Vietnam-The+Path+to+War

Vietnam- The Path to War The Path to the Vietnam war was very large. Some say it started when America helped France financially in their war to get Vietnam back after WWII. Vietnam was located in French Indo-China and was a French colony until Japan took over during WWII. After WWII, Ho Chi Minh started a communist group in Vietnam. After the world war, France tried to come back and claim Vietnam back, but Ho Chi Minh and the vietnamese beat the French. The Geneva Accords split Vietnam into two parts after they became independant. The North was communist, with it's leader being Ho Chi Minh and the South was democratic, but maintained a dictator form. The Southern president was Ngo Dinh Diem. America tended to side with the South, and the Soviet Union with the North. Many U.S presidencies lead to the beginning of the Vietnam war. The presidents were Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson. President Harry Truman helped start the war by financing the French to take back Vietnam. He did this because he wanted to stop the spread of communism in the world and knew that if Vietnam were to become independant, they would become communist. Also, president Eisenhower sent military advisors into Southern Vietnam to try and asses the situations in Vietnam. This lead to the first deaths of the Vietnam war. President Kennedy did not support the ruler of South Vietnam because of his dictator like ways and sent more military advisors into Vietnam. His reaction towards Ngo Dinh Diem eventually lead to Ngo Dinh Diem's assasination. Finally, President Johnson is left with the task of dealing with Vietnam and continues to send military advisors into Vietnam. This is when a horrible situation in the Gulf of Tonkin. Two U.S. ships were said to be shot at by Vietnamese ships. The result of this was for the U.S. to drop bombs on Northern Vietnam through the air force. This was called Opperation Rolling Thunder. More bombs were dropped on North Vietnam in this mission than were dropped on Germany during WWII. Eventually, President Johnson ordered naval troops into Vietnam, thus beginning the Vietnam War.