Communism and the Vietnam War essays

Communism and the Vietnam War essays The Vietnam War began in 1959 and ended in 1975. In the beginning, the communist guerrillas, Vietcong, from the South worked with the Communist forces of North Vietnam in an attempt to overthrow the government of South Vietnam. This struggle eventually grew into a civil war, and by the time it was over it had become a conflict of international proportions. In 1945, shortly after Japan had surrendered to the Allies, Vietminh guerrillas seized the capital city of Hanoi and forced Emperor Bao Dai to abdicate. They proceeded to declare Vietnam independent and announced the creation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam or North Vietnam. France officially recognized North Vietnam as a new state, but the inability of the two countries to agree on certain economic and political polices led to armed conflict in early December of 1946. As a result of this conflict, the French helped Bao Dai set up the state of Vietnam or South Vietnam, where they establish the new capital of Saigon. During the following year, the US recognized South Vietnam and the Saigon government. President Truman attempted to help South Vietnam, by training them in the use of our weapons. In the following years, both the Vietminh and the French, Vietnam's main rivals, were building up their military forces. The first attack came in the spring of 1954, Vietminh attacked the French fortress Dien Bien Phu in North Vietnam. After a 55-day siege, the French surrendered. On the same day that the French surrendered, North and South Vietnam met with France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, US, Communist China, Laos, and Cambodia in Geneva to discuss the future of "Indochina." France and North Vietnam agreed to a truce. They agreed to temporarily split the country of Vietnam into North and South. The North would go to the communist, and the Saigon government would control the South. The agreement was made under the condition that elections would be held to reunify the...