Long Term Causes
Factor 1 Long Term: American "Containment"
Primary Sources to Prove Point:
1. John F. Kennedy "Now we have a problem in making our power credible, and Vietnam is the place."
2. George F. Kennan, US ambassador in Moscow, wrote in the Long Telegram that the USSR was "Impervious to the logic of reason, but highly sensitive to the logic of force".
Facts to prove point:
1. By 1963, the US was supposed to be allowed 685 "military advisors" in Vietnam, but they had 16,000.
Factor 2 Long Term: Ineffectiveness of Ngo Dinh Diem + Assassination of Diem
1. Within the first year of taking power in Vietnam, he ran the "denounce the communist campaign" embarking on a quest to prosecute all communists (american influence much).
2. He was a roman catholic, a minority group in a country that was mainly buddhist. His prosecution of the buddhists and political estimated to have killed 12,000 and jailed 40,000 political opponents.
3. In order to try and increase his popularity, the Americans suggested to diem that he hold a "popularity" vote. This vote turned into an utter farce when there was a 98% approval voting of Diem, with a 133% voter turnout in Saigon. Apparently, Diem had managed to summon the dead to come and vote.
Thus, on the 2nd of November, 1963, Diem was assassinated by members of his own army in the south Vietnamese ARVN ( army of the republic of Vietnam). The CIA agent lucien conein is alleged to have paid the ARVN a sum of 40,000 to carry out this deed.
Primary Source/Historiography to prove point:
1. Ho Chi Minh said of Diem's assassination "I can scarcely believe the Americans would be so stupid". This is because in effect, the Americans had wiped their last remote foothold in Vietnam and any further intervention would have to be direct intervention.
Factor 3 Long Term: Determination of Ho Chi Minh
1. Historian Fredrik Logevall said of Ho chi Minh after the Geneva Accords,
"The vision that had always driven him on, of a "great union" of all of Vietnam, had flickered into view for a fleeting moment in 1945-1946, Then had been lost in teh subsequent war. Now, despite vanquishing the french military, the dream remained unrealised..."
2. Ho Chi Minh said this of his soldiers "You can kill 10 of my men for every one I kill of yours, but even at these odds, you will lose and I will win."
Fact to prove point:
1. In January of 1960, the Viet Cong was established in South Vietnam. In January 1960, there were 180 attacks carried out on the government by the Viet Cong and by September 1980, these attacks had risen to 545. This was a clear demonstration of Ho Chi Minh's intent, to be stoked up until the United States could not resist anymore.
Short Term Factor: The Gulf of Tonkin Incident
On the 2nd of August 1964, it is alleged that North Vietnamese ships sunk the USS maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin, followed by the USS turner joy on the 4th of August. The Americans used this as an excuse to pass the gulf of tonkin resolution. This gave president Lyndon B Johnson the right to carry out military activities as he saw fit in North Vietnam without ever declaring war and this was to be the start of the Vietnam war.
Facts to Prove Point:
1. By march of 1964, there are 82,000 combat troops in Vietnam
2. By July of 1964, General William Westmoreland calls for 195,000 more troops and receives another 100,000.
SO, we have come to the conclusion of why the Vietnam war started. Once again, remember, SHORT TERM first. Then, you can organise according to which factors you find most significant. Pro tip, there's a lot of historiography available for this particular section of Vietnam and when being used, remember to assess the merit of the historiography. Secondly, there's a lot of statistics for Vietnam. REMEMBER to discuss the reliability of the statistics with a little bit of nuance. The following example is one that will for sure get you high marks. You may use it when statistics seem too low or high:
"We must also assess the reliability of such a statistic as it seems unreasonably high and comes from a biased source. However, even accounting for inflation/deflation, the magnitude of the number suggests..."
Factor 1 Long Term: American "Containment"
- The United States post WWII was embroiled in the cold war with the USSR. Therefore, all notions of communism presented themselves as hostiles, threatening the "freedom" and "liberty" the Americans so highly treasured. Therefore, their policy of "containment" (to contain communism) was one of the largest factors in their involvement in the war. It was a dogma that was poorly informed by the concept of domino theory (the theory that if one nation fell to communism the neighbouring regions would also be susceptible to communist revolution). Therefore, believing that the rise of "communism" and the involvement of the Russians was a threat, the Americans acted as if Vietnam was to be a proxy war in the cold war and got involved.
Primary Sources to Prove Point:
1. John F. Kennedy "Now we have a problem in making our power credible, and Vietnam is the place."
2. George F. Kennan, US ambassador in Moscow, wrote in the Long Telegram that the USSR was "Impervious to the logic of reason, but highly sensitive to the logic of force".
Facts to prove point:
1. By 1963, the US was supposed to be allowed 685 "military advisors" in Vietnam, but they had 16,000.
Factor 2 Long Term: Ineffectiveness of Ngo Dinh Diem + Assassination of Diem
- At the first, the United States believed that they could "contain" the situation in Vietnam through the installation of an American puppet. This puppet was to be Ngo Dinh Diem, who was the leader of South Vietnam and given power through a coup organised by the CIA. However, his ineffectiveness started to take its toll on the americans and led to his eventual assassination.
1. Within the first year of taking power in Vietnam, he ran the "denounce the communist campaign" embarking on a quest to prosecute all communists (american influence much).
2. He was a roman catholic, a minority group in a country that was mainly buddhist. His prosecution of the buddhists and political estimated to have killed 12,000 and jailed 40,000 political opponents.
3. In order to try and increase his popularity, the Americans suggested to diem that he hold a "popularity" vote. This vote turned into an utter farce when there was a 98% approval voting of Diem, with a 133% voter turnout in Saigon. Apparently, Diem had managed to summon the dead to come and vote.
Thus, on the 2nd of November, 1963, Diem was assassinated by members of his own army in the south Vietnamese ARVN ( army of the republic of Vietnam). The CIA agent lucien conein is alleged to have paid the ARVN a sum of 40,000 to carry out this deed.
Primary Source/Historiography to prove point:
1. Ho Chi Minh said of Diem's assassination "I can scarcely believe the Americans would be so stupid". This is because in effect, the Americans had wiped their last remote foothold in Vietnam and any further intervention would have to be direct intervention.
Factor 3 Long Term: Determination of Ho Chi Minh
- After the Geneva accords in 1954, Ho chi minh was left greatly dissatisfied that Vietnam was still not one united republic. It was such embitterment and dissatisfaction with the accords, combined with a vision for Vietnam to be united that led to the war.
1. Historian Fredrik Logevall said of Ho chi Minh after the Geneva Accords,
"The vision that had always driven him on, of a "great union" of all of Vietnam, had flickered into view for a fleeting moment in 1945-1946, Then had been lost in teh subsequent war. Now, despite vanquishing the french military, the dream remained unrealised..."
2. Ho Chi Minh said this of his soldiers "You can kill 10 of my men for every one I kill of yours, but even at these odds, you will lose and I will win."
Fact to prove point:
1. In January of 1960, the Viet Cong was established in South Vietnam. In January 1960, there were 180 attacks carried out on the government by the Viet Cong and by September 1980, these attacks had risen to 545. This was a clear demonstration of Ho Chi Minh's intent, to be stoked up until the United States could not resist anymore.
Short Term Factor: The Gulf of Tonkin Incident
On the 2nd of August 1964, it is alleged that North Vietnamese ships sunk the USS maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin, followed by the USS turner joy on the 4th of August. The Americans used this as an excuse to pass the gulf of tonkin resolution. This gave president Lyndon B Johnson the right to carry out military activities as he saw fit in North Vietnam without ever declaring war and this was to be the start of the Vietnam war.
Facts to Prove Point:
1. By march of 1964, there are 82,000 combat troops in Vietnam
2. By July of 1964, General William Westmoreland calls for 195,000 more troops and receives another 100,000.
SO, we have come to the conclusion of why the Vietnam war started. Once again, remember, SHORT TERM first. Then, you can organise according to which factors you find most significant. Pro tip, there's a lot of historiography available for this particular section of Vietnam and when being used, remember to assess the merit of the historiography. Secondly, there's a lot of statistics for Vietnam. REMEMBER to discuss the reliability of the statistics with a little bit of nuance. The following example is one that will for sure get you high marks. You may use it when statistics seem too low or high:
"We must also assess the reliability of such a statistic as it seems unreasonably high and comes from a biased source. However, even accounting for inflation/deflation, the magnitude of the number suggests..."