Vietnam war: Post WWII imperialism and the American “Red Scare” Intervention
Essay
War, as conflict is uncommon in human society fights often break out in almost any occasion, from
small feuds, claims of property or if one individual was wronged by the other and vice versa. Conflict
always occurred in our society, sometimes it’s between two individuals, or two groups, and even two
factions. But the worst kind of conflict is War. to quote Neville Chamberlain “In war, whichever side
may call itself the victor, there are no winners, but all are losers.” A bloody, brutal conflict between
ideology, people and nations that bring death and destruction in their wake, our history as a species
is filled with war, with only a brief intermission of peace in between we have seen conflict arise in mist
of human history, from the medial ages to the modern time, war has been present in almost every
generation as of late. Wars have many faces and even more contestants; warfare in information,
ideology and sovereignty. And many are remembered the same. And more so in southeast Asia, as
during the mid-20th century Southeast Asia, even after the end of the second world war has still
experience conflict within their territories, from wars of independence to wars of ideology of foreign
superpowers; a proxy war. and one of those wars is the Vietnam war
During the European colonial period in Southeast Asia, France had control over Vietnam (previously
called Indochina) for almost 60 years, alongside territories such as Laos and Cambodia. Under the
justification of “mission civilisatrice” (or ‘civilising mission’) a French version of the UK’s “white mans
burden” France began its imperialistic control over Vietnam over the years; importing resources and
labor from the region (French Colonialism in Vietnam, n.d.) until the 20 th century where the advent of
the second world war began to change the global stage and loosen France control over the region
and by the 1880’s a nationalistic anti-colonialism movement began in Vietnam, led by Phan Dinh
Phung a Highly regarded scholar in Vietnam, after some time however the movement collapse by
1895 after Phung’s death, ten years after it began. (Movements of National Liberation, n.d.)
During this time as well that the communist’s ideology began to spread in Asia where many regions
such as Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam turned their gaze upon the ideology. Led by a member of the
communist Party of France which later into the Vietnams Communist Party Ho Chi Minh. Ho chi Minh
along with the communist party began expanding, using the circumstance where a mass starvation of
Vietnam citizens occurred to spread their ideology; establishing control in areas of Vietnam.
By the end of the Second World War, the nation of Vietnam declared its independence through a
seized uprising, taking several cities such as Hanoi, and forced the emperor to abdicate. Which
divided the nation between the Communist north, led by the Communist party lead by Viet Minh. And
the South with the Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang or Vietnam Nationalist Party. However, the French
wanted to reestablish their control on Vietnam, and with the aid from the British and seized control of
Cochinchina
In 1947, under the Truman administration and doctoring of defending a nation under communist
threat the United States of America Intervened with the Vietnam war, and with tension of the cold war
and the establishment of the PRC in china, meant that the US began intervention to stop the spread
of communism in Asia, and by 1950 the US identifies Viet minh as a communist threat and began the
operations against him. (History. com Editors, 2017) During the Vietnam war casualties from both the
Viet Cong guerrilla forces and U.S Troops have escalated, with many more civilian deaths due to
bombing raids and use of deadly weapon by the US and tension in the US soil with protest against
the cruelty of the war, by 1968 President Richard M. Nixon, while under pressure of the antiwar
protest, utilizes the “Vietnamization” policy which is the order to withdraw from the Vietnam war under
the pretense of establishing “peace and honor” while transferring combat roles to the south
Vietnamese in Vietnam as to not lose face and show weakness during the height of the cold war in
1973. (History .com Editors, 2010; The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2000)
The war continues on after the withdrawal of American troops between the north and the south with
the north successfully capturing the capitol of Saigon and renaming it as Ho Chi Minh city. And with
Vietnam was unified under the socialist Republic of Vietnam, but due to the devastation to the land
and economy caused by the war Vietnams economy was crippled and was slowly recovering from the
war. where Periodic Conflict and violence both internally and externally from china and Cambodia
issued. While open markets policy in 1986 helped in the development and progress of Vietnam
(HISTORY.COM EDITOR, n.d.)
Reference:
FRENCH COLONIALISM IN VIETNAM. (n.d.). Alpha History. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from
https://alphahistory.com/vietnamwar/french-colonialism-in-vietnam/#:~:text=French
%20colonialism%20in%20Vietnam%20lasted,France’s%20most%20important%20colonial
%20possessions.
History .com Editors. (2010, February 24). Vietnamization. History. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnamization#:~:text=Nixon%20and%20the
%20Vietnam%20War,-When%20President%20Richard&text=Nixon%20took%20office%20in
%20January,American%20lives%20had%20been%20lost.&text=Toward%20this%20end%2C
%20Nixon%20and,new%20strategy%20they%20called%20Vietnamization.
History. com Editors. (2017, September 13). Vietnam War Timeline. History. Retrieved January 29,
2022, from https://history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-timeline
HISTORY.COM EDITOR. (n.d.). Vietnam War. History. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history
Movements of national liberation. (n.d.). Britannica. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from
https://www.britannica.com/place/Vietnam/Effects-of-French-colonial-rule#ref52740
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2000, January 12). Richard Nixon. Britannica. Retrieved
January 29, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Nixon#ref56528
World War II and Independence. (n.d.). Britannica. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from
https://www.britannica.com/place/Vietnam/World-War-II-and-independence
