Why did the USA become increasingly
The main reason behind America's involvement in Vietnam was its fear of communism spreading. It believed that something called the Domino Theory would take place in Vietnam spreading communism into Eastern Europe. They believed this because they had seen it happen. The Soviet Union had become communist during the First World War and had spread it to China. The Americans had just been fighting a war in Korea trying to combat communist rule and now the communists in Vietnam had just defeated the French army. America believed that if it was not stopped then communism would keep spreading. In 1954 a group called Vietminh lead by Ho Chi Minh defeated the French Army, which was occupying Vietnam at the time, Ho Chi Minh was a communist and although most people who supported it did so because it was opposing French rule not because it was communist American still believed that the Vietminh would bring communism to Vietnam and therefore had to be stopped. This lead to America first becoming involved in Vietnam because with the French defeated the future of Vietnam was uncertain so there was a peace conference in Geneva. At
Vietnam was now being used for America and the Soviet Union to fight out their differences because of this America got more and more involved with helping the Diem Government. The only reason the Diem Government was able to keep going for so long was the huge amount of aid America sent them. They were supplying the Vietcong (the new replacement of the Vietminh) with weapons and supplies to use Guerrilla warfare against South Vietnam and infiltrate the Southern countryside this was proving extremely effective. President Johnson was a main factor in America becoming more involved in Vietnam as he was determined that "I am not going to lose Vietnam. America had failed to fight communism through the Diem Government and so now had to find another way to defeat the communist North. I am not going to be the President who saw Southeast Asia go the way China went. By this time the Soviet Union and China were helping North Vietnam mirroring the war America had just fought in Korea. the Geneva Conference it was decided that Vietnam would be split in two up to the 17th parallel and elections would be held two years later and the country would be reunited again. America wasn't happy with this agreement and started supporting South Vietnam's Government lead by a man called Ngo Dinh Diem. President Kennedy tried to keep US presence in Vietnam as low key as possible but when he was assassinated in 1963 and President Johnson took over. In all America gave the Diem Government 2 billion dollars and the help of 675 advisors but even that wasn't enough to stop Diem being overthrown and by then even America had lost patience with him. After the Diem Government failing and no other strong candidate to lead South Vietnam the US needed another approach to stopping communism in Vietnam. America got involved with the Diem Government because it believed that if they kept South Vietnam strong and anti communist then that would stop the domino theory from occurring. " His actions over the next two years got America more involved in Vietnam then it had ever been before. Diem was a vicious and cruel dictator who could never win over the support of the people like the communist had done in the North Vietnam's countryside.
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