While the United States was nervous of Communism consuming the entire globe. President Eisenhower believed in the “domino effect”, meaning that if you fight and succeed in stopping communism in one country others are sure to rise, stand and follow suit. China became a communist country in 1949, therefore, the United States forked out 2 billion dollars to support anti-communism. The Truman Doctrine was written and put in to effect stating that the United States would do any and everything in its power to put an end to communism spreading to any further country. Following a victory over a battle with the French, North Vietnam in 1954, set ways into communism and in turn proceeded to try and reign over the now divided Southern Vietnam.
Many people ask the question, “Why did the U.S. even care about the Vietnam conflict, let alone fight a war there?” One Reason for U.S. involvement in the Vietnam conflict was that the U.S. feared the Domino Theory. The Domino Theory is where if one state falls to communism, then all the other states around it will fall into communism too. Because the U.S. feared this, they responded with containment. Containment means to keep communism from spreading to other countries. Another reason for U.S. involvement is imperialism, which was left over from WWI and WWII.
America’s involvement in the Vietnam War was projected onto the US citizens as one that should almost be laughed about, because according to the US military, Vietnam was just a poor, unsophisticated third world nation whereas America was viewed as an incredibly wealthy superpower. Before things became apparent among the US citizens, no one really questioned the participation in the War, it was perceived as some patriotic venture. Protests seemed to spark in October 1956, where the American state had increased the amount soldiers being drafted. The draft had forced numerous amounts of young, poor men to represent and fight for America. At the beginning of the year America had drafted approximately three thousand soldiers per month, however that
But after the announcement it rose to 49.7%, an increase of almost ten percent!17 It is clear that the Nixon administration wished for the visit to China to affect the voting preferences of the American people and to make them see their President in a new light. Communists cannot be trusted. They have never been truthful. Why should they be truthful now? What would they gain by having the United States of America as an ally?
Anchors and reporters quickly became trusted, household names because the public turned to them every night for the day's information about the war. Walter Cronkite was even referred to as the "most trusted man in America" throughout the war ( Hallin, 1986, p.106). Even though the American viewers thought the images they were viewing were accurate accounts of the Vietnam War, they were actually watching, were edited thirty-minute versions of an extremely complex war. The most damaging statement came from the "most trusted man in America", Walter Cronkite. In a CBS special, Cronkite concluded, "To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past, to say we are mired in a bloody stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory conclusion" ( Hallin, 1986, p.170) This did not help increase the support for our troops in Vietnam.
They feared that communism would spread and become popular in the US. Their greatest fear of all was that the Americans themselves would become communists. The US didn't like Castro for two reasons. First, Castro's relationship with Nikita Khrushchev was very positive which the Americans did not like. Second, Castro was a charismatic communist and the US government feared that communism would spread.
But one of the hardest battle’s for the US was to keep their own countries support. In this essay I will be exploring the main factors of the Vietnam war between 1960-1975, looking at how they changed before, during and after ORT. Before ORT took place the aims of the US Government were to stop communist taking over South Vietnam (SV). As they feared that the Domino Theory would affect countries who were still capitalist. The rise in communist countries was increasing as other countries close to each other would follow the same route as nearby countries.
Erick Romero 10/19/14 2A Explain the origin(s) of the Chinese Civil War, and to what extent was the Communist victory due to the use of guerrilla warfare In the early 20th century, China ran into political turmoil. With the revolution in 1911, in which the last dynasty, the Manchu dynasty was overthrown. The new Republic failed to set hold on China and warlord era would start. But China continued to be oppressed by many foreign powers because it lacked a strong central government. The Chinese Civil War was caused by two opposed political parties, the communists and the nationalists, to see who would be able to restore order and regain central power over China to bring it back to its glory.
Millions of men and women entered military service and saw parts of the world they would likely never have seen otherwise. The labor demands of war industries caused millions more Americans to move--largely to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts where most defense plants located. When World War II ended, the United States was in better economic condition than any other country in the world. Even the 300,000 combat deaths suffered by Americans paled in comparison to any other major belligerent. Building on the economic base left after the war, American society became more affluent in the postwar years than most Americans could have imagined in their wildest dreams before or during the war.
Harpers weekly circulated over 200,000 copies by wars end. It was one of the more neutral media outlets. Its popularity had traditionally been supported by the south, but the paper supported Lincoln and the Union. It reported with disinterest and many southern readers continued to read it, despite it’s loyalty with the north. This is partially due to writers and artists that were employed.