Vietnam+before+the+war

Before the second world war, France was in control of Vietnam. During WWII, the Japanese took control over the area of Indochina. At the end of the war, Vietnamese Nationalists, who wanted an independent Vietnam, fought the Japanese and gained control of Vietnam. The Japanese retreated and ended their conflict in 1945 with the Nationalists. Once the Japanese pulled out, the leader, Ho Chi Minh, and the nationalists declared Vietnam an independent republic. Now, in the 1950's, France wanted the control of Vietnam back. In order to help the French gain colonial power in Vietnam, President Truman miltary advisors to aid the French fighting. Vietnam defeated the French and their aids in 1954 just like they defeated the Japanese. The "Peace Talks", with the countries of United States, China, Soviet Union, France, and Vietnam, ended with the North: communist and ruled by Ho Chi Minh, and the South:supported by the United States and opposing Ho Chi Minh. In July 1954, the World Powers decided it was best for Vietnam to split into two along the 17th parallel. There was supposed to be an election, also decided by the world powers, in 1956 to decide the ruler of the whole country, but it never happened.

North Vietnam was supplied by communist China. Trained guerrillas were sent to the South to spread communism by the Viet Minh. After not having the election in 1956, the North became more combatant and attacked much more. They became known as the Viet Cong. The Viet Cong used the Ho Chi Minh Trail to be tactical and sneaky since it was a heavy jungle area. The populations of both the South and the North at this time were equally 16 million. The ruler of the South was Ngo Dinh Diem. He was completely against communism, that is how they got the support of the United States. The creation of the Domino Theory, by John Foster Dulles(America's Secretary of State), was the theory that if one area got infected by communism, the others around it would fall to communism also. With these fears, America sent "Special Advisors" to train the South Vietnamese Army to fight the Vietcong. By 1963, the amount of "Special Advisers" was up to 16,000. In 1962, it was realized that over 75% of the South Vietnamese peasants were supporters of the Vietcong. Ruler of the South, Diem, thought this to not be acceptable. He decided to send whole villlages into fortified villages(defended camps) to "save" the peasants from the Vietcong. This idea backfired. Instead of the peasants being thankful for protection, they were resistant to being moved off their land. The Vietcong then told the peasants that when they took control of the South, they would give them more land. In 1963, the South Vietnamese Army overthrew Diem and killed him.

In international waters in August 1964, two American destroyer boats were fired on by gunboats of the North Vietnamese. The Senate gave the power to President Johnson that if any country was to ask for help to defend their freedom, Johnson could give armed support to them. This caused Johnson to get war time powers that allowed him to declare war without consent from Congress. The first American ground troops were sent into South Vietnam in March of '65. There were 150,000 troops in the country in December 1965.

media type="youtube" key="u74Mi8s-uTs" height="364" width="445"[|Bruce Springsteen Video Link] Throughout the whole war U.S. citizens protested. Many college students participated in these. Lots of these were protests were centered around music. Even some artists made songs that specifically protested the Vietnam War just like the video I have above. Bruce Springsteen was the artist of this protest song called "Born in the U.S.A.".