Vietnam+War

=Vietnam War=

Causes
a. __First Indochina war__ – French ruled Vietnam but defeated by Japan during WW2 in 1940. Communist leader Ho Chi Minh set up Viet Minh and fought Japanese, controlled N. Vietnam, declare independence. French came back in 1945 wanting to rule Vietnam again, war between French and Viet Minh. French defeated.
 * 1.** **History**

a. __Communist__ – Viet Minh supported by USSR and China by giving modern weapons - The USSR was supplying military arming, equipment and anti-aircraft missiles to Vietnamese troops. - USSR was sending whole air defense regiments to Vietnam in the beginning of the conflict. b. __Democratic__ – USA concerned about “Domino Theory”, visioned Vietnam falling to commu
 * 2.** **Difference in ideologies**

[[image:vietnam_war.JPG]]
nism, then Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma and India. Practiced policy of containment: prevent spread of communism

Impacts of war
> > > > > //My Lai massacre in 1968 - (Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:My_Lai_massacre.jpg) > Baby in a box - (Taken from []//) >
 * //**Increased cold war tensions between USA and USSR** – United States and Soviet Union had been in the midst of a worldwide struggle for spheres of influence, each superpower wanting to exert cultural, political, and ideological control over various regions of the globe. At the same time, the United States and the USSR each wanted to stop the other country from gaining any such spheres. Southeast Asia in general, and Vietnam in particular, were important spheres of influence in the minds of both U.S. and Soviet leaders. With the “fall” of North Vietnam to Communism in 1954, the United States became committed to stopping the further spread of Communism in the region.//
 * **//Public distrust of the American government//** //– The Vietnam War had a tremendous impact on American society and culture, in large part because it was the first American war to be televised. As a result, the American press played a significant, unforeseen role in the war, especially in the arena of public opinion. The photographs, videos, and opinions of American journalists, coupled with the simple fact that young Americans were dying on foreign soil against an enemy that did not threaten the United States directly, turned much of the American public against the war. This enormous power of the media and public distrust of the government have been a mainstay of American society ever since.//
 * //**Financial trouble of American economy** – Vietnam War drained government finances at the same time as Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon sought to expand the government welfare state.//
 * //**High number of casualties**// //–// [|Casualty table]