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Communism In Vietnam Research Paper

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Communism is a social, economic, and political ideology. Under a true communist system, all people are to be equal politically, economically, and socially. The people are to own everything communally, from businesses, to food, and beyond. No social classes are to exist under a true communist system, as all people receive the same quality and quantity of possessions as everyone else. The U.S has had a history of fearing communism. After the cold war intensified between the Soviets and Americans, the concern for communism spreading into America grew widespread. The Americans actions cannot be justified because communism was not a serious threat, the Red Scare was merely a concern, and the Domino Theory in Vietnam was not a reliable motivation. …show more content…

The intense rivalry raised concern for the Americans in which they believed the Soviets could threaten their security. During WWII, the Soviets have reportedly carried out espionage activities in America with the help with a few U.S citizens. The spy theories raised a concern for president Truman, resulting in the Loyalty Order, ensuring that the government workers were truly anti-communist (No individuals were found guilty).The second Red Scare, also known as McCarthyism, had another formed organization, the House Un American Committee (HUAC). The HUAC proposed in 1918, but truly peaked in the 1950s once the search for communism was extreme. Joseph McCarthy accused thousands of Americans to be communists and wanted those people checked and rid of. As well as the Loyalty Order, there was nobody found guilty. The Americans also lived with the fear of a nuclear bomb dropping into the U.S. The Soviets scared the Americans enough for them to make many preparations to protect themselves from harmful attacks. It was unreasonable for Americans to fight communism with only fear, communism has never brought itself into the …show more content…

President Eisenhower proposes a Domino Theory, a theory which, when one country becomes communist, the surrounding countries will become communist as well, and spread out to more countries. His theory was the driving force behind joining the war; to fight away communism. America felt as if it was their duty to contain communism in other parts of the world, in order to protect their own. Once more, America acts out with the driving force of fear. America would never have gotten involved if they believed communism would not reach the U.S. Vietnam eventually does become communist, as well as all of Southeast Asia. America has lost the battle, and their reason for joining the war was not strong enough for them to stay.
Overall, it is not justified for America to fight communism because communism is not a huge concern, the Red Scare seemed to brainwash citizens into fear, and the Domino Theory did not affect the U.S. There was no direct threat made, or calling to America to fight away communism. America only acted out upon fear and that driving force was not enough to make up for the lives and time

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Reflection of this conflict was apparent in the American ethos, in which Americans feared that if “world communism captur[ed] any American state…a new and perilous front…will increase the danger to the entire free world and require even greater sacrifices from the American people” (Document B). As illustrated by Eisenhower, “the hysteria” of communism propagating into American society and threatening the American way of life was a very prevalent fear at the forefront of the Cold War (Document A). McCarthyism, a system established by Senator Joseph McCarthy in which he made unsubstantiated accusations of subversion or treason to America, acted as the culmination of this hysteria, directly reflecting the sentiments driving the American people. Eisenhower did not engage in any domestic policies to quell these “multiplicity of fears” (Document A). Instead he compounded them with legislation such as the “National System of Interstate and Defense Highways…connect[ing] 209 of the 247 cities having a population of 50,00 more and [serving as] the country’s principal…defense” (Document D).

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As the Cold War raged on, the United States continued to try and contain the spread of communism. A popular belief during this time was the domino theory, which stated that if a country fell to communism, the surrounding countries would also fall. Therefore, the United States began sending aid to the South Vietnamese in order to resist the communist North. However, this quickly escalated into more and more troops being supplied, and the Vietnam War began to take shape. The Vietnam War would be marked by failure in both military and political leadership, angering the American public at every turn.

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America’s fear of communism stretched beyond the western hemisphere; the Domino Theory became popular in the 1960s as the Vietnam War was increasingly seen as a threat to democracy in Asia. The Domino Theory is the belief that a communist victory in one nation would start a “chain reaction of communist takeovers in neighboring states. ”(Domino Theory) In the Vietnam War, this theory was used as a justification for American involvement. Communism, as understood by the American people, was a threat to peace and liberty.

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For sure, the tensions and conflicts of the United States and the Soviet Union being a communist country led to the Cold War. When Truman became president, he inherited the responsibilities of the depleting alliance with the Sovier Union and the making of the atomic bomb. Stalin who was prime minister of the Soviet Union, his ambitions of how to invade Poland was not to Trumans liking. This was another factor to why the Cold War occured. Other than want you mentioned in your post, what were other reasons for why Truman and the American people opposed communist expansion?

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The most important effect that the Vietnam War had on the rest of the Cold War was called “Vietnam Syndrome”. The Vietnam Syndrome was basically a loss of faith and a defeatist attitude”. The war in Vietnam was very unpopular and after it was done, Americans did not want to start another war and came up with “Vietnam Syndrome”. Before the Vietnam war occurred, the idea America had about Communism was called the “Domino Theory” where if one country would fall, it would take down another country around it. This was called “Containment”.

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The spread of communism had always been an issue in the United States. Once World War II had ended, the United States faced another period of fear about the spread of communism and the fear of over throwing the government. U. S Senator Joseph McCarthy felt that there were communist agents in the government so the Federal Government created a program that required all employees to take loyalty oaths. Alleged communist spies were called forth to give a testimony before a Senate subcommittees. These hearings started to create court dramas that filled the media.

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America entered the Second Indochina War to halt the spread of communism: to stop potential “dominoes” from falling around the world. When the French pulled out of the First Indochina War on July 21, 1954, President Eisenhower feared that the region would fall to communism if there were not a U.S. presence in Vietnam. It was President Lyndon Johnson who sealed America’s fate in Vietnam after the Tonkin Gulf Resolution passed through Congress in August of 1964, giving Johnson the authority to use military force in Southeast Asia without an official declaration of war. For the next ten years, the United States was stuck in Vietnam, fighting on the side of the South Vietnamese against the North Vietnamese and the National Liberation Front (NLF).

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It must also be taken into consideration that Vietnam is a small and quite insignificant country. Even if America did not intervene in Vietnam and simple allowed it to fall to Communism, it would be no threat to the United States. If the United States had been successful and won the Vietnam War, it would make little difference as to the scope and influence of Communism on the rest of the globe. The Vietnam War was a conflict that should never have been fought, as the presence of Communism in Vietnam would have little impact on other countries or the United State’s ability to contain Communism. The failure of the Vietnam war can be measured by the loss of American lives, waste of money, diminishment of morale, as well as the swift fall of South Vietnam after America

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Grace Fullenkamp Ms. Yane AP Lang March 14, 2018 The Korean War The Korean War was not a conflict in which the United States needed to be involved as to its horrific outcome is testament. Yet, in the 1950s, the U.S. thought it was believed that the only way to stop the spread of communism was to fight back against the potential formation of communist governments. When war broke out in Korea, it became a place for the United States to make a statement against communism on a global front joining with South Korea to combat the communist North.

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The American people feared the spread of communism and nuclear war in the aftermath of the Second World War, while President Eisenhower addressed these fears by having strong domestic and foreign policies. The fear of communism carved a deep sense of mistrust in American people. They believed anything that was said and blindly followed people who were in political power without any basis of evidence. The fear of communism created a sense of “hysteria” (Document A) within the general public and even in people in government.

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To what extent did the Red Scare influence American society during the early stage of the cold war? The United States and the Soviet Union had entered the state of the rivalry after the end of World War II; this marked the beginning of the Cold War. When the conflict between the two countries intensified in the late 40s and early 50s, fear and hysteria toward communism rose and became the dominant mindset in the United States. This is the time which was later known as the Second Red Scare.

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Some historians believe the Cold War was inevitable because of the hostilities from both America and the Soviet Union after World War II. America believed that the USSR was an expansionist country trying to spread an evil, communistic idea throughout the world. Although the countries never directly fought against each other, as they only fought in proxy wars, there was still extreme conflict. The United States responded to the Soviets actions in Germany, Europe, and their national actions. These responses were justifiable, or so many Americans at the time believed.

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The United States believed that it was their responsibility to contain Communism. They wanted to stop the spread of communism across the world. They saw that Vietnam as the start of the spread of Communism so it contributed as one of the reasons of going to war. The Domino theory was a theory that if one country in a region falls to Communism that the surrounding countries would fall to communism as well. The U.S. also saw the Domino Theory in Vietnam.

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