The United States in Vietnam
In the year 1961, South Vietnam signed a treaty with the United States in regards to military and economic aid. Post the treaty, the U.S support troops arrived in Vietnam and formed the U.S. Military Assistance Command. After the execution of Diem for his corrupted and ineffective government, on 7th August 1964 the U.S Senate passed the Tonkin Gulf resolution through the then President Lyndon B. Johnson to increase the U.S military aid in South Vietnam. In 1965, the military troops of the United States started air-raids on North Vietnam and the Communist controlled regions of the South. By the year 1966, the United States deployed around 190,000 military troops in South Vietnam. On the other hand, the Soviet Union and other communist countries provided technical assistance and armaments to North Vietnam to resist the forces of the South. Despite the presence of 550,000 U.S military troops and stable political environment in South Vietnam, the President Nguyen Van Thieu with the support of the U.S military troops failed to defeat the North Vietnamese forces and the Viet Cong. Discredited by the Tet offensive of the North Vietnamese army and the Viet Cong, the U.S military troops involved in the attacks on more than 100 towns and cities in South Vietnam.
The United States lost the war to Vietnam on many fronts. The U.S faced domestic hostility to war along with a powerful anti-war movement and a growing concern for the economy. The military troops of the United States failed to pursue the war as the methods they followed proved to be ineffective. Also, the general collapse in morale was a major factor that led to the defeat of the United States. By supporting a country like Vietnam, which was in a terrible need for political and social reform, the increase of U.S troops in the country had no popular legitimacy. In suppression of the political alternatives the United States forced the people of Vietnam towards the VC. Another factor that led to the loss of the war was the negligence of the United States regarding the power of land in Vietnam. The U.S crusade disregarded the material antagonisms acting upon the people of Vietnam themselves. Hence, the inability of the United States to win a political victory forced the country into an unwinnable war of attrition against Vietnam.
After the end of the war, the victorious communist troops returned home to participate in the rebuilding of the nation. On the other hand, the people of South Vietnam suffered isolation and separation from their families. The communist government of Vietnam prohibited the war heroes with the fear that they might take on increased power through their increased value. It sent the veterans to reeducation camps in rural areas. For the next two decades after the war, the government ignored the Vietnamese veterans, including women. It was only at the end of the 20th century that the government honored the Vietnamese war soldiers who fought as front-line soldiers. Post war, Vietnam transformed into a socialist state, which abolished private ownership through reorganization of agricultural land along collective principles. The new economic reforms in Vietnam, accompanied by political reforms focused on the development and living standards of the people in the country. Vietnam turned out to be a capitalist and market-oriented economy, though controlled by socialist reforms.
Works Cited
Cavendish, Marshall. The Vietnam War: After The War. Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1989.
Kissinger, Henry. Ending the Vietnam War: A History of America's Involvement in and Extrication from the Vietnam War. Simon and Schuster, 2003.
Lawrence, Mark Atwood. The Vietnam War: A Concise International History. Oxford University Press, 2010.
