebaert?s The Fifty-Year Wound)i.For example. He counseled Eisenhower to not even meet Soviet leaders and deter correspondents from going to Chinaii.The difficulty of learning sensibly communists and life in the Soviet Union was difficult receivable to the isolationism of the Soviets but in two ways hard when Americans father?t want to kn ow about their ?enemy?ii.1954 geneva Agreements1.Vietnam?s integrity was recognized ? country partitioned N and S. 2.Elections were to be held as part of a conglutination process in 1956. US and South Vietnamese conspired to endue off these elections indefinitely3.North would not stand this. Soviets, knowing they were weaker, consistently sought to appease the US. Eventually, North tired of Soviet appeasement and with Chinese backing responded to US provocation. 4.The US put Ngo Dinh Diem in control of South Vietnam since he would do their bidding. He was to a greater expiration French Catholic than Vietnamese but this was only one problem. Diem and his cohorts ruled Vietnam, or tried to, as their personal plantation. this instant the South Vietnamese were in revolt ? they abetted and joined the Viet Minh as the National Liberation Front (NLF) ? aka Viet Cong. 5.During Kennedy?s administration US troops in Vietnam rose from 865 to 16,500. a.US aid to S. Vietnam was in the cook of VERY BIG GUNS, which said to Diem he was fighting! a conventional war, not counterinsurgency. just Diem used the army to defend himself against a coup, allowing US air power to fight the OTHER. just US airpower only antagonized anyone who had been neutral in the countryside. work cited:Zinn, Howard, A people history of the United States If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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