Written by: Diya Bajracharya - 23021, Grade XI
Posted on: 09 March, 2022
The Vietnam War commonly known as the Second Indochina War lasted from November 1, 1955, until April 30, 1975, in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. It was officially fought between North and South Vietnam and was the second of the Indochina Wars. The Soviet Union, China, and other communist allies backed North Vietnam, while the US and other anti-communist allies backed South Vietnam. The fight, which was considered a Cold War-era proxy war and involved the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War, lasted over 20 years, with direct US participation ending in 1973, and finished with all three nations becoming communist republics in 1975.
The Vietnam War was a long, difficult, and controversial battle that pitted North Vietnam's communist government against South Vietnam and its main ally, the US. The ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union worsened the situation. The Vietnam War killed a total of approximately 3 million people, including over 58,000 Americans, with Vietnamese civilians accounting for more than half of those murdered. Even after President Richard Nixon signed the Paris Peace Accords and ordered the evacuation of US soldiers in 1973, opposition to the war in the United States remained fierce. In 1975, communist troops took control of South Vietnam, and the nation was reunified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam the following year.
The causes of the Vietnam War were taken from the Cold War's symptoms, components, and outcomes. The Vietnam War was triggered by America's simplistic notion that communism was on the verge of spreading throughout Southeast Asia. Because of their nuclear military capability, neither the Soviet Union nor the United States could risk an all-out war against one other. When it was convenient for them, they had client states that could continue the war on their behalf. Because the Americans actually fought in Vietnam, the USSR was unable to participate in the Cold War's 'game.' However, in order to help the Communist cause, the Soviet Union armed China, which in turn supplied and equipped the North Vietnamese against the Americans.
The prime motive for the United States' involvement in Vietnam was to prevent communism from spreading throughout the world. Since the beginning of the Cold War, the United States has adopted a strategy of containment in order to prevent communism from spreading over the globe. Since American President Harry S. Truman argued that the United States should actively support the containment of Soviet Communism in the years after World War II, this containment policy is known as the Truman Doctrine. The Domino Theory is frequently used to explain the reasons for America's engagement in the Vietnam War.
In general, several causes of the Vietnam War have been suggested by historians, including the growth of communism during the Cold War, American containment, and European imperialism in Vietnam.
