The Vietnam War: A Conflict between the United States and North Vietnam, Guide, Progetti e Ricerche di Storia Delle Relazioni Internazionali

Scarica The Vietnam War: A Conflict between the United States and North Vietnam e più Guide, Progetti e Ricerche in PDF di Storia Delle Relazioni Internazionali solo su Docsity! Marta Bedont 2021 November 10 Vietnam War Abstract The Vietnam War, also known as the Resistance War against the United States, was an armed conflict fought in Vietnam between November 1, 1955 (the date of the construction of the pro-communist National Liberation Front) and April 30, 1975 (with the fall of Saigon). The conflict, which began in the mid-1950s with the first outbreak of terrorist and guerrilla activity in opposition to the South Vietnamese government, saw the direct involvement of the United States of America, which progressively increased their military forces in aid of the South Vietnamese government with a peak in 1969 of 550,000 soldiers. Despite this, the United States government failed to achieve a political-military victory, but suffered substantial losses, eventually abandoning the South Vietnamese government in 1973. In support of US forces, contingents from South Korea, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines also participated in the conflict. China and the Soviet Union supported North Vietnam and Viet Cong forces. The Vietnam War not only affected the country's territory, but also involved Laos and Cambodia. The war ended on April 30, 1975, with the fall of Saigon. This episode represented the first real political-military defeat in the history of the United States. Historical context At the end of World War II, France, with the aim of regaining possession of the old colonial territories after the Japanese occupation, began the Indochina War The French, however, encountered the harsh resistance of the Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh, closely linked to the communist powers of China and the Soviet Union. Despite the support of the President of the United States who tried to contain the Communist threat, the Indochina War ended with a defeat of France. At the end of the conflict, the United States, China, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom discussed the Indo-Chinese question at the Geneva Peace Conference, which concluded on 21 July 1954 with the following verdict: the Indo-Chinese peninsula was divided into the four independent states of Laos, Cambodia, North Vietnam and South Vietnam. In North Vietnam, a totalitarian communist people's republic was formed, led by Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh movement, while in South Vietnam the authoritarian government of Catholic President Diem, backed by the United States, was established. The Ginevra Accords, in July 1954, specified the provisional nature of this solution, pending free elections times. to unify the nation, to be held by July 1956, but these elections will never be held as Diem was still politically weak in the South and therefore thought that, because of the communist power of the North, the elections could not be "absolutely free" and preferred to hold a popular referendum to determine whether the state should be a monarchy or a republic with Diem himself as president. The republic won. The Diem government, with the help of the American councillor Lansdale, was strengthened, in the first years after its constitution, thanks to the propaganda success achieved with the VIETNAM WAR 1 influx of nearly a million Catholic refugees who fled from North Vietnam to escape the executions following the agricultural reform of the Communist government. The Diem regime was certainly not more democratic than that of Ho Chi Minh; His repression of the Buddhist religion and the aggressiveness of his military forces against the Viet Minh nuclei that were still present in South Vietnam resulted in 1963 with a Buddhist monk who in protest set himself on fire in the streets of Saigon. Beginning of the uprising in South Vietnam Faced with these incidents, the Hanoi leadership decided, in early 1957, to resume the revolutionary struggle against the Saigon government. In the following years, the situation in South Vietnam worsened continuously, primarily due to the serious political and economic errors of the Diem government: the authorities imposed taxes on the peasants and organized the ruinous experiment of the "strategic villages" which actually provoked huge protests in the countryside. Diem further accentuated the authoritarian elements of his government by crushing the opposition and restricting the freedom of the press and criticism. The first internal opposition groups arose and the first plots of plots between the military and officials were plotted in order to depose Diem. In 1959, the government of Hanoi issued the first directives for the organization of an "armed struggle", limited to South Vietnam, with the aim of weakening the Diem regime politically. In December 1960, a "National Liberation Front" was announced, an armed group composed of all opponents of the pro-American government. This movement was named by the American Viet Cong, In 1962, the then American President Kennedy sent special forces to Vietnam with the aim of eliminating the Viet Cong threat. At the same time, the United States conducted covert operations in North Vietnam with the intention of destabilizing its government and stopping supplies to the Viet Cong. However, the fight against the FLN was resolved every day with a more humiliating defeat than the other for the Americans and the CIA thought that the only solution was to bring the conflict within North Vietnam. However, it needed a valid reason to invade an independent country and its support for the Viet Cong was not a sufficiently valid reason. The CIA then set up aggressive reconnaissance missions off the coast of North Vietnam to try to cause a reaction. The Americans simply placed their ships very close to the Vietnamese coast so that they could use special equipment to pick up the enemy’ radar signals and get their position and then send it to South Vietnam. At the same time, the constant deterioration of the political and military situation in South Vietnam and the despotism of Diem provoked great discussions among the American leaders of the Kennedy Administration; There was talk of the need to reform the South Vietnamese government, sacrificing Diem himself if necessary. On 1 November 1963, a violent coup d'état was organized by some ambitious South Vietnamese generals, overthrowing and killing Diem. The new military rulers were inexperienced in political matters and were even more corrupt and inefficient than the Diem administration. Three weeks after the death of Diem and the assassination of Kennedy, Johnson's new presidency was supportive of US engagement in Indochina, confirming on 24 November 1963 that the United States intended to continue to support South Vietnam militarily and economically. The gulf of Tonkin Inci VIETNAM WAR 2