Vietnam+-+Path

= Causes of Vietnam =

Vietnam was a French Colony for hundreds of years until the mid 1900's. Vietnam had never liked the rule of the French government. In 1930, a man named Ho Chi Minh, a revolutionary leader, brought together three Communist groups to from the Indochinese Communist Party. This new party wanted an independent Vietnam controlled by the Vietnamese people. In response to this Vietnam revolt, the French arrested and killed many of the Communist leaders in the Indochinese party. During World War ll, Japan took over Indochina. One year later, Ho Chi Minh returned to Vietnam and hid in a jungle camp. SInce Japan was an enemy of America, the U.S. helped Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh in their fight against Japan. When the Japanese surrendered to the Allies, Ho Chi Minh declared the Vietnam was now an independent country. In response to this, France tried to regain control of Vietnam. In 1946, a war started between Vietnam and France.

During this war between France and Vietnam, the U.S. had trouble with the Soviet Union in the Cold War. IN 1949, Communists turned China into a communist country. This lead to Truman worrying about the spread of communism. In response to this, France asked the U.S. to help them fight against the Viet Minh, and the United States agreed in 1950. The United States helped the French by giving them money to put towards the war. But, even with the U.S's support, the French could not hold off the Viet Minh. In 1954, Vietnam and France met for a peace talk and the two sides agreed to divide Vietnam into North and South Vietnam. However, the split was meant to be temporary and the two sides decided to have elections for a single government in 1956. Ngo Dinh Diem was an anti-Communist who became prime minister and later on president of South Vietnam. Although Diem had the United States's help, Diem could not establish a democratic government in South Vietnam. Instead, his government was corrupt. The Viet COng was a group of SOut Vietnam communists that fought to overthrow the government. The Viet Cong was aided by North Vietnam. The Viet Cong were close to victory by 1963, when Kennedy was in the White House. In 1963, Diem was overthrown and killed. Kennedy was then assiassinated three weeks later. As a result of this, Lyndon Jonson became president.

The assassiniation of President Diem brought upon utter chaos to South Vietnam. As a result, Lyndon Johnson increased his efforts towards Vietnam. In 1965, Johnson's military advisers decided to make plans to bomb North Vietnam. But, before a bombing took place, the president needed approval from congress. Although, this approval would not be very hard because of a few North Vietnamese attacks in the Gulf of Tonkin on the Maddox, a U.S. destroyer. In 1965, the united states bomed North Vietnam and sent in combat troops. Ho Chi Minh