Vietnam: The Course of a Conflict

Abstract

The war in Vietnam was the second longest war in United States' history and certainly one of the most contentious. The fighting between the United States and the government of South Vietnam on one side and North Vietnam and the Viet Cong (VC) on the other lasted from the mid-1950s until the mid-1970s and spread into Laos and Cambodia. The genesis of US involvement in Vietnam can be found in the confrontation that developed between East and West following the end of World War II. The United States first became involved in Vietnam in 1950 when it began supporting France in the latters effort to defend its colonial presence in Vietnam. With the emergence of the Cold War, the US turned to a policy of containment to counter what was perceived as the spread of Communism. Support for the French was seen as a way to contain Communism in Southeast Asia. Despite more than $2.6 billion in American military aid, the French were eventually defeated by the communist-dominated Viet Minh. The subsequent Geneva Conference in 1954 resulted in the temporary partition of Vietnam along the 17th Parallel, essentially establishing two Vietnams with Ho Chi Minhs Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) holding sway in the north and the non-communist State of Vietnam in the south under Emperor Bao Dai. This resulted in the next phase of the war in which, for the better part of the next ten years, the US would support the government of Ngo Din Diem, Bao Dais prime minister who succeeded him in 1955 after a questionable national election. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his successor, John F. Kennedy, threw their support behind Diem in the hopes that he and a non-communist Republic of Vietnam would act as a counterweight to the Communist-controlled North. Diems corrupt and unpopular regime was unable to deal with the insurgency that grew in the south after Diem refused to conduct the elections in 1956 that had been called for by the Geneva Accords.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2018
Accession Number
AD1125557

Entities

People

  • James H. Willbanks

Organizations

  • Army University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Biomedical
  • Cyber
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Anti-Aircraft Weapons
  • Artillery
  • Attack Helicopters
  • Boats
  • Combat Areas
  • Combat Forces
  • Combat Operations
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Employment
  • Health Services
  • Law
  • Lessons Learned
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military History
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Recreation
  • Tactical Air Support
  • Vietnam War
  • Warfare
  • Weapons Effects

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Library and Information Science/ Studies, Southeast Asia Studies, Bibliography of Vietnam and Lao Studies.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.