The war in Vietnam was part of cold war that existed between countries that had different governmental organizations. The theme of the assignment is to evaluate what were the causes of the conflicts that led to the Vietnamese war. The assignment evaluates who were the participants in the war, what were the causes, what were the results of the war and who won and lost in the war. The assignment is related to the themes in our syllabus in that the syllabus addresses issues relating to conflicts. It intends to evaluate the causes of conflicts, how they can be solved and the effects of these conflicts. The Vietnamese war which is the topic of the essay is a kind of conflict that has ever occurred in the history of the world and therefore is an important event that can be helpful in understanding the themes of the syllabus that is to be covered in the years’ course.
The topic is the war in Vietnam. The themes of essay is to show the causes of the conflict, the parties that were involved in the war, their contributions to the war, how the conflict was solved and how the citizens in a country can influence the relations between countries hence determine the direction of a conflict(Werner, 124). The research will evaluate whether the conflict was solved in the best manner.
The major cause of the Vietnam War was the differences in the social organizations of the governments. During the time, cold war was on and the two super powers were trying to expand their ideologies in all parts of the world. United States wanted to make Vietnam part of the united states by spreading the capitalism ideology. On the other hand, the Russian government wanted to spread communism in the world.
What happened is that the Russian allies supported the Vietnamese in the process of acquiring their independence. Vietnam was under the colony of the French and the Japanese. When the Vietnamese fought for their independence, the French were unwilling to leave the country. Therefore war broke out and Russian allies came to support the locals and at the same time spread their communism ideology. The Russians sought support from the United States in fighting against the French in Vietnam. Since the United States was propagating the capitalism ideology which contradicted the Russian ideology, they were unwilling to offer any support to the Russians. Instead, they offered financial support to the French government. The aims were to ensure that the new Vietnamese government adopted the capitalism ideology instead of communism.
Many of the United States citizens were against the decisions of their government. Vietnam was their neighbor and needed independence. Many leaders from the American government were also not in support of the war. Lack of public support was a major drawback to the American government and this is what caused its defeat in the war. The Russians and their allies won the war and therefore Vietnam got its independence. The new country ended up adopting the communist ideology (Wells, 93).
The London times article describes the event in a greater detail. It evaluates the effects that the political decisions made by leaders of a country have on the lives of the people. The United States just feared the spread of communism and this is why it decided to assist the French. It shows how political decisions can destruct the peace in a country. The decision by the political system in the United States led to death of many American soldiers and considering the fact that the war was not reasonable. The American citizens had no peace since they were aware that the Russians would attack them any time due to its involvement in the war. They were aware that this would lead to mass destruction in their country.( Martin, 9) The article is very important in our course in that it helps to know what causes conflict and its effects. The article also gives alternative method that could have been used to solve the conflict. The article is important in helping an individual to greater understand the conflicts that were present during the cold war.
The effects of the war were great. Many people died as a result of the war. This included the American and Russian soldiers. The French and the Vietnamese locals also died as a result of the war. The other result was that communism ideology gained more fame in Vietnam and the relations between the United States and Vietnam deteriorated. However, the benefits were that the locals in Vietnam gained their independence and therefore were able to undertake their daily activities without much interference from the colonialists.
The resources in a certain countries can cause conflicts between countries. The French intended to exploit the Vietnamese resources with the assistance of United States. This is what caused the conflicts that led to the war that occurred in Vietnam. Each party to the conflict sought some assistance from the superpowers that existed then. This made the situation even worse.
I have learnt also that the superpowers were the main facilitators of the wars. The decisions of the superpowers sometimes are a cause of the conflicts that can be witnessed in modern society. This can be witnesses in the Vietnam War event (Wells, 71).
I have also learnt that the people in a country can play a great role in determining the course of the conflict. Therefore it is true to argue that even though the leaders of a country facilitate a conflict, the public plays the greatest role. This can be observed in that when the United States failed to get the support of the public, it did not succeed in its activities. This shows that the public succeeded in ensuring that its leaders did not propagate something that they did not wish even though the war actually occurred and many people died.
In my opinion, the people of the United States played their role in trying to avoid the conflict that their leaders wanted to initiate. Therefore the people in each country should exercise their roles in trying to stop any conflict that may be foreseen in their country. This is considering the many negative effects of the war. The public should therefore play their role in ensuring that there are good relations between their country and their neighbors. They should not blindly follow the decisions made by their leaders.
It is also my opinion that the actions of the United States were unreasonable considering the fact that the states were also once under colony. The conflict would be less if the United States helped Russia. It was reasonable that Vietnamese should have been supported to achieve their independence (Wiest, 56). The French had no right of being in the Vietnamese land. Therefore the superpowers should have helped the country to secure its independence regardless of their different ideologies. United States was therefore the major cause of the conflict in that if it supported Russia without considering its ideological differences, the French would leave the country peacefully and therefore the deaths that were witnessed during the war would not have been witnessed.
The war could be solved in a manner that would not lead to the deaths that were witnessed in the war. Methods such as negotiation could be better. Even if some other methods were applied in trying to solve the conflict, they failed. In my opinion, even though war is a way of dealing with conflicts, methods that do not lead to loss of lives are the best and therefore should be used (Wiest, 70).
The articles from the library have helped me understand the event better. I am now aware of the causes of the conflict that led to the war. I am also now aware of the parties that were involved in the conflict and the effects that the war had on the involved parties and the local people. The articles have also enabled me know how the different ideologies that were being propagated by the different superpowers played a role in facilitating the war (Hallin, 87).
The event is very educative in that it helps individuals to understand how conflicts may arise in our modern society. One is able to understand the effects that conflict between countries may cause. The methods that can be used to solve conflicts can be learnt from the articles describing the event. The role of the members of the public in avoiding the effects of conflicts can be learnt from the article (Young, 91). Therefore an individual is able to see how the theory that is learnt in class can be applied in the real world situation. The articles actually help individuals to better understand the concepts that are in our current syllabus.
I can therefore conclude that the topic is very important for me and other learners in the course in that it greatly describes various issues that relates to conflicts and relations between countries which are major themes in our course. Specifically, individuals are able to learn the causes of conflicts, their effects, the various methods that can be used to solve them and the best method that can be adopted to solve the conflict.
Works cited.
Werner, Jayne S, and Luu D. Huynh. The Vietnam War: Vietnamese and American Perspectives. Armonk (N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 1993. Print.
Hallin, Daniel C. The "uncensored War": The Media and Vietnam. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Print.
Wiest, Andrew A. The Vietnam War, 1956-1975. New York: Rosen Pub, 2009. Print.
Wells, Tom, and Todd Gitlin. The War Within: America's Battle Over Vietnam. Lincoln, NE: IUniverse, 2005. Print.
Young, Marilyn B. The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990. New York: HarperPerennial, 1991. Print.
Martin Sulivan. III Vietnam war and peace. Times of London 26 January 1970; 9 print.
