There are countless reasons on why nations go into war; however, one thing is certain, war influences how societies develop. War and conflicts are moments of rupture that open the possibility for change. Between the Civil War and the present the United States has fought numerous wars for its own benefit, or to help its allies. Some of the wars that promoted the rupture for change in the American society were the War of 1898, World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War. The United States entered these Wars for various reasons, for instance, the safety of citizens, equality, to show to the world the powerful nation America had become, and to keep democracy alive. Many of the events that occurred during these wars shaped the actions that influenced the society the United …show more content…
American’s fear of the domino theory led “the Truman administration [to] expand its assistance to the French” during the Vietnamese Civil War in 1950s and 1960s (Suri 2005). The domino theory “held that a communist victory in one nation would quickly lead to a chain reaction of communist takeovers in neighboring states (History.com Staff 2009).” The Vietnamese War caused a shift on how American politics were viewed around the world and how they were viewed nationally. As the war continued American politicians kept putting military force in Vietnam causing thousands of Americans to die and millions of Vietnamese to die. Once Richard Nixon became president the trust American’s had in the federal government declined. With scandals such as the My Lai execution and the Watergate scandal led American’s to wonder if they had become the enemies themselves. American’s grew tired of the war and by 1975 Vietnam was out run by North Vietnam. Compared to previous wars America did not benefit from the Vietnamese War. America lost credibility and was not viewed as a strong political power