Vietnam War Assignment | Custom Essay Services

Vanessa Gonzalez

April Andres

A war paper

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The Vietnam War

Vietnam War was a cold war fought between southern Vietnam and communist North Vietnam and other allies (Herring and George 2). The war took place from 1955-1975 (Herring and George 2). As a center of the cold war, the war involved the Soviet Union and the United States to support each part that supported their ideology. The Soviet Union supported communist North Vietnam, while the United States helped southern Vietnam not to fall to the communist regime (Herring and George 3). Although the United States was seen as the main supporter of Southern Vietnam (Herring and George 6). Many countries helped southern Vietnam, but they failed and lost to Northern Vietnam. The countries that were involved in the Vietnam War include France, which was the first country to suffer defeat, the United States, China that supported the North Vietnam, Soviet Union, Lao, Cambodia, and South Korea which supported Southern Vietnam (Herring and George 16).  This war was one of the most costly and deadliest wars, which resulted in the death of about three million people. The war ended in 1975 (two years after the US withdrew from the war) after the northern communist won over southern Vietnam, and southern Vietnam was unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Herring and George 21). This research paper discusses the reason that the United States got involved in the war, why they lost, and the impact that the United States had as a result of this war.

After World War II, the tension between the communist and the capitalist, Soviet Union and the United States respectively rose (Kaiser 15).  The two countries were ready to spread their ideology as well as support the countries that supported their ideology. This played a role in the involvement of the US in the Vietnam War (Kaiser 15). France was the first country to be involved in the war. France had colonized some Vietnamese empire before the Second World War and wanted to protect these empires after the Second World War. However, it faced strong resistance from Vietnamese who desired independence and lost the war to the Vietnamese (Kaiser 19). After France was defeated by the Vietnamese, United States feared that southern Vietnam, which supported its ideology, would fall under the communist government from northern Vietnam. The United States decided to protect Southern Vietnam against its enemy, and this was the main reason for the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War.

The United States supported southern Vietnam while not exposing itself until 1964, when the United States official sent its military to fight in Vietnam (Kaiser 21). At the time of sending the military troop to Vietnam, the American government had full support from the public. However, after the media exposed the fight on the ground and how the war cost much life of Americans, the government lost public support, and most of the people were against the war. This was one of the main causes of the US to lose the war (Kaiser 39). The United States lost public trust, and most of the people started opposing the war, arguing the war lacked proper reasons on why the United States should continue to be involved in the war. Others argued against the war on a moral basis, especially when the media exposed how the Vietnamese suffered as a result of the war. This lack of support and a lot of arguments against the government involvement in the war let to the 1969 protest in Washington against the United States’ involvement in the war. The continuous public opposition and the protest made the United States government call the military and hence lost the war.

Another reason why the United States failed to win the Vietnam War was because of the difference in the motive of winning the war. According to Burstein, Paul, and William, the aim of the United States was not mainly to win the war rather stop the enemy from taking control of southern Vietnam, but for the northern Vietnamese, their motive was to win and to take control over their land (100). As a result, the Vietnamese soldiers were dedicated to fight and concur with their enemy more than the United States. For instance, the Tet attack in 1968, which involved about 80 000 northern Vietnamese who attached 30 cities, including the US embassy in Saigon (Burstein, Paul, and William 112). This organized attack made most of the citizens of the United States believe that the united states could not win the war, and they were devastated because of the death and the cost that the war brought to the united states while winning the war was seen as impossible. The motive of the northern Vietnamese to effectively executing the Tet attack won the war as it made most of the people believe the US could not win the war (Burstein, Paul, and William 115).

Lack of a clear strategy for the war was another cause that made the United States lost the war. The United States lacked a clear strategy when fighting the war. According to Ellis 39, the United States only joined the war after France lost (29) The United States also failed to have an effective plan that would help them execute. This was illustrated by the complaints of the commanders who were deployed in southern Vietnam and proposed the United States to withdraw from the war because they lacked a clear strategy, and their main aim was to kill the enemy (Ellis 39). The lack of a clear strategy made the United States not to enter northern Vietnam and only fight in southern Vietnam, something that negatively affected the side of the United States. Lack of proper strategy and the northern Vietnamese continuous use of guerrilla warfare made the United States suffer blow in the war. The northern Vietnamese were dedicated to the war and mastered the terrain more than the United States troops; this made the Vietnamese soldiers have an upper hand of the fight and be able to shake the United States soldiers. The external support of the northern Vietnamese from the Soviet Union, North Korea, and China also contributed to the United States losing the war.

The Vietnam War had various impacts on the United States. First, the war led to the loss of many American soldiers, about 58,000 soldiers and many other soldiers were injured during the war (Ellis 36). The United States soldiers were also exposed to poor treatment during the war. Another impact that the war had on the US is the economic blow.  According to Ellis, the United States funded most of the military and other non-military operation of Southern Vietnam since southern Vietnam couldn’t be able to fund the military combat (30). The amount lost in the war was one of the major losses that the United States suffered.

The war also led to the demoralization of the American military, losing a war against a small country like Vietnam was demoralizing to the American military (Herring 106). The United States also lost confidence in other countries as it was unable to stop the spread of communism (Herring 113). The government also lost confidence from the public as the public did not believe that the government represented their interest (Burstein, Paul, and William 118). The war also led to some constitutional changes such as changing the military draft to voluntary entry to the military, the change of presidential power from imperial to protect another action of the president sending American military troops without consulting the congress (Burstein, Paul, and William 117).

Work Cited

Burstein, Paul, and William Freudenburg. “Changing public policy: The impact of public   opinion, antiwar demonstrations, and war costs on senate voting on Vietnam War                 motions.” American Journal of Sociology 84.1 (1978): 99-122.

Ellis, Sylvia. Britain, America, and the Vietnam War. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004.

Herring, George C. “America, and Vietnam: The Unending War.” Foreign Affairs 70.5 (1991):                 104-119.

Herring, George C., and George C. Herring. America’s longest war: the United States and                        Vietnam, 1950-1975. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1986.

Kaiser, David E. American tragedy: Kennedy, Johnson, and the origins of the Vietnam War.                    Harvard University Press, 2000.

she gave me a D and some comments she’s letting me re do so here’s the (attachment) essay she wrote comments in random places sooo please get me a higher grade ASAP must have: 5pages 5 different sources note: thesis had to be “there are many reasons why America lost the war to Vietnam