Background to Vietnam conflict
Vietnam had been a French A country or place controlled by another country. before it was occupied by the Japanese during World War Two. After World War Two it was returned to French control but many Vietnamese people wanted independence. As a result, in the 1950s the French found themselves fighting a war against the Viet Minh - an organisation dedicated to removing foreign The idea or strategy of taking over other land in other countries. powers from Vietnam. Worried about the spread of A classless society where all property is owned publicly. in South East Asia, the USA began to A person or organisation paying for something to happen. the French war effort in Vietnam.
In 1954, the French were finally defeated by the Viet Minh at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. This defeat was formalised in the Geneva Agreement and temporarily separated Vietnam into two zones: a northern zone to be governed by the Viet Minh, and a southern zone to be governed by an anti-communist government led by Ngo Din Diem. The Geneva Agreement spelt the end of French control in Vietnam and the beginning of a major dilemma for the USA.
Why did a communist regime in Vietnam worry the USA?
- Vietnam was divided into North and South at the 17th Parallel, with the Viet Minh in control of North Vietnam, and a non-communist government in control of South Vietnam.
- The Viet Minh had fallen under the control of the Vietnamese Communist Party, led by Ho Chi Minh, so victory for the Viet Minh was a victory for communism.
- America was operating a policy of An American policy to try and stop communism from spreading, to restrict it from spreading to other countries. and feared if Vietnam fell to communism, other countries in South East Asia would fall too. This was known as An American idea that if one country fell to communism, others would follow - like a row of dominoes..
The USA now decided to give its support to the non-communist government of South Vietnam, led by Ngo Din Diem.
A look at Ngo Din Diem
- Ngo Din Diem was an unpopular leader with the majority of the South Vietnamese people.
- He had removed the previous leader in a fraudulent election, in which he had won 600,000 votes in a country with only 450,000 people eligible to vote!
- He was a rich landowner in a country of poor peasant farmers.
- He was a Christians whose religious leader is the Pope. and openly discriminated against Someone who follows Buddhism, a religion founded in Asia. The main religion in Vietnam. (the majority religion in Vietnam at the time). Some Buddhists, for example the Buddhist monk Quang Duc, burnt themselves to death in protest at Diem鈥檚 government.
- He was a staunch anti-communist and the USA was operating a strategy of containment.