The Vietnam War And The United States - 2269 Words

The Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War began in 1955 or ten years after World War 2. The United States direct involvement in the war started in 1964 and extended through 1973 but its indirect involvement started much earlier. At the end of the Second World War the United States and the Soviet Union were recognized as the two greatest military powers in the world. As the Soviet Union expanded their influence over Eastern Europe in countries including Bulgaria, East Germany, and China turned to communism and the United States grew concerned with the expansion of communism and its potential impact on the democratic nations of the world. Similarly the Soviet Union was concerned with the economic and military strength of the United†¦show more content†¦To understand the origins of the Vietnam War we must go back to the period prior to 1954 which was when Vietnam was a French colony. The French had colonized the South Asia areas of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam in the late 188 0’s as part of their vast colonization movement. The French had justified this colonization movement by creating an ideology to support their expansion goals. This ideology was called â€Å"mission civilisatrice† which means civilizing mission in English. They felt that certain areas of the world were undeveloped and uncivilized and as such they required the oversight and management of France to help bring them modern ideas and social reforms. As a result of this expansion by France the country of Vietnam became a colony of France along with other locations. The area eventually controlled by the French was referred to as French Indochina. During World War II the Japanese took control of the Vietnam area from the French as the Japanese tried to expand their grasp on the region. The local Vietnamese rebelled against the Japanese control which was much harsher than the control the French had exerted. In an effort to weaken the Japanese during World War II the United States started to support the communist rebels in Vietnam who were referred to as the Viet Minh. The United States gave supplies and supposedly made the promise of independence to the rebels who were