What is the history of the war in Vietnam?

Answer 1

This is a complecated question to answer. But the history of colonialism should help. The French colonised Annam and Cochin-china by force long before the American's were involved. The "nominal" administrators of Vietnam at that time were the manderin Chinese who had invaded the country long before and were Annamese-Chinese but still seen by the peasants as being Chinese and not part of the "true" Annamese people. A group of Annamese people in the north of the country began a mini revolution in the 1920s and 1930s to try and get France to leave. These revolutions were partly successful but untimately failed to gain popular support and so failed. During WWII Japan invaded French Indochina (as the are was called) and took over the power position from the French who were allowed to administer the country on behalf of the Japanese. Both countries were brutal to the people they ruled and over two million Annamese died due to famine caused by not having enough rice to eat. Rice and latex were shipped to France firstly and then to Japan with more rice being required from the peasants even as they were starving to death. During this time Ho Chi Mihn and the revolutionaries he led were working for the USA as spies in Vietnam and were given weapons and supplies to help fight against the Japanese in a resistance movement.

After the US dropped the two atomic weapons on Japan they were forced to surrender and the French took over control again. The revolutionaries tried to gain US support to kick the French out but Truman was more concerned with post war Europe and denied aid to remain friends with France.

The French ultimately left the country after the stunning defeat of Dien Bien Phu in north western Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh became the ruler of Northern Vietnam (he changed the name from Annam [which means pacified south] to the historic name of Vietnam). This is when the Americans entered the scene.

Entering first during the 1950s as "advisors" to the sourth vietnamese government that was still controlled by the manderins and a nominal French presence. Soon after the Americans came ovr the French bailed and left them to it. Because Ho Chi Minh had studied under the communists in the Soviet Union and because of the percieved "spread of communism" and the MacCarthy era the US decided that they could not allow Vietnam to become a free independent country and so backed the manderin government in the south who had only the support of the remaining Frnech colons and the rich Vietnamese. The peasants of the whole of Vietnam were behind the government of Ho Chi Mihn in the North.

Ultimately the tenacity of the Vietnamese people coupled with their strong desire to finally be free of occupation aftr 500 years won them the war and control of the whole country.

As for the Vietnam War itself. The USA never had control of the south and like the French before them were forced to stay in fortified camps and in the major cities. They ultimately turned to terror tactics and began carpet bombing (which is today considered a war crime because it targets civilians also) and actually dropped more bombs on North Vietname during a single year than the entire number of bombs dropped during all of WWII combined! Both sides in the war were babaric and tortured captured prisoners and committed atrocities such as murder, rape and the destruction of whole villages.

Was it immoral for the USA to enter a war of independance on the side of the oppressors? Only you the individual can say.

A more complete history can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_war although the coverage there is considered biased to the American viewpoint.

A truly great novel that is considered by most scholars to be VERY accurate is "Siagon" by Anthony Grey. It outlines the entire history of Vietnam from the days of the French until the last Air America helicopter lifted off of the roof of the CIA hostel in Siagon (the very recognized photo of the helicopter on top of the building was not a marine chopper on the embassy but an Air America (read CIA) chopper on top of the apartment buidling used by the CIA).