Fear of Communism Caused the Vietnam War Essay - 1622 Words

The Vietnam war has been referred to by many names, one of the longer ones was the cornerstone of the free world southeast Asia. It was called that by John F. Kennedy. He was talking about Vietnam being and essential country in a non-communist world. He believed that if Vietnam became a communist country, all of the surrounding countries would also become communists. This is the main reason America was involved in the Vietnam war. Another reason was that America wanted to spread their â€Å"political ideas around the globe†. They wanted to do this so that their anti-communism stance was clear. The public also wanted to keep communism from spreading. To soldiers, the war was like a crusade, a great journey to purge the communists from Vietnam.†¦show more content†¦The public was on board the war train for the first few years of the war, until they found out what it was actually like in Vietnam. Public view of the war immediately changed negatively. When the news reache d the soldiers in Vietnam, reactions were mixed. While they could understand why the people didnt like the prospect of war, they were still killing-even when they didnt want to-for their country. Some soldiers didnt know how to respond. One solder wrote to his mother and told her that for one second he felt as if he was on vacation because it was so beautiful in Vietnam. Another one told his mom â€Å"not to worry, there is nothing I cant handle†. While the soldiers could handle the physical horrors happening to them, it was the mental stuff that was breaking them down. The Vietnam war did not officially start until the 1950s. This is when the U.S. started sending in troops. Before then the French had been trying to conquer what was then called Indochina. They began their conquest in 1859, by 1888 they had turned the area that is now called Vietnam and Cambodia into the Colony of French Indochina. This was challenged many times by different uprisings but none worked as well as the Viet Minh common front( this was controlled by the Vietnamese communist party). During WWII the French were defeated by the Germans. This severely weakened their authority in Vietnam. In 1940 the Japanese invaded andShow MoreRelatedThe Cause For The Vietnam War1442 Words   |  6 PagesAmong the causes for the Vietnam War are the Western fear of communism, the remnants of nineteenth-century colonialism, and tensions caused by World War Two and the Cold War, but these causes could easily have been circumvented and the Vietnam War prevented. As is often the case with wars, one of the most influential factors in the causation of the Vietnam War was fear, especially fear of communism and social upheaval. 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