How did the vietnam war begun?

Question

How did the vietnam war begun?

Answer 1

The Chinese had control over the area known as Vietnam, but in 939, they left and an independent Vietnam was created. In 1407, the Chinese regained control of the area. In 1427, the Chinese were driven out and another Vietnam nation was established. In 1861, the French seized control of Saigon and the rest of the south by 1867. They took control of the north by 1883. In 1940-41, the Japanese advanced into and took control of Northern and Southern French Indo-China, as France had been defeated by Germany at that time. It was during this period, that Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese Communist, returned to Vietnam from China and headed a Revolutionary League to regain independence for Vietnam. In 1945, he proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. When the Allies defeated Japan in WWII, the British and Chinese accepted the surrender of the Japanese in Vietnam and the French re-entered the area and took over control again. On December 19, 1946, Vietminh forces attacked the French in Hanoi and the Indochina War--also known as the Vietminh War--began. In 1954, the Vietminh defeated the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, and the nation was temporarily divided into two sections, north and south. The people of the south chose Ngo Dinh Diem as their ruler and Ho continued to rule the north. Diem refused to go along with the planned elections in 1956 to unite the nation, because he knew he would lose, so the Vietminh members in the south created the Viet Cong and the war between north and south for control of the country began. The government of South Vietnam requested military advisors from the United States to help train the South Vietnamese army. Ho Chi Minh was a communist and during the Cold War of the 1950s and 60s, the aim of the US government was containment of communist power and not to let it spread. The Eisenhower administration provided South Vietnam with money and advisors to help stop the threat of a North Vietnamese takeover. The United States also was pledged by treaty (SEATO) to aid the member nations in southeast Asia, if they were attacked by a foreign (communist) power. Following the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations, President Lyndon B. Johnson also believed in containment and the domino theory. If one nation falls to communism, the next nation will fall, and the next, etc. It became the aim of the Johnson administration to prevent a communist takeover in Southeast Asia. In August, 1964, President Johnson reported to the nation that American ships had been attacked by North Vietnam gunboats in the Gulf of Tonkin, in international waters. The Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving the President the power to use whatever force necessary to protect our interests in the area. At the time, the truth was not reported.

Answer 2

The whole Vietnam mess started in the early 1950's.  All of Vietnam was actually a French colony, but the communists started to infiltrate in the early '50's.  The French control of the colony weakened over time, and when the French pulled out in the late '50's Vietnam was split into North Vietnam (communist) and South Vietnam (basically a puppet regime being manipulated by influential French people).  The North Vietnamese, sensing that South Vietnam was unstable, decided to try and take over in the early '60's.  President Kennedy was not inclined to get involved in Vietnam (he was quoted as saying "In the final analysis, it's their war") but after he was assassinated President Johnson decided to commit our troops to defending South Vietnam.  The U.S. involvement officially began in 1964, and it continued until 1975 when South Vietnam fell to the communists.

Answer 3

France was greatly weakened by World War 2, Commies thought it was a good time to take charge

Vietnam was France's Colony

Answer 4

I presume you're focusing on the American portion of the war.  One other excellent answer has shown that Vietnam has been in conflict for a very long time, indeed, and has had peace for only a relatively short period of time recently.

After the Second World War, the French tried to reimpose colonial rule on Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (which, together were known as Cochin China or French Indochina).  Ho Chi Mihn and his Viet Mihn had fought against the Japanese occupation of Vietnam, and when the French tried to come back in, they resisted the French, as well.  Their goal, throughout the whole of the Jpanaese occupation, the French war, the Interrum, the American war and the final days was to create a united and independent Vietnam.  The French fought from the end of the Second World War until their defeat in 1954, supported by the US with weapons and aircraft.  The treaty that ended the French war divided Vietnam into North and South, with the North going to Ho Chi Mihn, and the South becoming (theoretically) a republic.  The treaty also had provisions for an election to re-unite the country, to be held in 1959.  When the time came, the South refused to hold the elections, saying that the voting in the North could not be free and fair (probably true).  The United States sided with the South and began to back the Republic of Vietnam's government with weapons, loans, and military advisors.  It should be noted that the North did not make war against the South until after the deadline for the elections passed.  American committment grew slowly until 1965, when, while supporting South Vietnamese Commandos who were raiding along the coast of North Vietnam, American destroyers reported coming under attack from North Vietnamese torpedo boats.    There's ample reason to suspect that the attack didn't actually happen.  Nevertheless, the President (LBJ) used the supposed attack on American ships in international waters as a pretext for asking Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving him broad powers to commit troops and make war.  This, he did, and the US committment grew (escalated, in the terms of the time) eventually peaking at over 500,000 troops by early 1969.

Answer 5

1.Vietnam was French colony

2.During WW2, Japanese took Vietnam

3.After war, Vietnam kicked Japanese out of Vietnam

4.French tried to come back, but Vietnam beat French

5.France convinced US to help them in Vietnam, and US did so to stop spread of communists

6.Vietnam finally won, the end of the story

Answer 6

Many N Viet immigrants always complainted their life were in danger with NVN Communists, but they also wrote to Hanoi their life were very miserable in South.  So HC Minh ordered to search for a route to go to South to rescue,  an army division in Laos to backup Laotian Communists, and some South departers' units coming back South to protect their families with pipe bombs, WW1 bullets, arrows, bees; etc. In turn, many Southern trained green berets and seals spied into NVN.

In 1963 SVN President Diem was killed in a C'oup Detat backed by a diplomatic telegram months ago that message had lead him to have cold diplomatic relationship with US,  neutralize the South and started negotiating secretly with HC Minh about a general election.

Then a group of South VN and Korean Navy seals landed on a small island of NVN to destroy their new radars. The newspapers said NVN attacked our patrol boats and the Navy opened counter-attacks and destroyed the enemy's facilities.  One of my uncles was in the raid.

About a week later, Navy sinked a group of NVN gun boats offshore when they approached few miles close, but then Maddox war ship burnt matresses for smoking  to show live on TV network saying it was attacked by the enemy and seriously damaged.

The war started immediately without the declaration.