What were the causes of the Vietnam War?

Communism as a cause of Vietnam War
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Communism as a cause of Vietnam War
The results of the major fight that existed between French colonialists and the citizens of Vietnam were caused by communists from China. The Chinese played the major role in support of the Vietnam War. The Soviet Union and the Chinese supported the spread of communism in Vietnam while the United States who were in the run to spread capitalism. China supported the Vietnam communist leaders to resist the efforts of the United States to spread capitalism in Vietnam. The engagement of Vietnam in the War split it into two that is, the Northern and the Southern Vietnam. China occupied the Northern Vietnam which was ruled by Ho Chi Minh, and the South of Vietnam was under the control of Hanoi who adopted the capitalist ideas. The ideas of adopting capitalism by the southern Vietnam were highly opposed by the China who had wholly dominated Vietnam. Minh who was supported by China government believed that they were to adopt a clear approach that was very flexible in the southern Vietnam by using both the political and the military struggles. He also emphasized that when military efforts failed then it was very necessary to use the political influence so as to take a position in the southern Vietnam.
The difference in ideas between the leaders in Vietnam was also a problem because they were under the different influence of the supporters. The United States failed to take into account the ideas of Stalin concerning the security of the states (Merom, 2003).

On the other hand, the Soviet Union also failed to adopt western ideas, which held that free markets are established, and the security of the nations be collective in west Europe. This misconception forced both parties to act aggressively toward each other since they were not in good terms with each other due to ideological differences because the United States was the idea of capitalism which was opposed by the communists in Vietnam. This endeavor forced China to increase its military support in Vietnam to ensure that the United States ideas can be fully opposed in Vietnam. Beijing support to southern Vietnam became realistic since they thought that the South could not achieve their revolutionary ideas in the earlier stage. Therefore, they emphasized that the south should not expose its military earlier enough to the masses so that they can utilize the proper coming opportunities.
Jian in his research he explains how the relationship between China and Vietnam was very close in the 1950s. This intimate connection would not give way for China to be very far from the Vietnam since they were after the idea of a revolution that was spreading in the southern Vietnam. The Communist China held that by intensifying their insurgency of the revolution that was taking place in Vietnam would increase the United States commitment in Vietnam, hence increasing the position of China in facing the United States. Due to revolution, China offered military support to Vietnam as Hanoi had requested so that they can face the United States.
As a result, different theories were developed to explain the roots of the Vietnam War. The way the participants behaved was used to explain why the War emerged. The United States’ president was against communism since he viewed it as the major threats to democracy. Conversely, the Russian government insisted that communism should be expanded to the other nations within Europe. This expansion of communists ideas was criticized by United States’ government since they did not only view it as a threat to Europe, but also to the whole free world (Drew & Snow, 1988). Therefore, the United States had to come up with policies to curb this expansion. These policies were later transformed and became more militant. Due to this, the Russian government had to come up with its own army to curb the external forces that would prevent them from spreading their communist ideas around the world. Since the two nations could not engage in a fight, they began to influence the leaders in Vietnam with an intention to spread their ideas. This paved the way for the War in Vietnam since both the United States and the Russians wanted to expand their territories by selling their ideas.
The revisionist theory exposes the United States as being an aggressive capitalist who aims at eliminating the ideas of both the socialists and communist groups. Both sides had many similar things, but these ideas were derived from different corners, and every side was on the run to expand its influence to other nations. This development posed a major threat in terms of security to other nations. The United States were taken to be aggressors, and USSR on the other side was defending themselves in an effort to pose great influence to the nations and convert more nations to be communists.
The post-revisionist theory takes into account the international politics in Europe after the 2nd world war came to an end a thing that marked the end of imperialism. In terms of ideas, there were a variety of differences in both capitalism and socialism issues. According to Lenin, the Communists facilitated the expansion of factual association in the nations. On the other hand, those who were against this idea supported the idea that free markets should be established, more so, people to be allowed to own their property, as well as given a chance to claim their own rights. Communism was quickly spreading in Europe, hence the ideas of both parties never related; therefore, the two parties were acting against each other. The establishment of the bipolar system in Europe led to War since it split nations politically due to the promotion of both capitalists and communists. This war centered in Vietnam because the communist group was struggling to dominate both the northern and the southern parts of Vietnam.
The war did not come to an end because the European nations were divided into two. This division forced the leaders of both sides to seek foreign support so that they could conquer their opponents. The belief of overthrowing some leaders and conquering the territories was as a result of the extended hatred between those who maintained that the two opposing parties, which are the communists and the capitalists who were in the run to win Vietnam.
The anti-communist group also held their position in Vietnam. They also had their own take on the issue of communism in Vietnam that is why the two groups had to engage in a fight with each other. For instance, in the research conducted by the University of Houston clearly, reveals that the anti-communist group was taken to be hindering the development of the community through their inflexible ideas that they were spreading in Vietnam. This research also reveals that they have paved the way for the social divisions in Vietnam that has made it quite hard for the community to organize itself towards a common goal for the development of the Vietnam community. Therefore, the activists have advocated that there is the need to ensure that the Vietnamese lives are taken care of in both Vietnam and also in the rest of the world. This will ensure that the politics of Vietnam are controlled by the generation that started the movement so as to ensure that Vietnam is well represented (Linda Vo 2003).
The activists and the scholars in the research conducted by Houston University argue that the anti-communists have the right to pinpoint how Vietnam lacks the freedom of speech, and more so the lack of free elections in the state. This makes us understand how the anti-communist group is compelled by the obsession of the war that existed in Vietnam which commenced long time ago and still posting problems up to date in Vietnam (Nguyen et al. 2004). The anti-communism group has marginalized the developmental projects and also the transitional activities with the other American groups based on ethnicity with the aim of collaboration with them. This is all in the attempt of fighting and eradicating the communist group in Vietnam. Therefore in order to bring democracy in Vietnam the anti-communist need to learn the civic lessons and also learn on how to practice the democratic principles in Vietnam (Duong 2009).
References
Drew, D. M., & Snow, D. M. (1988). Pg. 187-213. Making strategy: An introduction to national security processes and problems. AIR UNIV MAXWELL AFB AL.
Herring, G. C. (1990). America and Vietnam: The Unending War. Foreign Aff., pg. 70-104.
Merom, G. (2003). How democracies lose small wars: state, society, and the failures of France in Algeria, Israel in Lebanon, and the United States in Vietnam. Cambridge University Press.Pg. 121.
Smith, K. (2007). Framing the war in Croatia: Propaganda, ideology, and the British press.E-International Relations. Pg. 1124