The Vietnam War began when a French colony called Indochina, including Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, was attacked by the Japanese during World War II.
In response to the Japanese invasion of Vietnam, a Vietnamese nationalist movement was formed in 1941 and founded by Ho Chi Minh, a communist who launched guerilla warfare to create resistance to the occupiers.
Some careful study of the historical documents of Vietnam and the United States shows that the Vietnam War was a war against the communists, which at the same time represented Vietnam’s pursuit of national independence.
Based on the analysis of the documents, it has been concluded that the war was more of an international conflict than a civil war.
A large number of dates and events makes it difficult to define the reasons for the United States’ intervention in the war, but it is understood that their involvement was due to a list of reasons that developed more ground and prominence over time. were. The change of every American president who took command, direction, and participation in the conflict.
For Americans, communism was the antithesis of what they wanted, because communists rejected democracy, ignored human rights, favored military aggression, and created closed economies.
When the Communist Party was founded in China, the President of the United States, Harry S. Truman decided to support the Vietnamese, who fought to prevent Vietnam from being the next site of communist arrivals.
Causes and consequences of the Vietnam War
The initial cause that led to the Vietnam War was the intention to overthrow the government of South Korea, led by the communist guerrilla Vietnam and the National Liberation Front, which was supported by the North Vietnam War between the two countries.
After the Japanese were defeated, the powers involved in the war passed control to the French, but France lacked the troops to dominate the region, for which Chinese Nationalist forces took over the British from the north and south.
With threatening pressure from the Soviet Union, Ho Chi Minh was forced to negotiate the country’s independence as part of the French colony. The French bombed the city of Haiphong in 1946 and took the city of Hanoi.
Following the bombings generated by France, war broke out between the French and the Viet Minh, where North Vietnam launched attacks against the French.
The fighting reached a high level when Chinese communist forces took over the border with Vietnam to send military supplies to Viet Minh.
Ordnance strategies used through an oil pipeline completely defeated the French in 1954 in the town of Dien Bien Lu.
The war was resolved by the Geneva Accords of 1954 and led to the temporary division of the country, the control of a non-communist state in the north and south of Vietnam before Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem.
Diem, a Roman Catholic, took the initiative in 1955 to condemn the Communists of the South, hanging Communists and other opponents, as well as sabotaging Buddhist sects. A total of 12,000 opponents were hanged and about 40,000 were taken to prison.
The situation in South Vietnam continued to crumble with the Vietnamese invasions and Diem’s corruption.
President John F. With Kennedy’s appointment more supplies were dispatched, and through an intelligence assignment from the CIA and a group of ARVNs were able to overthrow and kill Diem.
A month later, President Kennedy was assassinated by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, did it? The elimination of Diem from the playing field caused the rise and fall of several military governments.
The causes of the Vietnam War had consequences and components that would lead to the Cold War. The nuclear military capability of the United States and the Soviet Union was such that the two could not directly confront each other, so they had states that continued their struggle.
The Soviet Union formed the Communist State of China which equipped the North Vietnamese to fight the Americans.
The fight could have been prevented if the US had not had to take a firm stand against communism by assuming the relationship between Ho Chi Minh and Moscow. During the war, North and South Vietnam fought relentlessly.
In the memory of Vietnamese and Americans is the pain, loss, and anguish caused by such a violent and devastating encounter. The Vietnam War lasted from 1954 to 1975.
General consequences of war
The Vietnamese death toll ranges between 3 and 5 million, and another million are injured and disabled during the 21 years of the war. More than 1 million people fled to South Vietnam.
- One hundred and two hundred soldiers were killed, spread to the United States, Vietnam, South Korea, and other countries.
- North Vietnam lost all its infrastructure and transportation, 10 hospitals, 15 universities, and 3,000 schools.
- The environmental impacts from the chemicals were devastating, with Vietnam having one of the highest birth defect rates in the world. Half the forests were badly damaged.
- Vietnam is the most bombed country in the history of the world. The United States invaded South Vietnam with over 75 million liters of toxic chemicals. The number of bombs thrown reached 7 million tons, three times the number used in World War II.
- In the United States, more than 58 thousand soldiers were killed and 300 thousand were wounded, half disabled. Many Americans suffered from severe mental disorders known as ‘Vietnam Syndrome’. 10% of soldiers in Vietnam become addicted to heroin.
- Thousands of soldiers contracted cancer or produced offspring with birth defects due to exposure to Agent Orange, a forest dweller used to destroy vast expanses of forest.
- The desperation of the war fueled the hippie movement in the United States, which opposed sexual freedom, peace, equality, and love, with an anti-war message.
- The war left large parts of Vietnam’s territory with mining areas, which affected the development of agriculture in the country.
Shocking and interesting facts related to the Vietnam War
1. The Vietnam War was a decisive war fought between America and Vietnam. Starting from 1955, this battle lasted till 1975. You will be surprised to know that in this war, about 50,000 US soldiers were killed, and in the end, America lost the war.
2. By the way, America used many deadly weapons and new technologies in this war. But all these techniques proved to be more lethal to the Vietnamese army on the less common people. Due to this lakhs of common citizens of both the countries were killed and this war became the time of common people’s life and property.
3. You will be surprised to know that Vietnam adopted gorilla technology to win this war. Which proved to be more effective on America’s technology and on the basis of this technology, Vietnam was able to win this war.
4. You will be surprised to know that America was sure that it would win this war with Vietnam in just a few hours. But it was not just a matter of the US military overcoming the gorilla technology that Vietnam adopted. And in this war that lasted for almost 20 years, America suffered heavy loss of life and property, due to which America had to kneel.
5. After winning the Vietnam War, a journalist had asked the National President of Vietnam – How did you manage to win this war – Your chest will also swell with pride after reading the facts that the National President told the journalist.
6. The National President said – We took inspiration from a great Indian warrior and followed his strategy by understanding it closely and winning this war.
7. The journalist asked while asking another question – who was that great warrior, on this the national president stood up and told that he was the great and fearless king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj born in the holy land of India. Whose fearlessness and war policy influenced us, we won in this war fought.