Vietnam War, which happened between 1955 and 1975, was an infamous conflict that caused numerous peace protests in the US as a result of American involvement. However, the US involvement began in 1954 after the ongoing conflict in the region for several previous decades (“Vietnam War”). Throughout the years of the conflict, countries such as the US, the Soviet Union, Cambodia, Laos, and so on, were at different points involved (“Vietnam War”). When the war ended in 1975, after decades of struggle, the North and the South of Vietnam were united again as one.
One of the reasons behind the start of the conflict was French colonialism that for years affected Vietnam. From 1887, France had imposed a colonial system in Indochina, in the territories of Tonkin, Annam, Cochin, China, and Cambodia, adding Laos 6 years later (“Vietnam War”). The involvement of outside countries, such as the Communist training of Ho Chi Minh in the Soviet Union, acted as triggers for the eventual start of the Vietnam War (“Vietnam War”). While Ho Chi Minh’s rise to power occurred decades before the start of the war, it acted as a catalyst to the already brewing conflict between the South and the North.
Various primary sources, such as those in The Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive, list different reasons and focus on the different events of the conflict. However, the main timeline, especially regarding the involvement of the US, remains majorly consistent across different sources. The Geneva Accords, which officially divided the North and the South Vietnam, amplified the tension between the nationalists and the communists in the country. Some of the most infamous takeaways from the Vietnam War were the guerilla tactics employed by the Vietnamese fighters, the Truman Doctrine, and the rise of the pacifist movement in the US.
Works Cited
“Vietnam War.” History.com, 2009. Web.
The Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive. Texas Tech University, n.d., Web.