Argues that the Vietnam War was a result of France’s inability to suppress the nationalist movement in Indochina.
In 1954, France was ousted from Indochina after a communist-dominated revolutionary movement led by Ho Chi Minh frustrated the French attempts to maintain their presence there. As a result, Vietnam was divided in two. This paper argues that the involvement of the United States in Vietnam was a result of the desire to contain communism and to contain China after its intervention against the United Nations in Korea.
South Vietnam faced a major communist threat consisting of an internal communist led military insurgency within its borders and the military of the North Vietnam across its borders. United States engaged in a major military conflict in Asia in order to prop up the government of South Vietnam against communist threats. Major action started after there were limited attacks on American warships visiting Vietnam, carried out by the North Vietnamese.