by opposing their colonial aspirations. Furthermore, certain events of the Cold War complicated the American perception of its position within the global order. For instance, in 1949, the Soviet Union conducted a nuclear bomb test which alarmed the American government. Shortly after, Mao Zedong established a communist republic in Vietnam. The “loss of China” to communism led the American leaders to perceive the cold war as even more threatening and demanding an American response. To prevent further communist expansion elsewhere in Asia, the Truman administration Truman sent troops to North Korea in 1950 when communist forces crossed the thirty-eighth parallel. All of these events in Asia, along with the Soviet expansion in eastern Europe after world war II, fueled the American belief that the Soviet Union was trying to expand communism on a global …show more content…
This led the conflict in Indochina to become of greater significance to the U.S. By 1950, the domino theory which held that if one country would fall to communism, its neighboring countries would suffer the same fate, had been accepted amongst American policymakers. The communism containment consensus led the United States to commit itself to helping France preserve its domination over Vietnam. Despite the American assistance, France could not hold down the line in Vietnam and the Viet Minh triumphed. The Geneva accords of 1954 followed a transition from French to American involvement. The Viet Minh and France signed agreed on a cease-fire, ending French domination over Indochina. Furthermore, a temporary division between the Viet Minh-controlled north and the south of Vietnam at the seventeenth parallel was established under the condition of future reunifications through free elections. Washington was unhappy with the outcome of the Geneva conference and did not endorse it. President Eisenhower and pleaded to defend the non-communist government of South Vietnam led by Ngo Dinh